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 JJojusl'  VI,  '/(r. 
 
PROPHETIC  STCFDIESj 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE     BOOK    OF    DANIEL. 
 
 THE  EEV.  JOHIfCTJlBniTG,  D.D., 
 
 MINISTER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  SCOTTISH  CHURCH,  CROWN  COURT, 
 CO'V'ENT  GARDEN,  LONDON. 
 
 •'  We  have  also  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy ;  whereunto 
 ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light  that  shineth  in 
 a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn,  and  the  day-star  arise  in 
 your  hearts."— 2  Fet.  i.  19. 
 
 SIXTH  THOUSAND. 
 
 LONDON: 
 VIRTTJE,    HALL,    AN"!)    YIRTUE, 
 
 25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW, 
 AND    26,    JOHN    STREET,    NEW   YORK. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In  these  Lectures  on  Daniel  the  prophet^  there 
 will  be  fonnd  scarcely  a  single  discovery  or  appli- 
 cation of  prophetic  symbol  which  is  not  already 
 familiar  to  all  students  of  prophecy.  They  were 
 not  prepared  for  the  learned :  they  are  addressed 
 to  the  multitude.  I  have  paid  some  attention 
 to  the  critical  investigation  of  this  ancient  and 
 instructive  prophecy ;  I  have  studied  more  or  less 
 closely  the  varied  and  interesting  exegeses  of 
 many  learned  and  laborious  critics^  and  from  these 
 I  have  derived  much  information;  but  in  these 
 pages  I  do  not  attempt  to  present  an  analysis 
 of  such  labours,  or  to  enunciate  the  component 
 elements  of  the  conclusions  I  have  formed,  and 
 herein  expressed.  I  find  it  takes  all  my  strength, 
 as  well  as  all  I  have  learned  and  read,  to  enable 
 me  to  make  my  meaning  plain.  I  am  satisfied  in 
 these  Studies  to  appeal  to,  and  interest  and  instruct 
 the  masses.  One  may  appreciate  the  honour  of 
 speaking  to  scholars,  but  feel  still  more  the  duty 
 of  addressing  mankind.  I  rejoice  at  witnessing 
 the  loftiest  forms  so  splendidly  occupied  as  they 
 now  are.  I  pray  they  may  be  covered  with  yet 
 greater  and  more  illustrious  scholarship.     I  am 
 
 a2 
 
IV  PREFACE. 
 
 content  to  stand  below,  and  learning  daily,  as  I 
 do  from  the  master  spirits  above  me,  to  spread  far 
 and  wide  wbat  I  have  gathered,  in  the  most  intel- 
 ligible and  acceptable  words,  among  the  "thousands 
 of  Israel/^^  I  have  invariably  tried  to  bring  out, 
 not  only  the  doctrinal,  but  the  practical  and  com- 
 forting truths  which  are  more  or  less  latent  in  the 
 sublime  and  mysterious  predictions  and  symbols 
 of  the  future.  I  have  not,  I  trust,  forgotten 
 individual  responsibility  and  requirement  in  my 
 endeavours  to  trace  out  the  course  of  the  Church, 
 the  fall  of  dynasties,  and  the  revolutions  of  em- 
 pires, as  they  are  delineated  on  the  prophetic 
 chart,  and  by  no  means  obscurely  predicted  by 
 the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
 
 In  this,  as  in  every  portion  of  the  word  of  God, 
 there  are  proclaimed  grand  saving  truths.  Amid 
 the  foliage  of  prophecy — amid  the  flowers  of 
 poetry — in  the  details  of  biography,  and  in  the 
 long  annals  of  national  or  universal  history,  truths 
 profitable  or  refreshing  or  sanctifying  to  the  soul 
 flash  forth  continually.  God  in  Providence  never 
 omits  to  feed  the  minutest  insect  in  his  provision 
 for  the  greatest  and  the  most  important  of  created 
 intelligences.  In  his  Word  there  is  living  bread 
 for  the  soul  of  the  humblest,  as  well  as  warning 
 and  instruction  and  reproof  for  kings  and  nations. 
 In  the  pages  of  the  Prophets,  as  truly,  if  not  as 
 fully  as  in  the  pages  of  the  Evangelists,  such  truths 
 
 *  The  critical  disquisitions  of  Hengstenberg,  the  eloquent  and 
 philosophical  investigations  of  Birks — not  to  speak  of  Mede, 
 Wintle,  and  the  two  Newtons — are  truly  valuable.  Stuart,  as 
 usual  on  px'ophetic  subjects,  is  not  to  be  trusted. 
 
PREFACE.  V 
 
 as  the  following  are  written :  '^  Sin  has  entered, 
 and  death  by  sin/^  The  world  was  not  made  as 
 we  find  it ;  it  has  undergone  some  dread  and  ter- 
 rible disaster.  Ask  the  philosopher  to  explain 
 this,  and  he  is  dumb  !  Ask  nature  herself,  through 
 any  of  her  oracles,  and  she,  too,  is  dumb  !  Her 
 groans,  that  have  not  ceased  since  the  creation, 
 are  the  only  replies  to  your  question.  But,  con- 
 sult the  Scriptures,  inquire  at  them,  What  is  at 
 fault  ?  Their  reply  is,  Sin  has  entered,  and  death 
 by  sin?  The  earth  was  created  holy  and  beau- 
 tiful. God  pronounced  it  good.  Man's  sin  has 
 unhinged  it.  Every  flower  was  once  fragrance; 
 every  sound  was  once  harmony ;  every  sight  was 
 beauty ;  but  sin  has  fallen  upon  the  earth,  like 
 a  drop  of  ink  on  the  sensitive  blottiDg-paper, 
 encircling  with  its  poisonous  influence  the  widest 
 sphere,  until  the  whole  earth  is  tainted — stricken, 
 as  it  were,  with  paralysis,  groaning,  in  travail, 
 waiting  for  redemption.  The  intellect  is  darkened 
 by  the  exhalations  arising  from  the  swamps  of  sin. 
 The  truth  is  not  seen  in  its  beauty ;  not  because 
 it  is  dimly  enunciated,  but  because  the  eye  of  him 
 who  looks  upon  it  has  become  dim.  The  con- 
 science also  has  become  depraved,  diseased,  pol- 
 luted. What  a  change  has  passed  upon  that 
 faculty  which  was  once  the  echo  of  the  voice  of 
 God — the  bright  daguerreotype  reflection  of  his 
 own  holy  image  !  It  too  labours,  as  if  anxious  to 
 be  emancipated — to  regain  its  lost  sovereignty, 
 and  govern  once  more  the  heart  and  the  affections 
 of  the  soul. 
 
VI  PREFACE. 
 
 Not  only  is  the  conscience  and  heart  of  man 
 diseased,  but  out  of  that  heart  in  which  God  once 
 dwelt, — once  the  holy  chancel,  as  it  were,  of 
 created  being, — proceed  adultery,  murders,  thefts, 
 and  all  uncleanness.  The  gold  has  become  dim, 
 the  fine  gold  has  changed,  man  is  altogether 
 degenerate;  and  this  change,  this  dread  affliction, 
 is  not  individual,  peculiar,  limited,  but  universal; 
 there  is  no  spot  upon  the  earth  it  has  not  reached 
 — no  climate  where  it  is  not  felt.  It  has  entered 
 the  hut  of  the  Indian,  the  cave  of  the  Greenlander, 
 the  cabin  of  the  semi-savage  Irishman,  the  cottage 
 of  the  peasant,  and  the  palace  of  the  king;  its 
 voice  mingles  with  the  debates  of  parliament, 
 congress,  and  divan.  It  colours  all  circumstances ; 
 it  is  seen  in  the  flames  of  hamlets,  and  heard  in 
 the  roar  of  revolution ;  it  rides  on  the  storm. 
 1848  was  an  incidental  testimony  of  what  sin  is; 
 all  history  shows  it  has  made  Golgotha  and  Acel- 
 dama but  too  plainly  the  types  of  earth  and 
 humanity. 
 
 Man  has  sinned,  and  therefore  he  suffers.  The 
 Bible  also  testifies  of  the  curse  brought  upon  us 
 in  consequence  of  sin.  The  instant  man  sinned, 
 Jesus  stood  between  the  living  and  the  dead — 
 modified  and  stayed  the  full  rush  of  the  terrible 
 curse  which  sin  had  brought  on;  but  the  time 
 does  come,  and  the  place  will  be,  when  that  curse 
 created  by  sin  shall  descend  in  all  its  pressure 
 on  some,  and  wither  down  to  the  very  roots  all 
 happiness  and  peace,  close  every  spring  of  joy, 
 and  open  up  at  every  point  of  the  circumference 
 
PREFACE.  VU 
 
 of  their  existence,  streams  of  misery  immense, 
 ceaseless. 
 
 We  have  not  only  sinned  and  suffered,  but  we 
 cannot  help  ourselves  out  of  it.  We  are  not  only 
 without  holiness,  but  without  strength ;  no  man 
 can  recover  himself.  All  the  popes,  bishops,  pre- 
 lates, or  councils  in  Christendom,  can  no  more 
 change  the  heart  of  man,  than  they  can  create  a 
 fixed  star,  or  soar  to  the  sun.  I  will  believe  they 
 can  do  it,  when  they  will  stand  upon  the  grave  of 
 another  Lazarus,  and  say.  Come  forth ;  and  when 
 Lazarus,  the  dead,  in  obedience  to  such  command, 
 shall  come  forth,  and  take  his  place  among  the 
 living.  What  is  the  history  of  the  world  without 
 God  but  a  history  of  successive  efforts  and  suc- 
 cessive failures  to  regenerate  itself?  What  is 
 Pantheism,  but  man^s  vain  effort  to  regenerate 
 man?  What  are  Popery,  and  Puseyism,  but 
 priestly  and  abortive  efforts  to  regenerate  manV 
 What  is  Christianity,  but  God's  historical  and 
 never-failing  success  in  the  regeneration  of  man  ? 
 
 It  is  wrong  for  infidels  to  quote  Aristides, 
 Socrates,  Plato,  Alfred,  and  subsequent  names, 
 and  say  these  are  types  of  humanity;  they  are 
 not  so.  They  are  the  exceptions  to  the  general 
 condition  of  man ;  they  are  as  tall  trees  seen  from 
 the  distance,  which  appear  a  beautiful  forest  in 
 the  horizon ;  but  when  we  approach  nearer,  we 
 find,  here  and  there,  beneath  and  around  them, 
 the  pestilential  swamp,  the  deadly  Upas-tree,  all 
 manner  of  vile  and  worthless  things.  This  is  one 
 of  those  sights  in  which  "  distance  "  may  be  said 
 
VIU  PREFACE. 
 
 to  "  lend  enchantment  to  the  view/^  covering, 
 with  an  apparently  beautiful  exterior,  as  seen 
 from  afar,  the  terrible  corruption  which  lies  and 
 festers  below. 
 
 If  we  desire  to  see  what  man  is,  let  us  shut  our 
 ears  to  the  harp  of  the  poet,  and  visit  the  Mahom- 
 medan  wife,  the  Indian  maid,  the  Hindoo  widow } 
 let  us  leave  the  romantic  picture  of  mankind,  and 
 explore  the  lanes  and  alleys  of  London;  let  us 
 inspect  our  prisons  and  penal  settlements.  Bride- 
 well and  Botany  Bay.  After  we  have  gone  the 
 round  of  these  places,  let  us  go  home  and  read  the 
 first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and 
 see  if  there  is  one  exaggerating  touch  !  That 
 chapter  is  a  terrible  but  true  picture  of  the  lower 
 strata  of  humanity.  What  were  the  deities  in 
 heathen  times?  Jupiter  was  a  monster.  Mercury 
 a  thief.  Mars  a  sort  of  cannibal,  who  drank  the 
 blood  (3f  his  victims.  Such  were  the  gods  of  the 
 heathen;  and,  like  gods  like  people.  But  of 
 man's  corruption  we  have  awful  instances  in 
 modern  times.  Men,  baptised  in  the  name  of 
 Christ,  professing  his  religion,  and  under  his  pre- 
 tended sanction,  have  set  up  Inquisitions  for  the 
 murder  of  saints,  for  the  plunder  of  widows,  and 
 then  they  have  built  cathedrals  with  the  produce. 
 This  Gospel,  itself  pure,  precious,  and  indicative 
 of  its  Divine  origin,  has  been  perverted  and  made 
 the  patrons  of  the  buildings,  under  whose  splendid 
 towers  are  dungeons  deep  and  dismal.  So  intense 
 is  man's  depravity,  that  not  only  will  he  worship 
 Jupiter,  Mercury,  and  Mars,  but  he  will  take  the 
 
PREFACE.  IX 
 
 very  stones  God  has  selected  and  shaped  for  a 
 temple  to  himself,  and  with  these  construct  a  temple 
 vocal  with  men^s  praise,  and  in  which  wickedness 
 shall  be  consecrated. 
 
 The  Gospel  tells  us  that  Jesus  who  knew  no  sin, 
 was  made  sin  for  us :  in  these  w^ords  is  the  very- 
 substance  of  our  sermons;  without  these  they 
 would  be  but  as  sounding  brass,  and  tinkling 
 cymbals.  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
 his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  belie veth 
 on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
 life.''  He  gave,  not  permitted,  and  the  great 
 Redeemer  left  the  admiration  of  angels  for  the 
 execration  of  the  mob :  he  exchanged  a  diadem  of 
 glory  for  a  wreath  of  thorns ;  he  left  the  robes  of 
 majesty  and  beauty  for  that  vile  rag  that  Pilate 
 cast  upon  his  shoulders.  Why  ?  It  was  for  us  ! 
 that  souls  ruined  by  the  curse  might  be  redeemed 
 by  his  blood,  and  restored  to  that  great  home  he  is 
 gone  to  prepare  for  us. 
 
 The  Bible  is  not  a  mere  directory,  nor  the 
 pulpit  a  mere  teacher's  desk.  Christianity  is  not 
 a  rule,  but  a  prescription ;  not  merely  a  direc- 
 tion to  the  living  and  healthy,  but  a  cure  for  the 
 diseased,  life  for  the  dead :  and  Calvary  is  not  a 
 composite  of  Sinai,  but  that  spot  on  which  God  in 
 human  nature  died ;  looking  to  whom,  and  lean- 
 ing upon  whom,  I  am  the  possessor  of  justifying 
 righteousness.  He  who  knew  no  sin,  was  made 
 sin  for  me,  that  I  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
 ness of  God  in  him. 
 
 On  him  were  laid  the  iniquities  of  us  all ;  we 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 bear  his  righteousness,  and  therefore  by  him  alone 
 do  we  recover  every  lost  blessing.  He  did  nothing 
 worthy  of  death,  although  he  died;  and  we  shall 
 have  done  nothing  worthy  of  life  when  we  hear 
 the  glad  words,  ''  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  ser- 
 vant, enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  "When 
 Jesus  died,  he  had  done  nothing  to  deserve  it ; 
 when  we  are  admitted  to  glory,  it  will  be  wholly 
 without  merit  on  our  part.  He  was  the  spotless 
 lamb — we  are  the  poor  stray  sheep,  clothed  in  his 
 spotless  righteousness. 
 
 There  is  another  great  truth  to  which  the  Bible 
 bears  testimony — the  regeneration  of  the  heart  by 
 the  Holy  Spirit.  Regeneration  is  no  more  by 
 baptism  than  justification  is  by  works :  justifica- 
 tion is  our  title,  sanctification  is  our  qualification ; 
 justification  is  our  franchise,  sanctification  is  our 
 fitness.  This  justification  is  by  Christ^s  work 
 alone.  This  regeneration  is  the  Holy  Sj)irit^s  work 
 alone.  The  precious  Catechism  of  that  Church  to 
 which  I  belong,  and  in  which  I  have  been  schooled 
 from  my  infancy,  says  justification  is  an  act  of 
 God^s  grace,  and  sanctification  is  a  work  of  God^s 
 Spirit;  one  is  an  act  done  once  for  all,  com- 
 pletely, perfectly,  and  for  ever — the  other  a  work 
 begun,  carried  on,  until  at  length  we  are  made  fit 
 for  heaven,  and  are  removed  to  glory. 
 
 The  Bible  insists  on  all  who  have  themselves 
 felt  the  truth, — not  ministers  alone,  but  all  who 
 have  received  the  Gospel, — doing  their  utmost  to 
 make  it  known  to  those  who  yet  remain  in 
 ignorance.  Psalm  Ixvii. :  ''  God  be  merciful  unto 
 
PREFACE.  XI 
 
 US,  and  bless  us/^  Why  ?  "  That  thy  way  may  be 
 known  upon  earth,  and  thy  saving  health  among 
 all  nations/^  A  man  who  can  pray  thus,  and  then 
 pass  the  plate  at  a  missionary  collection/ contented, 
 it  may  be,  with  giving  nothing,  or,  what  is  worse, 
 a  trifle,  does  not  know  what  the  Gospel  is,  or 
 what  Christianity  really  means.  True,  God  can 
 promote  the  Gospel  without  our  instrumentality; 
 but  it  concerns  us  to  ascertain  not  what  God  can 
 do,  but  what  he  does — God^s  omnipotence  is  not 
 our  rule  of  faith.  We  know  of,  and  he  tells  us 
 of  no  other  means.  The  sunbeams  do  not  write 
 salvation  on  the  sky;  angel  voices  do  not  chant 
 it;  the  temple  of  nature  tells  us  there  is  a  God, 
 but  it  tells  not  our  relation  to  him.  "  How  shall 
 they  believe  if  they  have  not  heard,  and  how  shall 
 they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  ^'  Take  the  micro- 
 scopic view  of  the  City  Missionary,  and  inspect 
 the  lanes  and  alleys  of  wretchedness,  sin,  and 
 demoralisation  at  home ;  and  then  with  the  tele- 
 scope sweep  the  broad  horizon  of  the  world  from 
 mountain  top  to  mountain  top.  Behold  so  many 
 of  the  people  of  Europe  lying  in  darkness ;  look 
 on  Asia,  once  the  cradle  of  Christianity,  now  the 
 battle-field  of  the  Moslem  and  the  Jew;  see 
 Africa  steeped  in  barbarism,  bleeding,  mangled, 
 and  imploring  your  interposition.  And  when  you 
 have  gazed  on  these  heart-rending  spectacles — 
 spectacles  that  look  to  us  so  shadowy  because  our 
 inner  vision  is  so  dark — hear  the  Son  of  God  :  first 
 from  the  crosSj  and  next  from  the  throne,  saying, 
 "  Go  teach  all  nations.'' 
 
Xll  PREFACE. 
 
 When  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  as  a  wit- 
 ness to  all,  then  shall  Messiah  come  in  the  clouds 
 of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory,  and  the 
 end  shall  come — the  end  of  our  disputes,  quar- 
 rels, pride,  sectarianism,  selfishness,  vain-glory; 
 the  end  of  despotism  on  the  part  of  the  rulers, 
 and  of  insubordination  in  the  subjects;  the  end 
 of  the  toils  of  slavery,  and  the  sufferings  of  mar- 
 tyrdom ;  the  end  of  Popery,  Puseyism,  Paganism, 
 and  Mahommedanism, — the  Missal,  the  Breviary, 
 the  Shaster,  and  the  Koran.  That  great  rainbow 
 of  the  covenant,  that  starts  from  the  cross,  vaults 
 into  the  sky,  and  sweeps  over  the  throne,  shall 
 complete  its  orbit,  and  rest  again  upon  the  ground, 
 and  Christ  and  Christianity  shall  be  all  and  in  all. 
 Then  shall  the  desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the 
 rose.  Then  the  tree  of  life  shall  be  where  the 
 cypress  is.  Then  shall  nations  sing  God^s  praise, 
 and  Sion  recount  God's  marvels.  Then  shall  his- 
 tory retrace  with  new  joy  God's  footprints.  Then 
 shall  the  glory  of  Jesus  sparkle  in  the  dew-drop, 
 and  in  the  boundless  sea ;  in  the  minutest  atom, 
 and  in  the  greatest  star ;  and  this  earth,  restrung, 
 retuned,  shall  be  one  grand  iEolian  harp,  swept 
 by  the  breath  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  pouring  forth 
 those  melodies  which  began  on  Calvary,  and  shall 
 sound  through  all  generations. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE  I. 
 
 Daniel  the  Prophet Dan.  i. 
 
 LECTURE  II. 
 Christian  Steadfastness Dan.  i.  8,  9  .     .     .     12 
 
 LECTURE  II 
 Living  to  God  IN  Little  Things    .     .     Dan.i.l  —  \'d    .     .     "21 
 
 LECTURE  IV. 
 
 True  Principle  is  TRUE  Expediency  .     Dan.x.M — 21  .     .     33 
 
 LECTURE  V. 
 Babylon,  the  Golden  Head  ....    Dan.  ii.  37,  38   .     .    41 
 
 LECTURE  VL 
 
 The  Medo-Persian   and    Gr^co-  )      r»       "on  ^a 
 
 Macedonian  Empires      .    .     .     /     -^«^- "•  ^9    ...    60 
 
Xiy  CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE  VII. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 The  Mystic  Stone  smiting  the  Image  j  '^Jl'_^:?'^'  ^^'  l       75 
 
 LECTURE  VIIL 
 The  Kingdom  op  God Dan.  ii.  31—44   .      91 
 
 LECTURE  iX. 
 
 Early  Martyrs Dan.  iii.  16.     .     .    110 
 
 LECTURE  X. 
 Pride  abased Dan.  iv.  37.     .    .    128 
 
 LECTURE  XI. 
 The  Sceptre  of  God Dan.  iv,  26.     .     .     147 
 
 LECTURE  XII. 
 Belshazzar's  Feast Dan.  v,  .    .    .    •     163 
 
 LECTURE  XIIL 
 Weighed  and  Found  Wanting      .     .    Dan*  v.  24,  25     .177 
 
 LECTURE  XIV. 
 The  Prime  Minister    .•,...    Dan.  vi.  1 — 10     .     192 
 
 LECTURE  XV. 
 Daniel  in  the  Den  op  Lions.    ,    •    •    Dan»  vi.  16 .    ,    .    207 
 
CONTENTS.  XV 
 
 LECTURE  XVI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The  Papacy Dan.  vii.  16—28    223 
 
 LECTURE  XVII. 
 The  Coming  Kingdom       ....      ]     22'  26*  27.  '  (        "^^^ 
 
 LECTURE  XVIII. 
 The  Moslem Dan.  viii.     .     .      259 
 
 LECTURE  XIX. 
 Fasting Dan.  ix.  3      .    .    278 
 
 LECTURE  XX. 
 Tkayer Dan.ix.Z     ,    .    294 
 
 LECTURE  XXI. 
 Sin,  Confession,  AND  Absolution    .      .    Dan.ix.4:     .     .    310 
 
 LECTURE  XXII. 
 Daniel's  Litany ^    .    Dan.ix.l9    .     .     326 
 
 LECTURE  XXIII. 
 Messiah's  Death       Dan.  ix.  26    .    .    342 
 
 LECTURE  XXIV. 
 The  Great  Sacrifice Dan.  ix.  26    .    .    366 
 
XVI  COliTTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE  XXV. 
 
 PACK 
 
 The  Mission  of  the  Messiah     .    .    .    I)an.ix.2i    .    .  38 J 
 
 LECTURE  XXVL 
 
 Sacred  Arithmetic Dan.ix.24:    .    .  396 
 
 LECTURE  XXVn.  ^ 
 
 The  Messiah  the  Prince       ....    UanAx.25    .    .  417 
 
 LECTURE  XXVIIL 
 
 Jerusalem  and  the  Jews    ....         Dan.  ix.  26, 27.  431 
 
 Appendix 449 
 
 Index -•••• 483 
 
PROPHETIC   STUDIES; 
 
 OR, 
 
 LECTURES  OlS"  DAIs^EL  THE  PROPHET, 
 
 LECTURE  I. 
 
 DA:snEL    THE    rilOPIIET. 
 
 I  "READ  the  first  chapter  of  Daniel  in  the  course  of  our 
 morning  reading  of  the  Scripture  this  day,  and  I  then 
 stated  that  I  would  turn  your  attention  in  the  evening 
 to  some  of  those  studies  in  this  interesting  and  instruc- 
 tive book,  which  it  is  impossibJe  to  set  forth  in  the  course 
 of  a  few  cursory  remarks  upon  the  lessons  which  we 
 usually  read. 
 
 I  may  premise  that  Sir  Isaac  IS'ewton,  Bishop  IN'ewton, 
 the  Duke  of  Manchester,  Faber,  Birks,  and  others — men 
 of  distinguished  erudition  and  thorough  piety — have  de- 
 voted some  of  the  best  of  their  time  to  the  elucidation  of 
 this  book,  and  all  vrithout  exception  have  testified  to  its 
 excellence,  its  instructiveness,  its  value  as  a  clue  to  the 
 knowledge  of  the  things  that  are  passing  in  the  history 
 of  this  dispensation,  and  of  the  j^rinciples  on  which  God 
 governs  tlie  M'orld.  Sir  Isaac  [N^ewton,  who  explored 
 the  firmament  with  unwearied  wing,  and  made  an  apo- 
 calypse of  the  stars,  felt  that  he  was  sounding  a  greater 
 depth,  and  rising  to  a  loftier  height,  when  he  sat  down 
 a  patient  student  of  this  book  to  ascertain  the  mind,  and 
 make  plain  to  less  gifted  souls  the  meaning  of  the  Spirit 
 of  God.     Bishop  Newton,  a  divine  of  consummate  piety, 
 
 B 
 
2  PEOPHETiC    STUDIES. 
 
 laborious  research,  ana  great  talent,  makes  the  folloTring 
 remark  on  this  book  : — "What  an  amazing  prophecy  is 
 that  of  Daniel !  comprehending  so  many  events,  and  ex- 
 tending through  so  many  successive  ages,  from  the  esta- 
 blishment of  the  Persian  empire,  upwards  of  500  years 
 before  Christ,  to  the  second  general  resurrection  at  the 
 last  daj^.  AVhat  a  proof  of  Divine  Providence  and  of 
 Di^nne  Revelation  ! — for  who  could  thus  declare  the 
 things  that  shall  be,  with  their  times  and  their  seasons, 
 but  He  only  who  hath  them  in  his  power — Avhose  domi- 
 nion is  an  everlasting  dominion,  and  whose  kingdom 
 endure th  from  generation  to  generation?"  It  is  a  re- 
 markable feature  in  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  that  they 
 deal  much  with  figures.  There  is  in  them,  if  I  may  use 
 the  expression,  less  of  poetry,  more  of  chronology.  There 
 is  no  prophecy  so  definite  ;  no  prophecy  that  so  much 
 lays  itself  open  to  disproof,  if  it  be  false,  or  to  proof  if  it 
 be,  as  we  believe  it  to  be,  true.  There  is  no  prophecy 
 which  the  Jew  has  felt  greater  difficulty  in  dealing  Avith. 
 "/S'or  the  modern  Jew  sees  so  plainly,  that  if  Daniel  be 
 /  inspired,  and  his  chronology  be  of  God,  the  Messiah 
 must  have  come,  and  that  it  is  in  vain  to  look  for  an- 
 other, that  the  more  earnest  Jew  meets  the  difficulty 
 boldly  by  denying  that  the  book  is  divine  altogether, 
 on  grounds  and  upon  premises  on  which  he  may  deny 
 that  there  is  any  divinity  in  the  Old  Testament  at  all, 
 from  the  Book  of  Genesis  to  the  last  verse  of  the  Prophet 
 Malachi. 
 
 There  is  scarcely  a  doubt  that  Daniel  is  the  author  of 
 the  book.  It  does  not  begin  with  an  express  assertion  of 
 the  fact,  but  throughout  the  work  the  most  casual  reader 
 can  hardly  fail  to  perceive  many  marks  by  which  it  is 
 plain  that  Daniel  himself  was  the  writer.  Por  instance, 
 in  chap.  vii.  28,  he  says,  "I,  Daniel ;"  viii.  2,  "A  vision 
 appeared  to  me,  Daniel."  All  which,  and  I  might  quote 
 other  similar  expressions,  clearly  piove  that  Daniel  is 
 the  writer  of  the  book. 
 
 But  the  next  question  that  arises  is  this  :  Is  there 
 evidence  that  Daniel  not  only  existed,  but  was  the  sin- 
 gularly fayoui^ed,  exceUent,  and  beautiful  character  that 
 
DANIEL    THE    TEOPHET.  3 
 
 he  is  here  represented — not  proclaimed  to  be,  by  "svords, 
 but  shown  to  be  by  implication  ?  AYe  think  there  is  : 
 for  instance,  in  Ezek.  xiv.  14,  "  Though  these  three 
 men,  ]^[oah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  were  in  it,  they  should 
 deliver  but  their  own  souls  by  their  righteousness,  saith 
 the  Lord  God."  AYe  have  another  allusion,  almost  the 
 same,  contained  in  Ezek.  xxviii.  3  :  ''  Thou  art  wiser 
 than  Daniel ;  there  is  no  secret  that  they  can  hide  from 
 thee."  And  I  may  state  that  Ezekiel  was  cotemporary 
 with  Daniel.  Ezekiel  was  the  old  and  experienced 
 saint,  Avhen  Daniel  w^as  the  young  and  growing,  but 
 highly- favoured  Christian ;  and  the  beautiful  allusion 
 made  by  the  elder  to  the  wisdom  and  the  excellence  of 
 the  younger,  were  it  not  inspired,  w^ould  lead  us  at  least 
 to  say,  How  free  from  envy  and  jealousy  was  the  aged 
 Ezekiel  as  he  waned  from  the  stage,  in  reference  to 
 Daniel,  who  was  about  to  fill  his  place,  and  was  throw- 
 ing him  into  the  shade  by  his  greater  lustre  and  glory  ! 
 
 This  book  was  received  as  authentic  by  the  Jews  prior 
 to  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  and  was  never  disputed  by 
 them.  It  is  plain  evidence  that  it  existed  in  the  Hebrew 
 Bible — that  it  was  translated  by  the  Alexandrian  Jews, 
 three  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  into 
 Greek,  and  accordingly  it  exists  in  the  Septuagint 
 translation  at  this  day. 
 
 I  may  also  observe  that  the  Book  of  Daniel,  as  also 
 the  Book  of  Ezra,  is  written  partly  in  the  Chaldee,  a 
 language  differing  from  the  Hebre^v^  in  its  form  and 
 structure,  but  not  much  more  than  Italian  or  Spanish 
 difiers  from  Latin.  Any  one  who  understands  Latin 
 may  easily  master  either  of  the  tAvo  form.er  languages  ; 
 and  any  one  who  understands  Hebrew  has  the  key  that 
 unlocks  all  the  cognate  Oriental  languages.  This  language 
 begins  at  chap.  ii.  4,  where  the  Chaldeans,  who  spoke 
 Arameian,  or  Chaldee,  say  to  the  king  in  '''  Syriac," 
 which  is  the  same  dialect,  and  which  was  spoken  by  our 
 Lord  and  by  the  Jews  of  his  daj^,  "  0  king,  live  for 
 ever!"  Josephus,  the  distinguished  Jewish  historian, 
 bears  testimony  to  the  authenticity  of  this  book  in  the 
 following  terms:   "  All  these  things  did  this  man  leave 
 
 B  2 
 
PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 b(!hind  him,  Trriting  as  God  had  showed  them  to  him  ; 
 so  that  those  -svlio  read  his  prophecies,  and  see  how  they 
 have  been  fulhllcd,  must  be  astonished  at  the  honour 
 conferred  by  God  on  Daniel."  Ajitiq.  x.  11.  This  is  the 
 testimony  of  a  Jew  who  was  bitterly  hostile  to  Chris- 
 tianity ;  and  Josephus,  in  his  Antiquities,  shows  how 
 each  prediction  of  Daniel  had  been  fultilled  with  refer- 
 ence to  all  the  four  great  monarchies  except  the  last, 
 wliich  was  existing  in  his  own  time.  But  why  this  ex- 
 ception ?  Because  Josephus  was  a  servant  of  the  Eoman 
 emperor,  and  he  had  not  the  courage  to  proclaim  that 
 Daniel's  prophecies  regarding  Eome  had  been  as  truly 
 fulfilled  as  his  prophecies  relating  to  Babylon,  or  to  the 
 Persian  or  Median  empire. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  expressly 
 refer  to  Daniel.  You  are  all  acquainted  Avith  one  allu- 
 sion to  him  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15  :  "  When  jq  shall  see  the 
 abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  pro- 
 phet, stand  in  the  holy  place  (whoso  readeth  let  him 
 understand)."  But  it  is  perhaps  no  less  interesting  to 
 observe  the  allusions  scattered  through  the  iS^ew  Testa- 
 ment, which  clearly  point  to  expressions  and  prophecies 
 contained  in  Daniel,  though  the  prophet  himself  is  not 
 expressly  named.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  1  Pet.  i.  10,  we 
 read,  ''  Of  which  salvation  the  prophets  have  incpiired 
 and  searched  diligently,  who  prophesied  of  the  grace 
 that  should  come  unto  you."  jSTow,  on  looking  to  Dan. 
 ix.  3,  and  xii.  8,  Ave  jEind  the  passages  to  Avliich  St.  Peter 
 refers,  in  the  former  of  which  we  read,  *'  And  I  prayed 
 unto  the  Lord  my  God,  and  made  my  confession,  and 
 said,  0  Lord,  the  great  and  dreadful  God,  keeping  the 
 covenant  and  mercy  to  them  that  love  him,"  &c.  ;  and 
 in  the  latter  we  read,  *'I  heard,  but  I  understood  not ; 
 then  said  I,  0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of  these 
 things  ?"  &c.  Recollect  these  passages;  and  while  you 
 recoUect  them,  let  the  light  struck  from  the  language  of 
 Peter  fall  upon  them,  "  Of  which  salvation  the  prophets 
 have  inquired  and  searched  diligently,  Avhat,  or  Avhat 
 manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them 
 did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of 
 
DAXIEL   THE   PEOPKET.  5 
 
 Christ  and  the  glory  that  should  follow."  Another  very- 
 plain  allusion  to  Daniel  is  contained  in  2  Thess.  ii.  3, 
 where  we  have  the  delineation  of  the  featiu'cs  of  the 
 man  of  sin,  which  niay  well  be  compared  with  what 
 Daniel  tells  us  of  the  ''little  horn"  that  was  to  arise 
 ''doing  great  things;"  and  you  will  see  that  Paul  in 
 this  is  but  the  echo  of  Daniel ;  that  Paul  in  short  fills 
 up  the  outline  which  Daniel  had  previously  sketched. 
 Another  passage  to  which  I  may  refer,  is  1  Cor.  vi.  2, 
 where  the  Apostle  Paul  says,  "Know  ye  not  that  the 
 saints  shall  judge  the  world?"  Why  did  the  Apostle 
 thus  appeal  to  them  ?  because  the  Prophet  Daniel  ex- 
 pressly declares  that  they  will  do  so,  when  he  tells  us  in 
 chop.  vii.  22,  "  Until  the  Ancient  of  Days  came,  and 
 judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of  tlie  Most  High." 
 "What  a  wonderful  harmony  is  there  running  through 
 the  whole  word  of  God  !  You  cannot  touch,  as  it  were, 
 a  note  in  Daniel,  but  all  the  Apostles  of  the  l:\ew  Testa- 
 ment respond  to  it.  You  may  have  noticed  sometimes 
 in  a  building,  in  a  church,  or  a  hall,  that  if  a  certain 
 note  or  tone  be  given  by  the  speaker,  the  whole  building 
 will  instantly  vibrate  in  harmony  or  in  unison.  In  the 
 same  way,  you  cannot  touch  a  truth  in  Daniel,  but  tones 
 of  harmony  will  burst  from  the  lips  of  Paul  and  from  the 
 writings  of  Peter ;  the  whole  Bible,  in  grand  harmony, 
 revealing  the  mind,  the  will,  and  the  glory  of  God. 
 
 We  find  another  allusion — the  last  I  shall  here  refer 
 
 to — in  Heb.  xi.  33  :   "  By  faith they  stopped  the 
 
 mouths  of  lions."  This  evidently  refers  to  the  won- 
 derful deliverance  of  Daniel,  recorded  in  this  book,  when 
 cast  into  the  den  of  lions  by  order  of  King  Darius ;  upon 
 which  we  shall  comment  on  a  future  Sabbath  evening. 
 "  Quenched  the  violence  of  fire."  To  what  can  this 
 relate  but  to  the  escape  of  the  three  youths,  Shadrach, 
 Mcshach,  and  Abednego,  who  were  thrown  into  the 
 fiery  furnace  by  N^ebuchadnezzar^  and  had  not  even  their 
 garments  singed  by  the  flame  ? 
 
 These  allusions,  scattered  through  the  whole  Kew 
 Testament,  show  us  tliat  our  Lord  himself,  Peter,  Paul, 
 and,  I  might  say,  oU  the  Apostles,  assumed  the  .Book  of 
 
6  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Daniel  to  be  an  inspired  revelation  of  the  mind  and  "^ill 
 of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 I  have  thus,  then,  I  think,  shown  you  enough  from 
 the  remainder  of  the  Bible  to  prove  that  this  book  is 
 of  the  liible.  Some  Christians  amongst  you,  Avho  long 
 perhaps  for  better  things,  and  sweeter  things,  and  higher 
 things,  will  be  ready  to  say,  ''Why  prove  to  us  this  of 
 Avhich  we  are  already  convinced?"  So  you  are;  but 
 there  are  many  young  men  in  every  congregation  who 
 are  placed  among  nests  of  infidels,  and  who  Avill  be 
 taunted,  and  jeered,  and  scoffed  at,  for  assuming  or 
 asserting  the  truth,  that  the  visions  and  the  predictions 
 of  Daniel  are  inspuxd :  I  ask,  then,  Is  it  not  useful, — 
 is  it  not  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the  age, — is  it 
 not  Scriptural,  to  endeavour  to  enable  every  man  to  give 
 a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him  ?  I  know  you  may 
 be  convinced  in  your  hearts, — and  nothing  is  so  con- 
 vincing that  the  liible  is  true  as  the  constant  waiting 
 upon  a  minister  who  makes  known  the  precious  Gospel : 
 but  you  need,  not  only  what  will  convince  your  own 
 hearts  that  the  Bible  is  from  God,  but  you  need  that 
 which  will  enable  you  to  convince  others  also.  It  is 
 most  important  to  have  money  in  your  bank ;  but  you 
 will  lose  many  an  advantage  by  the  want  of  a  little 
 change  in  your  pocket.  It  is  most  important  to  have 
 deep  convictions  in  your  soul ;  but  it  is  not  less  valuable, 
 in  this  strange  world,  and  amid  its  strange  mixture  of 
 society,  to  have  a  little  ready  argument  which  you  can 
 employ,  and  therewith  ansvrer  a  fool  according  to  his 
 folly. 
 
 Let  me  notice  also  another  line  of  thought,  which 
 tends  to  convince  us  that  Daniel  wrote  at  the  time  that 
 is  here  assumicd,  and  was  a  living  participator  in  the 
 events  which  he  records.  For  instance,  it  is  stated  in 
 this  very  chapter,  that  the  youths  were  fed  from  the 
 royal  table.  This  is  received  by  the  ordinary  reader  as 
 a  naked  fact,  but  it  is  singularly  corroborative  of  what 
 we  have  been  saying;  for  it  was  a  custom  peculiar  to 
 the  Chaldeans  and  the  Persians,  and  common  to  no  people 
 besides ;   and  the  quiet  way  in  which  it  is  here  alluded 
 
DA2fIEL   THE   PROPHET.  7 
 
 to  as  a  common  and  a  ^rell-known  fact,  is  presumptive 
 evidence  that  the  record  was  made  by  an  individual  who 
 himself  lived  at  the  period  and  among  the  nation  with 
 whom  such  a  custom  prevailed. 
 
 The  change  of  the  names  of  his  companions  from 
 Hebrew  into  Chaldee,  is  not  merely  a  fact  that  acci- 
 dentally occurred  in  this  particular  case,  but  was  in 
 accordance  with  a  custom  universally  prevalent  among 
 the  Chaldees.  AVe  have  an  allusion  to  something  of  the 
 same  kind  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  17,  where  it  is  said  that 
 the  King  of  Babylon  changed  the  name  of  Eliakim  into 
 Jehoiakim.  This,  again,  shows  that  what  is  recorded  in 
 this  book  is  in  harmony  with  the  age  and  the  country 
 in  which  it  purports  to  have  been  penned. 
 
 The  method  of  reckoning  years  is  evidently  Baby- 
 lonish. Thus,  in  chap.  ii.  he  says,  "  In  the  second  year 
 of  King  Nebuchadnezzar;"  whence  it  is  plain  that  the 
 writer  of  it  wrote  then,  and  in  that  kingdom.  You  will 
 find  at  once,  from  the  way  in  which  any  person  writes 
 or  speaks  of  longitude,  in  what  country  he  has  lived; 
 because  each  country  reckons  longitude  from  its  own 
 meridian.  Our  meridian  is  a  line  supposed  to  pass 
 througli  Greenwich,  and  therefore  an  English  writer 
 would  reckon  longitude  from  this  point ;  while  a  French- 
 man Avould  speak  of  longitude  as  calculated  from  the 
 meridian  of  Paris ;  and  a  foreigner  of  some  other  country 
 would  reckon  it  from  another  and  a  different  first  meri- 
 dian. Thus,  as  the  mode  of  reckoning  longitude  M'ould 
 show  the  country  to  which  the  writer  belonged,  so  the 
 allusion  here  contained  to  the  mode  of  reckoning  time, 
 shows  that  th(  narrative  comes  from  the  pen  of  one  wlio 
 was  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
 people  concerning  whom  he  wrote. 
 
 Another  proof  of  this  fact  may  be  found  in  chap.  ii.  5, 
 w^here  the  king  commands  the  houses  of  the  wise  men  to 
 be  "  made  a  dunghill."  It  would  be  difticult  to  under- 
 stand this  of  houses  built  of  stone  or  of  our  brick  ;  but 
 we  must  remember  that  the  houses  of  the  Chaldeans 
 were  made  of  bricks  of  clay  hardened  in  the  sun,  wliich 
 might  easily  be  dissolved  by  violent  rains,  and  which 
 
8  PEOPBTTIC   STUDIES. 
 
 would  speedily,  by  the  continued  action  of  the  rain  and 
 moisture,  be  reduced  to  a  pulp,  or  soft  mass. 
 
 We  have  further  evidence  of  Daniel's  veracity  and 
 authenticity,  in  the  modes  in  Avhich  capital  punishment 
 is  recorded  to  have  been  inflicted.  Casting  into  a  heated 
 furnace  was  a  cruelty  practised  only  by  the  Chaldeans ; 
 while  casting  into  a  den  of  wild  beasts  was  a  punishment 
 peculiar  to  the  Modes  and  Persians.  You  will  therefore 
 observe,  that  when  Daniel  is  speaking  of  the  infliction  of 
 caj^ital  punishment  under  the  Chaldean  dynasty,  he 
 mentions  the  former  method,  namely,  casting  into  a  fur- 
 nace ;  and  when  speaking  of  its  infliction  under  the 
 Medo-Persian  dynasty,  he,  without  saying  a  word  about 
 the  change,  relates  that  it  was  to  have  been  performed 
 after  their  national  manner,  by  casting  into  a  den  of 
 lions :  thus  showing  how  perfectly  he  was  acquainted 
 with  the  manners  and  the  customs  of  the  age. 
 
 Again,  we  read,  that  at  the  great  festival  of  Bel- 
 shazzar,  females  were  present  at  the  feast.  We  have  the 
 authorit)'  of  Xenophon,  the  historian  of  Cyrus,  for  saying 
 that  it  was  a  custom  peculiar  to  Babylon,  and  unknown, 
 among  any  subsequent  nations  :  here  also  we  see  how 
 accurately  and  minutely  all  the  prophet  states  accords 
 with  the  -actual  peculiarities  of  the  age  and  country  in 
 which  he  professes  to  write. 
 
 The  historian  Xenophon,  to  whom  I  have  already 
 referred,  further  corroborates  the  prophet  in  his  state- 
 ment concerning  Pelshazzar,  for  he  tells  us  that  "the 
 last  king  of  liabjion  was  cruel,  cowardly,  and  volup- 
 tuous, who  despised  the  Deit}',  and  spent  his  time  in  riot 
 and  debauchery; "  which  is  precisely  the  character  given 
 by  Daniel  to  lielshazzar. 
 
 It  is  Xenophon' s  description  of  Cyaxares,  who  may 
 plainly  be  proved  to  have  been  the  same  with  Darius, 
 that  he  was  weak,  cruel,  and  pliable,  yet  furious  in  his 
 anger  and  tyrannical  in  his  exercise  of  power.  Compare 
 with  this  the  character  of  Darius  as  delineated  by  the 
 author  of  this  book — a  king  who  allowed  his  nobles  to 
 make  laws  for  him  which  were  unalterable,  and  after- 
 wards repented  and  endeavoured  to  retract  them ;  who 
 
DAISTEL   THE   PEOPHET.  » 
 
 casts. Daniel  into  the  den  of  lions  for  non-compliance 
 with  his  orders,  and  then  spends  the  Avhole  night  in 
 lamentation  and  remorse  at  the  consequences  of  his  cruel 
 severity, — and  you  have  here  another  sketch  from  the 
 ver}'  same  original.  It  is  thus  that  j'ou  catch,  sounding 
 along  the  lapse  of  centuries,  echoes  of  the  grand  original. 
 It  is  thus  that  the  more  you  become  acquainted  with  all 
 that  man's  learning  can  teach  us,  the  more  you  will  be 
 convinced  that  what  Prophets  and  Apostles  wrote  they 
 wrote  truly,  and  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
 of  God. 
 
 I  have  thus  alluded  to  these  little  points,  but  points 
 not  insigniticant,  especially  in  these  days  when  men  are 
 so  anxious  to  lind  matter  of  reproach  and  accusation 
 against  the  Word  of  God.  But,  in  speaking  to  a  Chris- 
 tian audience  of  the  presumptive  evidence  that  Daniel 
 wrote  this  book,  let  me  beg  you  to  notice  some  of  its 
 grand  distinctive  features.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
 this  book  the  great  object  of  it  seems  to  be  to  depress  all 
 that  is  human,  to  let  loose  and  unfold  the  glory  of  all 
 that  is  divine.  I  always  regard  it  as  the  evidence  of  a 
 good  sermon,  that  it  tends  to  place  the  creature  in  the 
 dust,  and  to  exalt  God  upon  his  throne ;  and  I  lay  it 
 down  as  evidence  that  a  book  is  in  keeping  with  the 
 grand  and  pervading  tone  of  the  whole  Gospel,  that  it 
 humbles  man,  and  exalts  the  Creator  and  the  Redeemer 
 of  man.  Head  the  whole  of  Daniel  with  this  idea  before 
 you,  and  j'ou  will  see  at  once  that  it  represents  king- 
 doms, and  their  monarchs,  their  statesmen,  their  coun- 
 cils, their  armies,  their  great  men,  their  magnificence 
 and  their  glory,  as  the  dust  only  in  the  balance;  it  re- 
 presents God  as  alone  great — as  casting  down  one  and 
 setting  up  another — as  the  Monarch  of  an  everlasting 
 kingdom — as  "the  Ancient  of  Days" — as  "the  Living 
 God" — the  Giver  of  wisdom — the  Euler  of  the  present, 
 the  Revealer  of  the  future.  Throughout  the  book  j'ou 
 have  these  two  grand  ideas  developed  : — man,  how  poor ! 
 how  frail !  how  short-lived  !  how  guilt)' !  God,  how 
 wise  !  how  oainipotent  !  how  sovereign  !  how  good ! 
 how  glorious  I 
 
10  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Again,  not  the  least  trinniphant  evidence  of  the  in- 
 spiration of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  is  its  plain  and  obvious 
 fiiliilinent.  Part  of  it  is  fulfilled  prophecy ;  part  of  it,  by 
 its  own  statements,  and  from  its  own  internal  allusions, 
 is  plainly  unfulfilled  prophecy.  The  portion  of  it  which 
 Daniel  stated  Avould  be  fulfilled  within  a  given  period, 
 has  been  completely  fulfilled,  to  the  very  letter ;  and 
 that  which  remains  to  be  fulfilled,  we  have  the  clearest 
 evidence  from  the  past  and  tlie  present,  will  be  fulfilled 
 with  equal  certainty,  and  equal  precision.  This  vision 
 which  Daniel  saw  by  the  banks  of  the  Ulai  and  the  Hid- 
 dekel,  the  two  great  rivers  of  the  land  of  Shinar,  has 
 been  partly  fulfilled,  partly  enlarged  in  the  Apocalypse, 
 is  now  in  course  of  fulfilment,  and  by-and-bye  will  be 
 completely  and  perfectly  accomplished. 
 
 Porphyry,  the  earliest  and  highly  celebrated  sceptic, 
 from  whom  and  Julian  the  succession  of  sceptics  traces 
 itself,  saw  so  plainly  the  fulfilment  of  part  of  the  j^ro- 
 phecies  of  Daniel,  that  he  declared  the  book  to  have  been 
 composed  by  one  Avho  lived  in  the  days  of  Antiochus 
 Epiphanes.  He  saw  so  plainly  that  what  Daniel  pre- 
 dicted had  been  fulfilled  to  the  verj^  letter,  that  he  denied 
 it  was  written  nearlj^  600  years  before  Christ,  and  main- 
 tained that  it  was  written  within  200  years  of  that  event. 
 But  the  answer  to  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact,  that 
 the  Greek  translation  from  the  Hebrew,  called  the  Sep- 
 tuagint,  was  made  and  scattered  throughout  the  world 
 100  years  before  Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  born,  and 
 therefore,  that  the  objection  of  Porphyry  is  alike  unten- 
 able, unhistorical,  and  absurd. 
 
 It  has  also  been  objected  to  this  book,  that  there  are  in 
 it  so  many  miracles  and  special  manifestations  of  God 
 that  they  seem  unnecessary,  and,  as  it  were,  supereroga- 
 tory, and  that  it  is  not  consistent  with  what  we  other- 
 wise know^  of  God,  that  He  should  thus  so  frequently 
 and  upon  so  many  occasions  miraculously  manifest  him- 
 self. But  we  must  consider  that  at  this  period  the  Jews 
 were  in  capti%T.t5^ — their  temple  was  destroyed — their 
 sacred  rites,  their  sacrifices,  and  their  ceremonies  had 
 ceased — theii'  priests  and  their  Levites  were  gone.  Is  ow, 
 
DANIEL   THE   rEOPITET.  11 
 
 would  it  not  seem  perfectly  natural,  when  all  the  out- 
 ward signs  of  their  religion  Avcre  thus  removed,  that 
 God  should  manifest  more  of  himself  to  them,  in  order 
 to  keep  up  the  light  of  religion  in  the  absence  of  its  out- 
 ^yard  and  visible  ordinances  ?  Does  it  not  seem  but 
 natural  that  when  the  outer  glory  Avas  shaded,  the  inner 
 glory  should  be  made  to  shine  the  more  brilliantly  ? 
 I)ocs  it  not  seem  but  reasonable  that  when,  in  the  land  of 
 their  captivity,  they  lacked  those  sacred  symbols  by 
 which  they  were  wont  to  approach  God,  He  who  is  not 
 confined  to  temples  made  with  hands  should  visit  them 
 in  the  time  of  theiv  distress,  and  cheer  them  by  special 
 and  glorious  manifestations  of  himself  ?  This  has  been 
 the  way  of  God  in  eveiy  age,  and  therefore  the  absence, 
 not  the  presence,  of  such  divine  manifestations,  would  be 
 a  presumption  against  the  claims  of  this  book.  There  is 
 no  doubt  of  its  inspiration.  Let  us  therefore  stxidy  it, 
 and  in  these  studies  we  shall  gather,  not  only  glimpses 
 of  the  blessed  future,  but  directions  for  oui"  guidance 
 along  the  troubled  present. 
 
LECTTJEE  II. 
 
 CHEISTIAIf   STEABFASTNESS. 
 
 "  But  Daniel  purposed  in  his  heart  that  he  tcould  not  defile 
 himself  with  the  2}ortio7i  of  the  king's  meat,  nor  xoith 
 the  wine  ivhich  he  dranh :  therefore  he  requested  of  the 
 prince  of  the  eunuchs  that  he  might  not  defile  himself. 
 Now  God  had  hrought  Daniel  into  favour  and  tender  love 
 with  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs^ — Dax.  i.  8,  9. 
 
 Havestg  said  so  much  by  way  of  preface  to  my  expo- 
 sition of  this  Book,  let  me  endeavour  briefly  to  look  at 
 the  particular  verse  I  have  selected  for  remark,  which  is 
 really  a  very  important  one.  ''  Then  Daniel  purposed 
 in  his  heart  that  he  would  not  defile  himself  with  the 
 portion  of  the  king's  meat."  Daniel,  as  far  as  we  can 
 gather,  was  very  young  when  he  was  carried  away  a 
 captive  into  Babylon.  He  is  called  '^  a  child,"  and  we 
 speak  of  the  three  children ;  but,  as  I  told  you  on  a 
 former  occasion,  the  word  rendered  ''  child,"  means  ''  a 
 stripling,"  *'a  young  man;"  the  presumption  therefore 
 is  that  Daniel  at  this  time  was  about  fifteen  or  sixteen ' 
 years  of  age ;  and  at  the  end  of  three  years,  when  after 
 living  on  pulse  and  vrater  he  appeared  much  fairer  and 
 fatter  in  flesh  than  those  of  his  countrymen  who  con- 
 sented to  become  partakers  of  the  royal  bounty,  he  was 
 probabl}-  about  twenty  years  of  age.  But  it  may  be  asked, 
 what  was  it  that  made  Daniel  so  firmly  refuse  to  eat  of 
 the  king's  meat  or  drink  of  the  king's  wine,  when  there 
 was  so  great  a  temptation  to  do  so  ?  It  could  not  be 
 that  he  thought  it  sinlul  to  drink  wine,  or  improper  to 
 dine  with  the  king  of  the  country.  I  have  no  doubt  he 
 knew  just  as  M^ell  as  others  that  wine  was  m.ore  agreeable 
 to  his  taste  than  water,  and  that  to  dine  at  the  royal 
 
CHRTSTIAIS"   STEADFASTNESS.  13      . 
 
 table  "would  be  a  great  honour ;  but  the  reason  of  his 
 refusal  was  evidently  this — the  king  of  Babylon,  like  all 
 heathens,  Avas  in  the  habit  of  what  we  would  call  "asking 
 a  blessing  "  before  his  meals,  or,  as  it  is  more  popularly 
 termed,  "  saying  grace  ;"  in  doing  which  he  took  a  por- 
 tion of  his  food  and  dedicated  it  to  the  god  whom  he 
 worsliipped,  and  also  a  portion  of  the  wine  he  was  about 
 to  drink,  and  poured  out  a  libation  to  his  idol  before 
 tasting  it  himself;  and  thus,  as  it  were,  consecrated, 
 according  to  his  idea,   the  Avholc  to  the  heathen  god.  / 
 
 Daniel  now  felt  that  he  could  not  conscientiously  partake  . '  M^'^^ 
 of  it,  because  it  would  have  been,  as  I  shall  hereafter  '  /o  ;* 
 show,  implicating  himself  with  heathenism,  and  acting  ^' 
 unfaithfully  to  his  country,  his  religion,  and  his  God ; 
 and  he  was  prepared  to  run  all  hazards  rather  than 
 even  appear  to  do  so.  AYhat  was  it,  then,  that  made 
 Daniel  thus  resolute  and  firm  ?  It  was  this  :  Daniel 
 had  received  an  early  religious  education ;  he  was  not 
 brought  up  at  a  school  where  he  learned  the  world  and 
 nothing  more,  or  mere  secular  education  to  the  exclusion, 
 of  religion,  just  as  if  that  were  possible.  He  was  not 
 educated  at  a  school  where  he  was  taught  what  the 
 French  schoolmasters  are  now  teaching — pantheism  and 
 socialism  ;  but  he  was  brought  up  at  the  home  of  his 
 father,  where  he  acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  God  of 
 Abraham,  and  that  savingly  and^Avith  profit.  Early 
 education  was  to  Daniel,  under  God,  the  means  of  his 
 preservation.  The  deep  engraving  of  truth  upon  the 
 heart  of  the  3'oung  is  never  altogether  effaced.  Those 
 impressions  of  divine  truth  that  are  made  on  our  hearts 
 in  3'outh  often  emerge  in  after  years  with  all  the  fresh- 
 ness and  the  beauty  of  yesterday.  Silenced  they  may 
 be  ;  extinguished  they  rarely  are  :  overshadowed  tliey 
 may  be  ;  but  obliterated  they  cannot  be.  I  know,  when 
 I  learned  that  Scriptural  but  extremely  abstruse  work — 
 perhaps  more  so  than  need  be — ''The  Shorter  Cate- 
 chism," I  did  not  understand  it ;  in  those  days  education 
 was  not  so  well  comprehended,  and  it  was  not  thought  so 
 necessary  to  explain  to  the  understanding  what  was  to  be 
 stored  in  the  memory,  as  it  is  now ;  but  my  memory  was 
 
14  PROPnETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 stored  with  the  truths  of  that  precious  docnmcnt ;  and 
 •when  I  grew  up  I  found  those  truths  which  had  been 
 laid  aside  in  its  cells  as  j^ropositions  which  I  could  neither 
 understand  nor  make  use  of,  become  illuminated  by  the 
 sunshine  of  after  years,  and,  like  some  hidden  and  mys- 
 terious writing,  reveal  in  all  their  beauty  and  their  ful- 
 ness those  precious  truths  which  I  had  neither  seen  nor 
 comprehended  before,  and  which  have  been  so  long  and 
 are  now  preached  in  the  church  of  my  fathers,  and  no 
 less  so,  I  trust,  in  every  section  of  the  evangelical  church 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  words  spoken  b}'  parents 
 to  their  children  in  the  privacy  of  home,  or  by  teachers 
 to  their  pupils  in  the  more  busy  scene  of  the  schoolroom, 
 are  like  words  spoken  in  a  wliispering-gallery,  and  Avill 
 be  clearl}'  heard  at  the  distance  of  years,  and  along  the 
 corridors  of  ages  that  are  yet  to  come.  Teach  your 
 children  early  tniths,  even  if  they  cannot  comprehend 
 them,  and  those  truths,  impressed  upon  their  minds 
 when  young,  will  prove  like  the  lode- star  to  the  mariner 
 upon  a  dark  and  stormy  sea,  associated  with  a  mother's 
 love,  with  a  father's  example,  with  the  roof-tree  beneath 
 which  they  lived  and  loved,  and  will  prove  mighty  in 
 after-life  to  mould  the  man  and  enable  him  to  adorn  and 
 improve  the  age  in  which  he  is  placed.  The  heart  of  a 
 child  is  ductile  ;  it  is  a  soft  soil,  into  which  we  may  cast 
 seed  which  shall  either  produce  poisonous  weeds,  or 
 spring  up  and  expand  into  fruit-bearing  trees.  Reverence 
 the  child — that  little  white  pinafore  in  the  infant-school 
 ought  to  be  looked  upon  at  least  as  reverently  as  the 
 black  apron  of  the  most  learned  bishop  or  archbishop 
 that  ever  lived.  It  has  an  importance  that  you  cannot 
 over-estimate  ;  that  child  may  play  a  part  that  shall  be 
 terrible  as  that  of  a  Xapoleon — the  scourge  of  nations;  or 
 beautiful  as  that  of  Daniel — the  faithful  amid  the  faith- 
 less many.  '*  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  sJwuld  go," 
 — mark  the  words,  not  "in  the  way  he  would  go,"  that 
 is  the  French  sj'stom  of  education ;  but  "  in  the  way 
 he  should  go, — and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
 from  it." 
 
 Let  me  notice  another  feature  in  the  Prophet.  Daniel 
 
CnEISTIAN-    STEADFASTNESS.  15 
 
 Tras  of  noble  if  not  of  royal  birth.  He  was  of  the  royal 
 tribe  of  Judah ;  and  this  shows  us  that  whilst  ''  not 
 7}iaf)i/  mighty,  not  niani/  noble  are  called,"  tliere  are  some 
 even  of  the  highest  rank  who  have  adome'd  by  their 
 practice  the  faith  whicli  they  professed.  Isaiah  and 
 Daniel  were  of  the  royal  tribe ;  David  was  a  shepherd- 
 bo}-;  Amos  was  a  herdsman ;  Zechariah,  a  captive  from 
 Babylon  ;  Elisha,  a  ploughman  ;  so  that  we  have  among 
 the  Old  Testament  prophets,  the  prince  and  the  peasant, 
 the  noble  and  the  commoner,  all  equally  inspired  by  the 
 Spirit  of  God,  and  proclaiming  with  equal  distinctness 
 the  truths  of  the  everlasting  Gospel.  I  knoAV  that  the 
 minister  of  the  Gospel  should  look  upon  the  conversion 
 of  a  single  soul  as  transcending  and  eclipsing  everytliing ; 
 but  under  the  present  constitution  of  society — whether 
 that  constitution  be  good  or  bad,  it  is  not  for  me  here  to 
 discuss — rank  and  wealth  and  power  have  a  mighty  in- 
 fluence, and  we  ouglit  specially  to  thank  God  when 
 families  occupying  tlie  highest  place  in  the  land  are 
 found,  as  they  are  found,  more  and  more  every  da}^ 
 allj'ing  themselves  to  that  which  gives  splendour  to  the 
 most  ancient  coronet,  and  grandeur  to  the  mightiest  and 
 most  illustrious  crown.  Daniel  then  was  of  the  royal 
 tribe,  and  probably  of  the  royal  family,  a  man  of  rank 
 and  dignity,  and  he  enlisted  all  his  power  and  all  his 
 influence  in  the  service  of  his  country,  his  religion,  and 
 his  God.  , 
 
 In  the  third  pluce,  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  were 
 evidently  scholars ;  they  were  men  of  learning  and  talent. 
 Daniel  was  skilled  in  all  the  secular  as  well  as  the  reli- 
 gious knowledge  of  his  country ;  and  when  we  contend 
 for  sacred  education,  you  must  not  suppose  that  we  mean 
 to  im.ply  that  secular  and  scientific  knowledge  is  useless 
 to  you,  or  in  any  way  to  disparage  the  pursuit  of  it. 
 Only  read  the  subsequent  part  of  this  chapter,  and  you 
 will  find  that  Daniel  was  skilled  in  all  the  learning  of 
 the  times,  and  it  proved  of  eminent  advantage  to  him  and 
 his  countrymen.  For  aught  we  Imow,  those  Babylonians, 
 gazing  upon  the  starry  firmament  in  that  splendid 
 atmosphere,  and  in  that  glorious  climate  upon  the  nluins 
 
16  PEOPHETIC   STTJDIES. 
 
 of  Shinar,  may  have  had  a  kno-v\-ledp^c  of  astronomy 
 -which  might  make  even  I^ewton  look  less  if  wc  only 
 knew  all  that  the  Chaldeans  knew.  Daniel,  however, 
 "was  a  Hebrew,  and  was  taught  in  a  Hebrew  school — 
 science  associated  with  religion.  And  such  knowledge 
 proved  of  use  to  him,  for  it  was  a  great  means  of  his 
 exaltation  to  jooAver.  At  the  present  day  the  possession 
 of  sound  secular  knowledge,  in  India,  for  instance,  is  of 
 very  great  importance.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  among 
 the' Hindoos  in  India  we  have  100,000"^ 000  of  fellow- 
 subjects  ;  with  them  science  is  always  most  intimately 
 connected  with  religion,  so  much  so  that  it  is  one  of  the 
 principles  of  their  creed  that  all  knowledge  is  equally 
 inspired.  They  believe  their  chemistry,  their  astronomy, 
 their  geology,  to  be  as  much  inspired  as  any  principle  in 
 their  religion.  If,  then,  you  can  prove  to  a  Hindoo  that 
 any  jjart  of  his  science  is  Avrong,  you  have  not  only  made 
 him  a  better  philosopher,  but  you  have  taken  out  a  stone 
 from  the  very  arch  of  ^^hich  his  ^vhoie  system  of  belief 
 is  composed.  When  the  Church  of  Scotland  sent  out  her 
 missionaries,  she  made  the  experiment ;  but  Avhen  they 
 tried  to  teach  the  Hindoos  science  as  well  as  religion, 
 some  people  said,  ''What,  are  missionaries  going  out 
 from  a  Christian  church  to  teach  astronomy?"  and  cer- 
 tainly the  objection  seemed  plausible  enough  :  but  the 
 result  has  proved  how  complete  was  the  popular  misap- 
 prehension. To  give  an  instance  of  the  advantages 
 arising  from  the  course  we  adopted,  I  may  state,  that  the 
 Hindoos  believe  that  the  earth  is  not  a  round  globe,  but 
 an  extended  plain  ;  and  that  when  an  eclipse  takes  place, 
 it  is  some  great  animal  whose  shadow  produces  this  effect 
 upon  the  moon,  and  that  it  betokens  some  disaster  :  but 
 •>vhen  one  of  our  missionaries  proved  to  a  Brahmin  what 
 is  the  true  figure  of  our  globe,  and  demonstrated  to  him 
 that  an  eclipse  would  take  place  on  a  certain  day,  and  at 
 a  certain  hour,  and  would  be  visible  at  a  certain  place, 
 he  had  proved  to  the  Brahmin  that  what  he  believed  to 
 be  an  inspired  dogma  Avas  a  gross  scientific  blunder ;  and 
 by  so  doing*  he  not  only  made  the  Brahmin  a  better  phi- 
 losopher, which  was  not  worth  doing,  but  he  succeeded 
 
CHBISTIAN    STEADFASTNESS.  17 
 
 in  Bhaldng  his  faith  in  his  whole  system  of  religious 
 belief,  and  thus  led  him  to  infer  that  if  one  article  in  his 
 creed  were  false,  might  not  all  its  articles  be  false 
 together  ?  This  shows  us  the  great  importance  of  teach- 
 ing scientific  knowledge.  Now,  Daniel  was  acquainted 
 with  all  branches  of  knowledge,  and  it  was  of  great  use 
 to  him,  as  it  ever  will  be  in  the  hand  and  under  the  con- 
 trol of  religion.  So  connected  it  becomes  a  Levite  in 
 the  temple  of  God,  a  handmaid  of  the  bride.  It  acts  as 
 a  pioneer  of  the  Gospel  till  the  spoils  that  are  taken  from 
 Egypt  shall  beautify  the  temple  of  Salem,  and  all  nature 
 bring  its  trophies  to  adorn  the  Eedeemer's  triumph. 
 
 It  is  evident,  in  the  next  place,  that  though  the  King 
 of  Babylon  liked  Daniel  the  scholar,  he  did  not  much 
 like  Daniel  the  Christian.      He  wished  Daniel  and  his 
 friends  to  be  taught  all  the  learning  and  the  tongue  of 
 the  Chaldeans ;  and  he  Avished  him  at  the  same  time  to 
 be  taught  to  serve  the  gods  and  sympathise  with  the  re-  y 
 ligion  of  the  Chaldeans.     The  king  liked  Daniel's  scho- 
 larship, but  not  his  religion.     He  would  gladly  avail 
 himself  of  Daniel's  science  ;  but  he  would  liave  liked  it 
 separate  and  distinct  from  Daniel's  religion.     So  it  is  ^ 
 with  the  world  still ;  men  admire  an  eloquent  sermon,  if 
 there  be  not  much  Gospel  in  it — they  are  pleased  with  an 
 argumentative  discourse,  if  it  does  not  touch  some  tender 
 part  of  their  consciences.      There  are  many  who  would  ^ 
 be  delighted  with  Christianity  if  they  could  only  get  rid 
 of  that  continual  appeal  to  their  conscience  which  runs  ' 
 through  the  Bible.  They  have  the  greatest  resjoect  for  the 
 decencies  of  Christianity,  and  would  even  tolerate  real 
 Christianity,  provided  it  does  not  become  too  earnest — too 
 lU'gent  for  supremacy  and  mastery  in  the  human  heart. 
 
 But  the  King  of  Babylon  not  only  wished  to  unteach 
 Daniel  his  Christianity;  but,  in  order  to  detach  him  still 
 more  completely  from  liis  Hebrew  associations,  he  changed 
 his  name.  He  had  the  more  reason  for  doing  so  in  this 
 case,  because  the  names  of  each  of  tlie  three  children  had 
 "God"  in  it,  and  thus  served  to  remind  them  of  the  re- 
 ligion they  professed.  But  every  name  which  the 
 Chaldee  monarch  gave  them  was  either  merely  civil  and 
 
 0 
 
18  PiiOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 social,  or  contained  an  allusion  actiiallj^  idolatrous. 
 **  Daniel,"  for  instance,  signifies  *'  God  my  Judge ," 
 ^'Hananiali,"  the  original  of  the  Latin  ''John,"  means 
 ''Grace  of  Jehovah;"  '' Mishael,"  "Asked  of  God;" 
 "Azariah,"  "The  Lord  is  my  Keeper."  These  names 
 were  to  the  exiled  youths,  witnesses  for  God,  and 
 mementos  of  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  The  king  of 
 Babylon,  therefore,  called  Daniel  "  Eelteshazzar,"  which 
 means,  "The  treasurer  of  the  god  Bel;"  Hananiah  he 
 called  "Shadrach,"  "The  messenger  of  the  King;"  and 
 Mishael  he  called  "Meshach,"  a  name  denoting,  "The 
 devotee  of  the  goddess  Shesach;"  and  Azariah  had  liis 
 name  changed  into  "  Abed-nego,"  which  signifies  "The 
 servant  of  JS'ego,"  one  of  the  gods  of  Babylon.  Tbus 
 Kebuchadnezzar  heathcnised  their  names,  in  hopes  that 
 he  might  thereby  be  the  better  able  to  heathenise  their 
 hearts.  There  is  much  in  a  name.  A  great  poet  has 
 said — 
 
 "  What's  in  a  name  ?  that  which  we  call  a  rose 
 By  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet  " 
 
 Abstractedly  and  logicalh%  he  is  correct ;  but  practically 
 we  find  that  there  is  a  great  deal  in  a  name.  So  thought 
 the  King  of  Babylon ;  and  when  he  changed  the  names 
 of  the  young  Hebrew  captives,  he  imagined  that  he  had 
 made  a  grand  step  towards  changing  their  creed  and  their 
 character.  But  in  this  he  was  mistaken  :  the  alteration 
 of  names  did  not  alter  the  conduct  of  those  that  bore 
 them.  The  Hebrew  youths  made  no  resistance,  but 
 quietly  took  the  names  assigned  them,  just  as  Christians 
 have  ever  taken  patiently  the  reproaches  of  the  world, 
 and  borne  them  joyfully ;  but,  even  in  this  new  nomen- 
 clature, they  heard  the  undertone  or  echo  of  those  dear 
 and  holy  names  which  their  fathers  had  given  them ;  :  nd 
 they  felt  that  thougli  a  tyrant  might  change  their  names, 
 no  tyrant  can  change  a  Christian's  conviction  or  a  Chris- 
 tian's heart.  Neither  the  sheepskins  nor  the  goatskins  of 
 the  martjTs  made  them  less  lovely  before  God ;  the 
 beauty  of  the  king's  daughter  is  not  a  beauty  that  man 
 can  make  or  mar  ;  her  beauty  is  within,  it  is  a  moral — a 
 hidden,  and  so  a  lasting  beauty. 
 
CHEISTIAX    STEADFASTNESS.  19 
 
 The  King  of  Babylon,  we  read,  yet  further  to  identify 
 these  four  Hebrew  youths  with  himself  and  his  religion, 
 sent  them  food  from  tlie  royal  table.  We  know  that 
 this  was  a  mark  of  great  generosit}'.  It  was,  as  it  were, 
 saying  to  these  Hebrew  youtlis,  If  you  will  become 
 priests  of  our  temple,  we  will  give  you  an  endowment 
 from  the  state.  I  do  not  say  here  whether  endowment 
 is  right  or  wrong.  Truth  can  do  without  it,  and  maj  law- 
 fully take  it;  but  truth  is  not  to  be  promoted  by  the  sword, 
 neither  is  error  to  be  maintained  by  the  treasury.  This 
 sending  them  meat  from  the  roj'al  table  was  a  mark  of 
 esteem — a  degree  of  preferment ;  and  as  such  it  should 
 be  received  with  gratitude ;  but  it  was  refused  in  this 
 case  because  it  involved  the  sacrifice  of  principle.  Every 
 Jew  was  forbidden  by  the  law  to  eat  any  but  animals  of 
 certain  classes  which  Avere  called  clean.  Herein  lay 
 one  objection  to  the  Hebrew  youths  accepting  the  prof- 
 ferred  honoiir  of  eating  from  the  royal  table.  But  whether 
 our  meat  be  from  the  table  of  the  monarch  or  elsewhere, 
 it  must  not  lead  us  to  abandon  one  jot  of  what  we  believe 
 to  be  true,  or  to  adopt  the  least  item  of  what  we  believe 
 to  be  unscriptural  and  untrue.  The  object  of  the  king, 
 as  I  have  explained  to  you,  was  partly  to  engage  their 
 sjTnpathies  with  heathenism,  and  partly  to  identify 
 them  more  with  the  idol  gods  whom  he  worshipped.  But 
 another  objection  on  the  part  of  Daniel  and  his  friends 
 arose  from  the  fact,  to  which  I  have  before  alluded,  that 
 it  was  customary  with  the  Chaldeans,  as  with  other  hea- 
 then nations,  always  to  commence  their  meals  by  the 
 dedication  of  their  food  tj  the  idols  whom  they  adored. 
 Speaking  of  this  subject,  the  xipostle  tells,  us,  1  Cor.  x. 
 27,  28,  ''  If  any  of  them  that  believe  not  bid  you  to  a 
 feast,  and  ye  be  disposed  to  go  ;  Avhatsoever  is  set  before 
 you,  eat,  asking  no  question  for  conscience'  sake :  .but  if 
 any  man  say  unto  you,  This  is  oftered  in  sacrifice  unto 
 idols,  eat  not  for  his  sake  that  showed  it,  and  for  con- 
 science' sake."  This  was  just  the  case  of  tlie  Hebrew 
 youths ;  and  in  settling  this  question  they  argued  thus : 
 *'  Shall  I,"  said  Daniel,  "  ask  my  conscience,  or  shall  I 
 ask  my  appetite  ?  shall  I  cease  to  live  as  an  Israelite,  or 
 
 c  2 
 
20  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 shall  I  cease  to  live  as  the  protege  of  my  royal  master  ? 
 shall  I  give  up  the  dignity  reflected  from  the  throne,  or 
 shall  I  give  up  the  honour  that  cometh  from  God  only  ?" 
 Had  Daniel  been  one  of  those  modern  easy,  accom- 
 modating Christians,  who  v>^hen  they  go  to  liome  say, 
 
 y  "  We  must  do  as  Home  does,"  and  Avhen  they  go  to  Con- 
 stantinople, *'We  must  do  as  Constantinople  does,"  he 
 would  have  acted  very  differently.  But  he  felt  that 
 truth  has  no  latitude ;  the  living  religion  of  the  living 
 God  knows  no  longitude.  It  is  to  be  the  same  in  Lon- 
 don as  in  Paris ;  it  is  to  have  supremacy  in  all  countries 
 and  in  all  climes ;  w^hcther  in  Constantinople,  or  in 
 Kome,  or  in  England,  we  must  be  the  worshippers  of 
 the  living  God,  by  Christ  the  living  way,  and  through 
 the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter  of  all  that 
 believe.  My  dear  friends,  make  the  world  bow  to  your  v^ 
 religion  ;  never  let  3'our  religion  bow  to  the  world. "  Let 
 the  world  fail,  and  let  give  w\ay  Avho  will,  the  earnest 
 
 /  Christian  and  the  honest  man  never  Avill  give  way.  Do 
 not  try  to  be  nide  ;  that  is  not  necessary.  Do  not  offen- 
 sively obtrude  what  you  believe  upon  others  ;  but  when 
 it  is  demanded — when  you  are  called  upon  to  sacritic(y 
 your  principles  and  to  deny  your  Lord,  remember  tha 
 there  can'bc  little  hesitation  when  the  question  is  whether 
 you  are  to  obey  God,  or  to  obey  man.  Daniel  so  acted, 
 and  Daniel  was  blessed  in  doing  so. 
 
 Ee  ye  followers  of  Daniel,  and  of  all  ''those  who 
 through  faith  and  patience  inherited  the  promises." 
 Study  Daniel,  and  copy  him,  as  far  as  he  copied  Christ. 
 We  admire  this  star,  because  it  shines  in  the  light  of 
 Christ  the  original. 
 
 "  Faithful  found 
 Among  the  faithless  ;  faithful  only  he, 
 Amon<^  innumerable  false  ;  unmoved, 
 Unshaken,  unsedueed.  unterrified, 
 His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love  and  zeal. 
 Kor  number  nor  example  with  him  wrought 
 To  swerve  from  truth,  or  change  Ills  constant  mind, 
 Though  single." 
 
LECTUEE  III. 
 
 LITIXG    TO    GOD    IX   LITTLE    THIXGS. 
 
 "  In  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  JehoiaHm  king  of 
 Judah  came  Nehiichadnezzar  Icing  of  Bah/Ion  unto 
 Jerusalem,  and  lesieged  it.  And  the  Lord  gave 
 Jehoiahm  king  of  Judah  into  his  hand,  with  part  of 
 the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God :  which  he  carried  into 
 the  land  of  Shinar  to  the  house  of  his  god;  and  he 
 brought  the  vessels  iiito  the  treasure-house  of  his  god. 
 And  the  ling  spake  mito  Ashpenaz  the  master  of  his 
 eunuchs,  that  he  should  hring  certain  of  the  children  of 
 Israel,  and  of  the  king's  seed,  and  of  the  princes; 
 children  in  whom  was  no  hlemish,  hut  ic  ell  favoured,  and 
 skilful  in  all  wisdom,  and  cumiing  in  knowledge,  and 
 understanding  science,  and  such  as  had  ahility  in  them 
 to  stand  in  tlie  king'' s  palace,  and  ivhom  they  might  teach 
 the  learning  and  the  tongue  of  the  Chaldeans.  And 
 the  king  appointed  them  a  daily  provision  of  the  king'' s 
 meat,  and  of  the  tvine  ichich  he  drank :  so  nourishing 
 them  three  years,  that  at  the  end  thereof  they  might 
 stand  hefore  the  king.  Now  among  these  were  of  the 
 children  of  Judah,  Daniel,  Uananiah,  Mishael,  and 
 Azariah :  imto  whoyn  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  gave 
 names :  for  he  gave  unto  Daniel  the  name  of  Belteshazzar: 
 and  to  Uananiah,  of  Shadrach ;  and  to  Mishael,  of 
 Ileshach  ;  and  to  Azariah,  of  Ahed-nego.  But  Daniel 
 purposed  in  his  heart  that  he  would  not  defile  himself 
 with  the  portion  of  the  king's  meat,  nor  with  the  wine 
 which  he  drank :  therefore  he  requested  of  the  jjrince  of 
 the  eunuchs  that  he  might  not  defile  himself.  Now  God 
 had  brought  Daniel  into  favour  and  tender  love  with  the 
 prince  of  the  eunuchs.     And  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs 
 
22  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 said  unto  Daniel,  I  fear  my  lord  the  Icing,  loho  hath 
 ap^pointcd  your  meat  and  your  drink  :  for  why  should  he 
 see  your  faces  worse  liking  than  the  children  ivhich  are  of 
 your  sort?  then  shall  ye  make  me  endanger  my  head  to  the 
 king.  Then  said  Daniel  to  Melzar,  whom  the  ])rince  of 
 of  the  eunuchs  had  set  over  Daniel,  Sananiah,  Mishael, 
 and  Azariah,  Prove  thy  servants,  I  beseech  thee,  ten 
 days  ;  and  let  them  give  us  imlse  to  eat,  and  water  to 
 drink.  Then  let  our  countenances  he  looked  upon  be- 
 fore thee,  and  the  countenance  of  the  children  that  eat  of 
 the  portion  of  the  king's  meat:  and  as  thou  seest,  deal 
 with  thy  servaiitsy — Daxiel  i.  1 — 13. 
 
 Ix  my  introductory  discourse  upon  this  truly  inter- 
 esting book,  I  have  endeavoured  first  of  all  to  show  you 
 that  the  assumption  that  the  book  was  written  at  the 
 epoch  at  which  it  is  said  to  have  been  written,  viz.  about 
 600  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  can  be  proved  to  be 
 fact  by  internal  as  well  as  collateral  evidence.  I  quoted 
 various  passages  from  the  book  itself  in  proof  of  this 
 fact,  for  most  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  Hengstenberg, 
 the  celebrated  German  vindicator  of  the  Book  of  Daniel 
 and  of  the  Pentateuch ;  and  I  showed  from  several  cir- 
 cumstances that  the  book  must  have  been  penned  at  the 
 time,  in  the  country,  and  under  the  circumstances  in 
 which  it  professes  to  have  been  written. 
 
 I  then  referred  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the  four 
 captive  Hebrew  youths  were  placed.  They  had  been 
 brought  up  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  in  the 
 enjoyment  of  all  the  religious  privileges  of  Jerusalem ; 
 and  now,  in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  and  among  their 
 heathen  conquerors,  the  principles  thoy  had  imbibed  in 
 their  youth  were  put  to  the  severest  test. 
 
 I  endeavoured  from  these  facts  to  di'aw  the  inference, 
 that  a  Christian  education  is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings 
 you  can  bestow  on  those  that  are  around  you.  The 
 infant  generation  of  to-day  are  the  adult  generation  of 
 to-morrow ;  and  very  much  what  we  now  make  them,, 
 that  they  will  be.  As  Christian  men  we  must  feel  it 
 hard  and  painful  to  see  the  child — the  all  but  child — 
 
LIVING    TO    GOD    IN    LITTLE    THINGS.  23 
 
 broiglit  up  at  the  police  court,  and  sent  to  the  treadmill, 
 or  banished  to  Botany  Bay,  when  we  recollect  that  it  is 
 those  who  read  the  intelligence  who  are  to  be  blamed 
 for  leaving  that  child  without  the  means  of  Christian 
 and  Scriptural  instruction ;  and  it  may  be  that  much  of 
 the  blood  of  those  that  thus  perish  in  their  sins  may  lie 
 at  our  door.  At  all  events,  no  Christian  congregation" 
 is  warranted  in  being  without  a  Christian  school ;  and 
 the  larger  and  the  more  influential  the  congregation,  the 
 larger  and  the  better  supported  ought  the  school  to  be. 
 Depend  upon  it,  that  the  first  lesson  a  son  receives  from 
 a  mother  is  the  last  lesson  that  a  son  recollects  upon 
 earth ;  and  though  the  earliest  truths  that  we  are  taught 
 at  school  may  be  silenced  for  a  season,  or  overborne  by 
 the  din  and  the  roar  of  the  wheels  and  the  machinery 
 of  Mammon,  yet  the  hour  will  come  when  that  early 
 lesson,  as  if  touched  by  some  living  influence,  will  in- 
 stantly revive  in  all  its  beauty  and  its  freshness ;  and, 
 as  in  the  case  of  John  IS'ewton,  when  tossed  upon  the 
 tempestuous  deep,  conscience  will  reason  of  righteous- 
 ness, temperance,  and  judgment  to  come.  So  it  was 
 in  the  case  cf  Daniel ;  the  lessons  he  had  learned  in  his 
 childhood  were  the  lessons  that  guided  him,  comforted 
 him,  strengthened  him,  when  a  captive  in  the  midst  of 
 Babylon. 
 
 I  noticed  another  feature ;  namely,  that  IS'ebuchad- 
 nezzar  the  king,  seeing  these  youths  well  instructed, 
 evidently  well  educated,  and  one  of  them,  there  is  reason 
 to  believe,  of  royal  lineage,  was  anxious  to  make  them 
 adopt  his  religion.  He  did  not  try  on  this  occasion  the 
 great  blunder  that  is  sometimes  perpetrated,  of  driving 
 them  into  his  religion,  or  persecuting  and  punishing 
 them — as  if  the  punishment  of  the  body  could,  in  any 
 case,  promote  the  conviction  of  the  soul.  He  tried  a  far 
 more  artful  plan.  First  of  all,  he  changed  their  names; 
 for  he  knew  that  so  long  as  they  were  called  by  their 
 Hebrew  names,  Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah, 
 so  long  there  would  be  in  their  names  mementos  of  early 
 lessons  and  early  associations.  He  therefore  determined 
 upon  the  expedient, — and  it  was  a  most  clever  thought 
 
24  PEOPHETIC    STTTDIES. 
 
 in  this  case,  by  the  grace  of  God,  an  unsuccessful  one, — 
 of  changing  the  names  of  the  Hebrew  youths ;  hoping 
 that,  as  they  forgot  their  names,  they  would  forget  the 
 creed  with  which  they  were  associated.  As  I  told  you, 
 every  one  of  these  three  names  denotes  something  in 
 connexion  with  God,  and  thereby  served  to  remind  them 
 of  the  religion  of  their  fathers.  He,  therefore,  called 
 Daniel,  Belteshazzar ;  Hananiah,  Shadrach;  Mishael, 
 Meshach ;  and  Azariah,  Abcd-nego ;  which  were  all 
 names  containing  some  allusion  to  his  heathen  idols.  A 
 Christian  name  is  a  very  beautiful  thing ;  and  we  should 
 always  prefer  to  give  our  children  names  that  in  them- 
 selves are  eloquent  Avith  whatever  things  are  pure,  and 
 beautiful,  and  just,  or  which  are  by  their  associations 
 connected  with  the  good  and  great  who  have  preceded  us 
 to  glory.  And  we  cannot  but  sometimes  lament,  when 
 we  are  called  upon  to  baptise  a  child  by  some  name  that 
 reminds  us  of  the  Gods  of  Greece  or  Rome,  or  the  idols 
 of  the  heathen,  and  not  of  those  sainted  names  that  have 
 passed  before  us  into  immortality. 
 
 After  this  plan  had  been  adopted  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
 he  followed  it  up  by  another.  He  thought  that  these 
 Hebrew  youths,  having  had  their  names  thus  changed, 
 might,  by  Chaldean  food,  be  made  much  more  easily  the 
 subjects  of  Chaldean  instruction.  He,  therefore,  did  not 
 allow  them  to  be  fed  on  the  ordinary  food  of  captives, 
 but  he  ordered  that  they  should  receive  theii'  meat  from 
 the  king's  table.  Daniel  immediately  refused  it, — some 
 would  say,  on  very  paltry  grounds.  Those  very  liberal 
 Christians,  but  whom  I  venture  to  call  very  latitudinarian  - 
 Christians; — for  it  is  very  possible  to  be  liberal  and  yet 
 not  to  be  latitudinarian  ;  liberal  all  Christianity  bids  us 
 be — latitudinarian  not  one  verse  of  it  authorises  us  to  be; 
 we  cannot  be  too  liberal  in  conceding  to  a  brother  the 
 largest  husk  of  prejudice  ;  we  cannot  be  too  strict  in  re- 
 fusing to  compromise  the  least  living  seed  of  vital  and 
 essential  tmth ; — now,  some  of  these  ''  liberal,"  or  rather, 
 as  I  said,  latitudinarian  Christians,  would  have  said  that 
 when  Daniel  refused  the  king's  meat,  and  preferred 
 pulse  and  water,  he  was  a  very  scrupulous  Jew ;  others 
 
tlYING   TO    GOD   IN   LITTLE   THINGS.  25 
 
 would  have  said,  perhaps  he  thought  that  drinking  wine 
 was  in  itself  sinful,  and  that  water  alone  was  lawful ; 
 others  would  say,  he  need  not  have  been  so  very  strict 
 in  Babylon  as  he  was  in  Jerusalem  ;  that  in  Home  men 
 should  do  as  Home  does ;  in  Constantinople  men  should 
 do  as  Constantinople  does ;  and  in  London  men  should 
 do  as  London  does.     How  can  any  one  seriously  say  so  ? 
 Is  duty  a  thing  of  latitude  and  longitude  ?     Does  that 
 which  is  dut)'  here  become  the  reverse  there  ?     If  I  read 
 my  Bible  right — if  I  interpret  the  first  lessons  of  con- 
 science right,  duty  is  like  its  God,  the  same  everywhere  ; 
 and  what  is  duty,  and  loyalty,  and  allegiance,  to  Him, 
 is  the  same  whether  amid  polar  snows  or  in  the  torrid 
 zone;  in  Rome,  where  the  superstitious  hierarch  reigns; 
 or  in  Constantinople,   where   the  fallen  star   and   the 
 crescent  are.     Daniel  felt  it  so,  and  he  therefore  refused 
 the  roj-al  bounty.  But  you  ask,  was  there  d  valid  ground 
 for  refusing  it  ?  I  answer  there  was ;  and  I  thus  explain 
 the  reason  of  it.     Among  the  heathens,  before  commenc- 
 ing a  meal,  the  meat  was  first  ofiered  or  dedicated  to  the 
 Lares  or  household  gods,  and  a  portion  of  the  wine  was 
 poured  out  as  a  libation  to  the  idols  whom  they  adored. 
 AVhat  we  call  ''saj'ing  grace,"  or,  to  use  a  much  more 
 Christian  phrase,  "  asking  a  blessing,"  was  among  them 
 performed  by  offering  a  portion  of  the  meat  and  a  portion 
 of  the  wine  to  the  presiding  divinities  of  their  houses. 
 The  Apostle  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
 reasons  thus  upon  the  subject ;   *'  It  is  nothing  to  you, 
 of  course,   that  he  has  done  so  ;    but  if  he  means  to 
 entrap  you  into  an  expression  of  sympathy  with  his 
 idolatry,  by  eating  of  his  food  thus  dedicated  to  an  idol, 
 then  you  must  abstain  from  it."     Daniel  acted  on  this 
 principle ;    and  he  preferred  the  pulse  and  water,  the 
 least  nutritious  of  the  elements  of  nature,  to  the  daintier 
 cheer  of  the  roj'al  table  ;   because  he  would  rather  have  , 
 had,  what  I  trust  you  would  rather  have,  the  smik^s  of  L 
 your  God  from  heaven,  than  the  patronage  of  the  migh- 
 tiest king  that  ever  swayed  a  sceptre  upon  the  earth. 
 
 Time  would  not  permit  me,  in  my  last  lecture,  to 
 draw  all  the  practical  lessons  from  this  fact  which  I  had 
 
26  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 intended  to  do.  I  will,  therefore,  turn  your  attention 
 to  them  now.  Daniel's  refusal  seemed,  at  first  sight, 
 somewhat  uncalled  for.  Refusing  the  meat  from  the 
 royal  table,  and  the  wine  from  the  royal  cellar,  seemed, 
 y  I  say,  frivolous  to  the  worldling,  but  it  involved  a  great 
 /  principle.  His  refusal  seemed  small  to  the  eye,  but  it 
 was  the  turning  point  of  his  Christianity.  To  have  acted 
 otherwise  would  have  been  no  concession  of  a  prejudice, 
 — it  would  have  been  no  mere  giving  way  in  matters  of 
 detail ;  it  would  have  been  surrender  of  piinciple, — 
 compromise  of  truth, — apostasy  from  his  religion  ;  and 
 Daniel  felt  that  it  was  a  light  thing  to  be  judged  of 
 man,  for  He  that  judged  him  was  God.  And  have  not 
 we  something  to  learn  from  Daniel's  conduct  ?  He 
 was  placed  under  a  darker  dispensation,  when  the  be- 
 lief of  Christ  spoke  good  things,  but  spoke  them  faintly; 
 while  we  are  placed  in  a  brighter  dispensation,  where, 
 as  I  showed  you  in  a  morning  discourse,  the  belief  of 
 Christ  speaks  better  things,  and  speaks  them  eloquently 
 and  distinctly.  Are  there  not  some  among  us,  against 
 whom  these  Hebrew  captives  will  rise  up  in  judgment 
 in  this  matter  ?  Are  there  any  here  who  would  sacrifice 
 their  conscience  with  its  awful  requirements,  to  their 
 temporary  and  worldly  convenience  ?  who  would  stifle 
 the  convictions  that  are  deepest,  in  order  to  gain  some 
 temporary  and  evanescent  advantage, — who  would  give 
 up  an  article  in  their  creed  rather  than  miss  a  good 
 place,  or  lose  a  valuable  living  ?  Are  there  any  here 
 who  would  risk  the  condemnation  of  their  God  rather 
 than  incur  the  sneer  of  man,  or  lose  the  king's  meat 
 when  that  meat  is  the  most  rich,  or  the  king's  v/ine 
 when  it  is  red  in  the  cup  ?  If  such  there  be,  Daniel 
 even  now  rises  from  his  grave,  and  will  rise  at  the 
 resurrection  morn  and  bear  witness  against  them,  for 
 seeking  their  temporal  advantage, — though  in  so  doing 
 I  shall  show  that  thcv  have  missed  it, — and  forijettine: 
 and  neglecting  their  eternal  and  inexhaustible  obli- 
 gations to  God.  If  this  be  so,  listen  to  this  the  first  great 
 lesson  that  I  draw  from  the  passage  before  us.  The 
 Lord  said,  '*  He  that  is  faithful  in  a  little,  is  faithful  also 
 
UTXNG   TO   GOD   IN    LITTLE   THINGS.  27 
 
 in  miicli ;  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  a  little  is  unjust  also 
 in  much."     There  is  more  force,  more  point,  more  appli- 
 cation, to  ourselves  in  this  sentence  than  we  are  some- 
 times disposed  to  admit.    Many  Christians  are  like  Naa- 
 man,  the  Syrian,  ever  trying  to  do  some  great  thing, 
 and  thinking  that  if  a  great  crisis  were  to  come  they 
 would  have  their  nerves  prepared  to  meet  it,  and  in 
 God's  strength  they  would  be  able  to  triumph.     Many 
 Christians  tell  us,  that  they  cannot  find  a  place  large 
 enough  for  the  discharge  of  their  duties ;  to  them  religion 
 becomes  a  sort  of  romance  ;  and  instead  of  quietly  laying 
 one  brick  upon  the  earth,  they  are  constantly  building  a 
 thousand  castles  in  the  air — instead  of  discharging  the 
 plain  every-day  duty,  and  showing  theii'  faithfulness  and 
 love  in  it,  they  pass  life  in  looking  for  some  grand  occa- 
 sion for  the  display  of  their  Christian  virtues, — thinking 
 that  though  they  cannot  live  as  Christians  should  live, 
 if  the  crisis  were  to  come  they  would  die  as  martyrs  have 
 died.     You  are  mistaken.     If  you  cannot  be  faithful  in 
 the  least,  you  cannot  be  faithful  in  much.     I  believe  it 
 to  be  a  very  important  thought,  that  there  are  no  little 
 things  in  morals,  though  there  may  be  little  things  in 
 matter.  Have  not  you  yourselves  found  that  many  a  great 
 crisis  which  has  absorbed  your  whole  soul  for  years  has 
 left  yet  upon  it  no  deep  impression  that  survives  at  the 
 present  moment  ?    And  I  appeal  to  some  other  man's  ex- 
 perience ;  has  not  sometimes  a  random  conversation  in 
 a  railway    carriage,  —  an  accidental  interview   with   a 
 friend  in  the  place  of  business, — the  turning  of  your  foot 
 into  a  place  of  worship  that  was  near,  because  it  rained, 
 instead  of  going  to  your  usual  place  of  worship  at  a  greater 
 distance — have  not  little  things  such  as  these,  and  such 
 as  we  call  so,  become  the  turning-points  in  your  cha- 
 racter;   so    that,  humanly  speaking,  if  some  such  ap- 
 parently small  event  had  not  taken  place,  the  whole  after 
 conduct  of  your  life  would  have  been  changed  r     Thus, 
 we  learn,  that  events  which  seem  to  us  frivolous  and  un- 
 important, may  become  the  Thermopylae  of  a  Christian's 
 conflict,  the  Marathon  of  a  nation's  being  ;  the  turning- 
 point  of  everlasting  life,  or  everlasting  death. 
 
 U^ 
 
28  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Let  me  notice  in  the  next  place,  in  order  to  vindicate 
 and  enforce  faithfulness  in  what  are  called  little  things — ■ 
 for  it  was  Daniel's  faithfulness  in  things  such  as  these 
 which  gave  tone  and  complexion  to  his  whole  after  life 
 — that  in  the  providence  and  the  creation  of  God,  you 
 will  find  that  God  as  Creator,  or  God  as  Provider,  ex- 
 pends as  much  care,  wisdom,  time,  if  I  may  use  the 
 expression,  certainly  attention,  on  the  very  least  things 
 as  he  does  on  the  very  greatest.  If  3'ou  examine  the 
 petal  of  a  rose  you  will  find  it  as  exquisitely  and  as 
 delicately  tinted  and  touched  by  the  pencil  of  God  as  the 
 Lirgest  star  that  shines  and  stands  like  a  sentinel  before 
 the  throne  of  God.  If  you  take  the  mightiest  orb  that 
 the  telescope  brings  within  your  horizon,  you  will  find 
 that  it  is  not  finished  with  greater  care  than  the  smallest 
 molecule  of  matter  that  the  microscope  reveals  to  your 
 view.  In  all  God's  works,  you  will  see  infinite  detail, 
 exquisite  elaboration  of  the  minutest  and  the  most 
 microscopic  things,  patient  labour,  process,  attention; 
 and  if  we  would  be  like  God,  let  us  take  care  to  be  faith- 
 ful in  the  very  least  duty  as  well  as  in  the  largest  sacri- 
 fice that  he  requires  of  us. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  if  you  will  notice  that  sublime  life 
 — which  is  sublimer  than  providence,  more  stupendous 
 than  creation — the  life  of  the  Son  of  God  upon  earth, 
 you  will  notice  what  has  often  been  overlooked,  that, 
 according  to  the  same  great  analog^-,  Jesus  paid  attention 
 to  little  things  in  his  life,  as  great,  as  marked,  as  striking, 
 as  to  the  greatest  acts  that  he  did.  And  I  have  felt  it  in 
 my  own  mind,  as  well  as  noticed  it  in  others,  that  when 
 we  quote  the  character  of  Jesus,  and  are  trying  to  show 
 how  grand  it  was,  we  point  to  him  stretching  out  his 
 hand,  laying  it  upon  the  crested  waves  of  the  unruly 
 ocean,  and  making  it  lie  down  and  be  still ;  we  quote 
 him  turning  water  into  wine,  opening  the  closed  eye,  and 
 unstopping  the  deaf  ear.  And  we  say  how  great  was 
 He  !  Uut  I  doubt  whether  these  are  the  highest  proofs 
 of  the  greatness  of  the  Son  of  God.  You  find,  at  all 
 events,  that  while  he  could  thus  display  his  mighty 
 power  in  these  great  things,  he  yet  descended  to  what 
 
rrvixo  TO  GOD  iw  liitle  thixgs.  29 
 
 you  ^vould  call  very  minute  things.  I  watch  him,  and  I 
 lind  him  one  moment  speaking  in  beautiful  but  trulh- 
 breathing  tones  to  Martha,  (^xhorting  her  not  to  be  over 
 anxious  about  the  affairs  of  her  household.  I  lind  him 
 again  sitting  down  weaiy  and  waj'worn  at  the  well  of 
 Samaria,  and  expending  upon  one  poor  woman  more  of 
 eloquent,  and  earnest,  and  impressive  reasoning  than  he 
 ever  expended  upon  kings,  and  counsellors,  and  high- 
 priests. 
 
 And  just  after  he  had  wrought  the  great  miracle 
 of  turning  the  few  loaves  and  fishes  into  food  for  five 
 thousand,  you  find  him  closing  that  stupendous  evidence 
 of  stupendous  power,  by  bidding  iiis  disciples  gatlier  up 
 the  crumbs  that  remained  in  order  that  nothing  might  be 
 lost.  Or,  to  notice  a  yet  more  striking  instance,  when 
 he  hung  upon  the  cross  in  that  dire  and  bitter  agony 
 which  is  so  graphically  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  and 
 which  Christians,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  commemorate, 
 with  the  whole  burden  of  a  world's  transgressions  rest- 
 ing upon  him,  do  you  recollect  that  touching  and  affect- 
 ing fact,  that  while  one  moment  he  could  cry,  in  anguish 
 which  no  language  can  depict,  ''  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabach- 
 thani?"  *'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
 me?"  the  next  moment  he  descends  to  say  to  John, 
 "Behold  thy  mother!"  committing,  even  in  this  hour  of 
 overwhelming  sorrow,  a  weeping  mother  to  the  care  of  a 
 faitliful  friend.  And  when,  having  completed  the  stu- 
 pendous work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  he  rose  triumph- 
 imt  from  the  grave — Avhcn  the  great  stone  was  rolled 
 away  at  his  bidding,  and  all  the  obstructions  of  the 
 tomb  were  rent  asunder  at  his  word,  do  you  remember, 
 what  we  might  consider  a  veiy  petty  and  trivial  inci- 
 dent, but  really  not  so,  that  we  are  told  by  the  Evange- 
 list that  the  napkin  that  had  been  wrapped  around  the 
 Saviour's  head  Avas  found,  not  left  behind  in  a  state  of 
 confusion,  but  rolled  up  and  laid  aside  by  itself?  and  how 
 he  said  to  the  women  whose  affection  led  them  first  to 
 the  sepulchre,  "Go  and  tell  my  disciples  and  Feterf^ 
 "What  attention  to  little  things  !  What  care  over  minute 
 things!     AVhat  faithfulness  in  that  which  is  least,  as 
 
P»0  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 "svell  as  in  that  •which  is  great! — a  precedent  and  an 
 example  that  we  should  follow  in  his  steps. 
 ^  There  is  often  as  much  real  religion  to  be  shown  in 
 /little  things  as  in  great  things.  You  have  in  Daniel  all 
 the  feeling  and  the  religious  principle  that  a  martyr 
 would  require  for  a  martyr's  triumphs,  but  it  is  exhibited 
 in  a  cii'cumstance  the  most  minute  and  apparently  unim  - 
 portant.  As  great  love  may  be  displaj^ed  to  our  relatives 
 in  attention  to  little  things,  as  in  great  and  laborious 
 sacrifices.  Peter  could  unsheath  his  sword,  and  cut  off 
 the  ear  of  Malchus  to  defend  his  Master ;  but  Peter  could 
 not  help  denying  his  Lord  when  accused  by  the  servants 
 of  being  a  friend  of  Jesus.  "VYe  have  learned  little 
 Christianity  if  we  have  not  learned  this,  that  it  needs  as 
 •1^  much  grace  to  live  divinely,  as  it  does  to  die  divinely.  It 
 is  possible  to  give  our  bodies  to  be  burned,  and  to  distri- 
 bute all  our  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  yet  not  to  have 
 that  love  which  endureth  all  things,  beareth  all  things, 
 hopeth  all  things,  and  is  the  highest  evidence  of  our 
 connexion  with,  and  our  belonging  to  God.  Then,  my 
 dear  friends,  feeling  this, — seeing  that  there  is  weight  in 
 what  I  have  now  said,  because  there  is  truth  in  it,  let  us 
 seek  to  be  thus  faithful  in  that  which  is  least.  Let  us 
 ever  remember  that  to  be  singular  for  the  mere  sake  of 
 singularity  is  absurd ;  but  to  be  singular  when  the  call 
 of  duty  and  faithfulness  to  God  demands  it,  is  the 
 evidence  of  a  true  Christian.  Let  us  j)urpose,  like 
 Daniel,  not  to  defile  ourselves  w4th  any  meat,  even 
 though  it  be  the  king's.  It  may  be  unfashionable,  but 
 it  is  Christian.  It  may  look  occasionally  singular,  but  it 
 is  the  singularity  of  principle,  not  the  singularity  of 
 caprice.  It  may  cost  us  much  self-denial,  but  it  is  a 
 part  of  our  warfare.  It  may  be  construed  as  scrupulosity 
 or  fastidiousness,  but  it  is  really  an  element  of  Christian 
 character.  And  if  we  desire  to  be  steadfast  and  to  con- 
 quer in  the  minute  as  well  as  in  the  mighty,  in  the  least 
 as  well  as  in  the  greatest,  let  us  recollect  that  we  have, 
 the  same  source  of  strength  and  of  victory  that  Daniel 
 had,  "  ]^ot  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;"  only  we  must  not,  as  some 
 
UTIJfG    TO    GOD    IX    LITTLE    THINGS.  31 
 
 persons  do,  confound  two  things  that  difer  completely. 
 They  think  they  cannot  be  faithful  without  being  very 
 rude ;  they  fiinty  they  cannot  be  true  to  God  Avitliout 
 being  veiy  discourteous,  and  perhaps  \ery  vulgar  in  their 
 expressions  towards  man.  !Now,  whether  vulgarity  and 
 rudeness  be  sins  or  virtues,  it  is  needless  to  discuss ;  at 
 all  events  they  are  not  certainly  evidence  that  there  is 
 faithfulness  along  with  them.  jSTotice  Daniel's  example. 
 He  combines  all  the  courtesy  of  the  most  finished  cour- 
 tier, with  all  the  steadfastness  of  the  most  devoted  Chris- 
 tian. When  he  was  told  that  his  name  should  be  changed 
 he  bore  it  with  all  meekness ;  the  ancient  followers  of 
 the  cross  were  clothed  with  sheepskins  and  goatskins; 
 they  wandered  in  deserts  and  caves  of  the  earth,  being 
 destitute,  afflicted,  tormented  ;  they  w^ere  branded  with 
 everj'  ignominy,  and  regarded  by  all  men  as  the  very  off- 
 scouring  of  the  earth.  Yet  they  took  it  all  patiently, — ■ 
 so  did  Daniel  bear  his  cross ;  but  when  it  came  to  a  2)oint 
 of  principle,  when  he  was  ordered  to  eat  the  king's  meat, 
 and  thereby  deny  his  religion,  we  do  not  find  him  fly 
 into  a  furious  state  of  excitement,  or  use  the  language  of 
 bravado;  there  was  no  outbreak  of  temper,  no  boasting, 
 no  insolence  or  defiance.  He  did  not  say,  "  Tell  the  king 
 I  will  not  do  so."  That  would  have  been  violence, 
 rudeness,  insolence — the  least  effective,  and  the  least 
 expedient.  He  had  confidence  in  his  religious  principles  ; 
 he  trusted  in  the  goodness  of  his  cause  ;  he  relied  upon 
 the  God  whom  he  served  ;  and  the  reply  Avhieh  he  made 
 to  Melzar,  whom  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  had  set  over 
 ?dm  and  his  fellows,  was  this,  "  Prove  thy  servants,  I 
 beseech  thee," — the  language  of  perfect  respect, — '*  ten 
 days ;  and  let  them  give  us  pulse  to  eat,  and  w^ater  to 
 drink.  Then  let  our  countenances  be  looked  upon  before 
 thee,  and  the  countenance  of  the  children  that  eat  of 
 the  portion  of  the  king's  meat :  and  as  thou  seest,  deal 
 with  thy  servants."  AVliat  gentleness  and  courtesy!  as 
 well  as  what  a  sanctifiGd  heart !  the  highest  Christianity 
 is  always  associated  with  the  highest  courtesy.  My  cou- 
 viction  is  that  none  but  a  finished  Christian  can  be  a 
 finished  gentleman  ;  for  if  there  be  genuine  Christianity 
 
32  PEOrKETIC   STrDTES. 
 
 in  the  heart  the  manners  will  be  but  the  outward 
 evidences  of  the  inward  feelings  of  the  heart — gentle, 
 beautiful,  courteous,  bearing  all  things,  hoping  all 
 things,  enduring  all  things.  We  find  that  Melzar  Avas 
 so  charmed  and  deliglited  to  see  so  much  self-denial 
 united  to  so  great  courtesy  and  gentleness  that  he  im- 
 mediately permitted  the  experiment  to  be  made,  and  the 
 result  is  stated  in  verse  15,  that  at  the  end  of  ten  days 
 their  countenances  were  found  fairer  and  fatter  in  flesh 
 than  those  of  the  children  that  did  eat  of  the  king's  meat. 
 
LECTUEE  rV. 
 
 TRUE    PRINCIPLE    IS    TRUE    EXPEDIENCY. 
 
 ^^  As  for  these  four  children,  God  gave  ihem  hiowledge  and 
 sicill  in  all  learning  and  wisdom :  and  Daniel  had  tinder- 
 sfanding  in  all  visions  a7id  dreams.  JVo-w  at  the  end  of 
 the  dags  that  the  king  had  said  he  should  bring  them  inj 
 then  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  brought  them  in  before 
 Nehichadnezmr.  And  the  king  communed  with  them; 
 and  among  them,  all  teas  found  none  like  Daniel,  Hana- 
 niah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah  :  therefore  stood  they  before 
 the  king.  And  in  all  matters  of  ivisdom  and  under- 
 standing that  the  king  inquired  of  them,  he  found  them  ten 
 times  better  than  all  the  magicians  and  astrologers  that 
 were  in  all  his  realm.  And  Daniel  contimied  even  unto 
 the  first  year  of  king  Cyrus. ^' — Daistel.  i.  17 — 21. 
 
 The  next  lesson  that  we  have  to  draw  from  the  closing 
 verses  of  the  chapter  is  a  very  important  one — it  is  the 
 result  of  Daniel's  experiment.  Was  Daniel  a  loser  by 
 his  firm  adherence  to  principle  ?  Not  at  all,  it  was  all 
 the  very  reverse.  We  find  that  Daniel's  faithfulness  to 
 conscience,  his  allegiance  to  his  God,  his  courteous  but 
 firm  refusal  to  do  that  which  was  sinful,  was  even  in  this 
 world  blessed  to  him,  and  even  in  temporal  afiairs  turned 
 to  his  advantage.  Now  I  wish  young  men  especially  to 
 look  at  this ;  because  the  lesson  that  I  am  drawing  from 
 it  is  a  much  needed  one.  The  four  children  were  found 
 at  the  end  of  ten  days  to  have  been  so  blessed  of  God,  that 
 not  only  were  they,  as  we  have  seen,  fairer  and  fatter  in 
 flesh  than  any  of  the  children — i.e.  the  children  of  Israel 
 • — who  gave  up  their  consciences  and  ate  of  the  king's 
 meat ;  but  the  result  was,  in  the  end,  that  in  all  matters 
 
 D 
 
34  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 of  knowledge  and  skill,  they  "were  many  times  wiser  than 
 all  the  magicians  and  astrologers  that  were  in  all  the 
 realm.  God  honoured  his  servants.  The  result  of  this 
 faithfulness  to  God  was  promotion  in  the  palace  and  the 
 favour  of  the  king. 
 
 The  lesson,  therefore,  that  I  di'aw  from  the  whole 
 subject  is  in  these  words,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of 
 God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other  things  will  be 
 ^  added  imto  you."  In  other  words,  make  icligion  the 
 /  great  thing,  and  all  the  rest  that  you  want  will  fall  into 
 its  place.  You  have  heard  of,  and  many  of  you  liave 
 probably  read,  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian.  He  was 
 the  servant  of  the  Eoman  emperors,  Titus  and  Yespasian, 
 and  of  course  he  was  anxious,  as  you  might  expect  in  a 
 man  not  troubled  with  very  much  conscience  or  very 
 much  religion,  to  please  and  propitiate  his  masters  as 
 much  as  possible.  He  thus  comments  upon  the  conduct 
 of  Daniel  and  his  fellows  in  prefening  pulse  and  water 
 to  wine  and  meat  from  the  royal  table.  Of  course,  he 
 could  not  say  that  it  was  Daniel's  refusal  to  patronise  or 
 to  connive  at  the  idolatry  of  the  heathen  that  made  him 
 so  accepted  and  beloved,  for  this  would  have  been  to  offend 
 his  Roman  masters,  who  were  worshippers  of  similar 
 idols ;  but  he  gives  this  explanation : — ^'  By  the  diet 
 they  took  they  had  their  minds  in  some  measure  more 
 pure  and  less  burdened,  and  so  fit  for  learning,  and  had 
 their  bodies  in  better  condition  for  hard  labour ;  for  they 
 neither  had  the  former  oppressed  with  variety  of  meats, 
 nor  the  latter  effeminate  on  the  same  account ;  so  they 
 readily  amassed  all  the  learning  of  the  Hebrews  and  the 
 Chaldeans."  Such  is  the  account  of  the  matter  given 
 by  this  Jewish  historian.  Josephus  was  very  much  like 
 some  of  our  modern  philosophers,  who  are  always  glad 
 when  they  can  explain  a  phenomenon  without  God.  If 
 you  ask  them  anything  about  the  firmanent  above  or  the 
 earth  below ;  if  you  ask  them  for  a  solution  of  the 
 plague,  the  pestilence,  or  the  recent  epidemic;  if  you 
 ask  them  for  an  explanation  of  any  one  fact  or  pheno- 
 menon in  science,  in  history,  in  creation,  in  Providence ; 
 they  have  some  huiidreds  of  what  they  call  laws,  and 
 
TRUE    PRIXCirLE    IS    TEUE   EXrEDIENCY  35 
 
 they  say,  ''  Siicli  is  the  law  of  nature:"  and  no  doubt 
 there  are  laws  ;  and  as  long  as  the  word  is  used  to  denote 
 harmony  and  consistency  of  movement,  regularity  and 
 order,  so  long  it  is  good  ;  but  the  moment  j'ou  are  satis- 
 fied with  a  reference  to  the  law  as  an  explanation  of  the 
 phenomenon,  that  moment  you  are  working  with  Josephus 
 and  with  the  heathen,  and  attributing  to  lords  many  and 
 gods  many  that  which  is  the  clear  evidence  of  the  pre- 
 sence of  the  living  and  the  true  God.  The  reason  why 
 Daniel  prospered  upon  pulse  and  water,  is  not  that  a 
 vegetarian  diet,  as  some  say,  is  the  most  wholesome,  or 
 that  water  is  far  more  conducive  to  health  than  wine — 
 though  I  believe  that  the  less  wine  you  drink  the  better, 
 if  you  have  no  physical  need  for  it ;  and  I  am  sure  that 
 in  perfect  health  there  is  very  little  need  for  it.  But  this 
 Avas  not  the  reason  why  Daniel  prospered  upon  pulse  and 
 water.  It  was  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  added  to  the 
 pulse  and  water,  which  made  them  far  more  nutritive 
 than  the  king's  meat  and  the  king's  wine,  with  that 
 blessing  withdrawn  from  them.  In  other  words,  he 
 sought  first  God's  kingdom  and  God's  righteousness,  and 
 all  other  things  were  added  to  him.  He  found  this  to 
 be  true,  ''  Godliness  hath  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is, 
 as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
 
 And  now  I  say  again  to  you,  my  dear  friends,  as  the 
 inference  from  all  this,  '^  Seek  first  to  do  God's  will,  and 
 all  other  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  Do  not  take 
 anxious  thought  about  to-morrow,  but  take  prayerful 
 thought  about  to-day.  Depend  upon  it  that  the  vigorous 
 discharge  of  to-day's  duties  will  be  the  best  preparation 
 for  to-morrow's  trials.  Let  alone  to-morrow's  cares  till 
 the  sun  of  to-morrow  looks  upon  them  and  awakens 
 them.  ''  Sufiicient  for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  And 
 I  know  nothing  more  absurd  in  itself,  and  yet  nothing 
 more  common,  than  for  men  to  scrape  all  to-morrow's 
 trials,  that  may  be  or  that  may  not  be,  and  add  them  to 
 the  duties  and  the  trials  of  to-day,  forgetting  that  God 
 gives  us  strength  for  each  day,  and  not  strength  for  that 
 day  and  the  next  likewise ;  that  God  gives  us  bread  for 
 to-day,  and  yet  not  bread  for  to-day  and  to-morrow. 
 
 d2 
 
a  6  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 You  do  God's  "^ill  and  stand  by  your  post,  and  discharge 
 your  duties  this  day,  and  to-morrow  will  take  care  of 
 itself.  *'  Seek  first  God's  glor}'  and  God's  will,  and  all 
 other  things  will  be  added  unto  you." 
 
 And  therefore  I  would  say,  enlarging  and  expanding 
 this  sentiment,  seek  first  to  know  God  before  other  things. 
 By  all  means  study  science ;  but  not  science,  not  philo- 
 sophy, not  literature,  not  music,  not  painting  first,  but 
 study  Christianity  first.  Take  the  knowledge  of  God 
 into  the  school,  into  the  university,  into  the  encyclopaedia, 
 as  first  and  last.  Hear,  indeed,  the  wisdom  of  Solomon, 
 but  hear  first  the  wisdom  of  one  greater  than  Solomon. 
 Do  not  go  through  Solomon  to  Christ,  but  go  through 
 Christ  to  Solomon.  Seek  first  to  know  Him  whom  to 
 know  is  eternal  life ;  then  study  science,  and  literature, 
 and  painting,  and  music,  and  all  that  this  world's  learn- 
 ing can  teach.  We  do  not  want  to  discourage  secular 
 knowledge,  but  to  plant  in  its  bosom  that  which  will 
 adorn,  exalt,  and  sanctifj*  both  the  study  and  the  student, 
 and  make  the  one  an  ornament  and  the  other  an  heir  of 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
 
 In  the  next  place  let  me  say,  study  first  of  all  the 
 ?  safety  of  the  soul.  The  first  thought  you  have  to  think 
 of,  the  first  duty  you  have  to  discharge,  is  the  duty  that 
 you  owe  to  the  soul.  AVho  can  calculate  this  problem, 
 ''What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world 
 and  lose  his  own  soul?"  Our  first  efi'ort  should  be  to 
 obtain  an  answer  to  this  question.  What  shall  I  do  to  be 
 saved  ?  My  dear  friends,  no  man  ever  yet  set  out  to  gain 
 the  world  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  soul,  and  succeeded  in 
 his  object.  The  words  are,  ''  if  you  gain  the  world ;"  it 
 does  not  imply,  that  if  you  set  out  to  gain  the  world  at 
 such  a  cost  you  are  sure  eventually  to  gain  it.  Twenty 
 men  set  out,  all  determined  to  be  rich,  and  nineteen  are 
 strewed  like  wrecks  on  the  highway.  And  have  you  not 
 found,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  man  who  set  out 
 determined  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  his  soul  in  the 
 first  instance  has  had  other  things  added  to  him  unex- 
 pectedly, and  in  far  greater  abundance  than  he  could 
 have  anticipated  ? 
 
TRITE    PRINCIPLE    IS    TRUE    EXPEDIENCY.  37 
 
 And  if  this  be  true,  carry  out  the  same  princij^le  in 
 your  families.  I  speak  to  fathers  and  mothers ;  seek  \ 
 first  to  make  your  children  Christians,  next,  and  only  t 
 next,  to  be  gentlemen.  Send  your  children  rather,  I 
 beseech  you,  to  a  school  where  they  will  be  taught  to 
 pray  fervently,  than  to  a  school  where  they  will  be 
 taught  to  dance  after  the  most  approved  mode  and  ac- 
 cording to  the  most  elegant  movements.  lie  anxious 
 rather  to  make  your  children  Christians  than  to  make 
 them  Churchmen,  or  Dissenters,  or  Episcopalians,  or 
 Presbyterians.  Depend  upon  it  that  the  old  Adam  will 
 learn  soon  enough  to  fight  about  free  church  and  inde- 
 pendency, and  episcopacy,  and  presbytery,  and  about  all 
 the  **  isms"  to  be  found  in  the  catalogue  of  man;  but 
 the  last  thing  and  the  most  difficult  thing  that  they  will 
 learn  is  to  care  about  their  souls,  or  to  think  about  God. 
 Teach  your  children  that  pulse  and  plain  water,  with  the 
 blessing  of  God,  is  sweeter  and  better  and  more  nutritive 
 than  tJie  king's  meat  and  the  king's  wine  without  it. 
 
 In  the  next  place  I  would  say,  in  fixing  to  attend  on  a 
 ministry,  carry  out  the  same  principle ;  seek  first  the 
 kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other 
 things  will  be  added  unto  you.  Do  not  attach  the  great- 
 est importance  to  the  section  of  the  Church;  but  you 
 who  are  an  Independent,  prefer  Christian  and  Scriptural 
 doctrine  with  episcopacj',  ratlier  than  unscriptural  doc- 
 trine with  independency ;  and  you  who  are  an  Episco- 
 palian, prefer  to  hear  the  Gospel  from  the  minister  of  an 
 Independent  denomination,  rather  than  to  hear  Puseyism 
 and  Popery  from  a  bishop  of  your  own  church.  And  so 
 with  respect  to  the  Scotch  Cliurch — I  prefer  it,  and  think 
 it  the  best  in  existence  ;  and  why  should  I  not  ?  I  was 
 baptised  in  it,  I  have  studied  it,  I  know  it,  I  love  it ; 
 but  if  there  were  deadly  error  preached  in  the  parish 
 church  I  was  bofn  by,  and  if  the  Gospel  was  preached 
 bj'  a  poor  Metho:list  local  preacher,  in  a  neighbouring 
 barn,  I  would  go  and  hear  the  poor  Methodist  preacher, 
 and  leave  the  parish  minister  with  empty  pews.  When 
 the  question  is,  shall  it  be  bread  or  poison  ?  by  all  means 
 give  me  good  bread  in  a  silver  basket ;  but  rather  give 
 
38  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 me  good  bread  on  a  wooden  trencher  than  poison  in  a 
 golden  basket.  Take  other  things  in  their  place,  other 
 things  think  about,  other  things  prefer,  but  this  you 
 must  have;  and  common  sense,  which  is  nearest  to  the 
 highest  Christianity,  will  insist  upon  making  this  the 
 first  and  the  paramount  consideration. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  carry  out  this  principle  in  fixing 
 upon  a  house  to  dwell  in.  In  this  world  Ave  are  con- 
 stantly changing.  Let  me  tell  those  who  have  mansions 
 and  those  who  haA'e  cottages — those  who  have  23alaces 
 and  those  who  have  cellars,  that  they  are  all  equally 
 precarious  in  their  tenure,  for  there  are  two  ways  to  get 
 rid  of  them  :  either  the  inhabitant  will  be  removed  from 
 the  house,  or  the  house  will  be  removed  from  the  inha- 
 bitant. There  are  two  ways  of  separating  the  one  from 
 the  other ;  we  are  but  dwellers  in  tents ;  strangers  and 
 pilgrims  as  all  oiu'  fathers  were ;  and  therefore,  if  you 
 are  changing  your  house,  do  not,  like  Lot,  prefer  the 
 well- watered  plain,  just  within  range  of  the  din  and 
 the  noise  of  Sodom,  basking  in  its  sunshine,  listening  to 
 its  noise,  as  to  the  sw  eetest  and  best  music  ;  but  rather 
 prefer  a  much  smaller  house,  with  a  less  beautiful  lawn, 
 and  less  ^spacious  grounds,  and  far  fewer  conveniences, 
 that  basks  in  the  sunshine  of  the  countenance  of  God, 
 and  that  gives  you  the  opportunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel 
 of  the  blessed  Jesus.  Prefer  a  house  near  to  a  pious  and 
 evangelical  minister,  rather  than  a  house  near  to  the 
 hall  of  a  noble  or  the  palace  of  a  king.  Be  content 
 with  bread — living  bread — where  3'ou  can  know  God, 
 rather  than  the  king's  meat  and  royal  wine  without  that 
 knowledge. 
 
 And  so,  my  dear  friends,  I  would  urge  you  to  carry 
 out  the  same  principle  in  entering  upon  any  business. 
 Do  not  select  a  business  inconsistent  with  the  exercise 
 of  your  Christian  duties,  or  in  which  you  must  sacrifice 
 your  Christian  principles  in  order  to  practise  what  it 
 requires.  Only  let  me  add,  do  not  be  rash  in  saying, 
 I  cannot  live  as  a  Christian  here,  and  therefore  I  will 
 abandon  it.  That  is  very  often  an  excuse  for  self- 
 indulgence.     It  is  very  often  an  excuse  for  not  deter- 
 
TRUE   PRINCIPLE   IS   TRUE   EXPEDIENCY,  39 
 
 mining  to  be  firm  and  faithful.  It  is  supposing  that 
 you  can  do  your  duty  best  on  the  soft  lawn,  and  not  on 
 the  hard  and  tented  battle-field.  Wherever  Providence 
 has  placed  you,  make  the  experiment  if  you  can  faith- 
 fully serve  God  there.  And  if  you  find  that  you  cannot 
 serve  God,  then  you  have  no  alternative.  If  you  are 
 about  to  choose  a  business,  let  it  be  one  in  which  you 
 can  secure  your  Sabbatlis.  Give  not  up  your  Sabbaths ;  ^^ 
 do  not  sacrifice  them.  It  is  not  rich  men  who  will  feel  j 
 the  loss  of  such  an  institution,  but  the  poor.  Depend  .' 
 upon  it  that  the  working  man  will  get  no  more  wages  ■ 
 for  his  seven  days'  work  than  he  now  gets  for  six.  It  is 
 a  maxim  of  political  economy  which  is  worth  repeating 
 from  the  pulpit,  that  the  amount  of  wages  is  always 
 dependent  upon  the  amount  of  labour.  Where  there 
 are  few  labourers  and  much  to  be  done,  there  wages  will 
 be  high ;  where  there  are  many  labourers  and  less  to  be 
 done,  there  wages  will  be  low.  ISTow  if  you  add  a 
 seventh  day  over  all  the  kingdom,  to  the  six  working 
 days  of  the  week,  you  bring  a  seventh  part  more  of  all 
 the  labourers  in  the  land  into  the  labour  market,  and 
 wages  will  proportionately  decrease.  Eely  upon  it,  that 
 by  sacrificing  your  Sabbaths  you  will  be  dead  losers  even 
 in  a  temporal  point  of  view. 
 
 Therefore,  my  dear  friends,  stand  fast  for  your  privi- 
 leges; "  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy."  It 
 is  the  poor  man's  privilege ;  the  Sabbath  is  emphatically 
 the  poor  man's  day;  and  nothing  is  to  me  more  beautiful 
 than  this  thought,  that  there  is  a  day  that  comes  round 
 among  the  days  of  the  week,  in  which  the  poorest  man 
 and  the  richest  man  may  meet  in.  the  sanctuary,  and 
 say,  "  We  are  peers;  though  equally  sinners  by  nature, 
 we  are  equally  saints  by  grace;"  and  in  this  world, 
 where  men  have  divided  so  much  and  monopolised  so 
 much,  there  is  still  a  place  where  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
 the  mightiest  noble  and  the  meanest  peasant,  can  meet 
 together  and  feel  that  *'  the  Lord  is  the  maker  of  them 
 all."  I  advocate  the  maintenance  of  the  Sabbath  on 
 these  low  grounds;  but  I  advocate  it  also  on  higher 
 grounds  than  these,  but  which  I  need  not  now  repeat. 
 
40  PEOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 I  say  again,  therefore,  my  dear  friends,  never  give  up 
 your  Sabbaths.  Labour,  as  many  young  men  do  labour, 
 to  gain  more  time  on  your  week-day  evenings  for  the 
 cultivation  of  your  minds,  and  for  the  study  of  all  that 
 can  adorn,  and  beautify,  and  perfect  them,  as  Christians 
 and  heirs  of  immortality;  but  never,  never  surrender 
 this  greatest  of  privileges — the  Sabbath. 
 
 And  lastly,  I  would  say,  in  your  homes  ''  seek  first 
 the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other 
 things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  AVherever  there  is  a 
 fireside,  let  there  be  an  altar ;  seek  the  blessing  of  God 
 in  your  homes,  and  depend  upon  it  that  blessing  will 
 not  be  withheld  from  you.  One  reason  why  there  are 
 so  many  sad  homes  is  just  this,  that  there  are  so  many 
 homes  in  which  there  are  no  altars.  One  reason  why 
 there  are  so  many  undutiful  children  is,  that  no  blessing 
 has  been  asked  by  the  parents  on  behalf  of  the  children. 
 Seek  therefore,  in  your  homes,  *' first  the  kingdom  of 
 God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other  things  will  be 
 added  unto  you." 
 
 In  short,  Daniel  found,  what  every  true  Christian  has 
 found,  that  Christian  principle  is  the  highest  expediency. 
 
lECTUEE  y. 
 
 BABYLON",    THE    GOLDEJ^    HEAD. 
 
 *'  TJlou,  0  hing,  art  a  h'ng  of  kings:  for  the  God  of  heaven 
 hath  given  thee  a  kingdom,  power,  and  strength,  and 
 glory.  And  wheresoever  the  children  of  men  dwell,  the 
 beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath  he 
 given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee  ruler  over  them 
 all.     Thou  art  this  head  of  gold. ^^ — Daniel  ii.  37,  38. 
 
 This  cliaptcr  records  a  prophecy  revealed  to  JN'ebu- 
 chadnezzar,  and  through  him,  as  the  mere  organ  of 
 utterance,  to  us,  of  what  shall  be  the  succession  of  the 
 kingdoms  of  the  world  till  the  day  when  the  great  stone, 
 the  rock  that  is  laid  in  Zion,  shall  grind  them  to  powder, 
 and  there  shall  rise  and  flourish  on  their  ruins  the  king- 
 doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign 
 for  ever  and  ever.  This  great  image  is  meant  to  be  a 
 standing  symbol,  representative,  as  Daniel  explains  it, 
 of  four  successions  of  supreme  and  sovereign  kingdoms, 
 beginning  in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  History 
 shows  that  there  have  been  just  four  universal  kingdoms 
 in  the  world,  and  only  four ;  those  very  four  which  were 
 clearly  foreshadowed  to  the  king,  and  explained  by  Daniel 
 as  the  interpretation  of  the  dream.  The  first  supreme 
 kingdom  without  a  rival,  was  the  kingdom  of  Babjdon, 
 or  sjnnbolically  the  Head  of  Gold  ;  the  second  kingdom 
 was  tlie  Medo-Persian,  which  I  shall  hereafter  more 
 fully  explain.  The  third  kingdom  was  the  Macedonian, 
 which  every  one  knows  to  have  been  for  a  season 
 "Universal.  The  fourth  kingdom  was  divided  into  ten 
 kingdoms,  as  the  two  feet  of  the  image  were  divided 
 into  ten  toes.     These  ten  kingdoms,  which  I  shall  also 
 
42  TEOPHETIC    STTDIES. 
 
 sliow  to  have  actually  existed,  and  tlie  prediction  tlius 
 to  have  been  fuMUed,  have  tried  to  mingle,  one  or  other 
 having  set  up  to  absorb  the  rest  and  be  supreme,  and  all, 
 in  every  instance,  have  failed.  Since  the  Eoman  empii-e 
 was  divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  Charlemagne  has  swept 
 the  world,  and  retired  unsuccessful  from  the  effort  to 
 make  an  universal  sovereignty.  After  him,  and  others 
 who  might  be  named,  Xapoleon  visited  every  land,  and 
 subjected  almost  every  country  in  Europe  :  but  just  as 
 it  seemed  to  be  within  his  reach  to  lord  it  over  all  the 
 world,  and  to  construct  out  of  the  ten  kingdoms  a  new 
 and  universal  sovereignty,  the  snow  fell  softly  and  beau- 
 titully  from  heaven,  as  the  light  upon  an  infant's  eye  ; 
 but  those  same  insignificant  snow-llakes  formed  them- 
 selves into  ramparts  that  checked  his  troops,  and  ulti- 
 mately made  shrouds  and  graves  for  all  his  chivalry. 
 So  that  we  have  already,  in  the  history  of  the  past,  clear 
 evidence  that  what  Daniel  here  describes  as  a  di'eam, 
 and  gives  the  interpretation  of,  was  a  prophecy  of  that 
 which  has  actually  occurred,  so  that  history  in  its  chap- 
 ters sounds  the  echo  of  truth  in  the  prophecies  of  God. 
 
 In  looking  at  the  introduction  to  this  vision,  and  the 
 failure  of  ^the  magi  to  explain  it,  you  will  notice  the 
 unreasonable  requirement  of  the  king.  He  substantially 
 said,  "  I  shall  not  be  satisfied  by  you  astrologers  giving 
 me  an  interpretation  of  my  dream ;  you  must  state  what 
 the  dream  itself  was,  and  I  shall  thereby  have  proof — 
 for  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  a  sceptic  even  in  his  own  re- 
 ligion— I  shall  have  proof  by  your  thus  telling  me  the 
 nature  of  my  dream,  that  you  have  a  divine  authority 
 adequate  to  expound  and  unfold  the  substance  of  that 
 dream."  The  magicians  and  astrologers  made  every  ex- 
 cuse and  apology :  first,  that  the  thing  was  uncommon  ; 
 and  secondly,  that  no  king  or  dreamer  had  ever  made 
 Buch  a  requirement  before,  and  that  no  wise  man.  or 
 magician,  or  astrologer,  had  even  explained  such  a  thing 
 before.  At  this,  the  king  became  furious,  and,  like  all 
 men  who  have  great  power  as  well  as  ungovernable 
 passions,  he  orders  them  to  be  slain.  That  king  is  but  a 
 specimen  of  what  unsanctified  man  becomes  when  he  has 
 
B-iBTLOX,    THE    GOLDEN   HEAD.  4? 
 
 too  great  power.  It  is  well  that  man  in  this  world  should 
 not  have  absolute  power.  It  is  too  awful  a  prerogative 
 for  him  to  possess  in  this  dispensation ;  it  never  has  been 
 wielded  rightly,  and  it  never  will  be  until  man  is  made 
 a  new  creature,  and  all  things  are  become  new.  At  present 
 we  need  restraint,  modifications,,  and  limitations — con- 
 stitutional laws  that  counterbalance  the  excessive  weight 
 of  democracy  on  the  one  hand,  and  check  the  effects  of 
 despotism  in  its  fury  on  the  other,  so  that  the  machinery 
 of  government  may  best  answer  its  ends.  Daniel,  hear- 
 ing of  the  king's  decree,  went  into  the  royal  presence  and 
 begged  for  a  little  time.  And  why  did  Daniel  ask  time  ? 
 the  answer  is  given  in  the  subsequent  verse  :  he  asked 
 time  in  order  that  he  might  go  and  speak  to  God,  and 
 implore  on  bended  knee  his  help,  instruction,  and 
 guidance.  And  accordingly',  we  find  him,  after  making 
 his  request  to  Arioch,  ''making  the  thing  known  to  his 
 companions,  that  they  would  desire  mercies  of  the  God 
 of  heaven  concerning  this  secret ;  that  Daniel  and  his 
 fellows  should  not  perish  with  the  rest  of  the  wise  men 
 of  Babylon."  If  we  are  in  difficulty,  the  right  resource 
 is  prayer.  There  is  no  question  that  God  does  answer 
 prayer.  He  may  not  answer  it  in  the  precise  way  which 
 we  in  our  ignorance  prescribe,  but  He  will  answer  it  in 
 the  way  that  is  most  for  his  glory  and  our  good.  What- 
 ever be  the  nature  of  our  tiial,  we  are  warranted  in  ap- 
 proaching God,  and  beseeching  him  to  remove  it ;  what- 
 ever be  the  thorn  that  is  most  poignant,  we  are  warranted 
 in  asking  God  to  extract  it.  It  is  no  just  objection  to 
 this,  to  say,  we  may  be  asking  what  is  not  good  for  us ; 
 it  is  not  our  province  to  determine  this,  but  God's. 
 It  is  our  part  to  unbosom  the  w*ants  of  our  hearts,  and 
 offer  up  the  honest  petitions  of  our  souls,  and  to  rest 
 confident  in  tbis,  that  God  will  not  give  what  would 
 prove  our  present  or  our  eternal  ruin. 
 
 AYhen  Daniel  had  prayed  to  God  and  had  received 
 an  answer  to  his  prayers,  what  did  he  next  do  ?  He 
 instantly  returned  to  thank  God.  The  man  who  prays 
 sincerely  in  the  morning  will  praise  as  sincerely  at 
 night.     "  Is  any  man  afflicted  ?  let  him  pray.     Is  any 
 
 y 
 
44  PROPHETIC   STirDIES. 
 
 merry?  let  him  sing  psalms."  It  is  wrong  to  be 
 Christians  when  we  are  in  want  of  anj^thing,  and  to 
 be  atheists  when  we  have  obtained  it.  Let  us  ask  as 
 Christians,  and  praise  as  Christians.  Let  ns  appeal  to 
 God  for  what  we  want ;  and  then  let  us  give  the  glory 
 to  God  when  we  have  obtained  what  we  asked. 
 
 Daniel  then  goes  to  the  king,  and  announces  to  him 
 this  great  fact,  that  "  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  that 
 revealeth  secrets."  And  with  beautiful  humility  he 
 adds,  ''  It  is  not  because  of  the  wisdom  that  is  in  me 
 that  I  am  able  to  make  Ivuown  this  secret,  but  it  is  for 
 the  giory  of  Him  who  has  taught  me,  and  who  is  willing 
 to  do  good  to  thee." 
 
 He  next  proceeds  to  explain  to  the  king  what  he  had 
 seen  in  his  vision — an  image  which  is  here  described. 
 He  then  explains  what  that  image  represented.  In  this 
 Lecture  I  shall  only  be  able  to  call  your  attention  to 
 "the  head  of  gold."  The  text,  therefore,  on  which  I 
 shall  specially  speak  in  this  Lecture  is  (verses  37,  38)  : 
 *'  Thou,  0  king,  art  a  king  of  kings  :  for  the  God  of 
 heaven  hath  given  thee  a  kingdom,  power,  and  strength, 
 and  glorj'.  And  wheresoever  the  children  of  men  dwell, 
 the  beasts  K)f  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath 
 he  given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee  ruler  over 
 them  all.  Thou  art  this  head  of  gold  ;"  plainly  mean- 
 ing, "  thy  kingdom  or  thy  state  is  so." 
 
 The  Church  of  God  was  now  captive  in  Eabylon.  How 
 deeply  distressed  was  the  whole  of  Israel  at  this  era ! 
 The  glory  had  departed  from  between  the  cherubim  ; 
 the  sons  and  the  daughters  of  Judah  were  captives  beside 
 the  Euphrates  ;  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  were 
 now  the  property  of  the  spoiler.  Their  grand  temple 
 was  in  niins ;  and  ''Ichabod,  Ichabod,"  "The  glory  is 
 departed,"  was  the  sad  inscription  too  legible  to  the 
 heart  of  every  captive  in  Babylon.  But  in  this  state  of 
 outward  depression  you  will  notice  how  God  compensated 
 for  all  external  disadvantages  by  special  manifestations 
 of  his  wisdom  and  his  power.  He  showed  them  that  he 
 was  not  dependent  upon  outward  things  ;  that  when  all 
 ordinances  have  passed  away,  the  Lord  of  the  ordinance 
 
BABYLON,    THE    GOLDEN    HEAD.  45 
 
 can  take  their  place,  and  more  than  compensate  for  their 
 absence.  Is  it  not  still  often  felt  in  the  experience  of 
 the  people  of  God,  that  when  the  outward  fabric  is  dis- 
 solved, the  inward  glory,  that  seemed  restricted  to  its 
 walls,  only  breaks  forth  with  greater  splendour,  and 
 spreads  throughout  the  world  with  greater  speed  ?  "VYas 
 it  not  to  the  Church  in  the  wilderness ;  to  the  two  wit- 
 nesses prophesying  in  sackcloth ;  to  the  woman  who 
 was  obliged  to  flee  from  the  persecuting  power  of  the 
 Koman  apostasy,  that  God  revealed  most  clearly  the 
 riches  of  his  grace,  and  made  known  with  the  greatest 
 power  the  manifestations  of  his  mind  and  will  r  Often, 
 when  the  visible  Church  is  in  ruins,  does  God  construct 
 upon  its  wreck  a  yet  more  glorious  fane — a  house  not 
 made  with  hands, — more  beautiful  than  the  temples  of 
 Balbec,  than  the  cathedrals  of  Europe,  more  splendid 
 than  the  theatres  of  Ionia,  more  magnificent  than  the 
 temple  of  Solomon  in  all  its  glory.  It  is  often  when  the 
 Church  has  no  mitre  on  her  head,  no  Urim  and  Thum- 
 mim  upon  her  breast,  that  you  may  read  most  legibly  the 
 bright  inscription  on  her  brow,  "Elessed  are  the  pure 
 in  heart,  for  they  shall  sec  God."  The  breaking  of  the 
 outward  crutch  makes  her  lean  more  simply  upon  God. 
 The  departure  of  the  beautiful  sign  makes  her  think 
 more  of  the  inner  and  the  precious  substance.  You 
 will  see  too,  in  conformity  with  this  idea,  hoAV  God  has 
 ever  given  the  greatest  manifestations  of  his  mind  to 
 sufferers.  To  a  captive  beside  the  banks  of  the  Ulai 
 and  the  Hiddekel,  i.e.  to  Daniel,  God  made  known  the 
 greatest  portions  of  Ids  mind  and  will,  as  thcvse  were  to 
 be  unfolded  in  future  ages.  To  an  exile  and  a  prisoner, 
 amid  the  dreary  solit  ides  of  Patmos,  i.e.  to  John,  God 
 revealed  that  grand  procession  of  saints,  and  martyrs, 
 and  kings,  and  dynasties,  and  heroes,  and  conquerors, 
 the  history  of  which  is  recorded  in  the  Apocalypse,  and 
 the  fulfilment  of  which  is  contained  in  every  (;hapter  of 
 human  historj*.  To  the  men  who  felt  they  had  nothing 
 upon  earth,  did  God  make  known  most  plainly  how 
 much  they  had  in  heaven.  To  the  eye  that  was  shut 
 upon  all  the  splendours  of  time,  did  God  disclose  in  the 
 
46  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 greatest  fulness  the  glories  of  eternity.  And  just  as 
 God  made  known  most  of  his  mind  to  those  who  were 
 most  separate  from  the  world,  he  will  also  discover  most 
 of  the  meaning  of  his  word  to  those  who  are  least  bound 
 up  with  the  cares,  the  anxieties,  the  pomps,  and  the 
 vanities  of  this  present  life. 
 
 The  first  thing  that  occurred,  when  God  was  about 
 to  reveal  to  Daniel  his  purposes,  w^as  the  silencing  ot 
 the  wisdom  of  man.  These  magicians  owned  their 
 ignorance  before  God  revealed  his  wisdom.  It  is  thus 
 that  God  shows  the  wisdom  of  man  to  be  folly,  in  order 
 that  the  wise  man  may  not  glory  in  wisdom ;  and  the 
 strength  of  man  to  be  but  weakness,  in  order  that  the 
 strong  man  may  not  glory  in  his  strength.  In  the  case 
 of  the  Eg}q)tian  magicians  he  showed  the  weakness  of 
 human  power ;  in  the  case  of  the  Chaldean  magicians  he 
 taught  the  ignorance  of  human  wisdom  ;  and  in  both 
 cases  he  led  prince  and  people  from  the  broken  cisterns 
 to  the  divine  and  original  fount. 
 
 The  four  empires,  as  I  have  already  explained,  are 
 the  Babylonian,  the  Persian,  the  Graeco-Macedonian, 
 and  the  Koman  empires  ;  and  the  last,  the  empire  of 
 the  stouQ  cut  out  without  hands,  represents  the  empire 
 of  the  Gospel. 
 
 The  first  kingdom,  then,  here  represented  by  the 
 head  of  gold,  was  that  of  Babylon.  Let  me  just 
 briefly  notice  what  is  said  about  it  in  the  word  of  God, 
 and  in  what  respects  that  which  was  prophesied  of  it 
 has  been  fulfilled  You  will  always  perceive  that  one 
 kingdom  passes  from  the  stage  the  moment  that  the 
 other  comes  on.  In  other  words,  the  Persian  kingdom 
 was  constructed  from  the  ruins  of  the  Babylonian ;  the 
 Greeco-Macedonian  was  constructed  from  the  ruins  of  the 
 Persian  ;  and  the  Roman  kingdom  rose  upon  the  ruins 
 of  all  that  preceded  it. 
 
 About  612  years  B.C.  ]!^ebuchadnezzar  destroyed  Nine- 
 veh ;  or,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  as  shown  to  be 
 true  b}'  the  disclosures  of  Layard,  ''made  its  grave;" 
 burjdng  in  the  deep  and  silent  earth  all  its  grandeur, 
 its  pomp,  and  its  splendour.     And  w^hen  Nineveh,  till 
 
Bi:BTLOir,    THE    GOLDEN   HEAD.  47 
 
 that  time  the  greatest  kingdoni  upon  earth,  -was  thus 
 entombed  in  its  grave,  Babylon  ascended  the  throne, 
 and  swayed  the  sceptre  over  a]l  the  nations  of  the  world. 
 The  walls  of  the  city  of  Babylon,  as  we  read  not  only  in 
 Scripture,  but  in  Xcnophon,  the  beautiful  and  classic 
 Greek  historian,  were  of  gigantic  size,  measuring  sixty 
 miles  in  circumference ;  and  the  breadth  of  these  walls, 
 which  were  very  solid,  being  built  of  brick  cemented 
 with  bitumen,  a  substance  produced  upon  the  soil,  were 
 capable  of  allowing  six  chariots,  each  with  two  horses, 
 to  drive  abreast  upon  them.  The  city  had  100  gates  of 
 solid  brass.  The  temple  of  Bel,  or  of  Belus,  as  it  is  called 
 by  clussic  writers,  had  a  circumference  of  half  a  mile, 
 and  was  upwards  of  one  thousand  feet  in  height,  or 
 nearlj'  three  times  the  height  of  St.  Paul's  cathedral. 
 The  fertility  of  the  whole  region  of  Chaldea,  watered  by 
 the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  was  so  great  that  classical 
 historians,  Herodotus  and  Strabo,  tell  us  that  it  pro- 
 duced two  hundredfold ;  i.e.  that  one  seed  of  corn,  if  I 
 may  use  this  mode  of  illustration,  produced  in  the  ear 
 200  seeds  ;  a  degree  of  fertility  unrivalled  in  any  modern 
 country.  This  I  state  to  justify  the  description  of  the 
 prophet,  when  he  calls  Babylon  *'  the  excellency  of 
 Chaldea,"  and  literally,  *'  the  glory  of  kingdoms." 
 Again,  what  is  the  sign  of  it  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream?  ''The  head  of  gold;''  in  its  natural  and 
 physical  properties  the  most  valuable  of  the  four  metals. 
 In  order  to  show  you  the  descriptions  given  of  it  by 
 other  prophets  of  God,  I  refer  to  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
 who  thus  speaks  of  it  in  chap,  xxvii.  5 — 8  :  *'  I  have 
 made  the  earth,  the  man,  and  the  beast  that  are  upon 
 the  ground,  by  my  great  power  and  by  my  outstretched 
 ann,  and  have  given  it  unto  whom  it  seemed  meet  unto 
 me.  And  now  have  I  given  all  these  lands  into  the 
 hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  King  of  Babylon,  my 
 servant ;  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  have  I  given  him 
 also  to  serve  him.  And  all  nations  shall  serve  hira,  and 
 his  son,  and  his  son's  son,  until  the  very  time  of  his  land 
 come :  and  then  many  nations  and  great  kings  shall 
 BeiTe  themselves  of  him.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
 
48  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 the  nation  and  kingdom  which  will  not  serve  the  same 
 I^^ebuchadnezzar  the  King  of  Babylon,  and  that  will  not 
 put  their  neck  under  the  yoke  of  the  King  of  Babylon, 
 that  nation  will  I  punish,  saith  the  Lord,  with  the  sword, 
 and  with  the  famine,  and  with  the  pestilence,  until  I 
 have  consumed  them  by  his  hand."  You  have  in  these 
 words  the  investiture  of  the  King  of  Babylon  with 
 universal  sovereignty  :  in  other  words,  '^  the  empire  of 
 the  head  of  gold,"  in  all  its  magnificence;  characterised 
 by  unrivalled  fertility,  wielding  a  dominion  superior  to 
 that  of  the  nations  around,  with  no  limits  but  the  will 
 and  the  power  of  the  monarch.  We  then  find  that  the 
 head  of  gold  passes  away,  to  give  place  to  an  empire 
 rising  from  its  ruins,  only  less  magnificent  than  the 
 former.  And  in  order  to  show  how  truly  history  is  the 
 echo  of  prophecy,  I  will  quote  the  predictions  of  the 
 doAvnfal  of  Bab^don,  and  then  adds  the  facts  of  its  ruin 
 as  those  facts  are  recorded  by  Xenophon,  Strabo,  and 
 Herodotus,  the  heathen  historians. 
 
 I  will  give,  I  say,  first  of  all  the  predictions  of  God, 
 as  these  were  uttered  many  j-ears  before  its  fall,  and  then 
 I  will  read  the  facts  recorded  in  history  by  impartial 
 writers  who  did  not  even  know  of  the  prophecy,  and 
 who  could  not  have  the  least  design  or  intention  of  show- 
 ing its  fulfilment.  The  first  passage  to  which  I  refer  is 
 Jer.  XXV,  11,  12,  and  this  is  a  summary  of  all  that 
 follows,  where  God  says,  "  This  whole  land  shall  be  a 
 desolation,  and  an  astonishment ;  and  these  nations  shall 
 serve  the  king  of  Babjdon  seventy  3-ears."  You  recollect 
 I  showed  you  the  prophecy  that  all  nations  should  serve 
 him,  and  here  you  read  what  is  to  follow  :  **  And  it 
 shall  come  to  pass,  when  seventy  years  are  accomplished, 
 that  I  will  punish  the  King  of  Babylon,  and  that  nation, 
 saith  the  Lord,  for  their  iniquity,  and  the  land  of  the 
 Chaldeans,  and  will  make  it  perpetual  desolations."  The 
 captivity  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon  was  to  last  seventy 
 years  :  and  just  while  their  punishment  lasted,  the  pros- 
 perity of  Babjdon  was  to  last,  and  no  longer.  I  will  now 
 direct  your  attention  to  Isaiah  xiii.,  "  The  burden  of 
 Babylon,  which  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amos  did  see ;"  and  I 
 
BABYLOX,    THE    GOLDEX   HEAT).  49 
 
 "will  read  such  verses  only  as  apply  immediately  to  the 
 subject  before  us.      At  verse  4, — and  I  ^vill  thank  you 
 to  notice  the  very  words  used  by  the  prophet,  because 
 the  evidence  of  the  inspiration  of  these  prophets  will  be 
 rendered  the  more  plain  by  your  observing  how  minutely 
 each  prediction  has  been  fulfilled, — ''The  noise  of  a 
 multitude  in  the  mountains,  like  as  of  a  great  people  ;  a 
 tumultuous  noise  of  the  kingdoms  of  nations  gathered 
 together :  the  Lord  of  hosts  mustereth  the  host  of  the 
 battle.     They  come  from  a  far  country,  from  the  end  of 
 heaven,  even  the  Lord,  and  the  weapons  of  his  indigna- 
 tion, to  destroy  the  whole  land.      Howl  ye  ;  for  the  day 
 of  the  Lord  is  at  hand ;  it  shall  come  as  a  destruction 
 from  the  Almighty.     Therefore  snail  all  hands  be  faint, 
 and  every  man's  heart  shall  melt.      And  they  shall  be 
 afraid  :  pangs  and  sorrows  shall  take  hold  of  them ;  they 
 shall  be  in  pain  as  a  woman  that  travaileth  :  they  shall 
 be  amazed  one  at  another ;  their  faces  shall  be  as  flames. 
 Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  cruel  both  with 
 wrath  and  fierce  anger,  to  lay  the  land  desolate  :  and  he 
 shall  destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of  it."     Then,  verse 
 17,  ''  Behold,  I  will  stir  up  the  Medes," — the  very  name 
 of  the  nation  which  was  to  destroy  them  is  specified — • 
 **  which  shall  not  regard  silver ;  and  as  for  gold,  they 
 shall  not  delight  in  it.      Their  bows  also  shall  dash  the 
 young  men  to  pieces ;  and  they  shall  have  no  pity  on  the 
 fruit  of  the  womb ;  their  eye  shall  not  spare  children. 
 And  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the 
 Chaldees'  excellency,  shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew 
 Sodom  and   Gomorrah.     It   shall   never  be  inhabited, 
 neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  genera- 
 tion ;"  and  the  prophecy  grows  more  specific  :   "  N^either 
 shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there;  neither  shall  the 
 shepherds  make  their  fold  there.    But  wild  beasts  of  the 
 desert  shall  lie  there ;  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of 
 doleful  creatures ;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs 
 shall  dance  there.     And  the  wild  beasts  of  the  island 
 shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses,  and  di^agons  in  their 
 pleasant  palaces  :  and  her  time  is  near  to  come,  and  her 
 days  shall  not  be  prolonged."      Then  at  chap.  xiv.  4, 
 
 s 
 
50  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 "  Thou  shalt  take  up  this  proverb  against  the  King  of 
 Babylon,  and  say,  How  hath  the  oppressor  ceased  !  the 
 golden  city  ceased  !"  Then,  (verse  11,)  "  thy  pomp  is 
 brought  down  to  the  grave,  and  the  noise  of  thy  viols : 
 the  worm  is  spread  under  thee,  and  the  worms  cover 
 thee."  Terse  15,  "  Yet  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  to 
 hell,  to  the  sides  of  the  pit."  Verse  1 9,  ^'  Thou  art  cast 
 out  of  thy  grave  like  an  abominable  branch."  Terse  22, 
 *'  I  will  rise  up  against  them,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 and  cut  off  from  Babylon  the  name,  and  remnant,  and 
 son,  and  nephew,  saith  the  Lord."  Then  chap.  xlvi.  27, 
 • — recollect  that  God  is  predicting  here  the  destruction  of 
 Babylon,  and  the  mode  in  which  that  destruction  should 
 be  effected,  though  seventy  years  and  upwards  before 
 anything  of  the  kind  had  taken  place, — ''  That  saith  to 
 the  deep.  Be  di*y,  and  I  will  dry  up  thy  rivers :  that 
 saith  of  Cyrus," — before  Cyrus  was  born, — ''He  is  my 
 shepherd,  and  shall  perform  all  ray  pleasure  :  even  say- 
 ing to  Jerusalem,  Thou  shalt  be  built ;  and  to  the  temjjle, 
 Thy  foundation  shall  be  laid  ;"  giving  a  prophecy  of  the 
 rise  of  Jerusalem,  emerging  from  the  ruins  of  Babylon. 
 
 I  then  call  your  attention  to  Jer.  1.  "  The  word  that 
 the  Lord  spake  against  Babylon  and  against  the  land  of 
 the  Chaldeans  by  Jeremiah  the  ju'ophet.  Declare  ye 
 among  the  nations,  and  publish,  and  set  up  a  standard ; 
 publish  and  conceal  not :  say,  Babylon  is  taken,  Bel  is 
 confounded,  Merodach  is  broken  in  pieces  ;  her  idols  are 
 confounded,  her  images  are  broken  in  pieces.  For  out  of 
 the  north  there  cometh  up  a  nation  against  her,  which 
 shall  make  her  land  desolate,  and  none  shall  dwell 
 therein ;  they  shall  remove,  they  shall  depart,  both  man 
 and  beast."  Again,  verse  9,  "  For,  lo,  I  w^ill  raise  and 
 cause  to  come  up  against  Babylon  an  assembly  of  great 
 nations  from  the  north  country :  and  they  shall  set 
 themselves  in  array  against  her ;  from  thence  she  shall 
 be  taken  :  their  arrows  shall  be  as  of  a  mighty  expert 
 man  ;  none  shall  return  in  vain.  And  Chaldea  shall  be 
 a  spoil :  all  that  sj)oil  her  shall  be  satisfied,  saith  the 
 Lord."  Again,  at  verses  12,  13,  ''  Your  mother  shall 
 be  sore  confounded  j  she  that  bare  you  shall  be  ashamed : 
 
BABYLON,    THE    GOLDEN   HEAD.  51 
 
 behold,  the  hindermost  of  the  nations  shall  be  a  wilder- 
 ness, a  diy  land,  and  a  desert.  Because  of  the  wrath  of 
 the  Lord  it  shall  not  be  inhabited,  but  it  shall  be  wholly- 
 desolate  :  every  one  that  goeth  by  Babylon  shall  be 
 astonished,  and  hiss  at  all  her  plagues."  Again,  at 
 verses  15,  16,  ''Shout  against  her  round  about:  she 
 hath  given  her  hand  :  her  foundations  are  fallen,  her 
 walls  are  thrown  down :  for  it  is  the  vengeance  of  the 
 Lord :  take  vengeance  upon  her ;  as  she  hath  done,  do 
 unto  her.  Cut  off  the  sower  from  Babylon,  and  him  that 
 handlcth  the  sickle  in  the  time  of  harvest :  for  fear  of 
 the  oppressing  sword  they  shall  turn  every  one  to  his 
 people,  and  they  shall  flee  every  one  to  his  own  land." 
 Again,  at  verses  24 — 26,  ''  I  have  laid  a  snare  for  thee, 
 and  thou  art  also  taken,  0  Babylon,  and  thou  wast  not 
 aware :  thou  art  found,  and  also  caught,  because  thou 
 hast  striven  against  the  Lord.  The  Lord  hath  opened 
 his  armourj',  and  hath  brought  forth  the  weapons  of  his 
 indignation  :  for  this  is  the  work  of  the  Lord  God  of 
 hosts  in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans.  Come  against  her 
 from  the  utmost  border,  open  her  storehouses  :  cast  her 
 up  as  heaps,  and  destroy  her  utterly  :  let  nothing  of  her 
 be  left."  Again,  in  chap.  li.  verse  35,  ''  The  violence 
 done  to  me  and  to  my  flesh  be  upon  Babylon,  shall  the 
 inhabitant  of  Zion  say ;  and  my  blood  upon  the  inhabit- 
 ants of  Chaldca,  shall  Jerusalem  say."  And  lastly,  verse 
 47,  "  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come,  that  I  will  do 
 judgment  upon  the  graven  images  of  Babylon  :  and  her 
 whole  land  shall  be  confounded,  and  all  her  slain  shall 
 fall  in  the  midst  of  her." 
 
 Then,  once  more,  tura  to  chap.  li.  ver.  36  :  ''  There- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord ;  Behold,  I  will  plead  thy  cause, 
 and  take  vengeance  for  thee  ;  and  I  will  dry  up  her  sea, 
 and  make  her  springs  dry."  And  again,  ver.  37,  ''And 
 Babylon  shall  become  heaps,  a  dwelling-place  for  dragons, 
 an  astonishment,  and  an  hissing,  without  an  inhabitant." 
 And  again,  ver.  39,  "In  their  heat  I  will  make  their 
 feasts,  and  I  will  make  them  drunken,  that  they  may 
 rejoice,  and  sleep  a  perpetual  sleep,  and  not  wake,  saith 
 the  Lord."     And  again,  ver.   41,   "  How  is  Sheshach 
 
 E  2 
 
52  PEOrHETIC    ST1JDIE9* 
 
 taken  !  and  how  is  the  praise  of  the  Tvhole  earth  sur- 
 prised !  How  is  Babylon  become  an  astonishment  among 
 the  nations!"  Yer.  44,  ''And  I  will  punish  Eel  in 
 Babylon,  and  I  will  bring  forth  out  of  his  mouth  that 
 which  he  hath  swallowed  up  :  and  the  nations  shall  not 
 flow  together  any  more  unto  him  :  yea,  the  wall  of 
 Babylon  shall  fall."  And  again,  yer.  46,  47,  ''And  lest 
 your  heart  faint,  and  ye  fear  for  the  rumour  that  shall  be 
 heard  in  the  land ;  a  rumour  shall  both  come  one  year, 
 and  after  that  in  another  year  shall  come  a  rumour,  and 
 violence  in  the  land,  i-uler  against  ruler.  Therefore, 
 behold,  the  days  come,  that  I  will  do  judgment  upon  the 
 graven  images  of  Babylon  :  and  her  whole  land  shall  be 
 confounded,  and  all  her  slain  shall  fall  in  the  midst  other." 
 
 I  have  thus  read  the  leading  parts  of  that  great  burden 
 of  prophecy  against  Babylon.  I  now  quote  in  evidence 
 of  the  fulfilment  of  these  the  prophecies  of  God,  the  dis- 
 pijssionate  testimony  of  the  heathen  historians  :  and  I 
 shall  then  give  you  an  account  not  only  of  the  rise,  as  I 
 have  akeady  brief!)'  done,  but  also  of  the  fall,  of  the 
 head  of  gold,  previous  to  the  silver  empire  taking  its 
 place,  and  its  order  in  succession  onward  to  the  end. 
 
 Pirst,'then,  in  these  prophecies,  Cyrus  is  specified  as 
 the  general  who  was  to  march  his  forces  against  Babylon. 
 Xenophon  directly  states  that  such  was  the  fact.  Babylon, 
 trusting  in  its  gigantic  walls,  and  in  its  provisions  for 
 twenty  years,  adequate  to  maintain  it  in  case  of  its  being 
 besieged,  instead  of  preparing  to  repel  the  invading  army, 
 gave  itself,  its  whole  poj)ulation,  from  the  prince  upon 
 the  throne  down  to  the  meanest  of  his  subjects,  to  dc- 
 baucheiy,  riot,  profligacy,  and  drunkenness.  In  the  next 
 place,  Cyrus,  after  he  had  come  in  array  against  Babylon, 
 besieged  it  for  years  without  success,  and  at  last  fell 
 upon  the  expedient  of  digging  trenches  round  the  walls 
 of  Babylon,  ostensibly  for  blockade,  but  really  to  divert 
 the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  from  their  accustomed  course, 
 and  leave  in  the  empty  channel  a  pathway  for  his  soldiers 
 to  march  into  the  city.  It  was,  as  I  have  described, 
 surrounded  by  vast  walls ;  but  the  river  Euphrates  rolled 
 through  the  midst  of  it.    There  was  therefore  an  opening 
 
BABYLON,  THE  GOLDEN  HEAD.  53 
 
 thus  formed  through  the  centre  of  the  city  ;  only  there 
 were  Avails  upon  each  side,  or  on  each  bank  of  the  river, 
 with  gates  to  each  street  leading  down  to  it;  and  the 
 plan  of  Cyrus  was  therefore  to  divert  the  waters  of  the 
 Euphrates  into  the  trenches  he  had  dug,  and  to  make 
 the  dry  central  channel  a  road  for  his  troops  to  march 
 down  in  order  to  gain  possession  of  the  city.  Herodotus, 
 the  father  of  historians,  relates  that,  even  after  having 
 marched  along  the  bed  of  the  river,  the  obstacles  to  his 
 entrance  were  just  as  great  as  elsewhere  ;  for  there  were 
 gates  to  each  street  leading  to  the  banks  of  the  river ; 
 and  if  these  had  been  secured,  the  obstruction  to  the 
 entrance  of  Cyrus  would  have  been  complete.  But  there 
 was  a  prophecy — part  of  which  I  read  to  you — that  these 
 gates  should  not  be  shut ;  and  the  Babylonians,  not  sus- 
 pecting the  stratagem  of  Cyrus  in  diverting  the  waters 
 of  the  river,  left  their  gates  open  as  if  in  conscious  pos- 
 session of  impregnable  security ;  when  part  of  the  army, 
 therefore,  entered  at  one  side  of  the  city,  marching  up 
 the  bed  of  the  river,  and  another  part  of  his  troops  at 
 the  other  side  of  the  city,  marching  down  the  bed  of  the 
 river,  they  found  each  of  these  gates  open,  which  would 
 not  have  been  the  case  liad  not  the  people  been  indulging 
 in  feasting  and  drunkenness  ;  the  troops  therefore  entered 
 by  every  gate ;  and  before  the  Babylonians  were  aware 
 that  the  enemy  was  so  near  at  hand,  their  great  and 
 impregnable  capital  was  in  the  hands  of  the  next  empire, 
 the  empire  of  the  Persians. 
 
 We  notice  another  minute  point  that  was  singularly 
 fulfilled.  It  was  predicted  that  the  enemy  should  come 
 upon  them  unawares,  and  that  '^  one  post  should  run  to 
 meet  another  in  the  midst  of  the  siege."  Now,  that  such 
 was  literally  the  fact  is  recorded  by  Herodotus,  for  he 
 says  that  those  at  one  end  of  the  city  were  in  the  hands 
 of  C}Tus  before  those  at  the  other  end  of  the  city  were 
 aware  of  his  attack,  and  before  they  had  time  to  give  the 
 alarm  ;  thus  fulfilling  the  prediction  of  the  prophet,  that 
 post  should  run  to  post,  and  watchman  to  watchman,  to 
 give  the  awful  and  startling  al.orm  that  the  forces  of 
 Cyrus  were  upon  them. 
 
54  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Then  it  is  predicted  by  the  prophet,  that  "  they  that 
 •were  di'unken  should  sleep  a  perpetual  sleep  ;"  and  that 
 *'  the  two-leaved  gates  should  be  thrown  open."  It  is 
 stated  by  the  historian  that  the  monarch  was  indulging 
 in  a  feast,  and  was  intoxicated  with  wine,  surrounded  by 
 all  his  princes,  nobles,  and  courtiers,  at  the  very  moment 
 when  the  city  had  lallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Persian 
 array  ;  and  hearing  a  noise  outside  the  palace,  he  insisted 
 on  knowing  what  it  was ;  and  when  some  of  the  chief 
 princes  rushed  to  the  gates  of  the  palace  in  order  to 
 ascertain  the  cause,  and  threw  them  open  for  that  pur- 
 pose, they  thus  fulfilled  the  proj^hecy, — the  troops  of 
 Cyrus  instantly  rushed  in,  and  Belshazzar  and  his  princes 
 were  slaughtered  in  the  midst  of  their  festival :  ''  the 
 drunken  slept  a  perpetual  sleep."  Thus  you  have  every 
 prediction  that  God  gave  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah  and 
 Jeremiah  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter  :  and  that  fulfilment 
 is  recorded  by  the  dispassionate  pens  of  the  historians  of 
 Ancient  Greece. 
 
 I  shall  now  quote  a  few  short  extracts  from  the  works 
 of  modern  travellers,  in  order  to  show  how  complete  the 
 ruin  of  Eabylon  has  been,  and  how  minutely  each  pro- 
 phecy has  been  fulfilled.  For  these  last  I  am  mainly 
 indebted  to  Dr.  Keith's  useful  work  on  the  fulfilment  of 
 prophecy.  Porter,  in  his  Travels,  states  that  *'  mounds 
 of  temples  and  palaces  were  everywhere  visible;"  "a 
 vast  succession  of  mounds  of  ruins  is  all  that  now  remains 
 of  Babylon."  What  Porter  saw  when  he  visited  the 
 spot  had  been  foretold  of  God,  when  he  prophesied  that 
 nothing  should  be  left.  Pichards,  when  he  visited  it, 
 found  that  "  vast  heaps  constitute  all  that  now  remains 
 of  ancient  Babylon  ;  there  are  no  inhabitants."  God  had 
 declared,  "  It  shall  never  be  inhabited."  KejDpel,  another 
 ti'aveller,  who  visited  the  same  spot,  says,  "  Babjion  is 
 spurned  by  the  heel  of  the  Ottoman,  the  Israelite,  and 
 the  sons  of  Islimael."  God  had  said  beforehand,  ''The 
 Arab  shall  not  pitch  his  tent  there."  This  is  the  more 
 remarkable,  because  the  Arabs  are  a  nomadic  race,  wan- 
 derers that  are  found  in  almost  every  place  where  they 
 can  find  temporary  shelter  or  provender  for  their  cattle  : 
 
BABTLON",    THE    GOLDEN   HEAD.  55 
 
 and  Captain  Mignon  relates,  that  when  he  reached  the 
 spot,  accompanied  by  six  Arabs,  he  could  not  induce 
 them  to  remain  all  night  among  the  ruins,  because, 
 they  alleged,  the  place  was  haunted.  Buckingham, 
 another  traveller,  says,  ''  All  the  people  of  the  country 
 assert  that  it  is  dangerous  to  approach  the  mounds  of 
 Babylon  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  evil  spirits  that 
 dwell  among  them."  Man's  excuse  may  arise  from 
 superstition ;  but  the  result  is,  the  accomplishment  of 
 the  ancient  prophecy, — "  The  Ai^ab  shall  not  pitch  his 
 tent  there." 
 
 We  have  thus  seen,  then,  the  rise,  the  magnificence, 
 and  the  fall  of  Babylon;  and  in  it  we  have  seen  God's 
 word  completely  fulhlled.  God's  word  is  more  powerful 
 than  princes ;  more  enduring  than  dynasties :  it  moves 
 softly  and  silently,  yet  surely,  to  victory;  tui-niug  ob- 
 stacles into  impulses,  and  obstructions  into  facilities, 
 until  it  shall  appear  enthroned  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
 kingdoms  of  this  world,  and  become  the  glory  and  the 
 praise  of  the  ransomed  people  of  God. 
 
 We  may  here  observe  how  transient  is  human  great- 
 ness !  The  great  walls  of  Babylon,  on  which,  as  we  read, 
 six  chariots  could  ride  abreast,  are  no  more.  Its  magni- 
 ficent temple,  which  caught  the  fu'st  rays  of  the  rising 
 sun,  and  reflected  the  last  beams  of  the  setting  sun, — the 
 palace  in  which  the  choicest  wines  were  drunk,  and  the 
 sacred  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  were  profaned, — are  gone; 
 the  golden  head  is  buried  in  the  dust ;  the  hum  of  its 
 mighty  population  is  silenced.  The  Arab  ventures  not 
 to  pitch  his  tent  there  ;  and  the  owl,  hooting  amid  the 
 broken  ruins,  seems  to  attest  how  perishable  is  all  that 
 man  calls  great ! — how  lasting  is  all  that  God  pronounces 
 true ! 
 
 The  duration  of  Babylon's  power,  you  notice,  in  the 
 next  place,  was  speciiicd  to  be  seventy  years.  It  was 
 destined  to  last  only  till  it  had  accomplished  God's  pur- 
 poses. The  kingdom  is  ours ;  and  its  duration  we  fancy 
 that  we  are  able  to  control.  It  is  not  so.  We  are  in  the 
 hands  of  God,  and  the  times  and  the  seasons  are  all  spe- 
 cified by  Him.     The  King  of  Babylon  thought  he  had 
 
56  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 raised  a  great  empire  for  his  glory:  in  reality,  he  had 
 built  a  school-house  in  Avhich  God  "was  the  teach(T ;  a 
 prison-house  in  which  He  was  to  punish  his  people  for 
 a  season  on  account  of  their  iniquities.  And  as  soon  as 
 the  work  appointed  of  God  had  been  accomplished,  the 
 "  glory  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency"  departs,  *'  the  golden 
 head"  falls,  and  the  great  empire  is  at  an  end. 
 
 As  its  end  drew  near,  Daniel,  in  clearer  terms,  as  T 
 shall  show  from  the  sequel  of  the  prophecy,  came  to 
 predict  its  ruin.  From  this  a  most  able  and  talented 
 writer  on  the  Prophecies  of  Daniel,  Mr.  Eirks,  the  son- 
 in-law  of  the  Tenorable  Mr.  Bickersteth,*  argues,  that 
 we  may  expect  that,  as  God  revealed  bj^  his  prophets 
 more  clearly — for  Daniel  states  that  he  "knew  b?/  books'' 
 the  number  and  the  date  of  tlie  seventy  years — the  time 
 when  the  captivity  should  be  ended,  so,  as  Ave  draw  near 
 to  the  end  of  this  dispensation,  he  will  make  more  clear, 
 
 *  It  is  difficult  to  overstate  the  loss  which  the  Church  of  Ciirist 
 on  earth  has  sustained  bv  the  removal  of  this  eminent,  excellent, 
 Christian,  and  Protestant  minister. 
 
 He  was  ever  ready  to  aid,  by  his  advocacy,  the  cause  of  truth  ; 
 liberal,  yet  not  latitudinarian  ;  a  zealous  contender  for  the  faith, 
 and  yet  n'^ever  betrayed  into  bitterness  of  feeling  or  violence  of 
 speech.  He  loved  his  Church,  but  he  loved  Clirisiianity  still 
 more.  No  man  was  so  tenacious  of  essential  truth,  yet  none 
 rejoiced  more  than  he  did  in  the  company  of  the  good  and  faithful 
 of  every  name.  He  possessed  great  clearness  of  mind,  and  yet 
 greater  warmth  of  heart ;  earnest  and  unwearied  ad\  ocacy  of 
 truth  ;  a  walk  unimpeachable  before  the  severest  censor,  and 
 beautiful,  because  truly  apprehended  by  the  people  of  God. 
 
 Every  Christian  that  knew  him  loved  him.  Even  his  enemies 
 — the  enemies  of  truth— hesitated  to  select  Mr.  i^ickerstelh  as 
 the  object  of  vituperation,  or  satire,  or  assault,  well  aware,  that 
 in  their  selection  of  one  so  widely  revered,  their  attack  would 
 recoil  upon  themselves  far  sooner  than  in  the  case  of  other  and 
 more  easily  vulnerable  champions  of  truth. 
 
 His  removal  at  a  crisis  when  his  life  and  counsel  were  so  sin- 
 gularly needed  is  to  us  inexplicable  Perhaps  it  is  judgment 
 lieginning  at  the  house  of  God,  and  thus  his  gain  may  be  not 
 only  our  loss  but  our  punishment.  Very  soon  he  will  cume  with 
 his  coming  Lord,  and  such  of  us  as  may  be  alive  will  meet  the 
 sublime  procession  in  the  ail*,  and  our  separation,  so  widely  and 
 bitterly  bewailed,  will  render  our  meeting  again,  where  separations 
 are  unknown,  more  glorious.     Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus  ! 
 
BABYLON,  THE  GOLDEN  HEAD.  57 
 
 intelligible,  and  distinct,  the  years  that  number  the 
 times  of  the  Gentiles. 
 
 We  must  not  suppose  there  was  anything  strange  in 
 God's  revealing  this  to  a  heathen  prince,  and  through 
 the  medium  of  what  appears  to  us  so  common  and  trivial 
 a  thing  as  a  dream.  To  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Job,  God 
 spoke  face  to  face;  but  in  general  he  revealed  future 
 events  by  means  of  dreams.  And  he  himself  declares, 
 "  If  there  be  a  prophet  among  you,  I  the  Lord  will  make 
 myself  known  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  will  speak  unto 
 him  in  dreams."  Jacob  was  promised  his  patrimony  in 
 a  dream.  In  a  dream  the  Lord  appeared  to  Solomon, 
 and  bade  him  ask  what  he  wished.  In  a  dream  Pharaoh 
 was  warned  of  the  famine  that  was  about  to  ^  isit  Egypt : 
 and  from  some  traditional  recollections  of  these  facts 
 arises  the  popular  belief,  that  that  which  is  about  to 
 come  to  pass  is  sometimes  revealed  to  men  in  dreams. 
 It  may  be  so.  There  is  no  reason  to  conclude  that  God 
 does  not  come  into  closer  contact  with  the  human  mind 
 than  many  are  disposed  to  believe;  only  you  are  not 
 to  read  Providence  and  Scripture  in  the  light  of  your 
 dream;  you  are  to  read  your  dream  in  the  light  of 
 Scripture.  If  in  a  dream  anything  seems  revealed  to 
 you  contrary  to  Scripture,  it  is  not  from  God ;  if  it  be 
 consistent  with  Scripture,  it  is  from  God.  Put  recollect, 
 you  live  not  by  what  you  dream,  but  by  what  you  read 
 in  God's  Holy  Word.  Any  one  that  adds  to  that  Word, 
 to  him  shall  be  added  its  curses ;  any  one  that  subtracts 
 from  it,  from  him  shall  be  subtracted  the  promises  re- 
 vealed in  it. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  is  there  not  in  the  destruction  of 
 Babylon  a  foreshadow  of  what  shall  be  the  end  of  this 
 dispensation?  Cyrus  burst  upon  Pabylon  whilst  its 
 princes  and  its  people  were  feasting  and  revelling ;  and 
 so  in  the  period  that  immediately  precedes  our  Lord's 
 advent  it  will  be  asked,  ''Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
 coming  ?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  con- 
 tinue as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation." 
 I  believe,  that  only  God's  people  will  be  taught  to  anti- 
 cipate that  blessed  day,  that  glorious  epoch.    They  alone 
 
68  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 •will  be  found  resting,  by  retrospective  faith,  upon  that 
 perfect  sacrifice,  Avhich  speaks  better  things  than  the 
 blood  of  Abel ;  their  eyes  stretching  through  the  vista 
 of  the  future,  to  catch  the  rays  of  the  approaching  sun, 
 which  shall  rise  and  shine  from  his  meridian  throne  to 
 set  no  more. 
 
 To  those  that  look  for  him,  "  he  will  appear  the  second 
 time  without  sin  unto  salvation."  May  we  not  believe, 
 that  we  have  in  the  destruction  of  the  literal  Babylon  a 
 type  and  foreshadowing  of  what  will  be  the  destruction 
 of  that  Babylon  of  which  it  was  the  prototype,  and 
 with  whose  destruction  the  Apocalypse  is  so  fully  and 
 unmistakeably  charged  ?  It  is  there  stated  that  ''her 
 plagues  shall  come"  upon  Babylon  ''in  one  daj^  death, 
 and  mourning,  and  famine."  You  recollect  my  endea- 
 vouring to  show  you  what  the  future  prospects  of  Home 
 are.  My  belief  always  was,  that  the  Pontiff  would  be 
 replaced  on  his  throne ;  but,  along  with  that,  the  clear 
 indications  of  the  prophetic  word  seem  to  be,  that  by  his 
 attempts  to  assert  a  supremacy  that  is  God's,  and  to  wield 
 a  sceptre  from  which  the  prestige  and  the  glory  seem  to 
 be  gone  for  ever,  he  should  precipitate  on  himself  only  a 
 more  terrible  and  consuming  catastrophe. 
 
 But  Babylon  has  passed  away  ;  and  modern  Babylon 
 will  pass  away  too.  Where,  however,  are  we }  and 
 what  shall  we  do  when  the  crash  and  desolation  of  the 
 last  hour  comes  ?  Is  our  citizenship  in  heaven  ?  Ai'e 
 our  hearts  and  pleasures  beyond  the  skies?  Are  we 
 travelling  upon  our  road  in  practical  obedience  to  the 
 text — "Be  ye  not  conformed  to  this  world?"  Aie  we 
 walking  amid  these  dark  shadows  that  are  creeping  over 
 the  surface  of  the  whole  earth,  as  pilgrims  and  strangers, 
 "looking  for  a  city  that  hath  foundations,  whose  builder 
 and  maker  is  God  ?"  Does  the  dissolution  of  the  king- 
 doms of  the  world,  the  breaking  up  of  ancient  establish- 
 ments and  hoary  dynasties,  the  heaving  of  all  things^ 
 Church  and  State  both  together,  as  if  some  terrible  sub- 
 terranean forces  were  pressing  upwards  and  ready  every 
 moment  to  explode  and  leave  all  in  ruins,  affect  us? 
 Are  we  leaning  and  trusting  upon  these  things  ?     Are 
 
BABYLON,    THE    GOLDEN   HEAD.  59 
 
 we  thinking  of  our  wealtli,  our  rank,  our  property,  our 
 sect,  our  church,  our  partj^  more  than  we  are  thinking 
 of  Christ  ?  Are  we  looking  for  the  Lord  ?  •  Does  the 
 night  of  approaching  doom  only  warn  us  to  prepare  for 
 the  glorious  jubilee  that  shall  follow?  ''  Take  heed  to 
 yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  over-charged 
 with  surfeiting  and  drunkenness,  and  with  the  cares  of 
 this  life,  and  so  that  day  come  upon  you  unawares!" 
 May  He  add  his  blessing,  and  to  his  name  be  the  praise. 
 Amen. 
 
LECTUEE  YI. 
 
 THE   MEDO-PEESIAX   AND    GILaiCO-MACEDONIAN   EMPIRES. 
 
 '*  And  after  thee  shall  arise  another  hngdom  inferior  to 
 thee,  and  another  third  kingdom  of  brass,  which  shall 
 hear  riih  over  all  the  earths — Daniel  ii.  39. 
 
 This  is  part  of  the  explanation  of  the  vision  seen  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar.  He  saw  a  great  image,  of  which  we 
 read  at  verse  31,  that  this  great  image  ''stood  before 
 him,  whose  brightness  was  excellent,  and  the  form 
 thereof  was  terrible."  The  head  of  this  image  was  of 
 fine  gold,  ''his  breast  and  his  arms  of  silver,  his  belly 
 and  his  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of 
 iron  and  part  of  clay."  And  the  king  saw  until  "a 
 stone  cul  out  without  hands  smote  the  image  upon  his 
 feet  that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  pieces. 
 Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and 
 the  gold  broken  to  pieces  together,  and  became  like, 
 the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors ;  and  the  wind 
 carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was  found  for  them  : 
 and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great 
 mountain,  and  filled  the  whole  earth."  This  was  the 
 dream;  and  then  follows  the  interpretation  : — "Thou, 
 0  king,  art  a  king  of  kings  :  for  the  God  of  heaven  hath 
 given  thee  a  kingdom,  power,  strength,  and  gloiy.  And 
 wheresoever  the  children  of  men  dwell,  the  beasts  of 
 the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath  he  given 
 into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee  ruler  over  them 
 all.  Thou  art  this  head  of  gold."  This  was  the  first 
 kingdom.  Then  the  second  kingdom,  which  is  likened 
 to  the  breast  and  the  arms  of  silver,  is  described  in 
 verse  39  :  "  And  after  thee  shall  arise  another  kingdom 
 
THE    SILVER   AXD    BRASS    EMPIRES.  61 
 
 inferior  to  thee."  And  then  the  third  universal  king- 
 dom is  represented  by  the  image  ha^dng  ''  the  belly  and 
 the  thighs  of  brass,"  and  is  described  as  ''another  third 
 kingdom  of  brass,  which  shall  bear  rule  over  all  the 
 earth."  And  of  the  fourth  kingdom,  "  tlie  legs  of  iron," 
 it  is  predicted  :  ''  The  fourth  kingdom  shali  be  strong  as 
 iron :  forasmuch  as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces  and  sub- 
 dueth  all  things :  and  as  iron  that  breaketh  all  these, 
 shall  it  break  in  pieces  and  bruise." 
 
 Now,  I  explained  before,  that  in  all  the  records  of 
 history  there  have  been  but  four  supreme,  universal, 
 absolute  monarchies  from  the  beginning ;  the  first  being 
 that  of  Babylon,  the  sceptre  of  which  extended  over  all 
 the  nations  that  were  then  known,  and  the  sovereignty 
 ■  of  which  was  undisputed,  as  it  was  impossible  to  opposs 
 it.  Such  was  the  first,  or  the  head  of  gold.  In  my  last, 
 I  showed  its  rise,  its  national  grandeur,  its  decay,  and 
 its  utter  destruction  before  the  armies  of  Cyrus  :  we  now 
 find  that  another  kingdom  was  to  arise  inferior  to  Baby- 
 lon, just  as  the  silver  is  inferior  to  the  gold;  of  greater 
 territorial  dimensions,  but  of  less  national  splendour  and 
 magnificence.  The  twofold  character  that  is  here  indi- 
 cated— for  every  symbol  in  the  Bible  has  its  counterpart 
 in  history  and  in  fact — viz.  its  having  the  breast  and  the 
 two  arms  stretching  out  from  it  of  silver,  instantly  sug- 
 gests the  historic  fact  that  Cyrus  was  the  monarch,  that 
 Media  was  one  arm,  and  Persia  the  other ;  these  being 
 two  component  parts  of  the  kingdom  of  Cyrus,  he  being 
 the  tie  that  knit  the  two  realms  into  one.  Persia  was 
 the  one  realm,  and  Media  the  other  ;  the  latter  absorbed 
 by  the  former,  and  both,  like  two  arms,  joined  together 
 in  Cyrus,  who  inspired  them  with  their  vigour,  wielded 
 their  energies  with  success,  and  established  their  empire 
 from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof. 
 You  have  then,  in  Media  and  Persia,  or,  as  it  is  called 
 in  history,  the  Medo-Persian  universal  sovereignty,  the 
 fulfilment,  years  after  Daniel  wrote,  of  the  symbol  shown 
 to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  of  the  prediction  unfolded  by 
 Daniel ;  and  thus  the  coincidence  between  the  prophecy 
 and  the  fact  is  entii'e. 
 
62  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 But  that  you  may  see  how  truly  what  I  state  is  con- 
 firmed by  history,  I  shall  quote  two  sentences — I  might 
 quote  many,  but  I  will  confine  myself  to  two  of  the 
 most  striking — the  one  from  Herodotus,  *'  the  father  of 
 history,"  who  says,  in  describing  the  empire  of  Cyrus, 
 *'  Wiierever  Cyrus  marched  throughout  the  earth,  it 
 was  impossible  for  the  nations  to  escape  him  ;"  and  the 
 other  from  Xenophon,  who,  in  his  Cyropcedia,  which, 
 literally  translated,  means,  the  ''instruction,"  or  ''bring- 
 ing-up,"  of  Cyrus,  and  with  which  every  school-boy  is 
 more  or  less  familiar — (here  I  may  mention^ by  the  way 
 is  one  object  in  teaching  young  men  the  classics,  or  the 
 learning  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans ;  such  knowledge 
 confirms  and  demonstrates  to  mankind  the  veracity  and 
 authenticity  of  the  writers  of  the  word  of  God) — Xeno- 
 phon, then,  in  his  Cyropcedia,  thus  describes  the  univer- 
 sality of  the  sovereignty  of  Cyrus  :  ''  He  ruled  the  Medes, 
 subverted  the  Syrians,  the  Assyrians,  the  Arabians,  the 
 Cappadocians,  the  Phrygians,  the  Lydians,  the  Carians, 
 the  Babylonians,  the  Indians,  the  Phoenicians,  the  Greeks 
 in  Asia,  the  Cyprians,  the  Egyptians,  and  struck  all 
 with  such  dread  and  terror,  that  none  ventured  to  assail 
 hini.  He  subdued  from  his  throne  east,  west,  north, 
 and  south."  You  have  thus  the  heathen  historian 
 leaving  behind  him  those  recorded  facts,  which  form  the 
 brightest  comment  upon  the  breast  and  the  two  arms  of 
 silver,  or  the  second  universal  monarchy,  Avhich  during 
 its  existence  subdued  and  reigned  over  the  whole  earth. 
 After  its  disappearance,  we  have  a  third  empire,  which 
 is  symbolised  by  ''  the  belly  and  the  thighs  of  brass." 
 This  was  the  symbol  that  Xebuchadnezzar  saw,  and  the 
 interpretation  of  it  by  Daniel  is,  ''a  third  universal 
 sovereignty." 
 
 Xow  show  me,  from  the  days  of  Cjtus  downwards  to 
 the  commencement  of  Borne,  any  other  empire,  either 
 from  history  or  from  any  source  whatever,  that  can  be 
 called  universal — I  mean,  extending  over  the  whole 
 known  world, — except  the  Gra^co-Macedonian  empire  of 
 Alexander  the  Great.  He  and  his  father  Philip,  King  of 
 Macedon,    against  whom   Demosthenes    so   eloquently 
 
THE    SiLTER    AND    BEASS   EMPIEES.  63 
 
 harangued,  subdued  the  Medo-Persians,  and  finally  and 
 ultimately  all  the  provinces  of  the  habitable  globe. 
 This  tliird  monarchy  was  of  brass  ;  making  up  in  strength 
 what  it  lost  in  value ;  in  glare  and  apparent  splendour 
 Avhat  it  lost  in  real  and  substantial  merit.  But  it  also 
 was  divided,  you  find,  into  two  great  provinces,  which, 
 from  their  position,  formed  the  lower  or  supporting 
 parts  of  the  empire.  Accordingly,  we  ascertain  from 
 historj',  that  Syria  and  Egypt,  the  lower  parts  of  the 
 empire,  were  divided  ;  and  on  these  the  colossal  image, 
 or  empire  of  Alexander,  rested.  It  was  about  334  years 
 before  Christ  that  Alexander  began  his  expedition  against 
 Persia,  the  second  universal  empire.  He  overthrew  the 
 silver  monarchy,  just  as  it  had  overthrown  the  golden 
 monarchy  of  I^ebuchadnezzar ;  and  by  the  great  battle 
 of  Arbela,  which  was  fought  about  331  years  before 
 Christ,  he  established  his  own  undisputed  supremacy. 
 It  arose  upon  the  ruins  of  Babylon  and  Persia,  fed  its 
 strengtii  from  their  wreck,  and  stretched  out  a  sceptre 
 more  powerful  than  either,  till  Alexander  the  Great, 
 when  he  had  overthrown  the  wide  world,  leaving  like  a 
 wilderness  behind,  what  he  had  found  to  be  the  garden 
 of  the  Lord  before  him,  sat  down  and  wept  like  a  child, 
 because,  the  whole  world  being  subdued,  there  was  no 
 other  place  to  conquer  and  attach  to  his  empire. 
 
 You  have,  then,  in  the  Graeco-Macedonian  empire 
 the  fulfilment  of  that  portion  of  the  image  which  repre- 
 sented the  third  universal  sovereignty  that  occupied  the 
 whole  world.  In  looking  at  this  part  of  my  subject, 
 there  is  just  one  thing  more  I  should  like  to  notice.  The 
 period  that  comprehended  the  Medo-Persian  and  the 
 Graeco-Macedonian  empires,  or  u^..  second  and  third 
 universal  monarchies,  was,  jDerhaps,  ttie  most  brilliant 
 in  the  world.  The  galaxy  of  heroes,  poets,  painters, 
 orators,  statesmen,  historians,  that  shine  in  the  firma- 
 ment of  that  celebrated  era,  has  perhaps  never  been 
 equalled  in  brilliancy  and  beauty.  But  what  I  wish  you 
 to  notice  is,  that  whilst  this  period  occupied  all  the 
 attention  of  the  historians,  the  poets,  and  the  orators  of 
 Greece  and  Eome,  and  is  referred  to  by  them  as  the 
 
64  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 brightest  and  most  illustrious  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
 how  little  space  it  occupies  in  the  word  of  God  ! 
 
 During  the  course  of  these  empires,  we  have  the  con- 
 quests of  Cyrus,  the  expedition  of  Xerxes — Marathon, 
 the  name  of  which  is  almost  an  oration — Thermopylae, 
 which  is  the  burden  of  so  many  poets'  songs — and 
 Salamis.  We  have  Miltiades,  Themistocles,  Aristides, 
 Pericles,  and  Demosthenes ;  in  short,  all  that  man  can 
 appreciate  of  earthly  glory  reached  at  this  period  its  cul- 
 minating grandeur,  and  has  commanded  in  every  land 
 the  admiration  of  poets,  and  the  reminiscences  of  histo- 
 rians ;  but  these  events,  so  prominent  in  the  records  of 
 man,  are  but  feebly  touched  by  the  pencil  of  the  Spirit  of 
 God.  Great  warriors — able  orators — mighty  poets — 
 illustrious  statesmen — are  treated  in  the  Bible  as  the 
 grass  that  groweth  up  and  the  flower  of  the  grass  that 
 fade  til ;  and  great  truths,  interwoven  with  man's  ever- 
 lasting well-being,  are  alone  prominent  in  the  word  of  God 
 that  livethand  endurethfor  ever  and  ever.  Eut  while  these 
 fade  like  the  grass,  and  their  greatest  ones  as  the  flower 
 of  the  grass,  the  same  book  teaches  us  that  ''they  that 
 be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn 
 many  to  'righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 
 Man's  history  relates  to  his  own  heroes  and  victories,  and 
 these  occupy  all  his  pages;  God's  history  relates  to  and 
 describes  man  in  the  light  of  eternity,  and  views  all 
 things  as  they  bear  upon  that  momentous  issue. 
 
 These,  then,  were  the  second  and  third  empires  ;  and 
 in  verse  40  we  have  the  fourth  empire  in  its  undivided 
 state.  "The  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as  iron," 
 &c.  This  empire  can  be  proved  from  history  to  be  none 
 otlier  than  the  great  Roman  empire  itself.  From  the 
 j)eriod  when  Alexander  swept  the  world  and  made  it  the 
 measure  of  his  kingdom,  to  the  period  when  Rome 
 gained  the  ascendancy  and  became  the  universal  empire, 
 we  read  of  no  other  universal,  supreme,  and  absorbing 
 sovereignty.  "\Ve  find  from  histor}'  that  the  Macedonian 
 empire,  which  I  have  described,  was  overthrown  about 
 142  years  before  Christ.  Syria  was  conquered  64  years 
 before  Chiist;  Egypt  30  years  before;  and  this  vast 
 
THE   SILVEE   AND   BRASS   EirPIEES.  65 
 
 empire  then  began  its  course  about  30  years,  or,  at  the 
 very  remotest,  142  years  before  Christ,  and  continued 
 until  nearly  400  years  after  that  period,  the  alone 
 supreme  and  universal  empire.  One  may  also  see  that 
 this  the  judgment  formed  by  modern  commentators  was 
 the  universal  judgment  of  the  earliest  writers  upon  the 
 word  of  God.  Theodoret,  a  Greek  father,  states,  that 
 the  lirst  empire,  of  gold,  was  the  Babylonian ;  the 
 second,  of  silver,  was  the  Medo-Persian ;  the  third,  of 
 brass,  the  Graeco-Macedonian ;  and  the  fourth,  or  iron 
 empire,  he  says,  was  none  else  than  the  Roman  empii-e 
 itself. 
 
 You  must  notice,  in  looking  at  this  prophecy  of  Daniel, 
 that  more  space  is  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  lloman 
 empire  than  to  that  of  any  of  the  other  three.  A  large 
 space  is  devoted  to  Babylon ;  but  a  much  larger  space  in 
 the  Bible  relates  to  the  lloman  empire.  Why  so  ?  The 
 Eoman  soldiers  were  present  at  the  crucifixion ;  a  Roman 
 officer  was  the  first  among  the  Gentiles  to  receive  the 
 Gospel ;  the  lloman  Capitol  was  the  pulpit  of  Paul ;  the 
 lloman  people  became  the  first  converts  to  the  Gospel ; 
 through  the  lloman  language  and  by  lloman  roads  the 
 Gospel  was  carried  from  the  Capitol  to  the  remotest  re- 
 gions of  the  habitable  globe ;  and  on  the  ruins  of  the 
 lloman  empire  was  constructed  that  dread  sacerdotal 
 despotism  which  has  corrupted  the  oracles  of  God,  ruined 
 the  souls  of  mankind,  and  is  now  drunk,  as  I  shall  show 
 you  in  a  subsequent  lecture,  with  the  blood  of  the  saints 
 of  God — I  mean  the  llomish  Church. 
 
 JS'ow,  in  showing  the  rise  of  the  Eoman  universal  em- 
 pire, we  notice,  first,  Macedon  was  conquered,  and  dis- 
 appeared from  occupying  its  place  among  the  nations  of 
 the  earth ;  Carthage  was  razed  to  the  ground ;  Corinth, 
 the  capital  of  all  that  was  luxurious  and  refined,  was 
 reduced  to  ashes.  Spain  next  fell  before  the  victorious 
 arms  of  Rome ;  Egypt  was  reduced  to  a  Roman  province ; 
 •Judea  became  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  as  the  jSTew 
 Testament  will  show  you;  and  Jerusalem  itself,  the 
 capital  of  Judea,  was  torn  up  by  the  Roman  ploughshare, 
 under  Titus  and  Vespasian,  the  Roman  emperors.  When 
 
66  PROPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 Eome  had  thus,  like  iron,  bruised  and  broken,  down  all 
 the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  reduced  them  under  its  iron 
 sceptre,  this  island,  a  small  spot  in  the  midst  of  the  deep 
 — a  country  full  of  ro\'ing  savages  and  wild  barbarians 
 — a  race  that  knew  not  what  civilisation  was,  and  had 
 still  less  idea  of  what  Christianity  proclaimed — this  dis- 
 tant isle  of  the  sea  provoked  the  cupidity  and  stirred  the 
 ambition  of  Rome ;  at  length  it  was  invaded,  and  like- 
 wise subjected  to  the  rule  of  the  Roman  empire.  It  was 
 when  the  Romans  had  reached  Scotland,  and  were  sub- 
 duing a  portion  of  it,  that  Galgacus,  the  celebrated  chief- 
 tain, addressed  the  Caledonians  in  the  following  words, 
 which  show  how  truly  Rome  was  at  this  moment  becomo 
 the  universal  sovereign: — **  These  ravagers  of  the 
 world,"  said  the  Scottish  chieftain,  ''after  all  the  earth 
 has  been  too  narrow  for  their  ambition,  have  ransacked 
 the  sea  also.  If  their  enemy  be  rich,  they  are  covetous; 
 if  poor,  they  are  ambitious.  The  East  cannot  satiate 
 them,  no  more  can  the  West.  To  plunder,  to  murder,  to 
 rob,  is  all  their  delight.  Yiolence  they  call  dominion ; 
 and  wherever  they  make  a  dreary  solitude,  they  call  it 
 peace."  But  the  most  decisive  testimony  to  the  universal 
 iron  supremacy  of  Rome,  the  fourth  empire  of  Daniel,  is 
 given  by  Gibbon,  who,  as  usual,  is  here  the  undesigning, 
 the  unconscious,  but  the  faithful  witness  to  the  truth  of 
 the  prophecies  of  God.  Gibbon  thus  speaks  of  the  extent 
 of  the  Roman  dominions  : — "  The  empire  was  about  two 
 thousand  miles  in  breadth,  from  the  wall  of  Antonius  and 
 northern  limits  of  Dacia  to  the  Atlas  and  the  tropic  of 
 Cancer.  It  extended  in  length  more  than  three  thou- 
 sand miles,  from  the  Western  ocean  to  the  Euphrates. 
 The  arms  of  the  republic,  sometimes  vanquished  in 
 battle,  always  victorious  in  war,  advanced  with  rapid 
 strides  to  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Danube,  and  the 
 Rhine,  and  the  ocean ;  and  the  image  of  gold,  or  silver, 
 or  brass,  that  might  serve  to  represent  the  nations  or 
 kings,  were  successively  broken  by  the  iron  monarchy  of 
 Rome." 
 
 Thus,  strange  enough,  Gibbon  states,  as  if  he  could 
 find  no  language  so  truly  descriptive  of  historic  fact  as 
 
THE    SILVER   AND    BEASS    EMPIRES.  67 
 
 the  language  of  Daniel,  "  The  image  of  gold,  or  silver, 
 or  brass,  that  might  serve  to  represent  the  nations  or 
 kings,  was  successively  broken  np  by  the  iron  monarchy 
 of  Home;"  so  completely  does  God's  prophecy  find  its 
 echo  in  man's  unconscious  history.  In  other  words,  the 
 infidel  historian  could  find  no  language  so  descriptive  of 
 fact  as  the  very  words  of  prophecy  in  the  book  of  Daniel ; 
 and  thus  he  proved,  not  only  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
 but  the  fulness,  the  beaut}',  and  the  force  of  the  words  in 
 which  that  prophecy  was  couched. 
 
 This  iron  despotism  or  empire  is  further  proved  to  be 
 the  fourth  universal  empire,  by  another  extract  which  I 
 will  give  from  Gibbon.  ''  There  was,"  says  the  historian, 
 ''  not  an  inch  of  ground  then  known  exempt  from  its 
 sceptre.  The  modern  tyrant  who  should  find  no  resist- 
 ance in  his  own  breast,  or  in  his  people,  would  soon 
 experience  a  gentle  restraint  from  the  example  of  his 
 equals,  the  dread  of  censure,  the  apprehension  of  enemies. 
 The. object  of  his  displeasure  escaping  the  naiTow  limits 
 of  his  dominion,  would  easily  obtain,  in  a  happier  climate, 
 a  secure  refuge,  freedom  of  complaint,  and,  perhaps, 
 means  of  revenge.  But  the  empire  of  the  Romans  filled 
 the  world,  and  when  that  empire  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
 single  person,  the  world  became  a  safe  and  dreary  prison 
 for  his  enemies.  To  resist  was  fatal,  and  it  was  impossible 
 to  fiy.  On  every  side  he  was  encompassed  with  a  vast 
 extent  of  sea  and  land,  which  he  could  never  hope  to 
 traverse,  without  being  discovered,  seized,  and  restored 
 to  his  irritated  master.  Bej^ond  the  frontiers,  he  could 
 discover  nothing  except  the  ocean,  inhospitable  deserts, 
 and  hostile  tribes  of  fierce  barbarians." 
 
 Gibbon  is  my  witness  that  the  fourth  kingdom  should 
 be  "  strong  as  iron ;  forasmuch  as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces 
 and  subdueth  all  things,  so  shall  it  break  in  pieces  and 
 bruise."  Thus  truly  is  history  the  echo  of  prophecy  ! 
 God  sketches  the  outline  in  his  word,  and  kings,  and 
 heroes,  and  poets,  and  painters,  and  historians,  as  if 
 smitten  with  some  mysterious  instinct,  instantly  rise  to 
 their  places,  and  fill  up  with  their  details  what  God  has 
 so  fully  sketched. 
 
 E    ^ 
 
68  PEOPHETIC    STT7DIES. 
 
 "Novr  then,  having  looked  at  the  evidence  of  the  exist- 
 ence of  four  great  empires,  I  ask,  can  any  one  doubt,  in 
 reading  their  history,  that  the  prophecy  which  predicted 
 that  existence  hundreds  of  years  before,  is  inspired  by 
 the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ?  Can  we  doubt,  from  the  com- 
 parison of  the  prophecy  so  plain  with  the  historic  facts, 
 so  indisputable  and  so  clearly  established,  that  there  is  a 
 God  who  revealed  them,  and  does  reveal  secrets  still  ? 
 Can  we  suppose  that  that  man  was  uninspired  by  Him 
 to  whom  tlie  present  and  the  future  are  equally  cleai*, 
 who  could  stand  up  in  the  midst,  of  the  Babylonian  empire, 
 when  its  grandeur  and  power  seemed  the  prophecy  of  its 
 immortality,  and  the  sceptre  of  its  monarchy  a  sceptre 
 too  strong  for  any  rival  to  destroy,  or  for  any  foe  to 
 shatter; — can  we  suppose  that  Daniel,  standing  under 
 such  circumstances,  in  the  midst  of  such  imperial  mag- 
 nificence, and  predicting  that  this  empire  should  pass 
 away,  and  a  second  should  speedily  occupy  its  throne ; 
 and  that  that  second  empire  should  also  fade,  and  a  third 
 should  take  its  place ;  and  that  a  fourth  empire  should 
 arise,  fiercer  and  more  powerful  than  the  three  that 
 preceded  it,  and,  like  iron,  irresistibly  tread  down  and 
 subdue  to  its  supremacy  all  the  nations  of  the  habitable 
 globe ;— could^  he,  I  say,  have  done  all  this,  if  he  had 
 not  been  inspired  by  a  power  far  greater  than  any  human 
 foresight  could  bestow  ?  If  God  he  in  history,  which 
 we  know  to  be  the  fiict,  is  there  not  God  in  prophecy  ? 
 and  history,  therefore,  is  but  the  echo  resounding  in  the 
 ears  of  the  present  generation  of  that  voice  which 
 sounded  along  the  corridors  of  time  in  centuries  and 
 generations  long  past. 
 
 We  notice,  then,  the  sublime  and  yet  humbling  light 
 in  which  all  the  lieroes  and  statesmen  of  ancient  days 
 were  thus  unconsciously  placed.  We  see  Hannibal,  who 
 had  never  heard  of  God's  prophecies,  begin  his  wars 
 With  Home,  and  train  her  soldiers  for  being  the  con- 
 querors of  the  world.  We  see  Scipio,  Marius,  Pompey, 
 and  Caesar,  each  take  up  the  position  assigned  to  him, 
 and  fight,  or  fall,  or  conquer,  till  they  have  made  Home 
 nothing  less  and  nothing  more  than  what  Daniel  pre- 
 
THE    STLYER   AXT)    BEASS    EMPIRES.  69 
 
 dieted   that   Rome   should  hecome.     Thus  vre  see  the 
 eloquence  of  Cicero,  the  poetry  of  Virgil,  the  odes  of 
 Horace,   the  annals  of  Tacitus,  the  pungent  satires  of 
 Juvenal,  the  history  of  Gibbon,  rush  forward  and  be- 
 come the  witnesses  to  mysterious    truths,  which  they 
 could  not  themselves    comprehend,  but  which  are  the 
 most  conclusive  proofs  that  Daniel  spoke  by  the  inspira- 
 tion of  God,  and  the  demonstrations  to  a  sceptic  world 
 that  God  chaugeth  the  times  and  the  seasons,  he  re- 
 moveth  kings  and  setteth  up  kings,  he  knoweth  what  is 
 in  the  darkness  and  in  the  light,  lie  revealeth  the  deep  and 
 secret  things,  and  the  light  dwelleth  with  him.  All  these 
 fell  into  their  places  just  at  theappointed  times,  andwhilst 
 they  thought  they  were  doing  each  his  own  work,  all 
 were  co-operating  to  accomplish  God's  predictions;  whilst 
 they  thought  they  were  the  statuaries  cutting  out  the 
 image  after  their  own  design,  they  were  but  the  chisels  in 
 the  hand  of  the  great  Statuary,  unconsciously  and  unin- 
 tentionally fulfilling  his  own  grand  and  sublime  purposes. 
 In  the  next  place,  we  learn  the  lesson  that  there  are 
 no  accidents  on  earth — all  history  is  thus  constantly  ful- 
 filling all  prophecy.     If  you  read  attentively  the  history 
 of  Rome,  you  would  see  that  at  times  it  seemed  almost 
 to  struggle  for  existence.     At  one  time  it  dejjended,  you 
 would  say,  upon  the  turning  of  a  straw,  whether  Remus 
 and  Romulus,  the  alleged  founders  of  Rome,  should  be 
 left  to  perish  in  the  wilderness ;  it  rested,  you  would 
 say,  at  another  time,  upon  the  single  sword  of  Camillus, 
 which  scale  should  preponderate  ;  and  once  the  Capitol 
 of  the  citj'  was  saved  by  the  geese  which  were  accident- 
 ally fed  there.     All  these  seem  to  man  accidents ;  and 
 human  history,  read  by  human  light,  seems  a  collection 
 of  lucky  and  fortuitous  occurrences.    But  when  a  Chris- 
 tian looks  at  history,  it  becomes  all  luminous  in  the  light 
 of  the  Gospel.  The  sword  of  Camillus  was  chosen  and  cal- 
 culated by  God  as  plainly  as  any  fact  in  history ;  the  birds 
 that  saved  the  Capitol  had  their  mission  bj^the  appoint- 
 ment of  God  ;  and  soldier  and  senator,  poet  and  orator, 
 had  each  his  work  to  do,  that  God's  great  plans  might 
 be  completed,  and  God's  great  work  might  be  done. 
 
70  TEOPHETIC    STrDIES. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  we  may  learn  that  what  was  true 
 of  Eome,  who  fulfilled  her  portion  of  prophecy,  is  no  less 
 true  of  Great  Britain,  which  is  fulfilling  hers.  We  see 
 around  us  conflict,  and  trouble,  and  exaction,  and  dis- 
 may ;  and  we  are  sometimes  prone  to  tremble,  as  if  the 
 glorious  issue  were  placed  in  jeopardy.  Save  yolU^- elves 
 that  feeling;  you  need  not  tremble.  Man's  word  does 
 fail,  and  he  that  builds  on  it  may  tremble ;  but  God's 
 word  endurcth  for  ever,  and  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
 away,  but  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  this  book  shall  not  fail 
 till  all  be  fulfilled.  And  therefore,  when  I  look  around 
 me  in  this  great  land  of  ours,  and  see  all  things,  con  • 
 sciously  or  unconsciously,  criminally  or  innoceutly, 
 doing  God's  work — the  illustrious  AVellington  in  the  field 
 — the  great  Pitt  in  the  senate — the  in\'incible  jSTelson  on 
 the  deck — the  martp-dom  or  the  murder,  call  it  which 
 you  please,  of  Charles — the  ascendancy  of  Cromwell — 
 the  reign  even  of  George  the  Tourth,  and  the  pure  and 
 beautiful  sway  of  her  who  now  wields  the  sceptre  of  this 
 mighty  land, — I  discover  that  all  are  equally  helping 
 the  purpose,  and  accomplishing  the  predictions  of  God ; 
 I  rest  in  the  Lord,  and  am  still.  In  the  narratives  of 
 Scott — the  poetry  of  Byron — the  socialism  of  Owen — 
 the  pietj'  of  Wilberforce — the  atheism  of  Yoltaire — the 
 vulgar  infidelity  of  Paine — the  pantheism  of  Emerson — 
 the  "  pamphlets  for  the  last  days  of  Carlyle," — all  of 
 them,  whatever  be  their  virtues  or  their  crimes,  whatever 
 be  their  falsehood  or  their  truth,  whatever  be  their  folly 
 or  their  wisdom,  are  rising  on  the  stage,  each  trampling 
 down  the  other  in  its  turn,  to  fulfil  the  purposes  and 
 manifest  the  glorious  predictions  of  God.  Their  freedom 
 and  their  responsibility  are  untouched ;  the  direction 
 and  the  effect  of  all  they  say  and  do,  is  clear  as  the  stars 
 in  the  firmament.  Thus  centuries  have  their  mission  and 
 their  duty  to  perform — moments  have  their  Avork — all 
 men  their  places ;  and  the  most  wicked,  like  a  leech 
 applied  to  the  human  body,  seek  to  serve  themselves,  but 
 are  only  doing  the  work  of  the  great  Physician  who  pre- 
 scribes, controls,  and  governs  them. 
 
 The  next  lesson  we  leani  from  this  survey  is,  that  God 
 
THE   SILVER  AND   BRASS   EMPIRES.  71 
 
 is  also  in  the  world.  The  world  is  not  an  orb  abandoned 
 by  the  Deity,  and  left  to  traverse  its  own  course,  or  to 
 follow  its  own  impulses.  Society  is  not  like  raindrops 
 sprinkled  in  the  field  or  on  the  pavement,  without  de- 
 sign, without  cohesion  or  purpose ;  but  they  are  all  under 
 God's  providential  government ;  and  God  is  as  much  in 
 the  midst  of  this  great  city  as  he  was  between  the  che- 
 rubim when  his  glory  dazzled  all  eyes  by  its  splendour, 
 or  when  he  revealed  himself  in  the  burning  bush,  or 
 when  he  thundered  upon  the  heights  of  Sinai.  Our 
 creed  is  not  "  God  was,"  but  ''  God  is."  The  leaf  that 
 falls  from  the  tree,  and  the  king  that  is  struck  from  his 
 throne, — the  storm  that  sweeps  the  broad  earth,  and  the 
 tide  of  war,  revolution,  and  convulsion  that  desolates 
 great  kingdoms,  are  all  responses  to  the  touch  of  God — 
 missionaries,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  criminally  or 
 innocently,  executing  and  fulfilling  the  everlasting  pur- 
 poses of  Him  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
 and  Avhose  dominion  endureth  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  let  us  learn  from  the  survey  of 
 these  four  kingdoms,  the  downward  and  deteriorating 
 tendency  of  all  society,  and  nations,  and  corporations  of 
 all  sorts,  if  they  are  without  religion.  They  begin  with 
 gold  ;  they  go  on  to  silver  ;  they  deteriorate  into  brass ; 
 and  lastly,  they  end  in  iron.  And  when  the  strongest 
 has  developed  itself,  a  stone,  physically  weak,  as  I  shall 
 show  in  future  lectures,  but  morally  omnipotent,  touches 
 the  iron  that  has  subdued  all,  and  it  is  scattered  like 
 chaff"  upon  the  threshing-floor.  Let  us  learn  this  great 
 lesson,  that  true  religion  is  the  sweetener  and  the 
 strengthener  of  society.  Exhaust  religion  from  a  coun- 
 try, from  its  schools,  and  its  churches,  and  you  exhaust 
 the  vital  oxj-gen  from  the  nation's  air.  It  is  only  when 
 the  altars  of  a  country  burn  with  holy  fire  that  the  intel- 
 lect of  a  countrj^  shall  glow  with  pure  and  increasing 
 light.  It  is  just  in  proportion  as  religion  leavens  a 
 nation  that  that  nation  stands  firm  on  its  feet,  and  may 
 smile  at  the  wear  and  tear  of  ages,  knowing  that  it  has 
 immortality  in  proportion  as  it  has  Christianity.  Babylon 
 perished,  because  it  had  no  religion.    The  Medo-Persian 
 
72  PEOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 empire  perished,  because  it  had  no  religion.  The  Gneco- 
 Macedonian  empire  perished,  because  it  had  no  religion ; 
 and  the  Eoman  empire  perished,  because  it  had  no  reli- 
 gion. And  if  you  look  around  at  the  present  daj',  you 
 hnd  Egypt,  because  without  religion,  is  a  mere  mummy; 
 Greece,  because  without  religion,  is  dead ;  India,  because 
 without  religion,  is  a  moral  desert ;  China,  because  with- 
 out religion,  is  a  stagnant  morass;  and  all  society, 
 domestic,  national,  provincial,  universal,  if  stripped  and 
 deprived  of  its  religion,  becomes  like  a  rope  of  sand,  held 
 together  by  political  compression,  but  the  instant  that 
 the  politics  tremble,  that  instant  all  its  institutions  go  to 
 decay.  And  this  explains  Avdiat  has  taken  place  on  the 
 continent  of  Europe.  Why  is  France  dying  every  day, 
 so  that  one  of  its  most  illustrious  writers  has  written  an 
 essay  on  the  deterioration  of  Erance  ;  in  which  he  shows 
 that  it  is  becoming  daily  so  depopulated  that  they  are 
 obliged  even  to  lower  every  succeeding  year  the  standard 
 of  its  army,  till  at  length  they  will  become  pigmies 
 instead  of  giants,  as  the  Gauls  once  were  ?  Its  moral 
 state  too  is  of  the  most  awful  description.  And  why  is 
 it  thus  sinking  and  deteriorating  ?  Because,  as  a  nation, 
 it  has  cast  off  God.  And  why  is  Prussia,  as  a  nation, 
 weak  and  disturbed  ?  Because  Prussian  Protestantism  has 
 ceased  to  be  what  Luther  left  it.  And  Avhy  is  it  that 
 Spain  has  a  population  above  the  soil  not  one  whit 
 grander  or  more  capable  of  noble  deeds  than  those  that 
 sleep  quietly  beneath  it  ?  Because  it  has  no  real  religion. 
 And  why  is  Pome  the  by- word  of  the  nations — its  infalli- 
 bility a  scoff,  and  its  sacerdotal  dynasty  the  horror  of  all 
 that  are  acquainted  with  its  terrible  secrets  ?  Because  it 
 has  no  religion.  You  can  raise  a  country's  intellect  only 
 by  raising  its  people's  conscience.  The  bulwarks  and 
 the  battlements  of  a  land  are  not  soldiers,  nor  sailors, 
 nor  creed,  nor  politics ;  it  is  righteousness  that  exalteth 
 a  nation,  and  sin  that  is  the  ruin  of  any  pi  ople. 
 
 But  we  have  another  lesson  to  learn  from  this  :  if  all 
 the  movements  of  society  are  thus  the  executors  of  the 
 purposes  of  God,  it  becomes  the  Christian  to  study  what 
 is  going  on  around  him,  as  well  as  what  is  written  in 
 
THE    SILTEE   AND   BEASS  EMPIEES.  73 
 
 the  Bible.  Christians  are  apt  to  exclude  themselves 
 from  soeiet}',  and  to  be  ignorant  of  it ;  to  be  acquainted 
 Tvith  the  Bible,  -^hich  is  their  greatest  glory,  but  to  be 
 criminally  and  injuriously  ignorant  of  all  that  is  around 
 them  fulhlling  the  Bible,  which  is  the  neglect  of  their 
 plainest  duty.  It  seems  to  me  that  at  the  present 
 moment,  when,  as  I  believe,  the  stone  cut  out  without 
 hands  is  breaking  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  into  atoms 
 — at  this  moment,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  first  study 
 should  be  the  book  of  grace — the  chiefest,  deepest,  most 
 solemn,  most  prayerful ;  but  the  next  to  that  the  study 
 of  God's  providential  dealings  at  the  present  hour.  So 
 that,  in  my  humble  judgment,  the  very  newspaper  at 
 this  time  is  to  me  of  no  mean  importance ;  and  if  you 
 want  to  see  the  Bible,  which  is  prophecy,  reflected  in 
 the  form  of  history,  just  read  the  foreign  correspondence 
 of  the  newspapers  of  every  day.  We  see  there  the  world 
 commenting  upon  what  God  has  written ;  and  God,  in 
 his  Providential  history,  showing  us  the  truth  of  liis 
 ancient  and  inspired  prophecy.  But  do  not  read  the 
 newspaper  to  the  neglect  of  the  Bible  :  read  the  Bible 
 first  and  last,  and  chiefest ;  and  use  the  newspaper  only  as 
 you  would  use  any  one  fiict  in  the  past  or  present,  as  the 
 evidence  that  God  speaks  in  the  Bible,  and  that  God  now 
 acts  in  the  world.  The  Bible  is  the  key  that  unlocks 
 all :  it  is  the  torch  carried  into  the  otherwise  dark 
 chambers  of  history,  showing  us  order  in  apparent  con- 
 fusion ;  revealing  harmony  in  seeming  discord ;  unity, 
 design,  in  what  is  otherwise  inexplicable.  Thus  it  be- 
 comes the  bright  chart  that  helps  us  to  tread  with 
 certainty  the  Avindings  of  the  labyrinth  ;  and  to  rise  from 
 the  chaos  in  which  men  plunge  and  speculate,  to  the  light 
 in  which  God  is,  and  lives  for  ever. 
 
 All  around,  I  add,  is  changing ;  but  the  word  of  God 
 lives  and  abides  for  ever.  Thrones  and  dynasties  and 
 kings  are  passing  away,  but  God's  word  remains ;  and 
 in  the  midst  of  all  the  vicissitudes  and  changes  that  are 
 constantly  occurring  around  us,  how  delightful  to  know 
 that  there  are  added  day  by  day  to  the  Church  of  the 
 li\dng  God  such  as  shall  be  saved.     I  believe  that,  day 
 
74  PKOPHETIC    STrDIES. 
 
 by  day,  religion  is  becoming  more  felt  and  appreciated. 
 I  believe  too,  what  you  know,  that  empires  may  be  shat- 
 tered— sceptres  broken — thrones  convulsed — but  that 
 little  thing,  in  the  world's  eye  so  weak,  according  to  the 
 world's  calculation  so  perishing,  the  company  of  God's 
 faithful  people,  may  seem  buried  in  the  waves  like  the 
 ark  of  old,  but  it  is  only  to  rise  with  the  next  billow 
 nearer  to  the  skies.  "  I  give  unto  them,"  says  our  Lord, 
 "  eternal  life,  and  none  shall  be  able  to  pluck  them  out 
 of  my  hand."  Is^othing  shall  separate  a  living  Christian 
 from  the  living  God ;  neither  life  nor  death,  nor  angels, 
 nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
 any  other  creature.  Brethren,  are  we  such  Christians  ? 
 are  we  transformed  hj  the  Spirit  in  the  renewing  of  our 
 hearts?  ]N"o  discussion  on  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy 
 must  ever  divert,  but,  on  the  contrary,  should  draw  our 
 minds  to  the  consideration  of  our  personal  safety  in  the 
 sight  of  God.  Are  we  reposing  on  the  only  fixture,  the 
 E.ock  of  Ages  r  Are  we  hiding  ourselves  within  the  ever- 
 lasting arms, — and  when  the  last  storm  shall  come,  and 
 the  last  thunder  shall  roar,  and  the  last  fires  shall  blaze, 
 are  we  conscious  that  we  shall  be  found  resting  on  the 
 rock  that  ^shall  never  fail  ?  Are  we  born  again  ?  Are  we 
 in  the  world,  and  of  the  world  ?  or,  are  we  in  the  true 
 Church,  and  of  the  true  Church,  heirs  of  God  and  joint 
 heirs  with  Christ  ?  If  we  are,  then  we  can  stand  and 
 gaze  upon  the  bright  panorama  that  spreads  before  us, 
 disclosing  God  in  history,  fulfilling  God  in  prophecy ; 
 knowing  that  all  things  only  work  together  for  good  to 
 them  that  love  God,  and  hasten  that  bright  and  blessed 
 epoch,  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the 
 kingdoms  of  our  God,  and  all  the  people  shall  praise 
 him;  and  the  earth  shall  yield  her  increase,  and  God, 
 even  our  God  shall  bless  us.     Amen. 
 
LECTUEE  YII. 
 
 THE   MYSTIC   STONE    SMITING   THE   niAGE. 
 
 "  Thou  sawest  till  that  a  stone  teas  cut  out  ivithout  hands, 
 which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet  that  were  of  iron 
 and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  2>ieces.  Then  was  the  iron, 
 the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the  gold,  broken  to 
 pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer 
 threshing -floors  ;  and  the  icind  carried  them  away,  that 
 no  place  was  found  for  them  :  and  the  stone  that  smote 
 the  image  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole 
 earth.  Atid  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet  and  toes,  part 
 of  potters''  clay,  and  part  of  iron,  the  kingdom  shall  be 
 divided ;  but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the  strength  of  the 
 iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  the  iron  ynixed  icith  miry 
 clay.  And  as  the  toes  of  the  feet  ivere  part  of  iron,  and 
 ipart  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom,  shall  be  partly  strong,  and 
 partly  broken.  And  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed 
 with  miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  themselves  ivith  the 
 seed  of  men :  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another, 
 even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay.  And  in  the  days 
 of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom, 
 which  shall  never  be  destroyed:  and  the  kingdom  shall  not 
 be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and 
 consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever. 
 Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone  teas  cut  out  of  the 
 mountain  tcithout  ha7ids,  and  that  it  brake  in  pieces  the 
 iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  silver,  and  the  gold;  the  great 
 God  hath  made  known  to  the  king  lohat  shall  come  to  p)ass 
 hereafter:  and  the  dream  ts  cer'taiii,  and  the  interpreta- 
 tion thereof  sure. ^^ — Daniel  ii.  34,  35,  41 — 45. 
 
 I  HAVE  explained  the  origin  of  the  remarkable  symbols, 
 the  last  of  which  in  this  chapter  I  have  this  evening 
 
76  PEOPHETIC    SirDIES. 
 
 read.  A  great  and  supernatural  image  was  made  to  pass 
 before  the  eyes  of  xSebuchadnezzar  the  king,  intended 
 to  presignify  great  events  destined  in  the  purposes  of 
 God  to  evolve  in  the  latter  days.  That  symbol  none  of 
 the  soothsayers  of  Babylon  could  interpret.  What  God 
 reveals  God's  people  alone  will  clearly  comprehend;  and 
 what  God  makes  known  by  mysterious  signs  God's  own 
 commissioned  intcrjDreter  is  able  clearly  to  explain. 
 
 The  head,  we  are  told,  was  made  of  gold,  and  was 
 declared  expressly  by  Daniel  to  be  the  Babjionian 
 monarchy.  That  head  of  gold,  or  Babylonian  kingdom, 
 passes  away,  as  I  have  showed  you  by  facts  drawn  from 
 history,  and  another  kingdom  forth witli  occupies  its 
 place  :  the  silver  breast,  Avith  the  silver  arms,  denoting 
 the  conjunct  or  combined  kingdom  of  the  Medo-Persians, 
 which  instantlj'  succeeded  the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  on 
 its  overthrow  and  subjugation  by  Cyrus,  after  whose 
 victory  its  golden  glorj-  left  scarce  a  rack  behind.  We 
 then  read  of  a  third  kingdom — not  guessed  by  man  to  be 
 so  ;  but  expressly  explained  by  Daniel  to  succeed  the 
 second  on  its  ruin  and  decay.  "  His  belly  and  his  thighs 
 of  brass."  This  kingdom,  I  showed  you,  denotes — the 
 only  possible  kingdom  it  can  be  applied  to — the  Groeco- 
 -VLacedunian,  called  frec[uently,  as  those  acquainted  with 
 classic  literature  are  aware,  "  the  brazen-coated  Greeks" 
 — the  Greeks  who  wore  coats  and  lielmets  of  mail  and 
 biass.  This  kingdom  may  be  said  to  have  been  founded 
 by  Philip,  who  warred  so  successfully  with  the  Greeks, 
 and  against  whom  the  thunders  and  lightnings  of  De- 
 mosthenes were  so  vividly  and  so  frequently  pointed. 
 He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Alexander — Alexander  the 
 (ireat — whr;,  I  need  not  tell  any  one  acquainted  with 
 tlie  elements  of  schoolboy  literature,  swept  the  whole 
 kuown  world — subjugated  every  kingdom,  almost  the 
 instant  he  touched  it,  by  his  victorious  phalanxes ;  and 
 at  last,  when  he  had  subdued  the  whole  world,  he  sat 
 down  aud  wept,  because  there  was  no  more  world  to 
 cou(iuer.  His  kingdom  passed  away  after  it  had  fulhlled 
 its  mission,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  mightier,  more 
 powerful,  ii'on  kingdom  of  the  Ptomans ;  whose  history 
 
THE    MYSTIC    STONE    SMITIXG    THE    IMAGE.  77 
 
 rise,  and  progress,  are  described  by  heathen  writers,  and 
 even  by  Gibbon,  in  a  manner  eminently  confirmatory  of 
 the  predictions  of  Daniel,  as  I  have  already' endeavoured 
 to  delineate  in  the  former  lecture.  This  fourth  empire 
 has  been  called  again  and  again  "  the  iron  empii'e."  The 
 crown  or  diadem  of  its  monarchs  was  ii'on ;  the  ''iron 
 sway"  was  the  name  that  poets  gave  to  it;  and  when 
 Gibbon,  the  sceptic  historian,  wished  to  describe  its  rise, 
 its  splendour,  and  its  might,  he  could  find  no  symbol  so 
 expressive  of  its  actual  and  historical  nature  as  the  very 
 imagery  used  by  Daniel,  which  he  consciouslj-  or  uncon- 
 sciously quoted,  in  order  thereby  to  denote  and  delineate 
 its  unrivalled  greatness,  strength,  and  progress. 
 
 I  stated  that  the  Roman  empire*"''  occupies  a  space 
 larger  than  the  rest,  because  the  destiny  of  the  people  of 
 God  is  very  much  interwoven  and  mixed  up  with  it.  I 
 have  showed  you  (and  this  is  one  great  point  I  ask  all  to 
 recollect),  that  there  can  be  found  no  four  successive  em- 
 pires in  the  world,  or  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
 possessed  of  universal  sovereignty,  except  the  four  I 
 have  mentioned.  Now,  I  ask  3'ou,  is  it  possible,  if 
 Daniel  were  a  mere  guesser — a  mere  sagacious  guesser  of 
 future  possibilities — is  it  probable  that  he  could  have 
 guessed  so  exactly  Avhat  has  taken  place,  and  what  all 
 history  attests  ?  Many  are  found  who  ask  for  miracles. 
 Here  is  a  miracle  fresh  and  patent  to  all.  Here  is  a  de- 
 lineation minutely  given  600  years  before  the  advent  of 
 Christ ;  and  kings  mount  their  thrones  to  fulfil  it ;  and 
 the  Roman  legion  and  the  Macedonian  phalanx  march  to 
 victor}-,  in  order  to  make  its  most  microscopic  lines 
 appear  true.  Empire  succeeds  to  empire,  army  destroys 
 army,  nation  follows  in  the  rear  of  nation,  as  if  each  saw 
 the  chart  plainly  delineated,  and  felt  that  each  had  a 
 Divine  commission  to  go  forth,  verhatim  et  literatim,  to 
 
 *  In  searcliinu^  Chrysostom  for  another  quotation,  I  found,  in 
 his  fourth  Homily,  on  2  Thess,  ii.  5,  the  followin<^  won  Is  ;— "Qo-Tr^p 
 y</p  rti  Trpo  rovTov  KariXvGr}(Tav  iSaaiXtiai.  oiov  i)  MijCujv  imo 
 TtJJv  Ba(3vXLOvio}i>,  ?'/  BajSvXujvi  -iv  viro  nipffojv,  i)  Uiparcou  V7r6 
 ^<ilaictS'''t'(xJV,  1)  MaKtdovujv  i/tto 'Poijuattur  ovtm  koi  avrt)  vtto  tov 
 'AvTiXpiarov,  KaKtlvog  vtto  tov  XjOtoTOU  Kal  ovKtTi  KaOi^ti. — 
 Vol.  xi.  p.  613.     Paris,  1838. 
 
78  PKOPHETIC    STTJKIES. 
 
 fulfil  it.  Is  not  this  prophecy  ^^tten  by  the  finger  of 
 God  ?  Is  not  all  history  the  evidence  of  its  inspiration  ? 
 Is  not  this  a  miracle  that  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
 mere  manifestations  of  power,  however  impressive,  and 
 proclaims  with  a  voice  irresistible  and  full  of  argument, 
 ''  Thy  word,  0  God,  is  truth  ?" 
 
 In"  this  lecture  I  proceed  to  show  the  division  of  the 
 last  kingdom,  into  what  are  called  ''  the  toes  ot  tlie  feet" 
 of  this  image.  The  legs,  from  the  knee,  were  represented 
 as  made  of  solid  iron ;  the  feet  were  composed  of  iron  and 
 clav ;  and  there  were  the  five  toes  upon  the  one  foot  and 
 the"^  five  upon  the  other,  constituting  thereby  ten.  But 
 we  should  not  conjecture  it  was  ten,  were  it  not  that 
 subsequent  visions  in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  to  Avhich  I 
 hope  to  be  able  to  direct  your  attention,  plainly  state  it ; 
 and  no  less  clear  statements  in  the  Book  of  Revelation 
 indicate  the  same  number  of  kingdoms.  AYe  read  of  the 
 ''beast  that  was,  and  is  not.''  ''And  the  ten  horns 
 which  thou  sawest  are  ten  kings,  which  have  received  no 
 kingdom  as  yet."  The  words  "king"  and  "  kingdom" 
 are  used  convertibly  in  Daniel.  Mr.  Birks,  who  has 
 written  most  ably  and  eloquently  upon  this  book,  says 
 the  expression  "  kingdom"  is  used  when  it  is  the  subject 
 of  change  or  division,  and  that  it  is  called  a  king  when 
 it  goes  forth  conquering  and  deciding  the  destinies  of  a 
 nation.  Accordingly  we  read  in  the  44th  verse  :  "In 
 the  days  of  these  kings  ;^^  but  in  the  previous  passage  it 
 is  said,  "  these  kingdoms."  Again,  of  the  king  of 
 Bab3'lon  it  is  said :  "  Thou  art  that  head  of  gold  ;"  mean- 
 ing, "  thy  kingdom  is  represented  by  it."  The  two  words, 
 therefore,  are  used  convertibly. 
 
 Xow  it  is  said,  that  this  last  kingdom,  which  we  have 
 shown,  I  think  irresistibly,  to  be  the  Roman  empire,  was 
 to  be  split  into  ten  divisions  ;  or,  if  the  wild  beast  from 
 the  abyss,  seen  by  John  in  Patmos,  be  taken,  it  was  to 
 have  ten  horns ;  or,  if  Daniel's  subsequent  visions  be  had 
 recoui^se  to,  (which  we  shall  come  to  by-and-bye,)  it  was 
 to  be  ten-fold.  We  have  the  fact  clearly  predicted,  that 
 it  was  to  be  split  or  divided  into  ten  kingdoms.  Here  is 
 a  broad  prediction,  of  which  palpable  facts  can  alone  be 
 
T"a"E   MYSTIC    STOJfE    SlTTTrSTG   THE   IMAGE.  79 
 
 regarded  as  the  fulfilment.  Is  it  then  matter  of  historic 
 fact,  as  it  is  matter  of  prophetic  declaration,  that  this 
 lioman  empire  has  been  divided  into  ten  kingdoms  at  its 
 fall,  or  decline  ?  That  this  has  been  so  every  historian 
 will  tell  you.  Gibbon  speaks  of  the  ten  kingdoms  : 
 Miiller,  the  German  historian,  alludes  to  the  ten  king- 
 doms of  the  Roman  empire ;  and  I  might  quote  from 
 historians  innumerable,  all  speaking  of  this  ten-fold  divi- 
 sion, not  as  a  prophetic  announcement,  but  as  an  histo- 
 rical and  actual  fact. 
 
 That  this  vras  so,  I  Avill  sho^v,  by  giving  these  ten 
 kingdoms  as  they  have  appeared  in  successive  centuries. 
 I  need  not  enter  into  historical  details,  for  they  would  be 
 inappropriate  here  : — all  that  devolves  upon  me  is  to 
 show  you  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  of  God ;  and 
 the  discourse  that  proves  to  you  that  what  God  inspired 
 in  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled  in  history  is  a  discourse 
 that  contributes  at  least  a  drop  to  that  mighty,  deepen- 
 ing, widening  current  which  carries,  day  by  day,  accu- 
 mulating evidence  of  the  inspiration  and  heaven-des- 
 cended origin  of  God's  blessed  book. 
 
 In  the  year  532  after  the  birth  of  Christ — that  is, 
 rather  more  than  a  thousand  years  after  the  prophecy  was 
 uttered — we  find  the  lioman  empire,  if  I  may  use  the 
 expression,  on  its  last  legs ;  and  these  last  legs  divided 
 into  the  following  ten  toes,  or  kingdoms  : — the  Bavarians, 
 the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  Alleman-Franks,  the  Burgundian 
 Franks,  the  Yisi-Goths,  the  Suevi-Franks,  the  Vandals, 
 Ostro-Goths  and  Lombards.  The  next  or  last  three,  as 
 if  to  fulfil  the  significance  of  another  vision  of  Daniel, 
 were  devoured  by  the  ''little  horn"  (which  we  shall 
 afterwards  speak  of),  or  were  absorbed  by  the  Roman 
 Pope,  and  constitute  at  this  moment  what  are  called 
 ''  the  three  estates  of  the  Church.  Then,  in  the  year 
 900,  there  was  the  following  division:  Bavaria,  Germany, 
 Burgundy,  France,  Aragon,  Castile,  Lower  Italy,  and 
 Rome,  comprehending  the  three  estates  of  the  Church — 
 the  Vandals,  Ostro-Goths,  and  Lombards.  In  the  year 
 1214,  the  division  was — Bavaria,  Germany,  Upper  Italy, 
 France,  Portugal,  Spain,   Nanles,  and  Rome  with  its 
 
80  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 three  estates,  represented  by  the  Pope's  triple  crowns 
 subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church,  and  constitut- 
 ing its  property.  Then  we  come  to  1700,  when  we  find 
 Bavaria,  Austria,  Savoy,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Naples, 
 and  Rome  with  its  three  estates,  making  altogether  ten 
 kingdoms,  into  which  the  Roman  empire  was  at  last 
 divided. 
 
 As  you  are  aware,  there  is  sometimes  in  reading  his- 
 tory a  difficulty  in  distinguishing  the  one  kingdom  from 
 the  other ;  but,  mark  you,  that  very  difficulty  only  makes 
 the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  more  clear,  because  the  asser- 
 tion of  the  seer  is,  that  they  shall  attempt  to  intermingle 
 with  the  seed  of  men,  but  that  they  should  not  succeed 
 in  being  consolidated  into  one  universal  empire,  as  they 
 were  under  jS'ebuchadnezzar,  under  Cyrus,  under  Alex- 
 ander, or  under  the  Roman  Coesars  ;  that  with  all  their 
 intermingling,  as  the  sea  interlocks  with  the  land,  the 
 one  losing  and  the  other  gaining  a  bit,  the  ten  kingdoms 
 should  cast  up  at  the  end  of  every  centurj',  more  or  less 
 separate,  and  should  last  till  the  end — when  they  should 
 be  smitten  into  fragments  by  a  ''  stone  cut  out  without 
 hands."  I  ask  you  to  notice  this  startling  fact.  If  you 
 will  read  "any  history  of  Europe,  or  if  you  will  study  the 
 maps  showing  this  division — maps  which  I  hope  one  day 
 to  exhibit  in  my  schoolroom,  as  I  have  exliibited  others, 
 if  I  can  only  get  them  prepared  on  a  large  enough  scale 
 ■ — you  will  find  that  in  each  century  these  ten  kingdoms 
 have  always  cast  up,  have  always  turned  up  out  of  each 
 revolution ;  and  every  attempt  to  make  them  fewer,  or  to 
 make  the  a  one,  has  signally  and  historically  failed. 
 
 The  expression  "  They  shall  mingle  themselves  with 
 the  seed  of  men,"  simply  means,  that  they  should  try  by 
 human  alliances  to  intermingle.  Kapoleon,  for  instance, 
 connected  himself  b}-  marriage  witli  Austria.  One  would 
 have  supposed  that  this  would  surely  have  brought  about 
 the  consolidation  of  the  two  empires ;  but  it  did  not  do 
 so.  Charlemagne  subdued  Germany,  Saxony,  Spain,  and 
 Italy ;  but  his  conquests  were  temporary  :  he  had  no 
 sooner  turned  his  back  upon  the  country  he  conquered 
 than  it  rose  and  re-asserted  its  independence.  Louis  XI Y., 
 
THE   MYSTIC    STOXE    SMITIXG   THE   IMAGE.  81 
 
 whose  brilliant,  but  sensual  and  profligate  reign  may  be 
 known  to  many  of  you,  made  the  same  experiment. 
 Napoleon,  with  his  iron  crown,  his  formidable  sword, 
 and  his  devastating  battalions,  swept  through  Europe, 
 reached  Africa,  visited  even  Palestine  itself,  or  at  least 
 Syria ;  till  at  last,  in  his  desperate  effort  to  consolidate 
 all  the  nations  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  under  his 
 swa}',  he  was  all  but  paralysed  in  his  infatuated  ambi- 
 tion amid  the  snows  of  Eussia;  and  finally,  in  that 
 great  victory  in  which  our  country  signalised  itself  with 
 glory,  because  it  was  a  contribution  to  the  peace  of 
 Europe  and  the  well-being  of  mankind,  he  was  finally 
 smitten  down.  His  attempt  showed,  as  did  the  attempts 
 of  all  that  preceded  him,  that  the  inner  powers  of  repul- 
 sion in  the  ten  Isiingdoms  were  stronger  than  the  outer 
 comjn'ession  of  Xapoleon's,  or  Charlemagne's,  or  Louis's 
 sword,  AYe  have  thus,  then,  the  ten  kingdoms  always 
 coming  up,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  successive 
 despots,  conquerors,  and  heroes,  to  consolidate  them. 
 "VVe  have  the  failure  of  each  hero  written  in  blood,  and 
 stereotyped  upon  the  page  of  Europe  ;  in  spite  of  man's 
 great  forces,  God's  true  word  stands  still,  fulfilled  to  the 
 very  letter.  Did  Daniel  guess  all  this  ?  Who  is  the 
 more  credulous — the  man  who  says  a  Jewish  captive 
 guessed  the  history  of  Europe,  or  he  that  says  a  Jewish 
 prophet  predicted  it  by  the  inspiration  of  God  ? 
 
 We  read,  after  this  division  of  the  empire,  that  "  a 
 stone  cut  out  without  hands"  was  to  smite  "  the  image 
 upon  its  feet  that  were  of  iron  and  clay."  Then  it  is 
 stated  that  "  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of 
 heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed." 
 ''  Eorasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone  was  cut  out 
 of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it  brake  in 
 pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  silver,  and  the 
 gold ;  "  so  will  it  be  with  the  setting  up  of  this  great 
 kingdom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed. 
 
 What  the  stone  cut  out  without  hands  is,  there  can 
 be  scarcely  a  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  Christian.  The 
 Apostle  Peter  tells  us.  "  To  whom  coming,  as  unto  a 
 living  stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but  chosen  of 
 
 e 
 
82  PEOPSETIC    STTJDrES. 
 
 God,  and  precious,  ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up 
 a  spiritual  house."  In  his  birth  there  was  not  the  least 
 of  human  agency ;  in  his  resurrection  there  was  none. 
 In  Christ,  peculiarly  and  alone — and  only  of  him  can  it 
 be  said  so — there  is  realised  and  verified  the  symbol  of  a 
 living  stone,  ''  cut  out  without  hands." 
 
 But  while  this  may  be  true,  that  Christ  here  person- 
 ally is  to  be  the  Great  Destroyer  of  the  nations,  it  may  bo 
 no  less  true  that  his  people  instrumentally  are  to  play  a 
 part  in  it.  I  cannot  believe  that  the  action  of  the 
 ^'  stone  cut  out  without  hands  "  upon  the  ten  kingdoms 
 was  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  gradual  spread  of  his 
 empire,  because  it  does  not  say  that  a  power  was  to  be 
 introduced  into  the  Eoman  empii'e  that  should  spread 
 like  leaven,  though  that  was  true ;  but  it  is  here  asserted 
 that  a  stone  was  to  strike  the  toes  of  the  image  in  its 
 last  stage,  and  shatter  it  to  pieces,  j^ow  the  progress  of 
 the  Gospel,  as  a  converting  power,  is  gradual,  slovr,  and 
 invisible  ;  but  the  action  of  the  stone,  as  here  described, 
 is  not  that  of  a  converting  power,  but  of  a  destroying  and 
 annihilating  power.  Therefore  it  is  represented  as  smit- 
 ing the  ten  kingdoms,  or  the  toes  of  the  image,  and 
 breaking  them  in  pieces,  so  that  they  are  scattered  like 
 chaff  upon  the  threshing-floor  of  summer. 
 
 It  is  believed  by  many,  and  I  am  one  of  those  who  in- 
 cline to  that  belief,  that  the  mystic  stone  at  this  moment 
 has  begun  to  smite  the  ten  kingdoms  of  the  Roman 
 empire.  And  I  am  sure  that  no  one  w^ho  looks  around 
 him  upon  Europe,  and  reads  its  mysterious  and  its 
 melancholy  history, — no  one  who  is  at  this  moment  con- 
 versant with  what  is  doing  in  France,  where  the  volcano 
 is  smothered,  but  anything  but  extinguished ;  or  with 
 what  is  now  passing  in  Italy,  where  the  w  hole  soil  rocks, 
 and  is  convulsed,  as  if  by  the  heaving  of  some  mighty, 
 dread,  subterranean  elements,  can  doubt  that  if  the  stone 
 be  not  smiting  at  this  moment,  preparatory  to  the  final 
 destruction  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  there  is  that 
 going  on  Avhich  is  the  likest  possible  to  it.  Bavaria, 
 Austria,  Savoy,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  JSTaples,  the 
 three  kingdoms  of  the  Pope,  or,  as  they  are  called,  *'  the 
 
THE   MYSTIC   STONE    SMITING   THE   IMAGE.  83 
 
 three  estates  of  the  Church  " — the  Vandals,  Ostro-Goths, 
 and  Lombards — are  all  at  this  moment  convulsed,  each 
 to  its  very  centre  ;  flying  from  each  other,  as  if  bv  an 
 irresistible  centrifugal  force  ;  breaking  to  pieces,  as  if 
 under  the  blows  of  some  mysterious  stone  :  Hungary  &.j- 
 ing  off  from  Austria,  as  if  a  hammer  smote  it,  and  chipped 
 it  off ;  Sicily  dashed  off  from  jS"aples ;  the  Pope's  "  three 
 estates"  rent,  torn,  agitated,  convulsed;  Ireland  feeling 
 also  the  blows,  as  if  it  belonged  to  the  ten  kingdoms, 
 whose  Popish  characteristics  were  to  remain  to  the  end, 
 and  struggling — we  trust,  in  vain — to  be  severed  from 
 the  nation  that  is  its  best,  and  its  greatest,  though  it  has 
 been  in  past  times  its  guilty  and  its  offending  friend. 
 Does  not  all  this  look  as  if  the  stone  had  begun  to  smite 
 the  ten  toes  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  ?  And  if  it  be 
 so,  how  solemn  is  the  moment  we  occupy !  standing  on 
 the  eve  of  startling  events  ;  hearing  thundering  through 
 the  sky  the  reverberation  of  falling  thrones,  and  explod- 
 ing dynasties — sharing,  indeed,  a  momentary  lull,  but, 
 like  the  lull  at  sea  which  the  sailors  know  between  the 
 hurricanes,  only  preparatory  to  the  rending  elements 
 that  are  instantly  and  terribly  to  succeed. 
 
 Xeed  I  tell  you  that  almost  all  men  who  have  looked 
 abroad  upon  the  subject  are  full  of  these  thoughts  ?  You 
 cannot  read  the  foreign  communications  of  any  of  our 
 newspapers  without  seeing  it ;  j'ou  cannot  converse  with 
 any  man  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Europe  who  does 
 not  tremble,  if  he  has  any  stake  in  it,  for  fear  of  the 
 things  that  are  coming  upon  the  earth.  There  is  an 
 ancient  German  prophecy,  of  which  you  may  have  heard, 
 that  can  be  traced  half  a  century  back ;  I  do  not  say  it 
 is  inspired — flir  from  it — because  I  have  no  evidence 
 that  it  is  so — but  it  was  certainlj^  a  strange  guess  for  the 
 Germans  to  make  so  long  ago  :  ''I  would  not  be  a  king 
 in  1848 ;  I  would  not  be  a  soldier  in  1849 ;  I  would  not 
 be  a  grave-digger  in  1850;  I  will  be  anj'thing  you 
 please  in  1851."  This  may  be  but  a  rough  conjecture; 
 but  how  significant  is,    ''I  would  not   be   a  king   in 
 
 1848  !"  How  striking  is,  "  I  would  not  be  a  soldier  in 
 
 1849  !"  And  whether  '^  I  would  not  be  a  gravedigger  in 
 
 G  2 
 
84  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 1850,"  is  to  be  the  foretoken  of  a  yet  more  desolating 
 scourge  than  any  of  those  through  which,  by  God's 
 mercy,  ^ye  have  passed,  God  only  knows.  This,  how- 
 ever, we  know — we  are  guilty.  This  we  know — we 
 ouglit  now,  in  the  m.oment  of  respite,  both  as  affects  the 
 physical,  and  still  more,  the  spiritual  condition  of  our 
 fellow-men,  to  lend  a  helping-hand,  and  that  right 
 speedily.  A  pious  person,  writing  from  the  continent, 
 makes  this  statement :  "  Much  that  has  come  before  us 
 of  late  shows  how  rapidly  things  are  classified — how  all 
 men  are  ranging  themselves  under  their  respective  ban- 
 ners— all  w^atching  for  the  morning,  the  one  for  the  Lord, 
 and  the  other  for  Lucifer."  While  some  are  looking 
 for  Christ,  the  pantheists  of  Germany  are  looking  for 
 what  they  call  ^'the  coming  man,"  the  incarnation  or 
 personation  of  intellect,  a  human  God.  The  beauty  of 
 the  Gospel  is,  that  God  was  made  man ;  the  error  of 
 pantheism  is,  that  man  is  believed  to  be  made  God.  The 
 former  was  real ;  the  latter  is  a  mockery. 
 
 I  have  shown  you,  then,  kingdom  rushing  from  king- 
 dom ;  one  detached  from  another,  and  all  left  unsettled. 
 nf  you  were  to  look  into  churches,  you  would  see  the 
 same  thing ;  fragments  tlying  off  from  one  church  ; 
 larger  fragments  from  another  church ;  and  the  parties 
 standing  bj-,  and  seeming  to  enjoy  the  rending,  them- 
 selves being  rent  in  turn.  This  is  the  very  age  of 
 breaking  up — the  age  of  crushing,  of  destroying,  of 
 rending — the  age,  in  short,  of  the  "  stone  "  smiting 
 the  ten  toes,  and  grinding  to  powder  the  kingdoms  of 
 this  world. 
 
 AVhat  would  also  confirm  that  w^hich  I  have  now 
 been  stating  is,  that  it  seems,  from  the  language  em- 
 ployed, to  synchronise  with  the  description  of  the  seventh 
 vial  given  by  John.  *'  The  seventh  angel  poured  his 
 vial  into  the  air."  That  I  have  already  explained  to 
 you.  You  have  the  air  physically  and  morally  tainted. 
 I  told  you  in  Exeter  Hall  in  1847,  before  the  vial  was 
 poured  out,  that  the  effects  would  be,  whenever  it  came, 
 if  the  principle  of  interpretation  I  thought  to  be  true 
 was  correct,  a  taint  of  the  air  with  a  physical  or  pesti- 
 
THE   MYSTIC    STONE    SMITING   THE    IMAGE-  85 
 
 lential  taint,  and  the  deterioration  of  public  opinion, 
 sentiment,  and  belief,  by  deadlj'-  and  destructive  prin- 
 ciples. "  And  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the 
 temple  of  heaven  from  the  throne,  saying,  '  It  is  done.'  " 
 Then,  what  takes  place?  '^  There  Avere  voices  " — who 
 has  not  heard  the  voices  that  have  been  sounding  over 
 Euro2)e  for  the  last  three  3'ears,  in  all  shapes  and 
 forms  ? — "  and  thunders  and  lightnings  ;  and  there  was 
 a  great  earthquake."  As  I  told  you,  every  newspaper 
 said,  tliat  184.8  Avas  the  year  of  earthquakes.  An  earth- 
 quake shook  all  the  ten  kingdoms  till  they  reeled  and 
 tottered,  as  if  about  to  issue  in  their  final  destruction. 
 ''  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into  three  parts,  and 
 the  cities  of  the  nations  fell ;  and  great  Babylon  came  in 
 remembrance  before  God," — the  Popedom  is  now  being 
 visited  and  scourged,  as  the  beginning  of  its  utter  and 
 thorough  destruction.  If  tliis,  then,  synchronises  with 
 the  seventh  vial,  you  have  still  more  confirmatory  cat.- 
 dence — or  rather,  other  language  illustrative,  still  more 
 forcibly,  by  its  symbols,  of  the  period  at  which  we  are 
 now  arrived. 
 
 If  it  sj'nchronises  with  the  seventh  vial,  it  would 
 also  synchronise  with  what  our  blessed  Lord  has  told  us 
 in  Matthew  (this  is  before  the  coming  of  Christ) :  "  Im- 
 mediately after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  shall  the 
 sun  "  (used  to  denote  imperial  power)  "  be  darkened, 
 and  the  moon  "  (either  a  lesser  civil  power,  or  the  eccle- 
 siastical) "  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  "  (or 
 rulers  in  the  church)  "  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the 
 powers  of  the  heaven  shall  be  shaken  :  and  then  shall 
 appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven :  and  then 
 shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall 
 see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
 power  and  great  glory." 
 
 And  if  it  SAiichroniscs  with  this,  it  will  also  syn- 
 chronise with  other  predictions  in  the  37th  and  38th 
 chapters  of  Ezekiel :  "  Thou  shalt  ascend  and  come  like 
 a  storm,  thou  shalt  be  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land, 
 thou,  and  all  thy  bands,  and  many  people  with  thee." 
 There   is  a  series  of  predictions  in  tiese  chapters  of 
 
86  PEOPHETIC    STtTDIES. 
 
 Ezeldel  revealing  judgments  that  were  to  take  place  in 
 the  latter  days ;  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  glory 
 of  the  Gentiles,  which  you  can  read  at  your  leisure. 
 
 It  appears,  then,  that  just  before  the  advent  of  the 
 Lord,  there  is  to  be  the  vial  poured  into  the  air,  the 
 thunder,  the  lightning,  the  great  earthquake,  and  Baby- 
 lon, the  Eomish  apostasy,  coming  into  remembrance 
 before  God  ; — secondly,  to  use  the  words  of  our  Lord,  the 
 sun  and  moon  and  stars  darkening,  the  heavens  covered 
 as  with  a  sackcloth,  and  men's  hearts  failing  them  for 
 fear  of  the  things  that  are  coming  upon  the  earth ;  and 
 thirdly — tc)  quote  the  imagery  of  Daniel — that  the  great 
 stone  (beyond  all  dispute,  the  Saviour)  cut  out  without 
 hands,  is  to  smite  the  image,  and  break  it  in  pieces,  till 
 it  becomes  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floor, 
 swept  to  and  fro  by  the  wind,  and  carried  away,  so  that 
 no  place  should  be  ultimately  found  for  it ,  and  this  stone, 
 despised  and  rejected  of  men,  whom  men  would  not  have 
 as  their  foundation,  becomes  a  great  mountain,  and  fills 
 the  whole  earth.  Every  one  who  looks  abroad,  as  I  have 
 told  you,  sees  what  I  may  call  the  presumptive  evidence 
 of  these  things.  You  have  only  to  look  at  the  nations 
 of  Europe  to  see  that  they  want  the  great  cohesive  ele- 
 ment of  living.  Scriptural  religion.  No  society  can  stand 
 unless  it  be  pervaded  and  knit  together  by  the  cement 
 of  a  living  Christianity.  The  strength  of  Britain  is  in 
 the  ratio  of  the  depth  of  Britain's  Christianity.  The 
 stability  of  our  throne  rests  upon  the  Christianity  of  our 
 population.  Never  let  it  be  forgotten,  that  the  despised 
 Scripture  reader,  and  humble  city  missionary,  in  the  dens 
 and  alleys,  and  subterranean  cellars  of  this  great  metro- 
 polis, are  contributing  (the  great  men  of  the  world  may 
 not  see  it,  but  Christian  men  feel  it)  to  the  stability  of 
 our  most  gracious  Queen's  throne,  to  the  splendour  of 
 her  crown,  and  to  the  glory  and  greatness  of  this  great 
 empire.  It  is  by  religion  that  a  nation  stands  ;  and  in 
 the  absence  of  it  a  hundred  thousand  bayonets  are  not 
 stronger  than  a  hundred  thousand  straws — as  Louis 
 Philippe,  in  his  own  experience,  can  tell  you  ;  and  with 
 that  religion  in  a  nation's  heart,  it  needs  few  battalions 
 
THE    MYSTIC    STONE    SMITIXG    THE    miGE.  87 
 
 lound  the  throne,  or  soldiers  to  maintain  and  to  defend 
 it.     There  is  a  defence  in  the  midst  of  us  mightier  than 
 all — the  glory  of  the  Lord,  our  refuge  and  our  strength, 
 and  our  present  help  in  time  of  trouble.     But  with  the 
 nations   of  the  earth,  every  one  sees  that  there  is  no 
 chance  of  their  keeping  together.  All  their  constitutions 
 are  carnal.     They  are  merely  being  patched  up ;  the  evil 
 day  is,  as  it  were,  staved  off.     Who  does  not  see,  who 
 has  the  least  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on,  that  the 
 kingdoms  of  Europe — the  ten  kingdoms — are  kept  down 
 and  quieted  purely  by  management  ?    Like  an  old  ruin, 
 they  are  propped  up ;  like  a  diseased  body,  they  are  kept 
 in  life  by  medicine  ;  but  the  props  will  fall ;  the  medicine 
 will  lose  its  power ;  and  then  will  come,  as  Metternich 
 prophesied,  "  the  deluge,  desolation,  destruction,  ruin." 
 Seeing,  then,  that  the  gold  and  the  silver,  and  the 
 brass,  and  the  iron  and  clay — all  these  things  must  be 
 dissolved — Babylon,   Medo-Persia,    Macedonia,   Greece, 
 the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  ten  kingdoms — let  me  ask 
 this  question  of  you — a  question  that  has  been  asked  for 
 1800  years  : — "  AYhat  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be 
 in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness,  looking  for,  and 
 hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  wherein  the 
 heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  ele- 
 ments shall  melt  with  fervent   heat?"     Reading   the 
 handwriting   of  doom  upon  the  walls  of  palaces,  and 
 upon  the  face  of  thrones  ;  hearing  the  successive  crashes 
 of  nations  booming  over  sea  and  land,  as  if  they  were  the 
 trumps  of  judgment,  spared  as  Ave  are,  in  a  momentary 
 lull  when  all  seems  quiet,  only  that  the  forces  may 
 muster  for  the   more   terrific   havoc  that  is  to  come; 
 standing  on  a  part  of  the  earth  toward  which  earth- 
 quakes seem  to  roll,  and  yet,  by  a  divine  protection, 
 seem  successively  to  be  repelled ; — how  earnestly  should 
 we  examine  ourselves, — how  should  we  think  of  our  state 
 before  God, — how  should  we  try  to  anticipate,  from  the 
 knowledge  of  our  hearts,  as  reflected  from  God's  Holy 
 Word,  where  we  shall  stand  when  the  last  crash  shall 
 come,   and  the  Son  of  man,   coming  in  the  clouds  of 
 heaven,  shall  cover  the  sky  with  an  unearthly  splendour. 
 
88  PROPHETIC    STTTDIES. 
 
 and  all  men  shall,  for  one  brief  period,  enjoy  a  dreadful, 
 suspensive,  trembling  pause,  anxious  to  know,  "  shall 
 we  stand  at  the  right  hand,  or  at  the  left  hand  of  the 
 Judge?"  ''  Seeing  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved, 
 what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be?" 
 
 But  does  not  a  retrospect  of  this  image,  which  repre- 
 sented to  Daniel  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  tell  us 
 how  to  estimate  these  kingdoms?  Eiches — what  are 
 they  ?  Fragments  of  the  golden  head  ;  mere  filings  of  the 
 silver  breast  and  of  the  silver  arms  ;  possessed,  indeed,  of 
 currency  below,  but  destitute  of  any  currency  where 
 Christ  and  our  inheritance  are.  And  what,  after  all,  is 
 earthly  rank  ?  It  is  merely  a  foothold  upon  the  iron  legs ; 
 or,  if  a  higher  rank,  upon  the  thighs  of  brass ;  or,  if  a 
 higher  still,  upon  the  silver  arm ;  and  the  highest  rank 
 in  the  land  is  merely  seated  on  the  golden  head.  And 
 when  we  know  that  the  golden  heed,  and  silver  arm,  and 
 belly  of  brass,  and  legs  of  iron,  and  toes  of  clay,  shall  be 
 all  smashed  to  pieces  by  that  Stone,  scattered  like  chaff 
 upon  the  summer  threshing-floor,  oh  !  how  pale  does  all 
 earthly  rank  become — how  poor  does  aU  worldly  grandeur 
 appear — how  little  worthy  of  a  people's  love — how  little 
 entitled  to  a  nation's  anxiety  !  What  a  call  to  us  to  think 
 of  the  ''unsearchable  riches"  that  moth  cannot  corrupt 
 — to  think  of  the  *'  honour  that  cometh  from  God" — to 
 think,  and  secure  while  we  think  of  a  foothold,  not  upon 
 the  leg  of  iron,  nor  belly  of  brass,  nor  arm  of  silver,  nor 
 head  of  gold,  but  a  foothold  on  the  llock  of  Ages,  which 
 shall  become  one  day  "  a  great  mountain,"  and  shall  "fill 
 the  whole  earth."  Blessed  hope !  brilliant  jjrospect ! 
 As  it  was  told  by  David,  in  the  72nd  Psalm,  "  His  name 
 shall  endure  for  ever : "  it  shall  last  like  the  sun.  The 
 names  of  Calvin,  of  Luther,  of  Knox,  of  AVesley,  and 
 Whitfield,  and  other  names  that  may  be  musical  to  our 
 ears,  shall  all  be  hushed,  and  the  name  of  Christ  alone 
 shall  endure  audible  for  ever.  All  nations  shall  bless 
 him,  and  all  nations  shall  be  blessed  in  him  ;  and  when 
 that  Stone  has  been  turned  into  this  great  mountain, 
 and  when  the  whole  earth  shall  be  covered  by  that 
 mountain,  then  shall  be  the  era  of  the  triumph  of  the 
 
THE    MYSTIC    STONE    SillTIXG   THE   IMAGE.  89 
 
 Catholic,  or  the  universal,  and  the  true  church ;  that 
 mountain-brow  basking  in  perpetual  sunshine ;  and 
 around  that  mij^hty  mountain  that  fills  the  -whole  earth 
 shall  be  successive  belts,  like  bright  zones,  of  adoring  and 
 ■worshipping  companies,  that  say  and  sing,  ^'  Unto  him 
 that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
 blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  our  God; 
 to  him  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever."  Glorious  structure, 
 beautiful  and  holy  home,  sublime  cathedra],  happy  rest, 
 for  the  holy  and  happy  people  of  God !  No  hospitals  will 
 be  there,  for  there  shall  be  no  sick ;  no  graves  shall  be 
 dug  in  it,  for  death  shall  be  destroj'ed  ;  no  sori'ow,  nor 
 sighing,  nor  tears ;  but  the  church  catholic,  apostolic, 
 holy,  blessed,  for  ever  and  ever, — Clnist  their  King,  and 
 none  known  by  any  other  name  than  Christians,  the 
 anointed  subjects  of  the  great  King. 
 
 My  dear  friends,  some  men  quarrel  with  the  study  of 
 prophecy.  I  have  learned  more  since  I  began  to  studj'- 
 it  thoroughly  than  ever  I  learned  before.  I  do  not  say 
 that  these  simple  truths  are  denied  by  ministers  of  the 
 Gospel,  but  certainly  they  are  not  studied.  They  say, 
 "  We  do  not  like  to  study  these  subjects."  They  even 
 boast  of  their  good  sense,  in  skipping  the  book  of  Daniel 
 and  the  Apocalj'pse.  Alas  !  for  such  unprotestant  preach- 
 ers. Whatever  God  has  written,  it  is  surely  worth 
 our  trouble  to  stud}* ;  and  if  we  commit  an  error  here 
 and  there  charity  will  forgive  it,  and  God  will  forgive  it 
 for  the  sake  of  the  great  truths  that  are  beside  it.  This 
 I  have  leanied  ever  since  I  studied  these  truths  :  I  have 
 learned  less  and  less  to  value  those  distinctions  of  church 
 and  dissent,  of  episcopacy  and  independency  and  pres- 
 bytery ;  and  to  feel  more  and  more  their  utter  insignifi- 
 cance in  comparison  with  that  glory  that  streams  from 
 the  better  land,  and  shows  me  that,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
 in  the  cycle  of  eternity,  there  are  but  two  classes — the 
 lost,  in  hell,  who  have  clung  to  antichrist,  and  the  saved, 
 in  heaven,  with  whom  Christ  has  been  all  and  in  all. 
 
 The  future  !  cruel  were  the  power 
 
 Whose  doom  would  tear  thee  from  my  heart  j 
 
 Thou  sweetener  of  the  present  hour, 
 We  cannot — no — we  will  not  part  ! 
 
90  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Then  haste  thee,  Time — 'tis  kindness  all. 
 That  speeds  thy  winj^ed  feet  so  fast : 
 
 Thy  pleasures  stay  not  till  they  pall ; 
 And  all  thy  pains  are  quickly  past. 
 
 Thou  fliest  and  bear'st  away  our  woes ; 
 
 And  as  the  shadowy  trains  depart, 
 The  memory  of  sorrow  grows 
 
 A  lighter  burden  on  the  heart. 
 
LECTUEE  YIII. 
 
 THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD. 
 
 *'  Thou,  0  Tcing,  saicest,  and  leJiold  a  great  image.  This 
 great  image,  ivhose  hrightmss  teas  excellent,  stood  lefore 
 thee  ;  and  the  form  thereof  luas  terrihle.  This  imagers 
 head  VMS  of  fine  gold,  his  breast  and  his  arms  of  silver, 
 his  hellg  and  his  thighs  ofhrass,  his  legs  of  iron,  his  feet 
 part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay.  Thou  saivest  till  that  a 
 stone  ivas  cut  out  without  hands,  xchich  smote  the  image 
 zqjon  his  feet  that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them 
 to  pieces.  Then  teas  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the 
 silver,  and  the  gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and  became 
 like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors  ;  and  the 
 ivind  carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was  found  for 
 them  :  and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great 
 mountain,  and  filled  the  tvhole  earth.  This  is  the  dream  ; 
 and  we  icill  tell  the  interpretation  thereof  before  the 
 king.  Thou,  0  king,  art  a  king  of  kings  :  for  the  God 
 of  heaven  hath  given  thee  a  kingdom,  power,  and  strength, 
 and  glory.  And  icheresoever  the  children  of  men  dwell, 
 the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath 
 he  given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made  thee  ruler  over 
 them  all.  Thou  art  this  head  of  gold.  And  after  thee 
 shall  arise  another  kingdom  inferior  to  thee,  and  another 
 third  kingdom  of  brass,  ivhich  shall  bear  rule  over  all  the 
 earth.  And  the  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as  iron  : 
 forasmuch  as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces  and  suhdueth  all 
 things  :  and  as  iron  that  breaketh  all  these,  shall  it  break 
 in  pieces  and  bruise.  And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet 
 and  toes,  part  of  potter'' s  clay,  and  part  of  iron,  the 
 kingdom  shall  be  divided  ;  but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the 
 <itrength  of  the  iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  the  iron 
 
92  PEOPHETIC   STUDIFS. 
 
 mixed  with  miry  clay.  And  as  the  toes  of  the  feet  were 
 joart  of  iron,  and  2^o.rt  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall  he 
 j)artly  strong,  and  2)artly  broken.  And  whereas  thou 
 sawest  iron  mixed  icith  miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  them- 
 selves iL'ith  the  seed  of  men  :  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one 
 to  another,  even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay.  Aoid  in 
 the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
 kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed :  and  the  king- 
 dom shall  not  be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in 
 pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand 
 for  everP — Daniel  ii.  31 — 44. 
 
 Time  would  fail  me,  were  I  to  attempt  to  recapitulate 
 what  I  have  preached  on  the  portion  of  Scripture  which 
 I  have  now  read.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  observe,  that 
 I  showed  that  the  head  of  gold  was  the  Babylonian 
 kingdom — the  first  supreme  and  universal  sovereignty 
 that  then  existed  upon  earth  ;  that  the  breast  and  arms 
 of  silver  we  could  have  no  difficulty  in  defining  to  be  the 
 Medo-Persian  kingdom — the  breast  denoting  its  monarch, 
 and  the  two  arras.  Media  and  Persia,  united  in  him,  and 
 constituting  one  kingdom ;  that  the  belly  and  thighs  of 
 brass  represeuted  the  next  succeeding  universal  kingdom, 
 the  Graeco-Macedonians,  or  the  Macedonian  Greeks, 
 known  in  classic  story  as  the  ''brass-covered  Greeks," 
 who,  first  under  Philip,  and  next,  and  completely,  under 
 his  son  Alexander,  swept  the  earth,  and  subdued  every 
 kingdom  under  their  powerful  sceptre.  I  also  showed, 
 by  irresistible  proofs,  drawn  from  Gibbon,  and  from  his- 
 torians whose  testimony  in  this  matter  must  be  regarded 
 as  dispassionate,  that  the  fourth  kingdom,  the  fourth  in 
 succession,  and  the  only  succeeding  kingdom  that  had 
 absolute  and  universal  sovereignty,  was  the  iron  king- 
 dom of  Home,  or  the  E,oman  empire.  ^Xow,  this  is  not 
 mere  conjecture.  I  ask  you  to  point  out  to  me,  in  past 
 history,  any  other  four  successive  kingdoms  each  of 
 which  was  in  its  day  mistress  of  the  globe,  as  far  as  the 
 globe  was  then  known.  There  have  been  but  four  uni- 
 versal empires — the  four  I  have  stated — each  sovereign 
 and  supreme  in  its  sway,  and  each  displaced  by  its  sue- 
 
THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD.  93 
 
 cessor.  The  last  of  these,  the  Eoman  empire,  which  was 
 of  iron,  subdued  and  ground  to  pieces  all  the  kingdoms 
 that  preceded  it.  I  showed  you  also,  by  comparisons 
 with  the  Book  of  Eevelation,  and  subsequent  passages  in 
 the  Prophecy  of  Daniel,  to  which  I  will  refer  you,  that, 
 as  the  two  feet  of  the  image  were  divided  into  ten  toes, 
 the  Eoman  empire  might  be  expected,  if  the  prophecy 
 were  true,  to  be  divided  into  ten  kingdoms.  If  you  will 
 open  any  history,  of  any  school  or  creed,  you  will  find  it 
 stated  that  the  lloman  empire  was  thus  divided  into  ten 
 kingdoms  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  century ;  this  is  matter  of 
 universal  admission.  Strange  enough,  ever  since  that 
 division  took  place — now  some  fourteen  hundred  years 
 ago — the  ten  kingdoms,  which  I  specified  by  name,  are 
 seen,  in  every  century,  more  or  less  clearly  to  cast  up. 
 Were  they  to  cast  up  the  same  in  limits  and  geographical 
 extent  in  every  century,  prophecy  would  not  be  fulfilled ; 
 because  the  prediction  is  that  they  would  try  to  ''  mingle 
 with  the  seed  of  men;"  that  is,  there  should  be  eft'orts 
 made  to  compress,  to  consolidate,  to  jumble  them  ;  in 
 other  words,  destroy — though  not  intentionally — God's 
 prediction,  and  make  them  cease  to  be  what  God  has  de- 
 clared they  long  shall  be — numerically  and  clearly  te7i. 
 Now,  it  is  a  fact,  that  ever  since  the  division  into  ten, 
 successive  rulers  have  tried  to  amalgamate  them  into  one 
 great  universal  empire ;  and  in  each  instance  they  have 
 found  that  the  word  of  the  Almighty  was  stronger  than 
 the  sword  of  Caesar,  of  Charlemagne,  or  of  Napoleon,  or 
 of  any  other  ambitious  prince  or  soldier  that  made  the 
 experiment.  Again  and  again  marriages  have  been 
 made  among  the  ten  kings.  The  most  powerful  efibrt, 
 and  the  nearest  to  successful,  was  made  by  Napoleon, 
 when  he  allied  himself  to  the  house  of  Austria.  He  con- 
 trolled the  most  gallant,  the  bravest,  the  most  active 
 nation  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Europe  seemed  to 
 lie  2)rostrate  at  his  feet,  ready  to  accept  his  sovereignty ; 
 the  cup  of  universal  empire  was  almost  at  his  lips ;  but 
 God  had  destined  it  otherwise,  and  expressly  said  it 
 should  be  otherwise,  600  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
 and  more  than  2,000  years  before  Napoleon  was  born. 
 
94  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 The  waters  of  the  Borodino  engulphed  his  invincible 
 battalions,  and  the  snows  of  Eussia  became  windiiig- 
 sheets  to  half  his  army,  and  the  bones  of  the  rest,  bleach- 
 ing or  buried  on  the  plains  of  Waterloo,  tell  how  feeble 
 is  the  might  of  man,  and  how  lasting  is  the  truth 
 of  God. 
 
 But  we  are  told  that  in  the  time  of  these  ten  kingdoms, 
 into  which  the  Eoman  empire  was  to  be  divided,  the  God 
 of  heaven  should  set  up  a  kingdom  which  should  never 
 be  destroj^ed.     jS'ow,  this  cannot  be  the  commencement 
 of  Christianity  1800  years  ago,  because  it  is  said  that  God 
 would  set  up  this  kingdom  subsequent  to  the  division  of 
 the  empire  into  ten  kingdoms  ;  assuredly  he  will  yet  set 
 up  this  kingdom  in  all  its  grandeur,  completeness,  and 
 sovereignty  ;  and  between  the  ruin  of  the  ten  kingdoms 
 of  the  Roman  empire  and  the  culminating  glory  of  the 
 Christian  kingdom  there  shall  be  nothing  intervening. 
 This  last  and   universal   sovereignty  of  the   Christian 
 kingdom  Avas  to  be  the  result  of  another  fact :  that  a 
 ''stone  cut  out  without  hands"  (which  I  showed   by 
 comparison  to  be  the  Lord  Jesus)  was,  not  gradually  to 
 leaven,  but  suddenly  to  smite  the  ten  kingdoms.      You 
 will  notice  that  the  stone,  which  was  Christ,  ("to  whom 
 coming,  as  unto  a  living  stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men, 
 but  chosen  and  precious,")  was  to  smite  the  image  in  its 
 ten-fold  division  state.  It  was  not  to  smite  it  in  the  time 
 of  its  golden  head,  nor  in  the  time  of  its  silver  breast,  nor 
 in  the  time  of  its  brass  thighs,  nor  in  the  time  of  its  iron 
 limbs ;  but  when  the  ii'on  limbs  should  be  divided  into 
 ten  toes,  partly  clay  and  partly  iron.     This  stone  was 
 suddenly  to  fall  upon  the  ten  kingdoms,   and  to  split 
 them  into  atoms,  and  scatter  them  as  chaff  is  driven  and 
 scattered  upon  the  summer  threshing-floor.      I  showed 
 you,  hj  two  or  three  simple  facts,  that  it  seems  as  if  the 
 blows  of  that  stone  were  at  this  moment  reverberating 
 throughout  the  continent  of  Europe.      AVho  can  fail  to 
 see  kingdom  after  kingdom — without  any  explanation  of 
 the  why — without  any  preconcerted  scheme,  or  plan,  or 
 conspiracy,  that  will  account  for  the  result — suddenly 
 broken  to  atoms  ?     And  if  great  statesmen  are  to  be 
 
THE    KIJSTGDOM    OE    GOD.  95 
 
 believed,  whose  sagacity  is  generally  the  nearest  thing  to 
 prophecy,  never  was  the  continent  of  Europe  at  this 
 moment  in  a  more  nnsettled  state.  The  stone  seemed 
 first  to  have  smitten  France  ;  and  left  that  monarch,  who 
 fell  asleep  with  a  hundred  thousand  bayonets  bristling 
 around  him,  a  refugee  and  an  exile  on  the  rise  of  to- 
 morrow's sun.  The  stone  then  struck  Austria  ;  and  its 
 monarch  was  an  exile  among  the  Swiss.  It  next  struck 
 Germany ;  and  even  that  giant  empire  reeled  and 
 staggered  under  the  blow.  The  stone  then  struck  Italy ; 
 the  Pope  was  driven  from  his  throne  ;  and  the  ''  three 
 horns"  that  belonged  to  him — "the  three  states  of  the 
 Church" — part  of  the  ten — are  at  this  moment  sub- 
 stantially severed  from  him.  I  was  told  by  a  Roman 
 refugee,  soon  after  this,  that  the  prospect  of  his  ever 
 wielding  the  temporal  sovereignty  over  that  people  is 
 remoter  at  this  moment,  than  ever.  And,  as  if  the  very 
 elements  were  sustaining  men  in  their  efforts  to  destroy 
 him — not  the  man  Pius  IX.,  but  the  personation,  the 
 head,  the  representative  of  Babylon — we  find,  that  no 
 sooner  was  he  settled  in  his  recent  place  of  retirement, 
 than  the  earthquake  rocked  the  soil,  and  Vesuvius  burst 
 out  with  preternatural  fury ;  and  the  Pope  himself,  who 
 fled  from  his  people  a  year  ago,  was  flying  from  the 
 burning  element ;  as  if  the  foretokens  of  the  predicted 
 downfal  of  Babylon  were  accumulating  and  thickening 
 every  day.^'  When  I  read  this  fact  in  the  papers,  it  re- 
 minded me  of  what  Mr.  Elliot  has  shown  will  be  the 
 
 *  "  That  which  nothing  else  has  been  able  to  effect,  the  erup- 
 tion of  Vesuvius  has  effected,  the  flight,  or  rather  the  removal  of 
 the  Pope.  It  is  only,  however,  to  the  palace  on  Capo  di  IMonte, 
 where  he  can  enjoy  the  magnificent  scenes  now  being  exhibited 
 on  Vesuvius  Avithout  trembling  at  the  dreadful  roaring  of  the 
 mountain,  and  without  fear  of  being  overwhelmed.  I  hear 
 nothing,  however,  of  a  more  distant  flight.  Cardinal  Dupont  is 
 still  here,  and  the  steamer,  the  Vauban,  which  brought  him,  waits 
 in  port.  Arrests  still  continue  here,  and  I  hear  that,  last  night,  a 
 terribly  large  batch  was  .'eized  and  sent  off  to  prison — some  say 
 twenty-seven  men  of  birth  and  respectability.  Mr.  Bi'own,  an 
 American,  formerly  Consul  at  Rome,  has  been  ordered  to  quit 
 Naples  within  forty-eight  hours,  whereupon  an  indignant  and 
 angry  correspondence  has  taken  place  between   the  American 
 
96  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 nature  and  agent  of  the  destruction  of  Babylon.  ^  His 
 belief  is — and  Scripture  leads  him  to  this  conclusion — 
 that  that  gigantic  despotism,  which  has  made  slaves  of 
 the  free  and  martyrs  of  the  holy,  and  out  of  which  there 
 is  only  escape  for  such  men  as  Achilli,  when  the  power 
 of  our  country  and  that  of  France  are  made  to  tell  upon 
 the  fears  of  the  guardians  of  its  despotism — is  to  be 
 literally  burned  with  lire,  and  that  there  are  volcanic 
 elements  enough  in  Italy,  not  only  to  account  for,  but  to 
 lead  us  to  expect,  so  terrible  and  so  consuming  a  cata- 
 strophe.     We  wait ;   the  only  concern  we  have  in  the 
 
 Charj^e  d'Affaires  and  the  Neapolitan  Government.  As  yet  I 
 knou-  not  if,  or  liow,  it  lias  terminated. 
 
 "  I  must  not  forget  to  inform  you  of  the  state  of  Vesuvius. 
 For  a  week,  we  have  now  enjoyed  the  most  splendid  eruption 
 whicli  has  taken  place  for  many  years.  The  ashes  have  been  car- 
 ried as  far.  we  know,  as  twenty  miles,  and,  no  doubt,  much 
 farther.  The  lava  descends  in  two  streams  upon  Ottajano,  where 
 it  has  destroyed  a  palace  and  much  land  belonginj^  to  a  nobleman 
 of  that  name,  and  another  towards  Torri  deli  Annunziata,  whilst 
 the  flames  and  the  immense  masses  of  rock  which  are  ejected, 
 form,  at  ni.uht,  a  splendid  and  terrific  spectacle.  The  roaring  of 
 the  mountain  on  Saturday  night  last  was  such  as  to  <Iisturl)  the 
 whole  country  for  miles  round,  and  here  in  Naples  our  windows 
 shook  witl\  evei'y  repetition  of  it,  which  was  unceasing  night  and 
 day.  Immense  ci'owds,  of  course,  walk  over  to  the  other  side  of 
 the  bav  to  get  a  nearer  view  ;  religious  ])rocessioiis  are  moving 
 about,  for  the  intercession  of  the  ]\Jadonna  and  the  saints  ;  and  it 
 is  said  that  the  Pope  is  to  perform  some  ceremonial  to  cause  the 
 mountain  to  stay  its  ruinous  proceedings.  I  am  sorry  to  add  that 
 the  accidents  to  those  w^ho  went  over  have  been  very  sad.  On 
 Saturday  iiight  a  young  Pole  was  struck  in  the  leg  V>y  a  burning 
 stone,  which  cut  through  the  limb,  and  he  died  on  the  mountain 
 from  loss  of  blood.  A  young  American  officer  was  struck  in  the 
 arm,  which  hung  suspended  by  a  bit  of  flesh.  On  his  ai'rival  in 
 Naples  he  had  lost  so  much  blood  that  an  amputation  could  not 
 take  place,  and  as  no  reaction  has  up  to  this  time  taken  place,  it 
 is  not  expected  that  he  can  live.  A  gendarme  is  also  reported 
 killed,  and  two  men  who  had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the  eruption 
 wei"e  said  to  have  been  buried  yesterday  at  Portici.  Some  anxiety 
 has  been  felt  for  an  Englishman  and  his  wife  who  had  not  re- 
 turned from  a  visit  to  the  mountain  ;  and  yet  crowi's  roll  on  iiight 
 and  day  to  see  this  wonderful  ])lienomenon.  From  the  neighbour- 
 hood of  the  mountain  all  the  inhabitants  have  fled,  and  tho 
 ])owder  from  the  magazine  at  Torre  has  been  removed." — CoJT«- 
 sjjondcnt  of  the  Daily  Neivs.     (April,  1850.) 
 
THE    KTNGDOM    OF  GOD.  97 
 
 prospect  of  her  catastrophe  is  :  "  Come  out  of  her,  my 
 people,  that  ye  partake  not  of  her  sins,  and  receive  not 
 of  her  plagues."  I  believe  those  who  hold  what  are 
 called  Tractarian  views  are  partaking  of  the  sins  of 
 Babylon,  and  that  they  will  perish  in  her  ruin  unless 
 they  repent.  I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  more 
 and  more  to  protest  against  the  system,  and  whatever 
 be  his  love  to  its  victims — and  that  love  cannot  be  too 
 intense,  and  he  cannot  speak  the  word  of  truth  in  too 
 much  love — to  speak  of  it  as  God  speaks  of  it,  and  him- 
 self to  take  care  that  he  share  in  none  of  her  sins ;  and 
 so  shall  he  not  suffer  any  of  her  plagues. 
 
 Having,  then,  reviewed  the  whole  of  my  statement 
 on  the  great  image,  I  now  proceed  to  notice  the  kingdom 
 that  is  here  stated  to  succeed  the  other  kingdoms,  to 
 cover  the  whole  earth,  and  never  to  be  moved.  This 
 kingdom  is  composed,  hrst,  of  principles;  next,  of  per- 
 sons :  both  now  imperfect,  but  by-and-bye  to  be  made 
 perfect  in  glory. 
 
 First  of  all,  it  is  composed  of  principles.  The  Spirit 
 of  God  says — ''  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor 
 drink,  but  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
 Ghost."  Here  you  have  this  kingdom  in  its  essential 
 and  constituent  principles.  Before  unfolding  these  let 
 me  first  notice  its  negative  aspect. 
 
 ''  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor  drink."  In 
 other  words,  nothing  merely  ceremonial  constitutes  the 
 kingdom  of  God.  The  ceremonies  may  be  too  many,  or 
 they  may  be  too  few — they  may  be  very  brilliant,  or  they 
 may  be  very  bald — they  may  please  the  senses,  or  gratify 
 only  the  intellect :  it  is  of  no  consequence.  These  things 
 do  not  form  a  vital  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Nothing, 
 in  the  next  place,  that  is  merely  ritual  constitutes  this 
 kingdom.  *' It  is  not,"  says  the  Apostle,  ''meat  nor 
 drink."  There  may  be  rubrics,  or  there  may  be  none — 
 you  may  fast,  or  you  may  feast — you  may  kneel  at 
 prayer,  or  ^^ou  may  stand — you  may  kneel  at  the  com- 
 munion-table, or  3'ou  may  sit — the  minister  may  Avear 
 a  silk  gown,  or  a  surplice,  or  neither;  he  may  preach 
 without  notes,  or  he  may  preach  with  them ;  these  aro 
 
 s 
 
98  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 matters  of  ceremony  evanescent  as  the  clouds ;  the  great 
 truths  beyond  and  beneath  them  are,  like  the  stars,  lixed 
 and  beautiful  for  ever.     This  kingdom  is  not  described 
 by  any  fixed  and  clearly  specified  ecclesiastical  regime. 
 The  church  may  be  governed  by  bishops,  or  it  may  be 
 governed  by  presbyters,  or  it  may  be  governed  by  the 
 people;    it  may  be  episcopal,  presbyterial,  or  congre- 
 gational ;  it  may  be  favoured  by  the  state,  or  it  may  be 
 free  from  it ;   it  may  be  endowed  by  the  state,  or  sup- 
 ported by  the  people  ;  it  may  be  a  very  imperfect  church, 
 or  the  most  perfect  church  of  all;— these  are  matters 
 that  may  be  of  less  or  greater  advantage  to  the  kingdom, 
 but  they  are  not,  of  necessity,  essentials  to  the  very- 
 existence  of  the  kingdom;   and  if  men  only  felt  this 
 more,  they  would  labour  less  to  reform  the  mere  ex- 
 ternals,  and   labour  more  to  plant   in  the  heart   and 
 impress  on  the  people  the  vital  and  essential  doctrines 
 of  the  Gospel.     The  true  way  to  get  a  church  perfect  is 
 to  try  to  have  perfect  men  to  compose  it.     The  purity 
 of  the  government  of  a  church  will  always  be  in  the 
 direct  ratio  of  the  piety  of  the  people  that  constitute 
 that  church.     If  we  prayed  more  and  quarrelled  less, 
 and  each  in  his  sphere  did  the  work  that  devolved  upon 
 him  more  heartily,  there  would  be  far  greater  success 
 in  promoting  the  Gospel — in  vindicating  the  honour  of 
 God — in  winning  souls.     Far  preferable  would  this  be 
 to  any  efforts  to  improve  the  outworks,  or  to  alter  its 
 constitution,  or  to  change  its  robes,  its  ceremonies,  and 
 its  rites.     I^ever  forget  that  the  citadel  of  a  church's 
 strength  is  not  outward,  but  inward  Christianity.    Yital 
 forces  are  in  each  individual  heart ;   not  in  bishop,  pres- 
 bytery, or  people.     Thus,  then,  no  one  outward  govern- 
 ment is  specified  as  an  essential  part  of  the  kingdom  of 
 Christ.     It  is  not  ''Lord,  Lord,"  but  being  Christian; 
 it  is  not  creeds,  or  fasts,  or  incense,  or  genuflexion ;  it  is 
 not  the  voluntary  system,   nor  the  establishment ;    it 
 is  not  beads,  nor  holy  water;    it  is  not  dipping,  nor 
 sprinkling ;   it  is  not  kneeling,  nor  standing ;   it  is  not 
 Gerizim,  nor  Sinai;   ''neither  on  this  mountain,"  nor  on 
 that;  *'  the  kingdom  of  God  is  neither  meat  nor  drink," 
 
THE    KINGDOM    OF    GOD.  99 
 
 nor  ceremony,  nor  form,  ''but  righteousness,  peace,  and 
 joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
 
 Let  us  now  look  at  the  positive  side  of  this  kingdom, 
 or  the  constituent  and  normal  elements  of  that  kingdom 
 which  is  to  supersede  all,  and  rise  in  beauty  and  glory 
 when  other  kingdoms  have  passed  away.  It  is  composed, 
 first,  of  ''righteousness."  What  is  this  righteousness.^ 
 It  is  two-fold :  there  is  a  righteousness  without  us,  by 
 which  we  are  justified;  and  there  is  a  righteousness 
 within  us,  by  which  we  are  sanctified.  The  first  is  the 
 act  of  God's  free  grace  ;  the  second  is  the  ivork  of  God's 
 Holy  Spirit.  The  righteousness  by  which  we  are  justi- 
 fied, is  as  perfect  at  the  moment  we  believe,  as  it  will  be 
 when  we  are  admitted  into  heaven ;  the  righteousness 
 by  which  we  are  sanctified  is  day  by  day  growing  in 
 strength,  in  influence,  in  power,  until  grace  is  lost  in 
 glorj'.  The  first,  or  the  righteousness  by  which  we  are 
 justified,  is  imputed  to  us;  the  second,  or  the  righteousness 
 by  which  we  are  sanctified,  is  imparted  to  us.  The  first 
 is  our  title  to  heaven ;  the  second  is  ovlY  fitness  for  heaven. 
 This  righteousness,  both  as  imputed  and  imparted — 
 the  act  of  Christ,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit — is  an 
 essential  element  of  that  kingdom  which  "  is  not  meat 
 nor  drink,  but  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 Another  element,  we  are  told,  is  "  peace."  "  Justified 
 by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God."  There  is  no  peace 
 real  or  lasting,  except  the  peace  that  passeth  under- 
 standing. Old  Mr.  Howells  used  to  say,  "  If  3-ou  see 
 two  dogs  at  peace  with  each  other,  it  is  the  indirect 
 evidence  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel."  There  would  be 
 nothing  but  war,  interminable  and  exterminating, 
 throughout  all  society,  but  for  the  direct  or  indirect  in- 
 fluence of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  When  we  are  justified 
 by  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  Jesus,  we  have  then 
 peace  :  peace  with  God,  for  he  is  our  father — peace  with 
 our  conscience,  for  on  it  is  the  reflection  of  that  Father's 
 countenance — peace  with  everj^  man  who  is  a  Christian, 
 for  he  is  a  brother — peace  with  every  man  who  is  not  a 
 Christian,  for  he  may,  by  grace,  be  made  a  brother :  peace, 
 
100  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 not  indolence  ;  not  ease,  in  any  respect,  but  strife — not 
 self-indulgence,  but  self-sacrifice — not  acquiescence  in 
 what  is  evil,  for  the  sake  of  quiet,  but  war  with  what  is 
 evil,  for  the  sake  of  God — not  a  prudential  avoiding  of 
 quarrels,  but  the  sustained  endeavour  to  make  all  things 
 what  grace  has  made  us  ;  and  to  feel  our  peace  increasing 
 and  flowing  as  a  river,  in  proportion  as  the  Gospel  of 
 grace  pervades,  and  permeates,  and  leavens  all  around 
 us.  Such  is  the  peace  here  indicated — peace  with  God, 
 peace  with  conscience,  and  peace  with  one  another. 
 
 The  third  element,  we  are  told,  is  ''joy."  It  began 
 in  lighteousness,  it  proceeds  in  peace,  it  culminates  in 
 joy.  In  other  words,  the  kingdom  of  God — that  is, 
 Christianity — is  one-third  character  and  two-thirds 
 privilege.  I  have  often  declared,  what  I  now  repeat, 
 that  the  Gospel  was  inspired,  that  Jesus  died,  that  the 
 Holy  Spirit  came  down  at  Pentecost,  as  much  to  make 
 you  and  me  happy  and  joyful,  as  to  make  you  and  me 
 righteous  and  holy.  Nay,  the  very  first  sound  in  that 
 glorious  message  is  ''  good  news."  For  what  is  the 
 meaning  of  the  word  Gospel  ?  "  Good  news."  Instead 
 of  shrinking  from  that  Gospel,  instead  of  looking  upon  it 
 as  something  sepulchral  and  awful,  that  will  dissipate  all 
 your  joys,  and  dry  up  all  the  currents  of  your  pleasure, 
 you  ought  to  know  that  the  main  elements  of  the  kingdom 
 of  God  are  peace  and  joy.  I  am  sure,  if  we  confess  at 
 the  throne  of  grace  that  the  Gospel  has  not  made  us 
 righteous  as  it  ought  to  have  done,  we  ought  to  confess 
 with  equal  sorrow  that  it  has  not  made  us  happy,  peace- 
 ful, joyful,  as  it  was  meant  to  do.  If  there  be  any  man 
 in  this  assembly  who  is  not  a  happy  man,  it  is  not  be- 
 cause the  Gospel  has  made  him  miserable ;  if  there  be  any 
 man  in  this  assembly  who  is  not  a  joyful  man,  it  is  not 
 because  the  Gospel  is  not  fitted  to  make  him  so  ;  but  be- 
 cause he  is  cherishing  some  sin  which  acts  like  a  blind 
 upon  the  Gospel  light,  and  prevents  its  cheering,  its 
 enlivening,  and  illuminating  beams  from  entering  into 
 the  chamber  of  his  soul,  and  there  lighting  up  pei-petual 
 sunshine.  The  Gospel,  then,  is  one-third  character,  and 
 two-thirds  privilege  :  not  meat  nor  di^ink,  nor  form  nor 
 
THE  kingdo:m'  of  god.  101 
 
 ceTemony,  about  Tvliich  men  fig-ht;  but  '^righteousness, 
 peace,  and  joy." 
 
 How  striking  it  is  that  all  the  quarrels  .among  Chris- 
 tians are  mostlj'-  about  the  negative  part — about  meat  or 
 drink.  Now,  if  they  would  lay  aside  looking  at  the 
 negative— form,  ceremony,  fasting,  feasting,  silk  robe 
 and  surplice,  meat  aud  drink,  about  which  disputes  are 
 endless,  and  would  look  more  at  "righteousness,  peace, 
 and  joy,"  about  which  we  feel  unanimous,  they  Avould 
 find  they  had  left  the  region  of  passion  and.  the  arena  of 
 conflict,  the  grey  twilight  of  misapprehension  ;  and  that 
 thcj  were  in  the  province  of  unity,  amid  the  air  of  peace, 
 and  the  liglits  of  joy  where  the  wilderness  rejoices,  and 
 the  solitary  place  blossoms  as  the  rose. 
 
 Having  ascertained  what  this  kingdom  is,  as  God 
 himself  has  defined  it,  we  see  what  it  is  that  can  truly 
 renovate  mankind.  ^lan  has  various  prescri2^tions  :  God 
 has  but  one.  One  man  has  a  temperance  societ}'-,  and 
 that  is,  I  dare  say,  good ;  another  has  a  peace  society, 
 and  that  is  good  enough,  1  suppose  in  its  place  ;  another 
 man  has  some  other  society  for  some  other  object,  and  it 
 may  be  equally  good.  But  all  these  must  fail,  however 
 good  in  design,  however  pretty  in  their  little  spheres  of 
 little  working — they  are  toys,  not  quickening  truths. 
 JVIen  will  never  be  truly  temperate,  until  the  grace  of 
 God  that  teacheth  to  live  soberly  is  implanted  in  their 
 hearts ;  and  nations  will  never  get  peace  by  burning 
 the  navy  and  reducing  the  army.  One  of  the  greatest 
 means,  perhaps,  in  this  sinful  world  of  keeping  peace 
 may  be  the  maintenance  of  the  army  and  the  navy  ;  and 
 one  of  the  greatest  blunders,  I  fear,  may  be  found  to  be 
 the  destroying  or  weakening  of  either,  Eut  neither 
 army  nor  navy  are  the  means  of  creating  peace.  The 
 only  thing  that  can  make  peace  is  the  kingdom  of  peace 
 in  every  man's  conscience,  and  the  reign  of  the  Prince 
 of  peace  in  every  king's  kingdom.  When  the  whole 
 world  has  become  Christian,  then  will  be  the  time  to 
 beat  the  spear  into  the  ploughshare,  but  not  until  tlieii. 
 Our  Lord  has  told  us,  "I  am  not  come  to  send  peace  on 
 earth,  but  a  sword;"  not  intentionally,  but  necessarily. 
 
102  PKOrHETIC    STtTDIES. 
 
 The  result  of  holiness  coming  into  contact  with  sin, 
 peace  coming  into  contact  with  war,  love  coming  into 
 contact  with  enmitj^,  will  be  war,  discord,  division,  dis- 
 pute. All  man's  j^lans  for  ameliorating  society  fail, 
 because  they  touch  merely  the  robes  of  society  ;  they  do 
 not  reach  its  heart.  Man  would  be  for  manufacturing 
 peace  and  happiness  by  machinerj^ :  God,  for  making 
 happiness  and  peace  by  implanting  within  the  principles 
 of  the  Gospel  of  peace.  Man  hits  upon  a  scheme ;  God 
 implants  a  principle.  Man  wants  to  make  duty  a  soft 
 lawn,  not  a  battle  ;  his  life  sitting  in  an  easy  chair,  not 
 a  race  tliat  he  has  to  run.  Thus  he  proposes  to  reform 
 society  by  reforming  its  circumstances,  an  empirical 
 sclieme  which  must  always,  inevitably  fail.  Christianity 
 proposes  a  revolution  within,  and  then  there  will  be  a 
 reformation  without.  It  acts  by  mind ;  all  other  schemes 
 act  by  mechanism.  Man's  plan  is  to  begin  at  the  cir- 
 cumference, and  try  to  get  inward;  God's  plan  is  to 
 begin  at  the  heart,  and  then  carry  power,  principle,  and 
 reformation  outward.  Man's  way  is  to  give  man  some- 
 thing that  he  has  not ;  God's  way  is  to  make  man 
 something  that  he  is  not.  Man's  plan  is  to  give  the 
 patient  a  softer  bed ;  God's  plan  is  to  cure  the  patient. 
 The  one  is  w'cakness,  the  other  is  power.  The  one  is  the 
 quackery  of  man  ;  the  other  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
 ''  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy"  in  the  individual  heart ; 
 and  thus  "  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy"  in  universal 
 society. 
 
 If  this  be  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  it  implanted  in  your 
 hearts?  Howe^'er  sure  the  prospect  of  its  universal 
 sovereignty  may  be — however  possible  that  it  may  burst 
 upon  the  world  like  a  thunder-clap  ;  yet  it  is  true  that, 
 day  by  day,  it  is  gaining  power  and  progress  in  indivi- 
 dual hearts — it  is  advanced  by  means — it  is  ours  to  use 
 them.  Day  b)'  day,  I  solemnly  believe,  all  society  is 
 splitting  into  two  grand  sections.  You  will  iind  that 
 all  such  names  as  Churchmen  and  Dissenters,  Inde- 
 pendents, and  Baptists,  and  Wesleyans,  et  cete.a,  et  cetera^ 
 and  unfortunately  et  cetera  still,  will  be  lost  in  one  great 
 phalanx — they  that  are  the  Lord's.     On  the  other  hand, 
 
THE   EmGDOM   OF   GOD.  103 
 
 there  will  be  another  section  antagonistic  to  that — 
 Tractarians,  Puscyites,  Papists,  the  Greek  Church,  and 
 all  that  hold  the  traditions  of  men — all  passed  over  to 
 their  side,  and  under  their  banner,  and  forming  the  pha- 
 lanx of  antichrist :  God's  people  finding  the  centre  of 
 their  unity  in  Christ ;  they  that  are  not  God's  people 
 finding  the  centre  of  their  unity  in  antichrist.  During 
 the  heat  of  the  collision,  the  Lord  will  appear,  and  shine 
 before  his  ancients  gloriously ;  and  after  smiting  all  the 
 opposing  kingdoms  of  the  world,  as  the  great  mystic 
 stone,  he  will,  in  the  language  of  the  text,  **  set  up  a 
 kingdom  that  shall  never  be  destroyed;  but  it  shall 
 break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it 
 shall  stand  for  ever."  I  ask,  my  dear  friends,  have  you 
 the  elemental  principle  of  this  kingdom  in  your  hearts  ? 
 In  other  words,  are  you  Christians  ?  Pem ember,  if  there 
 be  any  valid  excuse  why  you  should  not  be  Christians, 
 you  will  never  be  condemned  for  the  want  of  Christianity. 
 Wherever  there  is  a  valid  excuse,  there  is  no  duty ;  but 
 there  is  no  excuse  in  the  height  or  in  the  depth,  why 
 every  man  in  this  assembly  should  not,  this  very  night, 
 resolve  that  for  him  and  his,  he  will  serve  the  Lord. 
 All  the  excuses  that  men  make  are  paltry  and  untenable. 
 One  says  :  ''How  liberal  I  would  be,  if  I  had  not  this 
 encumbrance."  Another  says  :  ''How  religious  I  would 
 be,  if  I  were  not  so  busy."  Another,  again,  says  :  "  How 
 good  I  should  be,  if  I  could  only  dispose  of  those  circum- 
 stances which  trammel  me  at  present,  but  which  by-and- 
 bye  will  be  removed."  Mj  dear  friends,  circumstances 
 are  to  be  the  servants  of  man ;  not  man  the  servant  of 
 circumstances.  We  have  nothing  in  the  universe  to  do 
 with  circumstances,  but  to  conquer  them.  The  solemnity 
 of  duty,  the  obligation  of  convictions,  responsibility  to 
 God,  cannot  wait  till  the  circumstances  around  us  are 
 adjusted,  but  must  pass,  like  ploughshares,  through  all 
 circumstances  ;  leaving  scope  for  duty,  none  for  excuse. 
 I  ask  again,  is  the  kingdom  of  God  erected  in  your  heart  ? 
 Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  have  a  righteousness  to  lean 
 upon,  so  complete  that  j^ou  would  not  fear  at  this  moment 
 to  look  the  Sovereign  Judge  in  the  face,  and  feel  that 
 
104  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 there  is  no  condemnation  for  you  ?  Have  yon,  at  this 
 moment,  that  peace  which  would  enable  you  to  feel  per- 
 fectly composed  if  the  earth  were  to  vibrate  beneath  your 
 leet  by  successive  earthquakes,  the  sun  to  become  as 
 blood,  "the  stars  to  fall  from  their  sockets,  and  the  last 
 conflagration  to  kindle  on  the  globe  that  you  tread  upon 
 — would  you  feel  peace  ?  jSTay  more,  in  the  absence  of 
 all,  in  the  loss  of  the  fruit  of  the  fig-tree— of  all  the  pro: 
 perty  you  have  accumulated — in  the  midst  of  all  losses, 
 can  you  say  :  "  Yea,  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  joy 
 in  the  God  of  my  salvation  ?"  Christianity  is  not  a  mere 
 creed  that  a  man  subscribes  to  ;  it  is  a  kindling  principle 
 that  runs  through  the  whole  of  man's  nature.  Christianity 
 is  not  a  dogma  for  schoolmen  to  wrangle  about;  it  is  a 
 great,  vital,  personal  experience  for  each  man  to  feel,  and 
 for  the  absence  of  which  each  man  is  responsible.  We 
 can  all  dispute  about  orthodoxy,  and  quarrel  about  cere- 
 monies ;  and  the  devil  avails  himself  of  such  quarrels  to 
 conceal  and  darken  the  solemn  obligations  to  believe  in 
 Jesus,  to  go  to  God,  and  to  have  peace  with  him  through 
 the  blood  of  the  covenant,  and  righteousness  and  joy  in 
 the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  cease  to  quarrel.  Let  us  begin 
 to  live. 
 
 I  have  thus  looked  at  this  kingdom  as  composed  of 
 principles  ;  let  me  notice  it  now  as  composed  of  subjects. 
 AYho  are  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom  ?  In  one  short 
 sentence,  they  are  those  in  whose  hearts  are  "  righteous- 
 ness, peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  But,  if  I  may 
 expand  it,  I  would  say,  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom  are 
 not,  as  I  have  already  endeavoured  to  indicate,  men  of 
 any  one  denomination,  or  any  one  ceremony.  You  may 
 be  churchmen,  or  you  may  be  dissenters,  and  not  sub- 
 jects of  this  kingdom.  You  may  pray  with  a  liturgy, 
 or  pray  without  one,  and  yet  not  be  subjects  of  this 
 kingdom.  You  maj'  worship  in  chapel,  in  church,  or 
 in  cathedral,  and  yet  not  be  subjects  of  this  kingdom. 
 The  subjects  of  this  kingdom  are  not  distinguished 
 by  the  conventionalisms  of  man,  but  by  inward  re- 
 generation of  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  I  do 
 believe  that  if  the  attempt  succeed  that  is  now  made  to 
 
TKE   EIXGDOM    OF   GOD.  105 
 
 identify,  by  a  decision  of  any  sort,  baptism — a  precious 
 sacrament — with  regeneratit  n ;  leading  men  to  suppose 
 that,  baptised  canonically,  they  are  regenerated  surely, 
 the  most  awful  apostasy  will  be  commenced  by  tlie 
 church  of  many  of  our  fellow-subjects.  If  it  were  only 
 understood  what  is  man's  state  by  nature,  they  would 
 never  dream  that  baptising  him  by  water  could  essen- 
 tially alter  that  state.  It  may  alter  it  ecclesiastically : 
 morally  and  truly,  it  cannot.  AYliat  is  man's  state  ?  If 
 man,  by  sin  and  by  the  fall,  had  merely  suffered  a  slight 
 shock — if  all  that  Adam's  ruin  and  Adam's  sin  had  done 
 were  to  throw  man  into  a  faint  or  swoon,  then  I  do  not 
 see  why  water  sprinked  on  him  might  not  revive  him, 
 and  set  him  on  his  feet  again.  Eut  if  this  be  not  the 
 expression  of  the  true  state — if  man  be  really  dead  in 
 trespasses  and  in  sins,  let  me  ask  you,  who  can  raise  the 
 spiritually  dead  ?  Only  he  who  will  sound  the  trumpet, 
 and  the  dead  shall  come  forth  from  their  graves,  can 
 speak  to  the  heart,  and  the  heart  of  stone  shall  become 
 a  heart  of  living,  of  sensible,  and  of  sympathising  flesh. 
 The  members  of  this  kingdom  are  not  the  baptised,  nor 
 the  circumcised  as  such ;  but  they  are  members  of  the 
 body  of  Christ,  the  sons  of  God,  the  elect  of  God,  a 
 chosen  generation,  a  peculiar  people,  a  holy  nation  : 
 ''the  lights  of  the  world,"  ''the  salt  of  the  earth," 
 "  living  stones,  a  "  royal  priesthood,"  "  kings  and 
 priests,"  and  "  servants  of  God,"  the  "  sheep  of  his  pas- 
 ture," "  disciples,"  and  "  heirs  of  God,"  "  Christians;'— 
 the  first  name,  as  it  will  also  be  the  last. 
 
 Let  me  notice,  briefly,  the  external  characteristics  of 
 this  kingdom.  It  is  a  catholic  kingdom.  AYe  are  the 
 true  catholic  church  ;  and  this  is  a  branch  of  the  catholie 
 church.  The  llomish  church  is  a  section  split  off  from 
 it;  and  our  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  is  sectarian  and 
 not  catholic.  Catholic  is  the  attribute  of  some  of  the 
 epistles  in  the  2s  ew  Testament ;  it  is  the  attribute  of  the 
 church  of  Christ.  But  whom  does  it  comprehend  ? 
 First,  all  those  who  have  fallen  asleep  in  Christ. 
 Secondly,  those  who  are  now  alive,  and  born  again. 
 Thirdly,  those  who  are  not  yet  born,  but  wiU  be  bom, 
 
lOG  PROPHETIC    STTJDIES. 
 
 and  shall  be  born  again,  in  the  Providence  of  (rod. 
 These  are  they  who  compose  the  catholic  kingdom  ;  and 
 when  the  last  day  shall  come,  all  its  subjects,  from  the 
 first  hour  of  the  world's  existence  to  its  last,  shall  meet 
 together,  and  constitute  the  one  yisible  catholic  church 
 of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 This  kingdom  is  a  united  kingdom.  Its  members 
 may  differ  in  f  jrms,  in  ceremony,  in  de-tail,  as  men  ever 
 differ  in  these  respects;  but  they  have  one  common 
 characteristic — they  are  born  again,  they  are  children  of 
 one  Father,  they  are  walking  in  Christ  the  one  way, 
 they  are  regenerated  by  one  Spirit,  they  cleave  to  one 
 Bible,  they  are  looking  for  one  home :  Let  there  be  no 
 strife  between  my  herdsmen  and  thy  herdsmen,  for  we 
 be  brethren."  The  Eomish  Church  is  a  united  kingdom, 
 but  it  has  a  false  centre — man ;  Ave  are  a  united  king- 
 dom, but  it  is  around  the  true  centre,  and  that  centre — • 
 Christ.  And  as  I  told  you  before,  it  is  not  enough  to 
 claim  uniformity ;  there  must  be  unity.  Man  can  make 
 a  company  uniform  by  dressing  them  alike,  and  making 
 them  march  or  move  to  the  same  tune ;  but  God  alone 
 can  make  hearts  one  by  uniting  them  to  himself,  and 
 inspiring  them  by  his  Almighty  grace. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  this  kingdom  is  a  holy  kingdom : 
 it  is  composed  of  saints.  Who  are  saints  ?  If  you  ask 
 a  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  he  will  say.  Saints 
 are  those  who  wrought  miracles,  and,  fifty  years  after 
 the  miracles  were  wrought,  were  canonised  by  the  Pope, 
 according  to  a  certain  ceremony  appointed  for  that  pur- 
 pose, and  who  are  to  be  prayed  to.  If  you  ask  the  Bible, 
 it  tells  you:  "  The  saints  at  Philippi,"  "  The  saints  at 
 Damascus,"  ''The  saints  that  are  at  Corinth,"  "The 
 saints  that  are  at  Pome."  In  other  words,  all  true 
 Christians  are  saints.  The  word  is  a  translation  of 
 ciyoi,  the  holy  ones,  the  people  of  God.  AVe  are  either 
 saints  by  grace,  or  we  are  sinners  by  nature,  and  in  no 
 respect  saints  at  all.  If  we  belong  to  this  kingdom,  as 
 its  subjects,  we  shall  be  characterised  b}^  holiness,  not 
 perfect,  but  progressive ;  holiness  in  aim,  holiness  in 
 aspii'aticn,  holiness  in  sjTupathy,   and  perfect  holiness 
 
THE   ETN-GDOM   OF   GOD.  107 
 
 "when  time  shall  be  no  more.  At  present,  I  do  not 
 believe  there  is  any  one  perfectly  holy;  I  do  not  believe 
 that  perfect  holiness  is  attainable  in  this  world;  for 
 there  is  no  stage  of  a  man's  life  in  which  he  will  not 
 find  these  words  applicable  to  him:  *'  If  we  say,"  says 
 John — not  separating  himself  from  his  flock — ''that  we 
 have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not 
 in  us."  ''  But,"  he  adds,  "  if  we  confess  our  sins,  God 
 is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse 
 us  from  all  unrighteousness."  And  the  7th  chapter  of 
 the  Epistle  to  the  Bomans  need  only  be  read  to  show 
 you  that  there  is  a  battle-field  in  every  man's  heart;  a 
 law  of  the  spirit  that  wars  against  the  law  of  the  flesh ; 
 so  that  when  you  would  do  good  evil  is  present  with 
 you.  The  man  who  is  born  again,  and  seeks  to  be  holy, 
 as  God  is  holy,  is  like  the  poor  captive  bird  in  the  cage : 
 the  cage  cannot  kill  the  bird,  the  bird  cannot  free  itself 
 from  the  cage ;  it  can  only  still  wait,  and  persevere,  and 
 sing,  and  seek,  and  look,  till  the  hour  of  its  freedom, 
 its  perfect  emancipation  into  brighter  realms  and  better 
 days,  draws  near. 
 
 Pinally,  then,  this  kingdom,  thus  characterised  and 
 composed  of  these  subjects,  is  the  kingdom  that  shall 
 destroy  all  other  kingdoms  and  cover  the  whole  earth. 
 Babylon,  the  great  apostasy  of  the  earth,  shall  be  utterly 
 consumed ;  the  smoke  of  her  fire  shall  rise  up  for  ever 
 and  ever.  The  Jews  shall  be  gathered  to  their  own  land ; 
 yea,  Jesus  shall  shine  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  before 
 his  ancients  gloriously.  Then  the  body  shall  be  raised, 
 for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall 
 rise  first ;  then  we  who  are  alive  shall  be  caught  up  with 
 them,  and  so  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  Then  Christ 
 shall  be  revealed ;  we  shall  be  like  him — that  is,  per- 
 fectly holy ;  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him 
 as  he  is.  Then  sacraments  shall  cease,  for  they  are  only 
 to  last  "  till  I  come  again ;  "  then  faith  will  depart,  for 
 it  will  be  merged  in  fruition ;  then  hope  will  disappear 
 like  a  bright  vision,  for  it  shall  be  merged  in  having; 
 and  then  grace  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  glory;  there 
 shall  be  no  more  tears,  nor  sighing,  nor  sorrow;    all, 
 
108  PEOPHETJC    STUDIES. 
 
 graves  shall  he  filled  up ;  the  orphan's  weeping  face  no 
 more  scarred  with  tear- channels;  all  creation's  discord 
 suhdued ;  all  nature  at  one  with  itself  and  at  one  with 
 God ;  and  earth  a  vestibule  of  heaven ;  heaven  and  earth 
 eternally  one!  What  a  blessed  day!  humanity  pines 
 for  it;  creation  groans  and  travails  till  this  kingdom 
 consume  all  other  kingdoms,  and  flourish  for  ever.  The 
 slave  in  the  mines  of  Siberia  longs  for  it;  the  slave  in 
 the  Southern  States  of  America  cries  for  it;  the  poor 
 needle-woman,  the  greatest  slave  of  all,  earning  a  half- 
 penny or  a  penny  per  hour,  as  I  have  myself  witnessed, 
 sighs  and  cries  for  it.  Let  them  have  patience  and  pray 
 on ;  it  will  come.  God  hears  the  cry  of  the  oppressed, 
 the  groans  of  nature,  the  petitions  of  his  saints;  and 
 the  kingdom  shall  come,  and  ''it  shall  not  be  destroyed, 
 nor  left  to  other  people,  but  break  in  pieces  and  consume 
 all  these  kingdoms."  Its  light  shall  never  be  quenched, 
 for  God  is  its  illumination ;  its  life  shall  never  be  ex- 
 tinguished, for  God  is  its  everlasting  life.  Sublime 
 thought !  that  from  the  lonely  and  sequestered  villages 
 of  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  there  has  come  forth  a 
 kingdom  whose  triumphs  multiply  every  day,  whose 
 glories  shall  fill  the  whole  earth,  whose  expanding  and 
 progressive  spring  is  God  the  Omnipotent ;  a  kingdom 
 that  will  shine  when  marble  statues  are  defaced,  and 
 when  palaces,  and  noble  halls,  and  thrones,  and  d}-nasties 
 are  ground  to  powder  and  scattered  as  the  chaff  upon 
 the  summer  threshing-floor.  That  kingdom  is  at  our 
 doors ;  that  bright  epoch  comes  speedily.  Are  you  in- 
 terested in  it  ?  Have  you  a  share  in  it  ?  Are  you 
 subjects  of  it^     Are  you  born  again? 
 
 My  dear  friends,  Avhat  an  awful  thing  if  that  kingdom 
 should  come  in  all  its  glory,  and  we  should  find  ourselves 
 excluded.  What  a  terrible  thing,  if,  when  the  trumpet 
 shall  sound  (and  we  know  not  when  it  may  sound),  and 
 the  dead  in  every  churchyard  shall  rise, — if  from  a  grave 
 where  there  are  twain,  one  shall  be  taken  and  one  left. 
 And  then,  we  that  are  alive,  it  is  said,  shall  be  caught 
 up  in  the  air.  Oh,  what  a  terrible  separation  will  it  be 
 for  one  of  a  family,  on  hearing  the  royal  sound,  to  assume 
 
THE    ELIIfGDOM    OF    GOD.  109 
 
 mysterious  wings,  and  soar,  and  come  to  Jesus,  and  the 
 other  to  be  left !  And  yet  I  am  not  describing  a  picture 
 of  fancy;  I  am  stating  what  God  himself  has  said.  How 
 dreadful  the  separation !  We  now  mourn  over  the  loss 
 of  those  that  fall  asleep  in  Jesus ;  what  a  terrible  shock 
 will  it  be  when  we  find  those  that  we  loved  upon  earth 
 severed  from  us  for  ever  and  for  ever  I  AYhy  is  it,  my 
 dear  friends,  that  we  are  not  Christians  ?  Why  are  Ave 
 not  the  people  of  God  ?  Why  are  we  not  trying  to  make 
 others  so :  There  is  no  reason  outside  you.  There  is 
 only  one — you  will  not.  Your  inability  is  moral.  There 
 is  not  the  least  reason  why  every  man  in  this  assembly 
 may  not  go  home  this  night  and  bow  his  heart  before 
 God  and  be  at  peace  with  him  through  Jesus  Christ. 
 Kecollect  the  serpent  of  brass.  The  dying  Israelite  had 
 but  to  look :  the  instant  he  looked  he  had  physical  life. 
 As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent,  so  must  the  Son  of  man 
 be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him,  looketh 
 to  him,  leans  upon  him  as  a  Saviour,  may  have  instant 
 life.  May  we  have  this  kingdom  within  us ;  may  we  be 
 its  subjects,  and  so  be  the  subjects  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
 Lord,  for  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 
 
LECTUEE  IX. 
 
 EAELY     MAllTTES. 
 
 "  Shadracli,  Meshach,  and  Ahed-nego,  answered  and  said 
 to  the  King,  0  Nelucliadnczzar,  ice  are  not  careful  to 
 answer  thee  in  this  matter. ^^ — Daniel  iii.  16. 
 
 You  will  recollect  that  I  explained  in  a  scries  of 
 successive  discourses  that  remarkable  image  which  ap- 
 peared to  Nebuchadnezzar,  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  and 
 iron,  and  then  the  ten  toes,  representing  ten  kingdoms, 
 mixed  with  iron  and  with  clay,  and  incapable,  by  any 
 pressure  applied  to  them,  of  coalescnng  and  mingling. 
 I  showed  you  that  all  this  is  so  minutely  described  in 
 prophecy  has  been  exactly  fulfilled  in  history;  that  man's 
 history,  written  by  man's  pen,  is  the  echo  of  God's  pro- 
 phecy inspired  by  God's  Spirit ;  and  that  the  strongest, 
 because  "accumidating  evidence  that  holy  men  of  old 
 spake  as  they  were  moved  hy  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  not  in 
 the  record  of  the  miracles  that  were  done,  or  in  the 
 sublimity  and  purity  of  the  truths  that  were  uttered, 
 but  in  the  continuous  fulfilment  of  those  ancient  pro- 
 phecies in  the  years  as  they  roll  past  before  us. 
 
 We  now  come  to  another  stage  in  the  incidents  con- 
 nected with  Daniel  himself — not  connected  with  pro- 
 phecy, but  with  personal  character.  I  may,  however, 
 notice  that  Daniel's  exposition  of  the  image  made  the 
 king  raise  him  to  the  highest  dignity,  and  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  also  to  the  highest  honour. 
 But  one  grieves  to  see  how  short-lived  is  the  patronage 
 of  man ;  for  we  find  by  the  preceding  chapter  that  the 
 men  who  were  the  objects  of  royal  adoration  yesterday 
 are  the  objects  of  his  fury  and  his  vengeance  to-day. 
 Truly  we  are  not  to  trust  in  princes  nor  in  man's  son. 
 
EAELY    MAETYES.  Ill 
 
 I  may  here  notice  the  meaning  of  what  I  omitted  to 
 explain  in  my  last  lecture,  that  Daniel  sat  in  the  gate  of 
 the  king  (chap.  ii.  49.)  You  must  have  observed  that 
 in  the  Eible,  gates  are  frcqiienth'  referred  to  :  ''He  sat 
 in  the  gate."  "Judgment  in  the  gate."  ''Honoured 
 among  the  elders  in  the  gate."  So  Daniel  was  seated  in 
 the  gate.  Tlie  gate  of  a  city  in  ancient  times  was  the 
 place  from  which  justice  was  dispensed  ;  it  was  a  strong 
 place,  and  was  specially  guarded ;  and  to  put  Shadrach, 
 Heshach,  and  Abed-nego  in  the  gate,  was  to  make  them 
 counsellors,  and  judges,  and  rulers  in  the  midst  of  the 
 land.  The  only  country  that  retains  anything  like  a 
 memorial  of  this  usage  is  Turkey.  You  know  the  phrase 
 used  in  the  newspapers,  when  they  refer  to  Turkish  de- 
 cisions— the  "sublime  Porte, '^ — a  word  derived  from 
 porta,  which  means  a  gate.  It  is  simply  ihe  remains  of 
 an  ancient  eastern  custom,  or  Oriental  usage,  retained  in 
 a  modern  tongue,  and  connecting  the  world  that  now  is 
 with  the  rites  and  customs  of  a  world  that  is  passed 
 away. 
 
 In  the  chapter  I  have  read,  we  find  that  ]Srebuchad- 
 nezzar  raised  a  golden  image  of  prodigious  height.  He 
 tried  to  captivate  all  to  worship  it  by  the  sounds  of 
 music,  the  dulcimer,  and  flute,  and  various  instruments  ; 
 and  he  warned  them  that  if  his  music  would  not  prevail, 
 his  furnace  would  be  sure  to  punish  all  recusants ;  so 
 that  if  they  were  not  captivated,  he  would  try  to  force 
 them ;  and  if  he  did  not  force  them,  he  would  take  care 
 to  burn  them.     How  like  Popeiy  ! 
 
 It  appears  that  certain  Chaldeans  and  counsellors 
 applied  to  the  king — men  who  envied  the  dignity  of 
 Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego — and  informed  him 
 that  there  were  Jewish  parties  who  had  dared  to  disobey 
 his  commands.  He  sends  for  them,  speaks  to  them  in 
 very  reasonable  terms,  warns  them  of  what  they  had 
 done,  and  the  consequences  that  would  follow,  but  unex- 
 pectedly reeeives  from  them  the  magnanimous  and  noble 
 reply :  "  We  are  not  careful,  0  king,  it  is  not  a  matter 
 of  anxiety  to  us,  to  answer  thee;  our  minds  are  fully 
 made  up;  we  know  what  is  duty,  and  in  the  face  of 
 
112  PROPHETIC    SITJDIES. 
 
 kings,  and  amid  the  prospect  of  a  fiery  fumaee,  "we  have 
 grace  to  stand  by  it." 
 
 This  image  set  up  by  ]S"ebuchadnezzar,  some  think, 
 was  meant  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  splendid  image 
 "which  he  saw  in  a  dream.  An  image  passed  before  him 
 to  give  him  a  foresight  of  the  fate  of  the  kingdoms  of 
 the  world ;  but  instead  of  learning  prophetic  Avisdom 
 from  it,  which  was  its  legitimate  use,  he  makes  a  copy 
 of  it — a  copy  that  seems,  to  his  taste,  to  excel  the 
 original — and  sets  it  up  as  an  idol,  or  an  object  of 
 worship.  It  is  a  siijgular  fact,  that  all  false  religion  is 
 not  original ;  it  is  only  the  corruption  of  the  true  :  and 
 we  may  calculate  the  height,  the  depth,  and  substance 
 of  the  true  religion  by  the  false  religion  which  follows 
 it;  just  as  men  estimate  the  height  of  the  pyramids  by 
 the  length  of  the  shadows  they  cast  around  them.  This 
 king  used  the  image  which  he  saw,  and  which  God 
 meant  for  a  sublime  and  good  purpose,  to  be  a  model  for 
 an  idol,  which  was  to  take  the  plifce  that  belonged  to 
 God  alone  ;  just  as  the  Israelites  took  the  brass  serpent, 
 which  had  a  most  beneficent  mission  according  to  God's 
 appointment,  and  made  it  an  object  of  worship.  JS'ever, 
 never  is  corruption  so  great  as  when  it  is  the  corruption 
 of  that  which  is  pure.  Popeiy  is  thus  more  corrupt  than 
 heathenism  ;  an  angel  falling  becomes  a  fiend  ;  a  woman 
 falling  from  her  dignity  and  purity  becomes  the  most  de- 
 graded of  all ;  and  pure  rites  and  ordinances  perverted 
 by  the  wickedness  of  man  become  the  most  deadly 
 vehicles  of  dishonour  to  God  and  injurj^  to  mankind. 
 Take  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  make  it  occup}'  the 
 place  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  you  do  what  the  Israelites 
 did  with  the  brass  serpent,  what  Nebuchadnezzar  did 
 with  the  golden  image  :  you  lift  it  from  its  true  and  its 
 beautiful  position — a  sign,  a  seal,  and  an  introduction  to 
 the  visible  Ciiurch — and  jo\i  put  it  in  the  room  of  God, 
 and  make  it  sit  in  the  Temple  of  God,  in  antichristian 
 state,  showing  itself  that  it  is  God. 
 
 Most  likely,  the  cause  of  the  king's  acting  thus  was 
 not  so  much  his  love  of  idolatry  as  the  cunning  advice  of 
 his  counsellors  around  him.     They  saw  that  Shadrach, 
 
EAKLY   MAKTrES.  113 
 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  were  raised  to  honour ; — they 
 were  envious  of  the  dignity  to  which  these  great  and 
 good  men  were  exalted.  They,  therefore,  hit  upon  the 
 scheme  of  ensnaring  them  by  getting  the  king  to  erect  a 
 god  for  universal  worship,  which  they  knew  too  well, 
 because  they  knew  the  substance  and  depth  of  these 
 men's  religion,  they  would  never  consent  to  adore.  Party 
 spirit  is  the  bitterest  of  all :  it  has  done  what  nothing 
 else  in  the  history  of  man  can  do ;  but  it  is  a  lesson  to 
 those  who  indulge  in  it,  that  wherever  in  the  Bible  it 
 has  been  made  to  act  against  the  people  of  God,  it  has 
 recoiled  in  its  action,  and  injured  or  destroyed  those  who 
 used  it.  These  men  tried  to  destroy  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
 and  Abed-nego,  and  they  were  destroyed  themselves.  It 
 seems  to  be  a  great  law  or  ordinance  in  God's  dispensa- 
 tions with  mankind,  that  they  that  shed  blood,  their 
 blood  shall  be  shed ;  that  they  that  wield  the  sword 
 shall  fall  by  the  sword  ;  that  no  man  can  smite  another 
 without  being  smitten  himself ;  nor  any  man  curse 
 another  without  receiving  the  echo  and  rebound  of  that 
 curse  immediately  into  his  own  bosom.  Let  us  pray  for 
 kings,  that  they  may  have  grace  not  to  set  up  idols ;  let 
 us  pray  for  their  ministers  and  counsellors,  that  they  may 
 have  grace  to  give  them  good  advice.  A  king  has  power ; 
 and  when  that  power  is  allied  to  goodness,  it  is  all  but 
 divine  ;  when  that  povrer  is  allied  to  wickedness,  it  is  as 
 disastrous  as  it  is  sinful. 
 
 The  image  is  here  described  to  be  of  a  certain  measure- 
 ment— threescore  cubits  in  height,  and  in  breadth  six 
 cubits.  Anybody  can  see  that  this  is  a  disproportionate 
 measurement,  and  that  an  image  which  was  sixty  cubits 
 (about  ninety  feet)  in  height,  and  only  six  cubits  (or  nine 
 feet)  in  breadth,  would  be  utterly  disproportionate.  It 
 is  plain,  therefore,  that  this  is — if  I  may  reverently  use 
 the  expression — a  loose  way  of  describing  the  image  and 
 pedestal  together,  the  united  height  of  both  being  ninety 
 feet.  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history,  alludes  to  a 
 golden  image  that  was  set  up  at  Babjdon,  which  he  him- 
 self had  heard  of,  and  which  every  one  was  obliged  to 
 kiss  before  he  entered  the  city.     And  we  know,  from 
 
 I 
 
114  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 classic  storj%  that  at  Ehodes  there  was  an  image  of  gold 
 seventy  cubits  in  height — ten  cubits  higher  than  tliis 
 one — and  that  it  took  thirteen  j-ears  to  construct  it,  or 
 put  together  its  different  molten  parts ;  and  on  its  being 
 thrown  down  by  an  earthquake,  such  was  its  weight, 
 that  it  ploughed  up  the  solid  earth,  and  buried  itself  to  a 
 considerable  extent  beneath  the  ground.  I  quote  these 
 facts  to  show  that  the  incidents  here  recorded  are 
 attested  by  heathen  historians ;  that  in  heathen  history 
 itself  we  have  a  parallel  case ;  and  that  such  images  were 
 not  unusual,  nor  impossible  to  be  constructed  by  ancient, 
 art. 
 
 This  image,  you  read,  in  the  next  place,  was  made 
 completely  of  gold.  One  can  well  conceive  what  a  splen- 
 did object  it  must  have  been.  It  was  incapable  of  being 
 oxidised  by  the  rains  and  the  atmosphere,  and  therefore 
 it  perpetually  retained  its  splendour  in  that  eastern  and 
 purer  climate.  No  doubt,  the  king  depended  for  popular 
 adoration  upon  the  splendour  of  the  image,  thinking  its 
 brilliancy  and  grandeur  would  be  an  attraction  irresistible 
 to  all  men.  It  seems  to  be  the  law  of  false  religion  that, 
 having  no  inner  moral  beauty,  it  must  depend  upon  out- 
 ward trappings,  pomp,  and  splendour,  for  its  weightiest 
 claims ;  so  much  so  that  whenever  we  see  a  church  begin 
 to  heap  up  splendid  pomps  and  ceremonies,  gorgeous 
 robes,  magnificent  rites,  it  should  always  lead  us  to  sus- 
 pect that  that  church  is  aware  that  the  inner  beauty  is 
 evaporated,  and  that  the  outer  beauty  must  be  increased 
 and  augmented,  in  order  to  conceal  its  loss  and  make  it 
 attractive.  So  it  is  with  that  great  apostasy  in  the  "West. 
 The  Church  of  Rome  depends  for  her  power,  not  upon 
 the  purity  of  her  creed,  not  upon  the  greatness  and  holi- 
 ness of  her  morality,  but  upon  the  splendour  of  her  rites, 
 her  crucifixes,  her  genuflexions,  her  golden  shrines,  her 
 embroidered  altars,  her  august  and  impressive  temples: 
 like  the  ancient  temples  of  Egypt,  all  magnificent  as 
 architecture  could  make  them  without,  but  inside  are  the 
 reptiles  of  the  Nile,  the  gods  the  people  bow  down  to. 
 
 In  order  to  make  the  image  as  impressive  as  possible, 
 the  king  collected  around  it  a  great  band  of  musicians, 
 
EARLY   MAETYES.  115 
 
 with  all  sorts  of  instruments  of  music.  He  knew  the 
 charm,  the  power,  and  popular  effect  of  good  music  ;  and 
 he  was  resolved,  that  not  only  should  the  image  have 
 unwonted  spk^ndour  ))y  being  golden,  and  thus  reliccting 
 the  rays  of  rising  arid  setting  suns,  but  that  it  should 
 also  have  near  it  all  that  is  impressive  and  attractive  in 
 the  shape  of  beautiful  music.  Painting  and  statuary  are 
 for  the  eye ;  music  for  the  ear.  Thus  he  thought  lie 
 would  be  sure  to  make  his  way  to  the  heart.  Some  one 
 has  sarcastically  remarked,  that  if  you  can  secure  the 
 live  senses  of  men,  you  may  calculate  upon  all  the  rest. 
 What  was  said  in  sarcasm  has  too  often  been  fulfilled  in 
 in  fact.  Men  are  too  often  led  by  their  senses,  not  by 
 their  judgment ;  they  worship  show,  not  in  spirit  and 
 truth.  The  church  of  Rome  is  aware  of  this  fact,  and 
 has  made  provision  for  man's  senses  in  a  most  wonder- 
 ful manner;  calculating,  with  masterly  sagacity,  that, 
 having  secured  the  homage  of  all  the  senses  by  her 
 adaptations  to  them,  she  will,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
 secure  the  conversion  of  the  mind  and  the  homage  of  the 
 he:irt. 
 
 These  three  Jews,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego, 
 as  I  have  already  said,  were  accused  as  guilty.  They 
 felt  they  had  no  alternative  :  they  refused  to  bow  down 
 and  worship  the  image  the  king  had  set  up.  It  was  not 
 on  account  of  veneration  for  their  own  idolatry  that  the 
 Chaldeans  accused  them;  it  was  envy,  jealousy,  hatred, 
 and  all  uncharitableness.  When  the  king  hears  of  their 
 disobedience,  he  sends  for  them,  speaks  to  them  with 
 condescending  courtesy  and  kindness,  and  asks  them  the 
 reason  why  they  had  refused  to  worship  the  image  that 
 he  had  set  up.  He  had  no  idea  that  a  man  had  a  con- 
 science— not  the  least  idea  that  there  was  a  M'ord 
 mightier  and  more  impressive  than  a  king's  word  ;  and 
 he  thougiit  it  the  most  monstrous,  and  perhaps  the  most 
 extraordinary  phenomenon  he  had  met  with  in  all  his 
 reign,  that  any  man  should  refuse  to  obey  a  king's  com- 
 mand, and  refuse  in  circumstances  where  obedience  was 
 entitled  to  so  much  favour,  and  where  disobedience 
 would  be  visited  with  so  severe  and  terrible  a  penalty. 
 
 I  2 
 
116  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 The  three  Hebrew  youths  calmly,  courteously,  but  firmly, 
 refused.  They  were  not  insolent  to  the  king;  they  did  not 
 insult  his  creed ;  they  were  prepared  to  argue  with  him, 
 no  doubt,  if  he  condescended  to  permit  them  ;  thej'  used 
 no  offensive  epithets,  but  they  calmly  and  firmly  said : 
 *'  We  cannot  do  it ;  it  is  with  us  a  matter  of  conscience." 
 Conscience  is  that  sacred  realm,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the 
 lowliest,  into  which  a  king's  hand  may  not  dare  to  enter ; 
 it  is  that  sequestered,  solemn,  awful  nook  in  the  con- 
 stitution of  the  human  soul,  into  which  God  alone  can 
 claim  admission.  Kings  may  control  the  body ;  they 
 cannot  make  or  alter  the  convictions  of  the  soul.  Force 
 may  make  bad  men  hypocrites ;  but  no  force  or  fraud  can 
 make  good  men  disobey  the  behests  of  conscience  and 
 the  commandments  ot  theii*  God.  There  is  nothing  be- 
 neath God  and  the  Eible  so  sacred  as  the  conscience ; 
 and  there  is  no  one  faculty  within  us  to  which  we  should 
 listen  with  more  reverential  and  attentive  awe.  It  may 
 be  blinded,  it  may  be  warped,  it  maj-  be  hardened,  it 
 may  be  seared,  but  it  is  never  utterly  dead  ;  and  a  day 
 always  comes  when,  if  long  neglected,  long  seared,  long 
 disregarded,  it  re-asserts  its  ancient  and  inherent  rights, 
 ascends  to  its  own  sacred  pulpit,  and  reasons,  in  tones  of 
 thunder,  of  righteousness,  and  judgment,  and  temperance; 
 and  man  must  hear  it. 
 
 The  king,  finding  these  three  youths  determined,  see- 
 ing that  they  could  not  be  captivated  by  his  music,  nor 
 persuaded  by  his  reasons,  to  worship  the  image,  threatens 
 them  with  the  burning  fiery  furnace  seven  times  heated. 
 Such  is  invariably  the  last  resource  of  a  false  religion. 
 It  will  try,  first,  to  captivate  by  its  charms,  and  if  it 
 fail,  it  will  then  endeavour  to  coerce  by  its  threats.  But 
 the  same  conscience  that  smiled  at  the'  seductions  of  the 
 music  will  triumph  over  the  threatenings  of  wrath.  The 
 seven  times  heated  furnace  has  no  terrors  for  that  man 
 who  knows  that  the  ever-living  God  is  his  friend,  and 
 eternity  his  happy  and  blessed  home.  TertuUian,  in 
 speaking  of  the  treatment  of  Christians  by  the  Roman 
 emperors  of  his  daj- — that  is,  in  the  days  of  heathenism, 
 says :   "  ^Ye  are  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  to  make  us 
 
EAELY    MARTYRS.  117 
 
 recant ;  we  are  burned  in  the  flame  ;  we  are  condemned 
 to  the  mines;  we  are  banished  to  the  isUmds,  such  as 
 Patmos; — 'and  all  have  failed.'  "  So  was  it  here  :  the 
 sovereign's  frown  created  no  terror  in  these  young  men's 
 breasts.  They  felt  the  force  of  dutj* ;  their  eye  was 
 single  ;  their  path  was  plain ;  their  course  was  marked 
 out  before  them.  How  absurd  is  persecution,  in  what- 
 ever way  you  look  at  it !  ]S^o  punishment  inflicted  on 
 the  body  can  possibly  alter  the  convictions  of  the  soul. 
 One  wonders  man  can  think  so.  If  a  man  were  all  body, 
 persecution  might  make  him  what  the  persecutor  pleased; 
 but  man  is  soul  and  body,  and  no  maltreatment  of  the 
 one  ought,  or  is  able,  to  warp  the  judgment  of  the  other. 
 The  soul  is  to  be  dealt  with  by  argument,  by  evidence, 
 by  love ;  the  body,  being  either  pleased  or  punished,  can 
 exercise  no  real  influence  over  it. 
 
 In  the  conduct  of  these  Hebrew  youths  we  have  a 
 great  precedent  for  ourselves  to  follow  in  less  painful 
 circumstances.  We  should  rather  suffer,  and  if  needs 
 be,  die,  than  renounce  the  Gospel.  It  is  a  strong  state- 
 ment, but  it  is  a  scriptural  one.  St.  Paul  says :  I  am 
 ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for 
 the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Perhaps  it  is  not  right  to 
 say  to  men  in  these  times  of  so  great  civil  freedom; 
 '^  You  should  be  prepared  to  die  for  the  Gospel.  Per- 
 haps to  ask  5'ou  to  test  your  present  Christianity  by  your 
 readiness  at  a  future  time  to  die  for  it,  is  not  fair, 
 scriptural,  or  necessary.  I  believe,  when  martyrs  are 
 required,  God  gives  a  martyr's  spirit  to  meet  the  re- 
 quirement. God's  grace  is  also  sufficient  for  the  crisis ; 
 it  is  not  given  in  excess  before  the  crisis  comes.  The 
 great  question  we  have  to  ask  is,  Are  we  truly  the  chil- 
 dren of  God  ?  Are  we,  in  heart  and  conviction,  the 
 followers  of  the  Lamb  ?  Are  we  washed  in  his  most 
 precious  blood  ?  Are  we  leaning  upon  his  most  perfect 
 righteousness  ?  Are  we  looking  to  God  as  our  Father  ? 
 Are  we  anticipating  the  glory  to  be  revealed  as  our 
 home  ?"  If  we  can  make  sure  of  this,  we  need  not  now 
 consider  whether  we  could  die  for  Christ.  When  the 
 exigency  arrives  that  will  require  us  to  do  so,  the  God 
 
118  PKOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 that  permits  the  crisis  in  his  Providence  will  supply 
 the  strength  in  his  grace;  and  you  will  find  it  amply 
 sufficient  for  you. 
 
 How  composed  and  beautiful  was  the  remark  of  these 
 Hebrew  youths :  "  The  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to 
 deliver  us ;  if  he  does  not,  well ;  we  commit  ourselves 
 to  a  faithful  God."  As  if  they  had  said  :  '^f  he  mira- 
 culously deliver  us,  it  is  well ;  if  he  do  not,  we  know  it 
 is  equally  well.  It  will  be  but  the  torture  of  a  moment ; 
 a:h  exceedmg  weight  of  an  eternal  glory  is  beyond  it. 
 We  do  not  like  the  the  fire ;  we  have  nerves  as  well  as 
 !N"ebuchadnezzar ;  we  have  sensibilities  as  keen ;  we 
 shrink  from  torture,  as  all  humanity  must  shrink ;  but 
 we  are  willing  to  brave  the  flame  for  the  glory  that  lies 
 beyond  it ;  we  are  willing  to  cross  the  deep,  dark 
 flood  of  death  for  the  sake  of  the  bright  land  of  Goshen, 
 that  stretches  in  perpetual  sunshine  on  the  other  side. 
 We  do  not  love  death,  nor  do  we  wish  death ;  but  we 
 are  willing  to  bear  it  for  what  death  leads  to."  When 
 you  hear  persons  say,  '*  We  wish  to  die,"  their  language 
 is  not  correct.  No  man  wishes  to  die.  I  have  said 
 before,  that  of  all  things  death  is  the  most  horrible,  the 
 most  unnatural,  the  thing  from  which  we  naturally  and 
 properly  shrink  and  recoil ;  because  man  was  never  made 
 to  die.  Sin  has  brought  in  ''  death  and  all  our  woe." 
 But  the  Christian  says :  "  I  am  willing  to  meet  death 
 either  as  a  foe  to  hurl  defiance  at,  or  as  a  friend,  to  wel- 
 come the  message  and  the  messenger  too  ;  not  because  I 
 love  that  friend,  or  because  I  court  that  foe,  but  because 
 in  either  case  he  is  a  pioneer  that  paves  and  opens  the 
 way  for  me  to  an  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible, 
 and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  These  j-ouths 
 said :  "  The  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to  deliver  us ; 
 and  we  know  that  if  it  be  for  his  glory  he  will  deliver 
 us."  They  placed  the  whole  stress  upon  God's  ability. 
 Sr.tan  would  say  of  miracles,  "  Let  God  never  interfere 
 to  deliver  ; "  Man  would  say,  "  Let  God  always  interfere 
 to  deliver;"  God  has  determined  in  his  wisdom  to  in- 
 terfere when  it  is  most  for  his  glory,  and  best  for  you. 
 Were  God  always  to  deliver  his  servants  by  a  perpetual 
 
EARLY   MAKTYES.  119 
 
 miracle,  it  would  not  be  a  miracle  ;  it  would  be  called — 
 to  use  the  phraseology  of  the  day — "a  law  of  nature." 
 Were  God  never  to  deliver  his  servants,  then  the  world 
 would  say,  and  Christians  would  begin  almost  to  think, 
 "  There  is  no  God."  He  interposes  miraculously  often 
 enough  to  convince  that  God  is,  and  God  acts  ;  and  he 
 interposes  seldom  enough  to  make  more  vivid  the  inter- 
 position as  an  evidence  of  a  di^ane  and  Pro^-idential 
 power.  I  need  not  say  that  a  ceaseless  miracle  is,  by 
 its  very  necessity,  no  miracle  at  all.  The  present  law  is, 
 that  water  should  run  down-hill ;  but  if  the  law  were 
 that  it  should  run  up-hill,  and  if  it  had  been  so  for 
 eighteen  centuries,  men  would  say,  "  For  water  to  run 
 up-hill  is  a  law  of  nature;"  and  if  anything  occurred  to 
 make  it  run  down-hill,  they  would  say,  *'  This  is  a 
 miracle."  The  present  law  is,  that  the  vine  should  be 
 planted,  that  the  rain  should  saturate  the  soil  in  which 
 it  grows,  that  the  juice  should  rise  through  the  stem  and 
 go  into  the  branches  and  the  leaves,  that  it  shall  effloresce 
 into  blossom,  and  ripen  into  fruit ;  that  the  fruit  shall  be 
 pressed,  the  juice  fermented,  and  be  converted  into  wine. 
 But  Christ,  by  one  word,  shortened  the  process ;  and 
 instead  of  taking  a  j-ear  to  allow  the  water  to  turn  into 
 wine,  which  is  the  ordinary  law,  he  did  it  in  a  minute, 
 saying,  "  Let  the  water  be  wine."  But  if  water  always 
 became  wine  by  the  looking  of  a  man,  that  would  be  a 
 law,  and  the  other  process  would  be  the  miracle.  What 
 is  continuous  is  called  the  law ;  the  suspension  of  the 
 continuity  indicates  the  interposition  of  the  Lawgiver. 
 A  ceaseless  miracle,  then,  is  an  absurdity.  Therefore 
 the  idea  of  that  body  of  Christians,  who  have  followed 
 the  late  Edward  Irving,  or  improved  or  misimproved,  upon 
 what  he  said — that  there  should  be  ceaseless  miracles  in 
 the  church,  is  to  me  absurd ;  it  will  not  bear  examination ; 
 it  cannot  be,  by  the  very  nature  and  necessity  of  the  thing. 
 We  read,  that  when  the  king  had  failed  to  con-vdnce, 
 or  to  awe,  or  seduce  these  youths,  he  ordered  the  furnace, 
 in  his  fury,  to  be  heated  seven-fold.  The  means  of  doing 
 so  were  very  easy  in  that  country.  The  whole  soil  of 
 Babylon  to  this  day  is  full  of  naptha  and  bitumen.  They 
 
120  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES, 
 
 had  only  to  collect  the  hnish-wood  of  the  forests,  and  to 
 cast  in  plenty  of  this  naptha  and  bitumen  (as  an  ancient 
 historian  says  was  done),  and  the  heat  of  the  furnace,  as 
 any  one  must  be  aware,  would  become  highly  intense — 
 or,  as  it  is  here  said,  be  seven-fold. 
 
 The  three  youths  were  then  cast  into  the  fire,  with 
 their  hosen  and  their  clothes  on,  as  the  last  and  most 
 desperate  punishment  the  furious  monarch  could  inflict. 
 But  God  forgets  not  his  own.  At  this  crisis  God  was 
 true  to  his  promise,  beheld  in  love  his  servants,  and 
 interposed  for  their  deliverance.  The  flame  recognised 
 the  presence  of  Him  that  made  it,  and  bowed  reverently 
 before  the  Son  of  God,  just  as  on  other  occasions  the 
 waters  of  the  sea  owned  him  ;  the  winds  h(iard  him  ;  and 
 all  nature  responded  to  him,  and  obeyed  him.  The  flame 
 lost  its  power  to  consume,  because  it  was  commanded 
 not  to  do  so  by  Him  that  kindled  it  at  the  first.  Nature 
 is  all  pliant  in  the  hand  of  Jesus.  He  is  the  Lord  of 
 creation  ;  he  has  but  to  speak,  and  all  things  will  respond 
 in  ten  thousand  echoes,  "  Speak,  Lord,  thy  servants 
 hear."  These  Hebrew  youths,  we  are  told  by  the 
 Apostle  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  *'  quenched 
 the  violence  of  fire"  by  their  faith.  They  said  nothing 
 calculated  to  irritate  the  king,  as  I  have  told  you  ;  they 
 submitted  meekly  to  the  judgment  he  decreed,  and  cast 
 the  whole  stress  of  their  deliverance  upon  the  Lord. 
 Let  me  gather,  then,  from  all  this  these  lessons. 
 
 The  mightiest  on  earth  learn  here,  and  have  learned 
 often  since,  how  insignificant  are  the  greatest  efforts  to 
 injure  the  cause  of  Christ. 
 
 If  you  will  read  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
 you  M-ill  find  that  the  most  furious  opposition  has  only 
 served  to  spread  its  principles,  and  to  add  new  attrac- 
 tions to  those  that  professed  them.  All  the  power  of  earth 
 and  hell  cannot  burn  out  one  single  truth ;  all  the 
 patronage  of  earth  and  hell  cannot  build  up  one  perma- 
 nent lie.  It  is  God's  great  law  that  all  things,  directly 
 or  indirectlj',  shall  build  up  truth ;  and  that  nothing 
 upon  earth  shall  serve  permanently  to  build  up  a  lie. 
 The  Hebrew  youths  walked  in  the  burning  fije  as  amid 
 
EAKLr    MAHTrRS.  121 
 
 groves  of  orange  and  of  myrtle,  while  one  walked  with 
 them,  like  uuto  the  Son  of  (iod — no  doubt  the  Angei  of 
 the  Covenant.  The  fur)'  of  the  king  was  disappointed  ; 
 the  party-spirit  of  his  ministers  was  checked ;  and  they 
 that  kindlea  the  tire  were  themselves  the  first  victims 
 of  it. 
 
 In  looking  at  the  conduct  of  these  three  j'ouths,  I  may 
 notice,  that  they  might  have  urged,  that  it  was  their 
 duty  to  obey  the  king,  and  worship  the  image  he  had  set 
 up ;  for  it  was  the  established  religion  of  the  country. 
 So  it  unquestionably  and,  in  this  case,  unhappily  was. 
 The  king  patronised  the  idol,  and,  no  doubt,  its  wor- 
 shippers ;  and  these  youths  might  have  argued,  as  some 
 men  argue  still :  "It  is  the  established  religion  ;  it 
 enjoys  the  sunshine  of  the  countenance  of  the  monarch ; 
 and  as  lo5'al  subjects,  it  becomes  us  to  embrace  it." 
 Whatever  be  the  excellence,  the  merit,  or  the  demerit  of 
 established  religion,  we  should  learn  this  :  that  the  mere 
 establishment  of  a  creed — whether  doing  so  be  right  or 
 the  reverse,  it  is  needless  now  to  discuss — is  not  neces- 
 sarily the  mjiking  of  truth  a  lie,  or  the  making  of  a  lie 
 truth.  Mahometanism  is  established  in  Turkej' ;  but  it 
 is  not,  therefore,  my  duty  to  become  a  ilahometan  there. 
 Popery  is  established  in  Austria ;  but  it  is  not,  therefore, 
 my  duty  to  become  a  Papist  there.  Pantheism,  or  the 
 endowment  of  everything  upon  earth  that  assumes  the 
 name  of  religion,  is  established  in  Prance  ;  but  it  is  not 
 my  dut)'  to  become  a  Pantheist,  or  to  worship  in  the 
 temple  of  the  province  in  which  I  may  be  placed  in 
 Prance.  Let  religion  be  established  by  the  powers  that 
 be,  which  they  think  true ;  but  let  me  be  regarded  as 
 having  a  conscience.  If  I  cannot  conform  to  the  religion 
 that  is  established  by  law,  either  from  conscientious  con- 
 viction, or  from  God's  word,  or  from  scrupulosity,  as  is 
 the  case  with  some,  let  me  have  the  freedom — the  full, 
 unfettered  freedom  of  worshipping  beneath  my  own  vine 
 and  my  own  fig-tree,  according  to  the  prescriptions  of 
 that  conscience  Avhich  kings  can  neither  bind  nor  free, 
 which  laughs  at  sword  and  fire,  and  glories  only  in 
 Bubjection  to  God  its  Sovereign.      Because,  then,  it  was 
 
122  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 the  establislied  religion,  it  was  not  therefore,  their  duty 
 to  conform  to  it.  JS^or  did  they  cease  to  be  loj-al  sub- 
 jects, because  they  would  not  be  the  churchmen  of  that 
 day.  It  is  possible  to  be  churchmen,  and  to  be  most  dis- 
 loj'al ;  it  is  possible  to  be  a  dissenter,  and  to  be  most 
 loyal.  Our  conformity  to  the  established  church,  how- 
 ever excellent,  is  not  necessarj'  to  our  loyalty  ;  our  non- 
 conformity to  the  established  church,  however  bad,  is  not 
 n^.>cessarily  disloyalty.  In  religious  matters  the  laws 
 should  leave  us  free  ;  in  civil  matters,  the  law  of  Caesar 
 ought  to  be,  not  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience'  sake,  reve- 
 rently obeyed.  I  am  not  here  speaking  against  a  religious 
 establishment,  but  against  the  abuse  of  it. 
 
 These  Hebrew  youths  might  have  urged  also  the 
 highest  possible  expediency  for  bowing  down  and  wor- 
 shipping the  image.  Mark  how  they  were  situated. 
 They  were  captives  in  the  midst  of  Babylon ;  they  were 
 promoted  to  places  of  power ;  they  had  great  means  of 
 doing  good  to  theii*  captive  countrymen  in  the  midst  of 
 the  city  of  their  habitation ;  and  if  they  had  belonged  to 
 the  expediency-mongers  of  every  age  and  country,  they 
 might  have  argued  in  this  way  :  '*  True,  it  is  veiy  bad 
 to  bow  down  and  worship  this  image ;  but  we  hold  places 
 of  power ;  we  have  excellent  salaries ;  Ave  have  great  in- 
 fluence ;  we  may  be  the  means  of  doing  good  to  our  poor 
 captive  fellow-countrymen.  Had  we  not  better,  there- 
 fore, bow  the  body,  though,  we  do  not  bow  the  soul,  to 
 this  golden  image  .'■"  If  it  had  been  a  matter  of  form,  or 
 ceremony,  a  matter  of  discipline  or  ritual,  then  I  would 
 have  said,  "  Kemain  in  the  communion  in  which  j-ou 
 can  do  the  greatest  good;"  but  as  it  was  a  matter  that 
 touched  the  conscience ;  and  as  that  conscience  responded 
 to  what  God  said,  "  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them 
 nor  worship  them,"  these  three  Hebrew  youths  had  no 
 choice.  Ihey  did  what  was  right,  and  I'eared  not  that 
 the  right  would  be  always  the  most  expedient.  Do  what 
 is  right,  and  you  will  always  find  it  expedient.  That 
 cannot  be  politically  expedient  which  is  morally  wrong. 
 It  is  God's  law  plainly  unfolded  in  his  word.  Do  not 
 look  behind  you,  nor  before  you,  nor  above  you,  nor 
 
EAELr   MAETTES.  123 
 
 around  you ;  but  be  satisfied  that  all  things  will  work 
 for  good  to  you,  while  you  continue  to  act  aright.  Duty 
 alone  is  ours ;  all  the  region  beyond  it — the  region  of 
 events  and  consequences — is  exclusively  God''s.  "We  are 
 to  mind  the  duty  that  devolves  upon  us  ;  we  are  to  leave 
 with  God  to  settle  the  issues  that  may  flow  from  our 
 obedience  to  that  duty. 
 
 There  was  another  reason  they  might  have  urged  for 
 their  conforming  to  the  king's  requirements — that  was, 
 their  personal  obligations.  They  might  have  argued  : 
 ''He  has  been  to  us  a  most  gracious  monarch;  he  has 
 raised  us,  in  his  sovereignty,  to  places  of  high  power  and 
 high  honour ;  he  has  made  us  sit  in  the  gate,  the  place 
 of  judgment,  of  greatness,  and  of  justice,  and  we  owe 
 homage  to  the  king  and  gratitude  to  the  man."  But 
 duty  to  God  was  even  stronger  than  gratitude  and  loyalty 
 to  an  earthly  king.  My  dear  friends,  there  is  nothing 
 more  painful  than  to  be  obliged  to  refuse  a  dear  friend 
 what  our  consciences  tell  us  we  cannot  give.  But  ''  he 
 that  loveth  father  or  mother,"  much  less  a  friend,  ''  more 
 than  me,  cannot  be  my  disciple."  We  must  take  up  the 
 cross,  and  follow  Jesus.  Do  all  that  you  can  to  gratify 
 your  friends ;  but  do  nothing  to  ii'ritate  and  disturb  your 
 peace  of  conscience,  and  the  allegiance  that  you  owe 
 to  God. 
 
 These  youths  might  have  also  argued  :  "If  we  refuse 
 to  worship  the  golden  image,  we  shall  present  a  very 
 singular  aspect :  it  is  the  universal  worship ;  the  whole 
 mass  upon  the  plain  of  Dura  fall  down  and  worship  the 
 image ;  and  we  three  shall  appear  the  most  singular  and 
 grotesque  of  nonconformists  amid  the  inhabitants  of 
 mighty  Babylon."  Singularity,  ■when  it  is  assumed,  is 
 contemptible,  and  indicates  a  very  weak  mind  indeed. 
 To  be  singular  for  singularity's  sake  is  positively  detest- 
 able— below  the  dignity  of  man,  and  unworthy  of  the 
 gravity  of  a  Christian  ;  but  to  be  singular  because  it  is 
 the  necessary  result  of  not  sinning,  is  worthy  of  the 
 Christian,  and  it  dignities  the  man.  We  must  not  be 
 afraid  of  being  singular  when  duty  makes  that  sin- 
 gularity inevitable.     If  it  be  in  an  excellent  thing,  our 
 
124  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 singularity  should  not  make  us  ashamed.  Did  you  ever 
 hear  of  any  man  ashamed  of  being  singularly  rich  ?  of  a 
 ■woman  ashamed  of  being  singularly  beautiful  ?  of  a  man 
 ashamed  of  being  singularly  wise  }  Is  it  not  very  odd 
 that  men  should  be  ashamed  of  being  singularly  reli- 
 gious ?  Is  not  religion  more  beautiful  than  beauty  ? 
 wiser  than  wisdom  ?  and  far  more  valuable  than  riches  ? 
 Do  not  court  singularity,  but  cleave  to  duty ;  do  not  fear 
 singularity,  if  avoiding  sin  necessitates  it.  Do  not  mind 
 that  the  multitude  are  against  you,  if  God  be  with  you. 
 Plant  your  foot  upon  one  single  text  of  the  Bible,  and 
 defy  all  mankind:  "  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude 
 to  do  evil."  ''  As  for  me  and  my  house,"  be  it  in  Con- 
 stantinople, be  it  in  Vienna, — Petersburgh,  or  Rome,  or 
 Babjion,  or  London ;  "  as  for  me  and  my  house,"  what- 
 ever other  men  may  choose  to  do,  *'we  will  serve  the 
 Lord." 
 
 These  men,  too,  might  have  pleaded  the  terrible  penalty 
 to  which  they  were  exposed  by  disobeying  the  command- 
 ments of  the  king.  It  was  a  terrible  penalty ;  and  a 
 severe  penalty  for  disobedience  to  a  command  so  easily 
 obeyed  by  a  genuflexion  of  the  knee,  yet  so  impossible 
 to  be  done^by  the  bowing  of  a  Christian's  heart.  They 
 might  have  said,  '^  It  is  a  terrible  thing  to  be  east  into 
 a  burning  fiery  furnace ; "  but  they  looked  at  the  furnace, 
 even  when  it  was  hottest,  and  they  looked  at  the  duty, 
 when  it  had  not  one  advocate  or  follower  besides  them, 
 and  thej'-  chose  duty — naked,  simple  duty;  and  they 
 were  not  careful  to  answer  the  king  how  they  should 
 meet  or  endure  the  burning  fiery  furnace.  What  grati- 
 tude do  we  owe  to  God  that  we  can  be  true  to  duty,  and 
 3'et  not  incur  such  a  dreadful  penalty.  Put  what  re- 
 buke does  the  conduct  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
 ncgo  administer  to  many  of  us  !  You  think  if  you  be- 
 come Christian — it  is  the  thought  of  many  a  young  man 
 here  to-night — if  you  become  Christian  you  will  be — 
 what?  Thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  ?  One  might  not  be 
 surprised  if  you  hesitated. — Be  cast  into  the  burning  fiery 
 furnace.  If  so,  one  might  not  be  surprised  that  you 
 should  pause.     But  you  think  only :   '*  If  I  become  a 
 
EAELr   MAliTYES.  125 
 
 Christian  I  shall  have  to  give  up  this  profit," — that  is  all ; 
 "  I  shall  have  to  renounce  this  pleasure  ;  I  shall  have  to 
 shut  up  my  shop  on  Sunday," — that  is  all.  And  can 
 you  hesitate  to  comply  with  a  clear  command  from  God, 
 hecause  you  will  lose  a  little  pleasure,  part  -with  a  little 
 profit,  die  not  so  rich,  live  not  so  splendidly  :  when 
 Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  refused  to  bow  the 
 knee  for  once  upon  the  plain  of  Dura,  though  doing  so 
 would  have  gained  them  a  loftier  place,  apparently,  in 
 the  favour  of  their  king,  and  shielded  them  from  the 
 terrible  penalties  attached  to  disobedience  ?  "What  you 
 do  now  indicates  Avhat  you  would  have  done  if  you  had 
 been  added  to  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  and 
 been  a  fourth  there.  You  would  have  bowed  the  knee, 
 and  worshipped  the  image,  and  escaped  the  penalty. 
 But  how  will  you  meet  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
 nego  at  the  judgment-seat  ?  They,  with  less  light  and 
 fewer  privileges — not  having  heard  of  Calvary,  its  cross, 
 its  agony,  its  bloody  sweat — not  having  the  Gospel,  in 
 all  its  grace,  and  glory,  and  riches,  unfolded  to  them — 
 with  weaker  motives,  less  acquaintance  with  God,  man- 
 fully refused  the  bribe,  despised  the  penalty,  and  clave 
 to  duty ;  and  you,  amid  privileges  such  as  the  world 
 never  tasted  or  enjoyed  before,  are  overcome  by  the 
 bribe,  repelled  by  the  penalty;  open  your  shops  on 
 Sunday,  cheat  on  the  Monday,  and  grow  rich  by  work- 
 ing to  death,  in  thousands,  the  young  men  that  serve 
 you.  How  would  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego 
 have  done  if  they  had  been  of  your  religion  and  your 
 spirit  ?  And  how  will  j'ou  meet  them  at  that  day  when 
 all  the  pageantry  of  kings  and  palaces  will  have  passed 
 away  like  a  pale,  airy  phantasm ;  and  duty,  conscience, 
 responsibility,  God,  the  Saviour,  the  soul,  will  alone 
 stand  great  and  blessed,  or  terrible  realities? 
 
 These  Hebrew  youths  had  faith  in  God's  power:  they 
 said,  '*  He  is  able  to  deliver  us."  They  had  faith  in 
 God's  promises ;  they  felt  that  he  would  deliver  them. 
 Perhaps  they  had  heard  sounding  on  the  plain  of  Dura 
 that  very  promise  which  God  pronounced  to  Isaiah  about 
 a  hundred  years  before  :   **  When  thou  passest  through 
 
126  PSOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee  ;  and  through  the  rivers 
 they  shall  not  overflow  thee  :  when  thou  walkest  through 
 the  fire,  thou  shall  not  be  burned;  neither  shall  the 
 flame  kindle  upon  thee." 
 
 Then,  these  three  youths  had  the  hope  of  the  "  glory 
 that  remains  to  be  revealed."  Some  persons  have  tried 
 to  show  that  the  ancient  Christians,  before  Christ— the 
 Christians  in  his  twilight,  as  we  are  Christians  in  his 
 dawn— had  no  idea  of  a  future  state,  and  that  it  is  not 
 clearly  revealed  in  the  Bible.  It  appears  to  me  that 
 the  Old  Tesament  does  better  than  in  express  terms 
 announce  it;  for  in  every  sentence  and  verse  it  une- 
 quivocally implies  it.  If  the  burning  fiery  fui^nace  was 
 to  be  the  termination  of  the  being  of  these  HebrcAV 
 youths,  how  could  they  have  braved  it  ?  "What  reward 
 or  inducement  was  there  to  do  so  ?  But  we  are  told  by 
 the  Apostle,  who  knew  Avhat  his  countiymen  believed — • 
 for  he  himself  was  a  Hebrew,  (Heb.  xi.  14,)  ''  Tor  they 
 that  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a 
 countiy."  "  They  desire  a  better  country,  that  is,  an 
 heavenly."  And  again,  speaking  of  Moses ;  ''Choosing 
 rather  to  suff'er  afiiiction  with  the  people  of  God,  than 
 to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ;  esteeming  the 
 reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in 
 Egypt :  for  he  had  respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the 
 reward.  By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not  fearing  the 
 wrath  of  the  king ;  for  he  endured,  as  seeing  him  who 
 is  invisible." 
 
 And  now,  let  us  learn  this  great  lesson  from  all  I  have 
 said — that  the  path  of  principle  is  always  the  highest 
 possible  expediency.  ]S^ever  do  a  thing  because  it  seems 
 expedient  if  it  be  not  clearly  right,  j^ever  hesitate  to 
 feel  that  the  thing  that  is  right  in  the  sight  of  God  will 
 be  the  most  expedient  in  the  experience  of  man.  God 
 himself  has  said,  "  He  that  walketh  uprightly  walketh 
 surely."  Enter  the  furnace,  if  needs  be,  in  obedience 
 to  God,  and  God  will  deliver  5'ou.  Enter  Paradise  itself 
 in  disobedience  to  God,  and  God  will  not  keep  you,  but 
 it  will  be  to  you  more  terrible  in  the  end  than  the  fur- 
 nace seven  times  heated.     Eemember  always  that  God 
 
EARLY    MAETYES.  127 
 
 is  able,  and  is  willing  to  deliver  you,  and  he  will  deliver 
 you — when,  hoAV,  and  where  it  is  most  for  his  glorj', 
 and  best  for  you. 
 
 Learn  also  this  last  lesson  :  Christ  has  been  Avith  his 
 cliurch  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Where  has 
 the  church  not  been :  Eut  you  ask,  perhaps,  what  is 
 the  church  ?  The  church  is  not  a  great  cathedral,  or  a 
 national  establishment,  or  local  denomination — Inde- 
 pendent, AYesleyan,  Episcopal,  or  Presbyterian.  The 
 normal  idea  of  the  church  of  Christ  is  :  *'  AVhere  two  or 
 three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in 
 the  midst  of  them.'*  The  church  was  once  the  family 
 of  Adam,  and  Jesus  was  present  when  Adam  and  Eve 
 and  Abel  kneeled  down  before  the  altar  of  their  God. 
 The  church  was  tossed  upon  the  deep  in  the  ark  with 
 Koah.  The  church  was  in  Abraham's  family  when  he 
 remonstrated  with  Lot.  The  church  was  on  the  plain 
 of  Dura  Avhen  the  three  Hebrew  youths  stood  tirm. 
 And  the  church  was,  lastly,  in  the  burning  fiery  furnace 
 when  the  three  youths  were  there,  and  the  Son  of  God 
 was  present  in  the  midst  of  them,  tnie  to  his  promise  : 
 *'  AYhere  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
 there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  An  architect  can 
 build  a  cathedral ;  a  queen  by  her  presence  can  create  a 
 palace ;  but  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of  glory  alone  can 
 constitute  a  church  ;  and  where  two  or  three  are  present, 
 there  he  will  be.  Let  it  be  in  the  flood,  or  the  fire,  in 
 the  wilderness,  or  in  the  city,  he  will  preserve  it  unto 
 the  last.  The  bush  may  blaze,  but  God  is  in  the  bush, 
 and  it  cannot  be  consumed.  His  saints  may  suffer  ;  but 
 their  sufferings  shall  only  spread  their  faith,  and  glorify 
 their  Lord.  And  all  things,  the  blunders  of  its  friends, 
 the  bitterness  of  its  enemies,  the  silence  of  its  advocates, 
 the  opposition  of  its  foes — all  things,  in  height  and 
 depth,  shall  aid  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  prosper  that 
 church  of  which  he  is  the  foundation  and  blessed  hope. 
 Amen. 
 
LECTIJrtE  X. 
 
 PEIDE    ABASED. 
 
 "  Noiv  I Nehuchadiiezzar  praise  and  extol  and  honour  the 
 King  of  heaven,  all  ivhose  ivories  are  truth,  and  his  ivays 
 judgment :  and  those  that  walk  in  joride  he  is  able  to 
 ahase.''^ — Daniel  iv.  37. 
 
 Pekhaps,  as  I  quoted  all  the  previous  chapter  in  my 
 former  lecture,  it  will  be  necessary  now  to  read  the 
 greater  portion  of  the  chapter  from  which  the  text  is 
 taken, — and  on  which,  rather  than  on  a  mere  historical 
 statement,  I  desire  in  this  lecture  to  dwell. 
 
 "We  are  told,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  wrote  an 
 epistle  ''unto  all  people  and  nations  and  languages  that 
 dwell  on  the  earth;"  and  the  substance  of  that  epistle 
 we  are  told  was,  *'  Peace  be  multiplied  to  you."  He 
 explains  the  ground  on  which  he  bases  his  statement — 
 ''  I  thought  it  good  to  show  the  signs  and  the  wonders 
 that  the  high  God  " — not  his  idol  Pel,  whoso  praises  he 
 had  sung  before,  but  ''that  the  high  God  hath  wrought 
 toward  me."  And  then,  carried  away  by  the  magni- 
 ficent ideas  that  Avere  before  him,  and  by  the  goodness 
 of  that  God  who  had  so  mercifully  dealt  with  him,  he 
 exclaims  in  ecstasy,  "How  great  are  his  signs  !  and  how 
 mighty  are  his  wonders  !  his  kingdom  is  " — not  like  my 
 kingdom,  a  frail  and  a  fleeting  one,  but — "  an  everlast- 
 ing kingdom,  and  his  dominion  is  from  generation  to 
 generation."  He  then  rehearses  the  main  facts  from 
 which  he  draws  the  precious  truths  contained  in  this 
 chapter,  one  of  which  I  am  about  to  unfold;  he  tells 
 them,  "  I  JJ'ebuchadnezzar  was  at  rest  in  my  house,  and 
 flourishing  in  my  palace."     All  his  enemies  were  sub- 
 
PKIDE    ABASED.  129 
 
 difrd  without ;  all  his  fears  were  quieted  within.  And 
 while  he  was  thus  **  at  rest  in  his  house  and  flourishinjr 
 in  his  palace,"  another  dream,  different  from  the  one 
 which  had  before  glanced  before  his  eyes  in  the  night 
 visions,  passed  before  him,  and  liis  thoughts  troubled 
 him.  He  called  all  the  magicians  of  his  kingdom  to 
 whom  he  had  been  wont  to  look  in  his  prosperity,  and 
 asked  them  to  explain  the  marvellous  vision  which  he 
 had  beheld.  They  were  unable  to  make  it  understood. 
 God  always  taught  Nebuchadnezzar  what  he  has  so  often 
 taught  us,  that  ail  human  glory  must  be  stained,  that 
 God's  alone  may  shine  forth  ;  that  the  wisdom  of  man — 
 even  of  the  magicians  of  the  earth,  must  be  seen  and  felt 
 to  be  folh',  in  order  that  we  jnaj  be  led  to  drink  from 
 that  fountain  of  wisdom  which  alone  is  pure  and  unde- 
 filed,  and  worthy  of  the  name.  Daniel,  the  minister  of 
 God,  was  again  brought  before  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
 was  informed  by  him  what  his  dream  was,  and  required 
 to  give  the  solution  of  it.  The  dream  was  as  follows: — 
 "  I  saw  a  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and  the  height 
 thereof  was  great.  The  tree  grew,  and  was  strong,  and 
 the  height  thereof  reached  unto  heaven,  and  the  sight 
 thereof  to  the  end  of  all  the  earth  :  the  leaves  thereof 
 were  fair,  and  the  fruit  thereof  much,  and  in  it  was  meat 
 for  all :  the  beasts  of  the  field  had  shadow  under  it,  and 
 the  fowls  of  the  heaven  dwelt  in  the  boughs  thereof, 
 and  all  flesh  was  fed  of  it.  I  saw  in  the  visions  of  my 
 head  upon  my  bed,  and  lo,  a  watcher  and  an  holy  one 
 came  down  from  heaven  ;  he  cried  aloud,  and  said  thus, 
 Hew  down  the  tree,  and  cut  oif  his  branches,  shake  off 
 his  leaves,  and  scatter  his  fruit :  let  the  beasts  get  away 
 from  under  it,  and  the  fowls  from  his  branches  :  never- 
 theless leave  the  stump  of  his  roots  in  the  earth,  even 
 with  a  band  of  iron  and  brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the 
 field ;  and  let  it  be  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  let 
 his  portion  be  with  the  beasts  in  the  grass  of  the  earth  : 
 let  his  heart  be  changed  from  man's,  and  let  a  beast's 
 heart  be  given  unto  him  and  let  seven  times  pass  over 
 him."  Then  Daniel,  whose  name  was  Belteshazzar, 
 explains  to  Nebuchadnezzar  what  was  the  meaning  and 
 
130  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 intent  of  tlie  dream  in  these  words : — "  My  lord,  the 
 dream  be  to  them  that  hate  thee,  and  the  interpreta- 
 tion thereof  to  thine  enemies."  You  will  notice  in 
 this  verse  (19),  that  the  word  "be"  is  printed  in 
 italics ;  which  shows  that  it  was  employed  by  the  trans- 
 lators, as  being  supposed  by  them  to  express  more  freely 
 the  meaning  of  the  original.  If  it  be  so,  the  sentence 
 would  seem  like  a  sort  of  anathema  pronounced  by 
 Daniel  on  the  enemies  of  the  king ;  but  if  we  look  at 
 the  original,  we  shall  find  that  we  ought  to  leave  out 
 "  be,"  and  then  the  verse  would  run  thus : — "  the  dream 
 (is)  to  them  that  hate  thee,"  &c. — i.e.  ''itisadream 
 which  will  make  glad  the  hearts  of  your  enemies  ;  be- 
 cause it  makes  sorrowful  your  own."  It  is  not  an  im- 
 precation of  what  Daniel  wished  on  the  foes  of  the  king, 
 but  a  declaration  of  what  the  foes  of  the  king  would  feel 
 when  they  heard  of  the  calamities  he  was  about  to  suffer. 
 Daniel  then  proceeds,  *'  The  tree  that  thou  so  west,  which 
 grew,  and  was  strong,  whose  height  reached  unto  the 
 heaven,  and  the  sight  thereof  to  all  the  earth;  whose 
 leaves  were  fair,  and  the  fruit  thereof  much,  and  in  it 
 was  meat  for  all;  under  which  the  beast  of  the  field 
 dwelt,  and  upon  whose  branches  the  fowls  of  tlie  heaven 
 had  their  habitation :  it  is  thou,  0  king,  that  art  grown 
 and  become  strong :  for  thy  greatness  is  grown,  and 
 reacheth  unto  heaven,  and  thy  dominion  to  the  end  of 
 the  earth.  And  whereas  the  king  saw  a  watcher  and  an 
 holy  one  coming  down  from  heaven,  and  saying.  Hew 
 the  tree  down,  and  destroy  it ;  yet  leave  the  stump  of 
 the  roots  thereof  in  the  earth,  even  with  a  band  of  iron 
 and  brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the  field  ;  and  let  it  be 
 wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  let  his  portion  be  with 
 the  beasts  of  the  field,  till  seven  times  pass  over  him  ; 
 this  is  the  interpretation,  0  king,  and  this  is  the  decree 
 of  the  Most  High,  which  is  come  upon  my  lord  the  king: 
 that  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy  dwelling 
 shall  be  with  tlie  beasts  of  the  field,  and  they  shall  make 
 thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  they  shall  wet  thee  with 
 the  dew  of  heaven,  and  seven  times  shall  pass  over  thee, 
 till  thou   know   that  the   Most    High    ruleth   in  the 
 
PEIDE   ABASED.  131 
 
 kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  -will. 
 And  whereas  they  commanded  to  leave  the  stump  of  tlie 
 tree  roots ;  thy  kingdom  shall  be  sure  unto-  thee,  after 
 that  thou  shalt  have  known  that  the  heavens  do  rule. 
 "Wherefore,  0  king,  let  my  counsel  be  acceptable  unto 
 thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins  by  righteousness,  and  thine 
 iniquities  by  showing  mercy  to  the  poor ;  if  it  may  be 
 a  lengthening  of  thy  tranquillity." 
 
 After  he  had  heard  the  interpretation,  and  undergone 
 the  sentence  of  degradation,  king  Nebuchadnezzar  thus 
 concludes  his  history:  ''And  at  the  end  of  the  days  I 
 Nebuchadnezzar  lifted  up  mine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and 
 mine  understanding  returned  unto  me,  and  I  blessed  the 
 Most  High,  and  I  praised  and  honoured  him  that  liveth 
 for  ever,  whose  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
 and  his  kingdom  is  from  generation  to  generation  :  and 
 all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed  as  nothing  : 
 and  he  docth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven, 
 and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  :  and  none  can 
 stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?  At 
 the  same  time  my  reason  returned  unto  me  ;  and  for  the 
 glory  of  my  kingdom,  mine  honour  and  brightness  re- 
 turned unto  me ;  and  my  counsellors  and  my  lords 
 sought  unto  me ;  and  I  was  established  in  my  kingdom, 
 and  excellent  majesty  was  added  unto  me.  Now  I 
 Nebuchadnezzar  praise  and  extol  and  honour  the  King  of 
 heaven,  all  whose  works  are  truth,  and  his  ways  judg- 
 ment:  and  those  that  walk  in  pride  he  is  able  to  abase." 
 
 This  closing  epistle,  addressed  by  the  king  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to  his  subjects,  breathes  a  quiet  and  a  beautiful 
 spirit,  that  indicates  to  my  mind  a  change  in  his  heart,  a 
 transformation  of  his  character — a  ti-ue  and  an  actual 
 conversion  to  God.  AVe  cannot  but  notice  in  this  epistle, 
 first,  the  great  humility  by  which  it  is  characterised. 
 The  pride  that  provoked  punishment  is  superseded  by 
 humility,  that  owns  its  justice  and  gives  glory  to  the  God 
 who  punished  him  for  his  sins ;  and  thus  he  shows  that 
 he  felt  his  sin  to  he  grievous,  and  his  sentence  to  be  just. 
 You  will  notice,  too,  in  the  blessing  which  the  king  pro- 
 nounces upon  all  mankind   such  a  wish  as  can  be  ex- 
 
 K  2 
 
132  TEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 pected  to  proceed  only  from  a  Christian's  heart.  The 
 fierce  monarch  is  changed  altogether.  Instead  of  war, 
 he  prays  for  peace  ;  the  hand  that  wielded  the  sword  is 
 stretched  forth  in  benediction  ;  the  lion,  fierce  and  raven- 
 ous is  changed  now  into  the  lamb.  He  that  blasphemed 
 and  defied  the  attributes  of  heaven,  now  submits  like  a 
 weaned  child,  and  owns  the  justice  of  his  punishment  ; 
 and  prays  that  blessings,  such  as  God  alone  can  give, 
 and  monarchs  cannot  take  away,  may  be  bestowed  upon 
 all  his  subjects,  and  that  all  mankind  may  rejoice  in  the 
 enjoyment  of  them. 
 
 You  will  notice,  tt^o,  another  feature  in  the  epistle  of 
 the  king — namely,  the  missionary  feeling  and  missionary 
 sympathy  that  pervades  it.   He  says,  "  I  thought  it  good 
 to  shew  the  signs  and  the  wonders  and  the  might  he  had 
 wrought,"  which  is  only  another  form  of  expressing 
 what  David  said,  when  he  cried,  ''  Come,  all  ye  that  fear 
 God,  and  I  will  make  known  to  you  what  he  hath  done 
 for  my  soul."  The  king  says,  "  I  have  seen  the  greatness, 
 I  have  tasted  the  goodness  of  God.     It  is  now  my  wish 
 that  all  the  people  of  my  realm  should  see  that  I  have 
 done  so  ;  and  learn  that  the  God  they  are  to  worship  is 
 no  golden  image,  but  the  God  who  mads  the  heaven  and 
 the  earth,  and  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  king- 
 dom;" and   thus   the   Babylonian   throne   became   the 
 Christian   pulpit.     The    mighty   monarch   became   the 
 humble  and  the  faithful  missionary ;  and  his  epistle  a 
 sermon  eloquent  of  wonders,  of  mercy,  of  righteousness, 
 and  of  peace.     Here,  then,  we  have  an  evidence  what 
 grace  can  do ;  what  transformations  it  can  work  ;  what 
 results  sanctified  affliction  can  achieve  ;  how  blasphemies 
 are  turned  into  blessings,  and  the  fierce  despot  into  the 
 meek  and  humble  and  submissive  saint.     And  the  same 
 grace  that  changed  the  heart  of  the  Babylonian  monarch 
 can  and  will  change  the  heart  of  the  most  depraved  of 
 mankind.     That  grace,  like  the  air  of  heaven,  can  enter 
 by  the  smallest  cranny,  and  can  achieve  by  the  smallest 
 means  the  greatest  possible  results.     It  has  found,  and 
 it  will  find,  access  into  congress,  divan  and  cabinet,  and 
 family.    It  will  find  its  way  into  the  temple  of  Bramah, 
 
PEIDE   ABASED.  133 
 
 — into  the  mosque  cf  Islam, — into  the  catlicdral  of  the 
 Komanist.  "Wherever  there  is  a  heart  that  beats,  there 
 grace  can  find  a  throne  for  its  blessed  supremacy. 
 
 The  dream  of  the  king,  which  we  have  read,  and 
 which  Daniel  interpreted,  was  a  beautiful  one.  A  lofty 
 tree  was  seen  planted  in  the  centre  of  the  earth ;  herds 
 and  cattle  from  a  thousand  hills  enjoyed  shelter  beneath 
 its  branches,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  built  their  nests 
 amid  its  boughs.  Such  is  the  symbol  of  a  prosperous 
 and  happy  king.  Nations  dwelt  beneath  his  sovereignty; 
 families  found  peace  beneath  his  sceptre;  his  kingdom 
 was  rooted  in  the  hearts  of  his  loyal  subjects ;  a  spec- 
 tacle too  magnificent  for  man  long  to  enjoy  elated  the 
 monarch's  heart;  drew  out  the  corruption  of  his  nature, 
 and  prompted  the  exclamation  which  brought  down  the 
 vengeance  of  heaven  :  **  Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that 
 I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  might 
 of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty?"  The 
 instant  that  he  utters  these  thoughts,  the  sentence  is 
 issued  that  fells  the  tree,  deposes  and  degrades  the 
 monarch  of  whom  that  tree  was  the  symbol.  So  true 
 is  it  in  every  age,  '*  I  have  seen  the  wicked  great  in 
 power,  and  spreading  himself  as  a  green  bay-tree;  I 
 passed  by,  and  lo !  he  was  not ;  I  sought  him,  but  he 
 could  not  be  found."  And  again,  God  says,  ''All  the 
 trees  of  the  field  shall  know  that  I,  the  Lord,  have  brought 
 dow^n  the  high  heart."  The  catastrophe  of  the  monarch 
 is  the  result  that  is  here  foreshadowed  in  the  hewing 
 down  of  the  tree.  The  sceptre  is  shattered  in  his  hand. 
 The  mighty  ruler  is  driven  to  herd  with  the  lowest 
 cattle — the  monarch  of  that  mighty  kingdom  goes  out  a 
 wretched  and  an  unreasoning  monomaniac ;  the  inmate  of 
 a  palace  becomes  an  inhabitant  of  the  desert ;  he  that 
 ate  king's  meat  feeds  with  the  beasts  of  the  field ;  and  he 
 whose  brow  wore  a  diadem  that  reflected  splendour  upon 
 a  thousand  kings,  is  naked  and  wetted  with  the  dews  of 
 heaven.  **  Hew  it  down ;  cut  away  its  branches  ;  shake 
 off  its  fruit."  Thus  there  are  two  ways  in  which  God 
 can  punish  kings,  just  as  there  are  two  ways  in  which 
 he  can  punish  their  subjects.    He  can  drive  the  monarch 
 
134  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 from  his  realm,  as  in  the  case  of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  or  he 
 can  drive  the  kingdom  from  the  monarch,  as  in  the  caae 
 of  Belshazzar.  fcso  with  the  subjects,  he  can  snatch  the 
 landlord  from  his  estate,  and  place  him  at  the  judgment- 
 seat  ;  or  he  can  snatch  the  estate  from  the  landlord,  and 
 leave  him  poor  and  friendless  in  the  world.  The  one  or 
 the  other  of  these  results  will  follow  whenever  pride  is 
 indulged.  It  is  a  law  as  sure  as  that  the  sun  shines  by 
 day,  that  pride  goeth  before  destruction,  and  a  liaughty 
 spirit  before  a  fall.  Let  a  church  be  proud  and  boast  of 
 itself,  and  that  church  will  soon  be  laid  low.  Let  a  man 
 become  elated  and  exalted  by  a  sense  of  his  talents,  and 
 he  will  soon  be  brought  down.  Let  a  people  glory  in 
 their  wealth,  or  glory  in  their  wisdom,  or  in  anything 
 but  Christ,  and  they  will  soon  learn,  that  he  w^ho  tries 
 to  steal  a  ray  from  the  glory  of  God  takes  a  withering 
 curse  inwardly  into  his  own  bosom. 
 
 Such,  however,  we  find,  is  the  goodness  of  God,  that 
 before  he  strikes  he  warns.  And  therefore  Daniel  saj's, 
 "  Moreover,  0  king,  let  my  counsel  be  acceptable  before 
 thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins  by  righteousness,  and  thy 
 transgressions  by  shewing  mercy  to  the  poor."  In  the 
 Roman  Catholic  Bible,  this  verse  is  translated,  *'0  king, 
 redeem  thy  sins  by  righteousness:"  and  hence,  it  is  a 
 favourite  text,  quoted  very  frequently  by  them  in  order 
 to  show  that  good  works  have  a  propitiatory  or  atoning 
 virtue.  But  the  translation  that  they  have  adopted  is 
 obviously  wrong.  The  word  is,  properly  translated, 
 "break  off;"  and  what  Daniel  says  to  the  king  is  equi- 
 valent to  saying,  "  Cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  well; 
 reverse  the  course  you  have  taken ;  show  your  repentance 
 in  the  sight  of  God  by  your  reformation  in  the  sight  of 
 man.  Be  what  you  have  failed  to  be ;  bring  forth  the 
 fruits  that  you  have  not  brought  forth ;  pity  tlie  poor 
 you  have  trodden  under  foot ;  abstain  from  the  violence 
 which  peradventure  has  stained  you."  But  it  would  be 
 impossible  for  man,  by  any  works  of  his  own,  to  make 
 atonement  for  himself;  for  ''by  deeds  of  law,"  we  are 
 told,  "  can  no  flesh  be  justified."  If  man  could  make 
 atonement  for  man's  sins,  why  was  it  necessary  that  God 
 
PRIDE   ABASED.  135 
 
 should  become  man,  and  should  suffer  and  die,  that  his 
 sins  might  be  atoned  for  ?  But  the  idea  is  too  absurd  to 
 require  me  to  spend  time  in  refuting  it. 
 
 Among  the  lessons  we  learn  from  this  chapter,  before 
 we  enter  immediately  on  the  elucidation  of  the  text,  the 
 first  is,  that  the  end  of  all  royal  government  is  beauti- 
 fully set  forth  by  the  symbol  of  a  tree,  giving  shelter  to 
 some,  a  home  to  others,  and  protection  to  all.  "What 
 should  a  nation's  government  be  ?  A  government  that 
 protects  the  weak  and  provides  for  the  poor ;  that  gives 
 a  shelter  to  the  oppressed  and  diffuses  the  greatest  pos- 
 sible amount  of  freedom  and  happiness  among  all.  We 
 learn  in  the  next  place,  from  God's  hearing  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, that  God  hears  the  whisper  in  the  royal  cabinet 
 as  well  as  the  groan  of  the  oppressed  in  a  miserable 
 cellar.  It  is  here  stated  that  the  king  was  walking  in  his 
 palace,  and  he  said  within  himself,  ''  Is  not  this  great 
 Babylon  that  I  have  built  ?"  God  hears  the  thought  of 
 the  heart — "  Thou  God  seest  me,'*  may  be  said  by  every 
 individual  here  this  evening.  God's  eye  is  just  as  closely 
 riveted  upon  the  heart  of  that  young  man  or  that  young 
 woman,  as  if  that  young  man  or  young  Avoman  were  the 
 only  individual  in  the  whole  universe  of  God.  There  is 
 not  a  thought  that  flutters  in  our  hearts — there  is  not  a 
 purpose  in  them  formed  for  to-morrow — there  is  not  a 
 secret  spring  of  wickedness  arising  in  any  bosom — there 
 is  not  a  design  that  is  cherished  in  the  secrecy  of  any 
 heart,  that  you  can  hide  from  God — from  that  eye  that 
 pierces  the  darkness — from  that  ear  that  hears  in  silence 
 — from  that  God  who  will  bring  every  secret  thing  to 
 light,  and  judge  according  to  the  thoughts  of  the  heart, 
 the  words  of  the  mouth,  and  the  deeds  done  in  the  body, 
 whether  they  be  good,  or  whether  they  be  evil.  What 
 a  solemn  consideration  it  is  that  those  thoughts  which 
 you  would  wish  to  conceal  from  that  person  who  sits 
 beside  you  in  the  pew,  are  known  to  God  :  and  your 
 schemes,  plans,  and  imaginations  that  you  would  not 
 disclose  to  a  mother,  to  a  husband,  to  a  wife,  to  a  child, 
 to  a  friend,  for  the  whole  world,  are  known  to  him  ! 
 You  wrap  your  mantle  round  you,  and  you  say,  "  How 
 
136  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 close  and  how  secret  can  I  keep  my  counsel !"  God's 
 burning  eye  is  fixed  upon  it  all — that  eye  which  sees 
 and  searches  and  penetrates  all  space,  and  reads  clearly 
 and  legibly  our  inmost  thoughts.  What  an  idea  is  this, 
 that,  in  tlie  judgment-day,  man's  secret  thoughts  will  be 
 set  in  the  light  of  God' s"^  countenance  !  What  a  fearful 
 spectacle  for  those  that  rise  from  the  dead  as  lost  souls, 
 when  they  behold  that  terrible  light  which  has  no  shadow, 
 no  relief,  nothing  to  soften  its  intense  brilliancy,  shining 
 upon  every  thought  in  the  past,  every  prospect  in  the 
 future,  every  feeling  in  the  present — a  spectacle  so  fearful 
 that  the  lost  souls  shall  cry  to  the  everlasting  hills  to 
 hide  them,  and  the  great  sea  to  shelter  them  from  the 
 wrath  of  the  Lamb.  And  blessed,  blessed  indeed  is  that 
 man's  soul  that  can  say,  then  and  there,  '*I  am  guilty, 
 but  Jesus  is  my  Saviour  ;  I  am  a  sinner,  but  that  precious 
 blood  is  my  plea ;  I  am  lost  in  Adam,  but  retrieved  in 
 Christ :  and  I  know  that  he  to  whom  I  have  committed 
 all  will  behold  not  me,  for  in  me  there  is  nothing  worthy 
 of  love,  but  behold  my  substitute,  and  me  in  him,  that 
 died  for  me  and  became  sin  for  me,  that  I  might  be  made 
 the  righteousness  of  God  in  him." 
 
 The  king,  we  are  told  in  this  passage,  was  driven  from 
 his  throne  to  Avander  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  degraded 
 and  deposed,  as  the  appropriate  penalty  of  his  special  sin. 
 What  was  the  king's  special  sin  ?  Pride.  What  was 
 God's  Providential  punishment?  Degradation.  Generally 
 speaking,  you  nay  read  your  sin  in  the  light  of  your 
 punishment.  jS'ot  always,  but  generally  speaking,  the 
 punishment  is  just  the  rebound  of  the  sin.  And  if  j^ou 
 will  examine  it  very  carefully  in  the  light  of  God's 
 truth,  in  the  punishment  or  chastisement  which  j'ou  are 
 now  undergoing,  you  will  probably  be  able  to  trace  the 
 reason  why  God  has  inflicted  it.  God  sends  the  punish  • 
 ment,  not  simply  to  wean  you  from  the  way  that  is  evil, 
 but  to  reveal  by  the  light  of  the  furnace  in  wliich  he 
 places  you,  the  sin  that  has  seduced  you,  and  drawn 
 down  upon  you,  like  the  conductor,  the  lightning  of 
 God's  judgment.  Was  not  this  the  case  with  the  recent 
 pestilence  that  visited  us  ?    In  the  punishment  we  saw 
 
PEIDE    ABASED.  137 
 
 one  sin,  at  least,  that  brought  it  down — the  neglect  of 
 the  poor — the  absence  of  all  sanatory  reform — one  of  the 
 greatest  social  evils  of  the  present  day.  We  saw  tlius  in 
 our  punisliment  the  sin  which,  as  a  people,  we  had  in- 
 dulged. There  were  other  sins,  I  dare  say,  many  others ; 
 but  this  was  one  which  the  judgment  directly  pointed 
 out  to  us.  And  I  trust  we  shall  ^how  that  the  punish- 
 ment has  been  sanctified  to  us,  by  every  man  in  his  place 
 discharging  manfully  the  special  duty  to  the  poor  that 
 clearly  devolves  upon  him. 
 
 It  is  stated  also,  that  the  king  acknowledged,  after  his 
 punishment,  that  '*  God  doeth  according  to  his  will  in 
 the  army  of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
 earth."  God  has  not  simply  ''prescience,"  but  he  has 
 '*  purpose."  It  is  not  true  simply  that  God  forchiows 
 what  Avill  come  to  pass ;  but,  if  the  Bible  speaks  truth, 
 as  we  know  it  does,  he  also  purposes  the  event  that  is 
 to  take  place.  Prophecy  is  holy  men  becoming  the 
 amanuenses  of  God's  truth  ;  history  is  holy  and  unholy 
 men  becoming  the  amanuenses  of  God's  Providence.  God 
 writes  the  prophecy  in  Scripture,  and  God  fulfils  the 
 prophecy  in  history ;  and  yet,  when  he  does  so,  God  is 
 not  the  author  of  sin.  God,  though  the  author  of  all 
 that  is  good,  is  not  the  author  of  anything  that  is  sinful : 
 nor  is  man  a  mere  automaton  impelled  irresistibly  in  its 
 course  ;  but  he  is  a  rational,  reflecting,  responsible  being, 
 deliberately  choosing  what  he  thinks  to  be  best  or  most 
 expedient  for  him. 
 
 We  learn  another  lesson  from  this  history :  that  pros- 
 perity is  a  very  dangerous  position.  It  is  not  the  man 
 who  has  lost  his  property  Avho  is  most  likely  to  forget 
 God ;  but  the  man  who  has  obtained  a  fortune,  or  made 
 a  most  successful  speculation,  or  had  left  to  him  a  large 
 property.  It  is  not  the  empty  cup  that  we  have  any 
 difficulty  in  holding :  it  requires  the  utmost  nicety  to 
 balance  the  cup  that  is  full  to  the  brim.  Adversity 
 may  depress ;  but  prospcrit}'-  elevates  us  to  prcsum])tion. 
 And  if,  as  I  have  often  told  you,  you  ought  to  intimate 
 that  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  are  requested  for 
 a  member  of  this  Church  in  deep  affliction,  you  ought 
 
138  PEornETic  studies. 
 
 raiicli  of  tenor  to  say  that  the  prayers  of  the  congregation 
 are  requested  for  a  member  Avho  has  been  visited  with 
 great  prosperity.  Depend  upon  it  that  the  latter  needs 
 prayer  just  as  much  as  the  former.  In  the  valleys, 
 where  all  is  shadow,  we  can  walk  securely.  On  the 
 lofty  pinnacle,  where  all  is  sunshine,  we  need  a  special 
 power  to  keep  us,  a  special  arm  to  sustain  us.  If  we 
 take  the  experience  of  the  church  of  Christ,  we  shall 
 find  that  the  man  that  draws  closest  to  God  has  generally 
 had  the  least  of  the  blessings  of  his  Providence.  The 
 Scotch  fir-tree  is,  to  my  mind,  the  best  symbol  of  the 
 Christian.  The  least  of  earth  is  required  for  its  roots; 
 it  finds  nourishment  in  a  diy  soil  and  amid  barren  rocks, 
 and  yet,  green  in  winter  as  in  summer,  it  towers  the 
 highest  of  aU  the  trees  of  the  wood  towards  the  sky, 
 and  with  least  of  earth  makes  the  greatest  approach  to 
 heaven.  So  it  is  with  the  tree  of  God's  planting  :  with 
 the  least  of  earth  about  its  roots  it  towers  the  nearest  to 
 heaven ;  deriving  nourishment,  not  from  the  earth  below, 
 but  from  the  sunbeams  that  fall  upon  it,  and  the  rain- 
 drops that  sprinkle  it,  supported  by  that  hidden  nourish- 
 ment that  comes  from  God. 
 
 We  learn  from  Daniel's  address  to  the  king,  that  a 
 minister  of  the  Gospel  ought  to  be  faithful.  Daniel  told 
 the  king  honestly  the  whole  truth  and  was  not  afraid. 
 Truth  needs  not  to  be  prefaced  with  apology.  If  what 
 the  minister  says  be  not  true,  no  apology  can  palliate  it ; 
 if  it  be  true,  an  apology  is  not  required.  When  the 
 minister  speaks  God's  blessed  word,  he  ought  to  know 
 but  two  classes — those  that  are  sinners  by  nature,  and 
 those  that  are  saved  by  grace.  Whatever  be  their  rank, 
 their  age,  their  wisdom,  their  renown,  we  have  nothing 
 to  do  with  these — we  have  only  to  do  with  this,  that 
 they  belong  to  that  great  category  which  has  had  so 
 continuous  a  succession — the  category  of  sinners  ;  or  to 
 that  blessed  one  that  shall  never  fail — the  company  of 
 God's  faithful,  redeemed,  and  regenerated  people. 
 
 We  learn  also  from  the  experience  of  the  monarch, 
 the  blessings  of  affliction.  Nebuchadnezzar  said,  after 
 his  affliction,  what  he  had  never  dreamed  of  submitting 
 
PEIDE   ABASED.  139 
 
 to  think  of  before ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  he  could  say- 
 as  sincerely  as  David  said,  *'It  is  good  for  me  that  I 
 have  been  afflicted."  When  God  hides  the  sun  by  day, 
 he  reveals  to  us  a  thousand  suns  by  night.  It  is  in  the 
 dark  that  we  see  a  vision  which  the  day  refuses  to  present 
 to  us.  It  is  in  afflictions  that  we  learn  lessons  which 
 we  never  could  have  learned  in  prosperity.  And  you 
 know  that  on  a  sick-bed,  in  the  moment  of  an  expected 
 wreck,  in  the  hour  of  bitter  and  sorrowftd  bereavement, 
 feelings  were  created,  emotions  felt,  vows  were  uttered, 
 (and  if  they  were  uttered,  do  you  hold  to  them  still?) 
 resolutions  cherished,  that  made  you  say.  If  it  be  bitter 
 in  experience  to  be  afflicted,  it  is  blessed  in  the  result. 
 The  storms  of  winter,  the  frosts  and  winds  of  autumn, 
 strip  the  tree  of  its  foliage  and  clothe  it  with  icicles ; 
 but  it  is  while  the  tree  is  thus  shaken  and  laid  bare  by 
 the  tempest  that  it  strikes  its  roots  deeper  into  the  earth, 
 seeking  warmth  and  shelter  below,  as  it  loses  warmth 
 and  shelter  above.  And  then,  next  spring,  it  comes  forth 
 with  greater  energy,  casts  out  its  foliage  with  greater 
 beauty,  and  is  prepared  to  meet  and  master  succeeding 
 storms  with  far  easier  victory.  So  it  is  with  the  Chris- 
 tian :  it  is  during  the  winter  of  affliction  that  he 
 strengthens  himself. 
 
 But  the  great  lesson  we  are  to  learn  from  this  chapter, 
 and  which  is  the  lesson  inculcated  in  my  text,  is  the 
 last ;  it  is  a  lesson  which  is  precious  indeed,  and  one 
 which  God  has  been  inculcating  ever  since  the  world 
 began — "  Those  which  walk  in  pride,  God  is  able  to 
 abase."  The  whole  history  of  God's  dealings  with  man- 
 kind is  a  commentary  on  this  text.  Man  once  started 
 on  the  wings  of  pride :  he  tried  in  paradise  to  soar  to 
 heaven  :  his  frail  wings  were  dissolved  by  the  blaze  of 
 that  sun  as  he  rose :  he  fell :  the  terrible  retribution 
 came :  and  he  learned,  in  the  cold  projected  shadow  of 
 the  curse,  that  **  them  that  exalt  themselves,  God  is  able 
 to  abase."  And  after  man  thus  fell,  we  have  to  see 
 whether  he  learned  in  his  ruin  the  lesson  he  would  not 
 learn  in  the  time  of  his  happiness,  and  in  his  state  of 
 innocence.    Cain  rose  before  God,  and  raised  a  fratricidal 
 
140  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 hand  against  his  brother  in  the  exercise  of  that  very 
 pride  which  had  brought  the  curse  into  the  world,  and 
 death,  "and  all  our  Avoe:"  and  Cain  went  forth  with 
 this  inscription,  legible  to  heaven,  upon  his  scathed  brow, 
 "  Them  that  walk  in  pride,  God  is  able  to  abase." 
 
 After  Cain,  we  read  that  the  daughters  of  the  sons  of 
 God  united  themselves  with  the  sons  of  men ;  society 
 was  dissolved;  profligacy  overflowed;  they  set  their 
 faces  against  heaven,  and  cried,  ''  Who  is  Lord  over  us  :" 
 And  God  saw  that  the  pride  and  wickedness  of  men 
 were  great ;  the  windows  of  the  heaven  and  the  foun- 
 tains of  the  earth  were  opened;  the  sky  poured  down 
 rain,  and  earth  poured  out  floods  ;  and  the  ark,  careering 
 with  its  favoured  exceptions  on  the  crests  of  the  waves, 
 revealed  the  great  truth  which  was  here  disclosed  to 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  ''  Them  that  walk  in  pride,  God  is 
 able  to  abase." 
 
 And  even  after  this,  while  man  had  the  remains  of 
 wrecks,  and  the  evidences  of  restoration  before  him, 
 instead  of  being  humbled  by  the  recollection  of  the  past, 
 and  trustful  in  the  God  who  saves  the  meek,  they  began 
 to  build  a  tower  whose  top  should  reach  to  the  heaven, 
 standing  upon  which  they  might  laugh  at  such  judg- 
 ments, and  defy  the  Almighty  to  his  face.  He  breathed 
 upon  them,  and  each  tongue  spake  confusion ;  no  man 
 understood  Avhat  his  fellow-labourer  said ;  the  work  was 
 arrested,  the  attempt  failed,  and  man  was  again  taught 
 the  truth  he  is  so  slow  to  learn,  "Them  that  walk  in 
 pride,  God  is  able  to  abase." 
 
 A  new  period  came  in  the  histoiy  of  the  world,  and 
 God  resolved  to  quell  the  pride  that  still  oozed  out,  not 
 instantly  crushing  man  by  the  direct  expression  of  stu- 
 pendous power,  but  by  the  operation  of  the  very  sin  of 
 pride  preparing  and  promoting  the  destruction  of  him 
 who  is  its  victim.  We  find  in  the  history  of  the  world 
 great  kingdoms  bcgiiming  to  emerge,  splendid  palaces 
 built,  temples  raised  to  Ashtaroth  and  Baal,  and  shrines 
 to  Isis  and  Osiris,  throughout  all  the  empires  of  the 
 world ;  on  which  God  makes  the  text  actual,  no  longer 
 by  the  sudden  stroke  of  almighty  power,  but  by  the  sure, 
 
PRIDE   ABASED.  141 
 
 though  slow  operation  of  those  Tcry  principles  that  have 
 influenced  the  men  themselves.  For  Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and  Belshazzar,  and  Cyrus,  and  Alexander,  and  Caesar, 
 all  found,  though  they  were  not  smitten  doAvn  by  the 
 thunderbolt  because  of  their  pride,  yet  that  the  liigher 
 they  soared,  only  the  deeper  and  the  more  disastrously 
 did  the  J  fall :  and  never  did  nation  succeed  in  writing 
 on  the  productions  of  its  wisdom  or  on  the  expressions 
 of  its  power,  '^I  sit  as  a  queen,  and  am  no  widow,  and 
 shall  see  no  sorrow;"  and,  ''I  am  the  eternal  city,  and 
 of  my  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end;"  before  another 
 hand  shot  through  the  cloud  and  inscribed  below  man's 
 inscription  and  prophecy  of  eternity  for  himself,  God's 
 record  of  the  doom  he  should  suffer,  "  Mene,  mene,  tekel, 
 upharsin,"  ''Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances,  and 
 art  found  wanting."  And  ever  as  man  said,  *'  I  will 
 ascend  to  heaven,  and  fix  my  throne  amid  the  stars  of 
 God," — wherever  that  was  said  and  the  attempt  made, 
 "we  see  no  longer  the  glorious  procession  of  splendour,  of 
 power,  and  of  victory,  but  the  funeral  procession  that 
 moves  slowly  and  sadly  to  the  tomb.  And,  in  the  histoiy 
 of  the  world,  as  often  as  great  systems  have  arisen, 
 which  have  thrust  out  God  and  put  in  man,  the  same 
 great  result  has  invariably  followed.  What  is  Mahomet- 
 anism  ?  A  compound  of  Christianity,  Judaism,  and 
 heathenism,  all  tending  to  glorify  an  ambitious  impostor 
 and  to  dishonour  God.  The  dried  Euphrates,  the  waning 
 crescent,  all  are  teaching,  and  will  teach  soon  with  tre- 
 mendous power,  "  Them  that  walk  in  pride,  God  is  able 
 to  abase."  And  what  is  Popery  ?  The  magnifying  of 
 the  priest  till  he  takes  the  place  of  God,  and  sits  in  the 
 temple  of  God,  showing  himself  as  if  he  were  God,  and 
 professing  himself  to  be  the  Yicar  of  Christ.  And  what 
 is  said  of  him  ?  "  Whom  the  Lord  will  consume  with 
 the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  destroy  with  the  brightness 
 of  his  coming,"  that  it  may  be  seen  that  that  Church 
 which  boasts  itself  eternal  is  most  temporary,  and  that 
 he  who  sits  as  if  he  were  the  Lord  in  the  temple  is  but 
 an  usui'per  of  a  throne  that  belongs  not  to  him,  and  the 
 wearer  of  assumptions  which  are  only  blasphemy  in  him 
 
142  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 that  assumes  them.  Let  it  be  the  autocrat  on  his  throne, 
 or  the  mob  in  the  dyopd  ;  let  it  be  ^Nebuchadnezzar  in  his 
 palace,  or  antichrist  in  his  temple,  it  is  God's  great  law 
 ■ — sure  as  the  heavens,  lasting  as  his  word, — that  "  them 
 that  walk  in  pride,  God  is  able  to  abase."  The  loftiest 
 cedar  of  Lebanon  shall  be  smitten  down  ;  the  highest 
 oaks  of  Bashan  God  is  able  to  uproot.  He  has  brought 
 down  the  mighty  from  their  seats,  and  exalted  the 
 humble  and  meek. 
 
 AVe  read  what  are  some  of  the  elements  of  human 
 pride  in  that  beautiful  passage  in  Jeremiah  :  ^'  Let  not 
 the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither  let  the  mighty 
 man  glory  in  his  might ;  let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in 
 his  riches."  And  wherever  there  is  gloiying  in  these 
 — be  it  a  church — be  it  a  nation — be  it  a  family — be  it 
 an  individual,  they  will  be  sure  to  find  themselves  soon 
 abased.  Man  is  not  to  be  proud  of  his  wisdom  :  but  we 
 generally  find  that  the  man  who  has  least  wisdom  is  the 
 most  proud  of  the  little  he  possesses  ;  as  if,  conscious  of 
 its  emptiness,  and  feeling  it  would  collapse,  he  hugs  it 
 the  closer,  and  makes  the  most  of  it.  Is  it  not  too  true, 
 that  many  a  man  would  rather  be  called  a  knave  than  be 
 thought  a  -fool  r  Power  is  another  source  of  pride.  Has 
 not  philosophy  its  Nebuchadnezzars  as  well  as  political 
 power :  Satan  is  very  aptly  described  by  Milton,  as 
 saying, 
 
 "  Better  to  reign  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven  ;" 
 
 and  have  we  not  met  with  many  a  one  who  had  rather 
 be  the  head  of  the  village  than  a  subject  in  the  metro- 
 polis ?  Such  is  man's  lust  of  power ;  and  wherever  such 
 love  of  power  is,  there  it  will  be  brought  down.  Need  I 
 tell  you  ihat  man  is  proud  of  wealth  ?  Money  is  the 
 idol  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  banker's  pen  is 
 more  powerful  now  than  the  warrior's  sword  or  the 
 statesman's  policy.  It  is  not  cabinets,  but  banks,  that 
 resolve  the  fixity  and  the  downfal  of  kingdoms.  It  is 
 the  stroke  of  the  banker's  pen,  not  the  blow  of  the 
 general's  sword,  that  determines  who  shall  conquer. 
 Camillus  of  old  cast  his  sword  into  the  scale  when  the 
 
PEIDE   ABASED.  143 
 
 conflict  was  dubious  :  it  is  now  the  money-lender,  who 
 casts  his  money-bags  into  the  scale,  and  determines 
 which  nation  shall  be  great.  All  the  difference  between 
 the  mammon-worshipper  of  the  present  day  and  the 
 golden  image- worshipper  of  Nebuchadnezzar  consists  in 
 this,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  dug  his  gold  from  earth, 
 melted  and  moulded  it  into  a  golden  image,  and  caused 
 the  people,  by  the  sound  of  music,  to  fall  down  and  wor- 
 ship it ;  and  now  man  digs  gold  from  the  mine,  stamps  it 
 into  coins,  and,  by  appealing  to  the  lusts  and  affections 
 of  the  human  heart,  making  these  the  sweet  music  to 
 entice,  he  causes  men  to  fall  down  and  worship.  But 
 whenever  man  thus  puts  wisdom,  or  wealth,  or  poAver, 
 in  the  room  of  God,  or,  believing  in  God,  is  proud  of  the 
 one  or  the  other,  he  will  learn — by  the  terrible  penalty 
 which,  if  he  be  an  unconverted  man,  is  purely  penal,  but 
 if  he  be  a  Christian,  by  a  blessed  chastisement  that  is 
 purely  paternal, — that  '*  them  that  walk  in  pride,  God  is 
 able  to  abase." 
 
 ]  might  allude  to  other  forms  of  pride  that  God  can, 
 and  will,  surely  abase.  The  careless  sinner,  who  thinks 
 nothing  of  God,  and  cares  nothing  about  his  soul,  walks 
 in  perilous  pride  upon  the  brink  of  an  awful  precipice. 
 The  self-righteous  man,  who  thinks  his  own  righteous- 
 ness good  enough  for  God,  and  Christ's  righteousness  too 
 worthless  to  be  accepted  by  him,  walks  in  pride.  The 
 worldly-minded  m.an,  whose  living  is  the  lust  of  the  eyes, 
 the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride  of  life — walks  in 
 pride;  and  God  will  abase  him.  Pride  is  not  the 
 monopoly  of  those  that  ride  in  chariots  and  wear  crowns 
 and  coronets.  Pride  grows  in  a  cellar  as  Avell  as  in  a 
 royal  palace.  It  is  an  indigenous  weed.  It  is  not  the 
 composition  of  the  idol  that  makes  the  idolatrj',  but  it  is 
 the  devotion  that  is  given  by  the  heart  to  that  idol, 
 wlicther  it  be  wood,  or  brass,  or  stone.  There  may  be 
 pride  where  there  is  but  a  single  sovereign,  greater  than 
 where  there  are  a  thousand.  There  may  be  pride  in  the 
 possession  of  a  single  acre,  greater  and  more  hateful  to 
 God,  than  in  the  possession  of  a  thousand  acres.  And 
 where  it  exists,  we  learn  from  our  text,  and  from  all 
 
144  rKOPHKTIC    STUDIES. 
 
 experience,  none  cnn  bring  it  do-\vn  bnj;  one.  All  the 
 miracles  of  Moses  failed  to  bring  do^vn  the  pride  of 
 Pharaoh  :  all  the  j^reaching  down  and  denouncing  of 
 pride  by  the  most  eloquent  preacher  that  ever  spoke,  will 
 fail  to  abase  the  pride  of  a  single  individual  in  his 
 audience.  The  wind  may  beat  upon  the  icicle ;  the  stonn 
 and  the  tempest  may  smite  it ;  the  earthquake  may  split 
 it ;  the  avalanche  may  descend,  and  send  it  thundering 
 down  into  the  valley  below,  but  only  the  sunbeam  can 
 thaw  and  melt  it.  ]S'othing  can  subdue  the  pride  of  man's 
 heart  but  God — God,  in  the  rays  of  the  Gospel.  Expe- 
 rience will  never  do  it.  Hoav  true  is  it,  that,  often  as 
 we  have  found  cistern  upon  cistern,  that  we  have  labo- 
 riously dug,  to  be  empty,  we  look  for  other  cisterns 
 still !  How"  is  it,  that  often  as  we  find  flower  after 
 flower  to  fade  and  wither  the  instant  that  we  touch  it, 
 yet  we  seek  after  other  flowers  still :  How  is  it,  that 
 after  joy  on  joy  has  been  pursued,  and  has  perished  the 
 instant  that  we  grasped  it,  wx  yet  still  seek  after  joys 
 that  bloom  not  upon  the  tree  of  time,  but  only  upon  the 
 tree  that  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God }  It  is 
 because  we  do  not  like  to  be  indebted  to  another.  Man 
 would  like  to  save  himself,  justify  himself,  regenerate 
 himself,  glorify  himself,  and  sing  songs  of  praise  through- 
 out eternity  "to  me  that  loved  myself,  and  w^ashed 
 myself,  and  redeemed  myself,  and  glorified  myself;  unto 
 me  be  glory  and  honour,  and  blessing  and  praise !" 
 What  is  all  the  Gospel  but  just  God  humbling  the  heart  ? 
 "What  is  justification  ?  God  laying  your  glorj'  in  the 
 dust,  and  placing  the  greatest  philanthropist  and  the 
 greatest  criminal  on  the  same  dead  level  of  sin  and  con- 
 demnation ;  that  when  they  have  learned  where  sin  has 
 laid  them,  they  may  be  clothed  wnth  and  exalted  by  the 
 righteousness  of  Christ,  and  glory  in  His  name  all  the 
 day  long,  and  realise  this  blessed  experience,  that  when 
 we  begin  to  exalt  God,  God  wnll  begin  to  exalt  us. 
 "What  is  regeneration,  but  God's  Holy  Spirit  revealing  to 
 man  what  is  in  his  own  real  nature,  and  that  his  flowers 
 are  weeds,  Ijis  gold  is  dim — nay,  worse  than  dim,  worth- 
 less ;  that  his  sins  are  his  own,  and  they  should  humble 
 
PRIDE   ABASED.  145 
 
 him ;  that  his  graces  are  not  his  own,  and  they  should 
 humble  him  also ;  and  that  he  can  no  more  change  his 
 own  heart  than  he  can,  by  any  concentration  of  his 
 physical  powers,  or  combined  action  of  his  muscles,  lift 
 himself  from  the  earth  a  single  foot  ?  When  God  has 
 thus  humbled  man,  and  convinced  him  that  he  has  no 
 holiness  and  no  grace  of  himself,  then  he  will  exalt  him. 
 The  man  whose  heart  has  been  renewed  only  by  baptism, 
 will  raise  the  priest ;  but  the  man  whose  heart  has  been 
 renewed  and  regenerated  by  the  Spirit  of  God  will  mag- 
 nify and  praise  the  Lord  alone,  and  from  the  first  bud  to 
 the  next  blossom,  and  the  last  fruit  of  a  holy  life,  he 
 will  give  all  the  glory  unto  God. 
 
 Do  I  speak  to  any  here  that  are  proud  ?  This  passion 
 is  in  us  all :  it  is  human  nature  ;  it  is  the  secret  of  many 
 of  our  miscarryings  :  it  is  the  cause  of  most  of  our 
 failures.  You  say,  you  do  not  like  to  be  humble  :  no- 
 body does  like  to  be  humble.  Man  does  not  like  to  be 
 humbled  before  a  brother,  but  he  likes  much  less  to  be 
 humbled  before  himself;  the  instinctive  pride  that  is 
 in  him  rebelling  against  the  humility  that  sweeps  his 
 foundation  of  self-sufficiency  from  beneath  him.  But  if 
 this  pride  be  not  abased  in  mercy,  it  will  be  abased  in 
 judgment.  Think  of  the  goodness,  the  mercy,  the  for- 
 giveness of  God,  that,  so  thinking,  you  may  be  humble. 
 Think  of  what  human  nature  is ;  that  the  greatest 
 criminal  who  commits  the  most  enormous  crime,  and 
 perishes  on  the  scaffold  on  account  of  it,  is  an  alter  ego, 
 another  self,  actuated  by  the  same  passions,  only  in  tluir 
 full  burst,  flow,  and  development ;  and  that,  except  ^ov 
 the  grace  of  God,  that  criminal  might  have  been  myself. 
 Think  of  this,  that  you  may  be  humble  before  God.  Liit 
 if  you  wish  to  be  humbled  in  the  veiy  dust,  read  those 
 thrilling  words,  '*  God  so  loved  me,  that  he  gave  his  only- 
 begotten  Son  to  die  for  me  !"  See  what  m}-  redemption 
 cost  I  See  what  a  penalty  my  sin  demanded  !  See  what 
 my  ruin  is,  by  the  height  from  which  the  Saviour  came, 
 and  the  depth  to  which  the  Saviour  sank  !  and  when 
 you  have  looked  at  that  cross,  and  listened  to  that  suft'er- 
 ing  cry,  and  beheld  that  completed  sacrifice,  and  that 
 
 L 
 
146  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 unbounded  love,  oh  !  then,  such  grace— such  love — such 
 mercy,  will  expeil  pride  from  the  stubborn  heart  of  man; 
 and  it  will  do  what  judgment,  what  affliction,  what 
 preaching,  what  experience  has  failed  to  do — it  will 
 cause  you  to  abase  yourself  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
 that  he  may  lift  you  up,  and  so  you  may  be  exalted  in 
 due  time. 
 
 Pray  for  that  Holy  Spirit  which  alone  can  melt  the 
 proud  heart ;  and  when  it  Has  changed  and  regenerated 
 that  heart,  then,  in  lowliness  upon  earth,  you  will  bless 
 him,  and  on  a  throne  of  glory  in  heaven,  you  will 
 magnify  him  ;  and  thank  God  throughout  all  eternity 
 that  you  have  learned  in  mercy,  the  truth  which  so 
 many  have  learned  in  judgment — "  Them  that  walk  in 
 pride,  God  is  able  to  abase." 
 
LECTTJEE  XI. 
 
 THE    SCEPTilE   OF   GOD. 
 
 "  Thy  Mngdom  shall  he  sure  nnto  thee,  after  that  thou 
 shall  have  hiown  that  the  heavens  do  ruJe^ — DA^'lEL 
 iv.  26. 
 
 Nebuchad^^ezzar  '^  learned  that  the  heavens  do  rule," 
 as  we  see  in  this  acknowledgment  made  after  he  was 
 restored  to  his  mind.  The  prediction  was  that  the  tree, 
 the  symbol  of  his  majesty,  should  be  cut  down  ;  and  he 
 who  was  symbolised  by  that  tree  should  be  driven  forth 
 to  herd  with  tlie  beasts  of  the  field,  and  there  to  suffer 
 degradation  and  shame  till  he  learned  the  lesson  that  he 
 had  forgotten,  that  ''  God  reigns,"  or,  to  use  the  language 
 of  the  text,  "  that  the  heavens  do  rule."  And  you  Avill 
 perceive  that  after  he  was  restored  he  says,  in  verse  3, 
 "  How  great  are  his  signs  !  and  how  mighty  are  his 
 wonders  ! "  and  then  here  is  what  he  had  learned  :  ''  His 
 kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  his  dominion  is 
 from  generation  to  generation."  He  learned  the  lesson, 
 and  he  expressed  it  after  he  was  restored  to  his  mind, 
 that  it  was  not  his  sceptre  that  controlled  the  worlds, 
 but  the  sceptre  of  him  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
 kingdom,  and  whose  dominion  endureth  from  generation 
 to  generation.  The  proposition  I  should  wish  to  illus- 
 trate is,  that ''  God  reigns,"  "  that  the  heavens  do  mle; " 
 and  in  endeavouring  to  do  so,  I  will  look  first  at  some  of 
 the  difficulties  that  lie  in  the  way  of  our  acknowledg- 
 ment of  this  fact.  There  is  nothing  that  man  is  more 
 prone  to  dispute  than  the  living,  ever  present,  ever 
 active  supremacy  of  God.  There  is  an  universal  belief 
 that  God  was,  there  is  a  very  faint  belief  that  God  is : 
 
 L  2 
 
148  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 there  is  an  impression  among  some  that  God  made  the 
 world,  and  then  left  the  machinery  to  go  on  after  he 
 had  wound  it  np ;  and  that  since  he  made  it  he  has 
 retired  from  the  world,  and  left  it  to  the  dominion  of 
 what  philosophers  call  second  causes — what  infidels  call 
 accidents. 
 
 Now  then,  let  us  look  at  some  of  the  difficulties  that 
 lie  in  our  way,  and  I  will  trv  as  I  am  able  very  briefly 
 to  explain  the  n. 
 
 First,  how  can  we  reconcile  the  entrance  of  sin  with 
 the  existence,  the  supremacy,  and  the  rale  of  God  ?  If 
 you  ask  men,  Docs  God  govern  the  world  ?  they  answer, 
 *'  Yes."  But  how  is  it  compatible  with  the  government 
 of  a  wise,  a  merciful,  an  omnipotent  God,  that  such  an 
 intruder,  such  a  foul  disturber  of  the  harmony  of  the 
 world  as  sin,  sliould  have  been  allowed  to  interpolate 
 itself,  and  occasion  apostasy,  rebellion,  and  discord  in 
 his  suffering,  wide  dominions  ?  The  entrance  of  sin  is 
 not  the  disclosure  of  revelation,  bnt  the  disclosure  of 
 history,  of  experience,  and  of  fact.  It  is  not  the  Chris- 
 tian alone  who  is  called  upon  to  explain  why  sin  is  come 
 into  the  world,  but  the  sceptic  liimself.  He  admits  the 
 existence"  and  the  reign  of  a  God :  he  must  admit  the 
 fact  of  the  presence,  and  the  disturbing  power  of  sin. 
 If  there  be  a  difficulty,  it  is  a  difficulty  also  at  the  door 
 of  the  sceptic,  as  broad  and  as  palpable  as  that  which 
 lies  at  the  door  of  the  Bible  Christian.  But  we  may 
 look  at  it  in  a  light  in  which  it  may  appear  at  least  not 
 to  have  been  God's  fault,  if  I  may  reverently  use  the 
 expression,  tha^t  sin  has  entered  the  world.  He  made 
 man  perfectly  free  and  unfettered,  with  evcrj^  bias  to 
 good,  and  with  no  bias  to  evil ;  with  every  inducement 
 to  retain  his  allegiance,  with  ever)'  possible  dissuasive 
 against  the  violation  of  that  allegiance.  He  gave  him 
 genius  to  originate — a  heart  to  love — a  conscience, 
 the  realm  of  right  and  of  wrong ;  and,  of  necessitj', 
 placed  him  under  a  law,  because,  if  there  be  no  law, 
 there  can  be  no  lawgiver,  there  can  be  no  subject; 
 and,  if  no  subject,  of  course  no  supreme  governor. 
 By  the  very  nature  of  the  creature's  constitution,  the 
 
THE   SCEPTEE    OF   GOD.  149 
 
 creature  must  be  placed  under  law.  iN'ow  when  he 
 placed  Adam  under  law,  God  might  by  his  omni- 
 potence have  prevented  him  from  stretching  forth  his 
 hand  to  touch  the  forbidden  fruit.  But  it  docs  not 
 follow  that  because  he  might  have  prevented  him,  there- 
 fore he  ought  to  have  prevented  him.  It  may  be — nay, 
 we  are  sure  it  must  be — that  more  grand  and  mag- 
 nificent results  will  yet  be  evolved  from  the  wrecks  of 
 paradise  than  ever  could  have  been  reflected  from  it,  if 
 it  had  retained  its  glory  undismantled  and  unshorn, 
 even  to  the  age  in  which  we  now  live.  And  to  show 
 how  fallacious  is  the  argument,  that  because  God  could 
 have  prevented  man,  therefore  he  ought  to  have  done 
 so,  I  may  observe,  man  has  it  in  his  power  to  destroy 
 himself;  he  may  throw  himself  over  a  precipice,  or  cast 
 himself  into  the  sea:  God  might,  by  the  exercise  of 
 omnipotence,  have  rendered  this  impossible :  but  then 
 the  very  impossibility  of  it  would  have  reflected  deeper 
 discredit  on  the  creature ;  for  the  creature  would  not 
 have  been  a  free  and  unshackled  being,  in  which  he 
 glories  as  his  dignity,  but  an  automaton — a  piece  of 
 machinery,  moved  by  extraneous  impulses,  without  a 
 will  to  determine,  a  conscience  to  feel,  or  a  judgment  to 
 reflect.  Or,  to  use  another  illustration,  if  a  man  goes  to 
 put  his  hand  into  the  fire,  God  tells  that  man,  by  the 
 experience  of  others,  and  by  the  exercise  of  his  reason, 
 "  If  you  put  your  hand  into  the  fire  you  will  burn  it 
 and  suffer  pain."  That  is  the  plan  he  has  adopted  :  he 
 might  have  taken  the  plan  you  propose,  and  by  the  fiat 
 of  omnipotence  have  rendered  it  a  physical  impossibility 
 for  the  man  to  bum  his  hand.  But  he  has  not  done  so  : 
 he  has  shown  man  that  if  he  puts  his  hand  in  the  fire  it 
 is  sure  to  be  burned ;  and  man,  knowing  what  the  eflect 
 of  the  act  will  be,  is  thus  deterred  from  the  commission 
 of  it.  Such  was  the  case  with  Adam  in  paradise.  God 
 did  not  draw  back  his  arm  by  a  physical  restraint  from 
 touching  the  forbidden  fruit;  but  he  told  man,  ''  If  you 
 touch  that  fruit  you  bring  death  into  the  world  and  all 
 your  woe ;  It  rests  with  you,  as  a  free  and  responsible 
 being,  to  touch  it  and  perish,  or  to  abstain  and  live  for 
 
150  PKOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 ever."  Do  we  not  then  thus  ''  vindicate  the  ways  of 
 God  to  man,"  and  show  that  by  psrmiUing  sin,  not 
 sending  it,  he  treated  man  as  a  rational  and  responsible 
 being,  and  that  man  could  not  have  been  placed,  as  far 
 as  we  can  see,  in  circumstances  more  favourable  to  obe- 
 dience, compatibly  with  the  dignity  of  his  own  nature, 
 or  in  circumstances  more  calculated  to  set  forth  tlie 
 wisdom,  the  beneficence,  the  love,  the  holiness,  and  the 
 justice  of  him  who  rules  in  the  heavens,  and  constituted 
 man  once  his  vicegerent  upon  earth  ? 
 
 Another  difficulty  in  recognising  the  truth  contained 
 in  my  text,  that  God  lives  and  reigns,  consists  in  the 
 fact  that  the  present  generation  is  often  found  to  sufier 
 for  the  sins  of  the  past,  and  that  the  children  of  to-day 
 inherit  the  consequences  of  the  sins  of  their  fiithers  of 
 yesterday,  and  of  former  generations.  If  this  be  very 
 difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  fact  that  God  reigns,  let 
 it  be  remembered  it  is  not  a  text  in  the  Bible  only,  but 
 it  is  a  fact  in  the  histor^^  of  mankind  ;  it  is  not  asserted 
 in  the  Bible  only  that  it  shall  be  so,  but  it  is  proved  to 
 our  senses,  and  is  legible  in  the  chronicles  of  every  land, 
 that  it  actually  is  so.  And  therefore,  if  it  be  difficult 
 to  reconcile  it  with  the  truth,  that  God  reigns,  it  is  a 
 difficulty  that  the  sceptic  must  feel  just  as  strongly  as 
 the  Christian  ;  but  the  Christian  alone  will  try  to  show 
 that  possibly  there  are  in  this  fact — that  children  suffer 
 for  the  father's  sins — lessons  of  the  greatest  possible 
 goodness  and  practical  value.  May  it  not  be  to  teach 
 us  that  we  have  an  interest  in  all  that  are  around  us, 
 and  that  the  well-being  of  our  child  should  be  as  pre- 
 cious to  us  as  our  own  ?  that  man  is  to  work  not  for 
 himself  only,  but  for  others  ?  that  if  a  man  sin,  the 
 rebound  of  his  sin  will  be  felt,  not  onlj^  in  himself, 
 but  in  his  children  and  his  children's  children  to  the 
 third  and  fourth  generations  ?  This  great  fact  is  fitted 
 to  make  men  feel,  by  reasons  the  most  pressing  and 
 the  most  powerful,  that  it  is  their  interest,  and  the 
 interest  of  their  ofispring,  that  they  should  live  soberly, 
 righteously,  and  godly.  And  what  seems  to  be  a  hard- 
 ship is  really  a  mercy,  fitted  to  arouse  all  man's  feelings 
 
THE    SCEPTRE    OF    GOD.  151 
 
 against  sin,  and  to  lead  him  by  the  deepest  instincts 
 of  his  nature  to  guard  against  that  which  will  not 
 only  ruin  himself,  but  transmit  suffering,  and  pain,  and 
 tribvdation  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  his 
 descendants. 
 
 Another  fact  that  occurs  in  the  government  of  God, 
 very  difficult  at  first  sight  to  reconcile  with  the  fact  of 
 that  government,  is  the  strange  procedure  which  sends 
 one  sinner  to  punish  another,  and  one  wrong-doer  to 
 avenge  the  misconduct  and  the  crimes  of  another.  For 
 instance,  Kapoleon  was  employed  or  commissioned  to 
 punish  the  sins  of  profligate  Europe ;  and  at  an  earlier 
 epoch  C}Tus,  to  execute  judgment  upon  Babylon;  and, 
 at  a  period  later  than  the  last,  Titus  and  Yespasian  and 
 the  Roman  sword,  to  punish  the  disobedience  and  the 
 gross  trangressions  of  his  people  Israel.  It  is  asked, 
 How  can  you  reconcile  this  with  the  fact  that  God 
 reigns,  when  he  might  himself  punish  by  the  direct 
 interposition  of  his  hand  ?  Does  it  not  seem  incom- 
 patible with  our  conceptions  of  his  holiness,  that  he 
 should  employ  men  so  profligate  to  execute  his  pur- 
 poses, which  are  in  themselves  so  pure  ?  That  he 
 does  so  is  not  a  declaration  of  Scripture  only,  but  it 
 is  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  every  nation  upon  earth  : 
 God  says  himself,  ^*  0  Assyrian,  the  rod  of  mine 
 anger;  I  will  send  him  against  an  hypocritical  nation, 
 against  the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give  him  a 
 charge,  to  take  the  spoil  and  to  take  the  prey,  and  to 
 tread  them  down  as  the  mire  in  the  streets."  May  it 
 not  be  to  teach  men  this  yet  more  effectually  than  if 
 God  had  interposed  by  a  direct  manifestation  of  his  own 
 right  hand,  that  when  sinners  have  ceased  to  rely  upon 
 God  it  is  folly  to  rely  upon  one  another  ?  May  it  not 
 be  to  teach  mankind  that  no  conspiracy  of  Avicked  men, 
 however  great,  and  however  secretly  concocted,  is  with- 
 out an  element  of  internal  destruction,  disorganisation, 
 and  decay  ?  If  all  men  in  the  world  could  form  a  con- 
 spiracy that  would  last,  it  would  be  a  veiy  formidable 
 thing ;  but  history  shows  us  that  if  bad  men  combine, 
 there  are  elements  of  disorganisation  and  ruin  in  the 
 
153  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 combination,  so  real  and  so  active,  that  before  many 
 years  have  swept  over  the  conspiracy,  one  will  rise  up 
 against  the  other,  and  that  which  was  designed  to 
 dethrone  the  Almighty  will  end  in  the  destruction  of 
 those  that  concocted  it. 
 
 A  very  difficult  thing  to  reconcile  with  the  doctrine 
 that  God  reigns,  is  the  fact  that  infants  die.  But  this 
 fact  is  not  only  declared  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  proved 
 in  every  page  of  the  chronicles  of  every  family  as  well 
 as  of  every  land.  Infants  do  die  though  free  from 
 actual  transgression;  this  is  matter  of  fact;  and  there 
 may  be  in  that  occurrence  not  what  is  inconsistent  with 
 the  reign  of  God,  but  what  is  eminently  calculated  to 
 make  that  reign  more  palpable  to  man's  mind.  The 
 babes  die  to  teach  us  that  original  sin  is  an  actual  thing, 
 and  to  show  that  some  temble  disaster  has  fallen  upon 
 all  mankind,  which  blights  the  flower  that  has  just 
 budded  and  bloomed  to-day,  as  well  as  the  grey-haired 
 sire,  on  whose  head  the  snows  of  threescore  years  and 
 ten  have  fallen.  And  if  it  be  true  that  all  babes  who 
 die  in  infancy  are  without  exception  saved,  as  true  I 
 believe  it  to  be,  then  it  is  not  cruelty  to  the  babes, — it 
 is  making  it  a  missionary  to  the  parents,  and  teaching  a 
 lesson  which  man  would  deny  if  only  actual  sinners 
 were  cut  oif,  and  babes  who  have  never  sinned  were 
 universally  spared. 
 
 \Ye  see  every  day  the  fact,  that  parents  are  taken  from 
 their  children  in  the  midst  of  their  lives,  and  their  off- 
 spring cast  dependent  on  the  wide  world.  This  appears 
 to  us  a  cruel  thing,  and  we  wonder  how  it  is  x>ossible  to 
 reconcile  it  with  the  Providential  government  of  God. 
 Yet  there  may  be  lessons  latent  in  it  which  we  do  not 
 see  ;  it  may  be  to  teach  the  parents  to  work  while  it  is 
 caU'ed  to-day,  and  discharge  to  their  offspring  the  duties 
 that  they  owe,  not  knowing  how  long  the  opportunity 
 may  be  given  them  ;  and  thus  to  make  parental  instruc- 
 tion more  earnest,  and  parental  duties  more  faithfully 
 discharged,  because  there  is  ever  present  a  deep  sense  of 
 the  possibility  of  the  severance  of  ties  so  beautiful  and 
 livine,  and  the  loss  of  the  opportunity  of  giving  those 
 
THE    SCEPTRE    OF   GOD.  153 
 
 instructions,  which  shall  be  the  happiness  of  the  child  npon 
 earth,  and  its  yet  gn  ater  and  richer  happiness  in  glory. 
 
 Another  diiiicuity  in  receiving  the  truth  that  God 
 reigns,  is  the  fact  tliat  vice  and  dishonesty'  are  some- 
 times prosperous  and  triumphant,  while  piety  and  good- 
 ness are  sometimes  depressed.  It  is  so  ;  the  Bible  says 
 that  it  will  be  so ;  but  it  also  explains  the  reason  why. 
 This  is  not  the  dispensation  of  absolute  justice.  In 
 hell  the  wicked  universally  suffer ;  in  heaven  the  holy 
 are  universally  haj^py.  In  this  world  the  two  parties 
 are  mingled,  and  we  see  sometimes  bad  men  prosper 
 and  sometimes  good  men  suffer.  But  if  all  good  men 
 prospered  upon  earth,  then  men  would  profess  religion  for 
 the  sake  of  its  temporal  benefits ;  if  good  men,  on  the 
 other  hand,  always  suffered  upon  earth,  men  might  be 
 deterred  from  joining  the  ranks  of  Christianity,  because 
 it  would  be  joining  the  ranks  of  martyrs.  But,  under 
 the  Providence  of  God,  good  men  sometimes  suffer  and 
 sometimes  prosper,  and  we  are  thus  taught  to  cleave  to 
 the  Gospel  because  it  is  the  mind  of  God,  and  to  accept 
 duty  because  it  is  duty,  and  not  on  account  of  the  tem- 
 poral rewards  to  Avhich  it  may  conduct  us,  or  the  tem- 
 poral penalties  from  which  it  may  possibly  save  us.  The 
 tares  and  the  wheat  grow  in  the  same  field  ;  it  is  right 
 that  they  should  thus  grow  together  till  the  harvest,  and 
 whenever  the  effort  is  made  to  separate  them  now,  it 
 ends  in  the  injury  of  the  wheat,  and  not  the  rooting  up 
 permanently  of  the  tares. 
 
 Another  great  difiiculty  which  occurs  in  receiving  the 
 great  truth  that  the  heavens  do  rule,  is  the  lengthened 
 lives  of  many  bad  men,  and  the  short  lives  and  prema- 
 ture deaths  of  really  good  and  devoted  men.  For  in- 
 stance, Voltaire  lived  to  upwards  of  eighty  ;  Paine  to  a 
 considerable  age  ;  ^Napoleon  passed  the  meridian  of  life  : 
 if  Voltaire,  Paine,  and  [N'apoleon  had  perished  in  their 
 cradles,  how  much  mischief  would  the  v^^orld  have  es- 
 caped !  how  much  injury  and  suffering  would  mankind 
 have  been  spared!  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  argue, 
 if  su?h  men  as  Cecil,  and  Howell,  and  Newton,  and 
 Edward  Bickersteth,  and  Chalmers  had  been  spared  to 
 
154  PBOPHETIC    STCJDIES. 
 
 eiglity,  ninety,  or  one  hundred  years  of  age,  what  bless- 
 ings would  the  world  have  reaped  thereby  !  So  we 
 naturally  infer  ;  but  if  we  could  lift  the  curtain  and  see 
 the  reasons  tliat  are  behind  it,  we  should  find  that  there 
 w^ere  gu(jd  reasons  why  Yoltaire  should  be  spared  to 
 eighty,  and  Bickersteth  should  be  cut  off  at  sixty  ;  and 
 reasons,  perhaps,  that  are  more  connected  with  the  real 
 well-being  of  man,  and  with  the  glory  of  God,  than  we 
 are  at  first  disposed  to  believe.  One  lesson  taught  us 
 by  the  fact  that  good  men  perish  early  is,  that  we  must 
 be  more  active ;  their  mantles  are  bequeathed  to  us — the 
 j)laces  they  have  vacated  are  for  us  to  fill ;  and  it  be- 
 comes us,  therefore,  ever  as  the  good  and  the  great  fall 
 like  fruits  that  are  ripe  from  the  tree  of  life,  to  take 
 their  place  and  enter  upon  their  duties,  and  try,  how- 
 ever feebly,  by  the  grace  of  that  God  who  gives  his 
 strength  to  the  weak  and  his  grace  to  all  that  ask  it,  to 
 supply  to  mankind  the  great  loss  they  have  sustained  by 
 the  departure  of  men  so  good,  so  beneficent,  and  so  useful. 
 Besides,  when  we  look  at  these  things,  we  are  apt  to 
 think  only  of  this  world ;  but  when  God  called  Bicker- 
 steth to  himself,  and  said  to  him,  "  Come  up  hither," 
 it  was  because  Bickersteth's  work  in  this  world  was 
 finished,  and  God  had  work  for  him  to  do  in  a  higher, 
 a  better,  and  a  nobler  world,  whence  he  shall  no  more 
 be  removed.  We  look  at  matters  selfishly  when  we 
 think  of  this  world  only,  and  forget  that  there  are  other 
 worlds  where  there  may  be  sublime  missions  to  be  dis- 
 charged still ;  and  that  those  men  have  not  ceased  to 
 labour,  but  have  only  laid  aside  the  robe  of  the  Levite 
 who  ministers  outside  the  vail,  to  put  on  the  sacred 
 vestments  of  the  priest,  to  minister  before  the  altar 
 -jnd  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 There  is  another  thought  too  that  occurs  to  us  as  a 
 difficulty  in  recognising  the  government  of  God — the 
 afflictions  of  the  people  of  God.  Why  do  we  see  them 
 suffer  ?  why  do  we  see  them  bereaved,  deprived  of  their 
 property,  afflicted  with  disease,  laid  aside  ?  Why  is  this  ? 
 There  are  good  reasons  for  it ;  and  some  of  these  the 
 Bible  gives  us,     '*  It  is  good  for  me,"  says  one,  ''  that  I 
 
THE    SCEPTHE    OF   GOD.  155 
 
 was  afflicted  : "  another  says,  "  Our  light  affliction,  which 
 is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  out  for  us  a  far  more  ex- 
 ceeding, and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  Human  nature, 
 like  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  would  like  to  sit  on  the  right 
 hand  and  on  the  left  liand  of  the  Saviour,  but  Ave  do  not 
 want  to  drink  of  the  Saviour's  cup.  Yet  he  fixes  the  dis- 
 pensation that  suits  us  ;  and  God,  who  superintends  the 
 ■action  of  the  dispensation,  will  take  care  that  our  afflic- 
 tions shall  not  be  too  great,  nor  too  many,  nor  too  heavy, 
 nor  too  long,  as  Satan  would  like  them ;  nor  too  light, 
 nor  too  few,  nor  too  short,  as  we  should  like  them  ;  but 
 that  they  shall  be  just  what  is  most  expedient  for  us, 
 conducive  to  our  good,  and  illustrative  of  his  glor)^ 
 
 It  is  thus  that  I  have  pointed  out  some  of  the  diffi- 
 culties that  lie  in  the  way  of  our  accepting  the  truth 
 contained  in  the  text,  that  *'  the  heavens  do  rule."  And 
 I  have  tried  to  show,  or  rather  to  suggest,  that  there 
 may  be  good  reasons,  though  we  cannot  see  them  all, 
 why  all  that  man  supposes  to  be  irreconcilable  with  the 
 sceptre  and  supremacy  of  God,  may  not  only  be  recon- 
 cilable with  it,  but  may  be  also  calculated  to  cast  greater 
 glory  upon  his  name,  and  to  diffuse  more  extensive  bless- 
 ings among  all  the  children  of  God  scattered  through- 
 out the  world.  Let  us  then,  in  looking  at  the  fact  that 
 '*  God  rules,"  remember  that  he  has  designs  of  ultimate 
 good  to  us  and  of  ultimate  glory  to  himself,  which  it 
 may  be  most  important  for  us  to  see  worked  out  in  the 
 world.  For  instance,  God  suffers  sin  to  develop  itself 
 upon  earth  into  crimes  and  horrible  calamities.  He  may 
 be  doing  so,  not  because  he  hates  us,  for  that  he  does  not, 
 nor  because  he  would  punish  the  guilty  criminal — that 
 will  be  a  very  minor  reason — but  because  this  earth  on 
 which  we  live  is  the  great  lesson-book  of  the  universe ; 
 and  it  may  be  that  the  inhabitants  of  sister  orbs  and  of 
 sister  stars  may  be  grouped  in  gazing  clusters  around 
 this  distant  spot  in  the  universe,  and  may  be  looking 
 down  and  seeing,  beyond  the  reach  of  its  contagion, 
 what  terrible  issues  are  treasured  up  in  that  terrible 
 thing  sin,  and  what  it  would  do  if  all  the  restrictions 
 were  withdrawn,  and  it  were  left  to  create  ou  earth  and 
 
156  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 to  work  out  that  hell,  which  it  has  wrought  out  in  soma 
 sequestered  place  in  the  world,  where  the  worm  never 
 dies,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched. 
 
 It  mnj  be  we  are  apt  to  form  conclusions  that  certain 
 things  are  irreconcilable  with  the  government  of  God, 
 from  our  only  seeing  a  portion  of  their  action.  If  you 
 see  only  the  foundation  of  a  house,  you  ought  not  thence 
 to  judge  what  will  be  the  splendour  of  its  superstructure : 
 if  you  read  the  title-page  of  a  book,  you  ought  not,  as 
 many  do,  to  say,  the  book  is  a  false  book,  or  a  bad  book, 
 because  you  have  only  read  the  title-page  :  and  if  you 
 see  but  some  of  the  outside  and  less  significant  machinery 
 of  Providence,  and  cannot  see  the  inner  machinery  which 
 is  with  himself,  the  spring,  and  the  issue,  it  is  not  right 
 to  judge  of  what  things  are,  by  the  partial  and  defective 
 view  that  we  are  able  to  obtain  of  them.  Take,  for  in- 
 stance, the  history  of  Joseph ;  when  you  saw  Joseph 
 cast  into  the  pit,  sold  to  the  merchants,  accused  of  an 
 offence  by  the  wife  of  Potiphar,  thrown  into  a  dungeon  ; 
 one  would  have  said,  if  you  had  stopped  there  and  seen 
 no  further,  ''  What  an  unfortunate  lad  is  that !  excellent 
 in  his  character,  he  seems  to  be  the  most  unfortunate  in 
 life."  But,  if  you  could  have  lived  to  see  him  at  the 
 right  hand  of  Pharaoh — if  you  could  have  lived  to  see 
 him  save  his  nation  from  destruction,  and  ultimately 
 triumph  over  all  his  trials, — you  would  have  said.  How 
 wonderful  in  working  is  that  God  who  overrules  the 
 passions  of  man,  restrains  his  wrath,  and  makes  the 
 remainder  of  it  to  praise  him  !  and  how  rashly  do  we 
 often  judge  ! 
 
 Again,  when  we  reflect  on  such  scenes  as  the  French 
 Revolution  of  1782,  to  take  the  most  dreadful  one,  you 
 cannot  understand  how  it  could  be  that,  if  there  be  a 
 God  that  ruleth  in  heaven,  men  should  have  been  so  left 
 to  themselves  by  that  God,  and  Avithin  his  dominions,  as 
 to  perpetrate  the  crimes  which  can  barely  be  mentioned, 
 and  the  murders  and  atrocities  which  the  historian  is 
 scarcely  able  to  enumerate.  But  now  that  we  have  seen 
 what  it  was,  and  have  learned  what  lessons  were  to  be 
 deduced  from  it,  we  can  show  that  it  was  first  to  punish 
 
THE    SCEPTKE    OF   GOD.  157 
 
 the  profligacy  of  an  eminently  profligate  people ;  and, 
 secondly,  it  was  to  prove  what  a  people  can  do  and  will 
 do,  that  has  cast  oft'  God;  and  it  was  next. to  teach  us 
 that  the  experiment  has  been  tried,  and  in  everj^  case  has 
 turned  out  not  merely  a  failure,  but  absolute  destruction 
 to  them  that  made  it,  that  the  world  cannot  be  carried 
 on  without  religion ;  and  that  society  cannot  cohere 
 without  God ;  in  the  words  of  Bobespierre,  the  sangui- 
 nary despot  of  that  terrible  era,  *'  If  there  be  not  a  God, 
 we  must  make  one,  in  order  to  make  society  hold 
 together."  The  atheist  in  his  blasphemy  proclaimed 
 God  almost  as  distinctly  as  the  Christian  who  says,  "  God 
 reigns,  and  the  heavens  do  rule." 
 
 In  the  next  place,  we  have  to  learn  too,  in  looking  at 
 all  these  difliculties,  that  God,  in  dealing  with  mankind, 
 and  in  ruling  over  them,  docs  not  contemplate  in  his 
 dealings  one  generation,  but  successive  generations.  "We 
 see  one  whole  generation  suffer,  and  we  think  it  incom- 
 patible with  the  goodness  of  God :  but  if  we  look  to  the 
 next  generation  we  shall  discover  that  the  sufferings  of 
 the  first  were  preparing  tlie  soil  for  seeds  to  be  cast  into 
 it,  which  were  designed  to  grow  up  and  ripen  into  pre- 
 cious harvests  of  happiness  and  peace  to  futui'c  ones.  In 
 order  therefore  to  judge  of  God's  designs,  and  of  the 
 wisdom  and  goodness  of  his  government,  you  must  look, 
 not  at  one  pai'ticular  generation,  but  at  all  the  genera- 
 tions of  mankind,  and  be  content  to  discover  that  jour 
 sufferings  in  the  present  may  grow  up  and  burst  into 
 blessings  lasting  as  the  stars,  for  generations  that  are  yet 
 to  follow  you. 
 
 And  in  the  next  place,  we  must  view  all  that  God  does 
 in  this  world  in  connexion  with  another  world.  Recol- 
 lect that  this  world  is  but  the  pilgrimage  through  which 
 we  are  passing,  and  the  next  world  is  the  home  to  wliich 
 we  are  going ;  and  what  seems  irreconcilable  with  God's 
 government,  when  beheld  in  the  light  of  this  world, 
 may  be  seen  to  be  not  only  reconcilable  with  it,  but 
 richly  illustrating  its  beneficence  and  wisdom,  when 
 viewed  in  the  light  of  that  future  world  for  which  God 
 is  preparing  his  people,  and  toward  which  they  are  jour- 
 
158  PEOPHETIC    STTJDIES. 
 
 neying  as  strangers  and  pilgrims  througli  this  present 
 world.  This  world  is  but  a  nook — a  little  tinj^  nook — 
 in  the  vast  domains  over  which  God's  sceptre  stretches. 
 If  it  were  possible  to  conceive  of  a  fly  being  endowed 
 with  the  faculty  of  reason  for  a  moment — and  if  that  fly 
 were  crawling  about  the  cornice  of  one  of  the  pillars  of 
 St.  Peter's  cathedral,  it  might  perhaps  say,  ''What  a 
 paltry  contemptible  place  this  is !  these  cornices  seem  to 
 be  doing  no  good ;  what  is  the  use  of  them  ?  Avhat  a 
 mean  little  place  it  is,  and  how  unworthy  of  the  architect 
 who  planned  it:"  AYe  should  say,  if  we  heard  its 
 reasoning,  it  was  the  smallness  of  the  insect,  and  the 
 limited  nature  of  the  horizon  of  its  vision,  which  made 
 it  think  what  it  saw  to  be  so  small  and  insignificant,  and 
 its  not  understanding  that  the  cornice  of  the  pillar  could 
 no  more  be  dispensed  with  than  the  dome  or  the  roof  of 
 the  cathedral,  being  part  and  parcel  of  one  great  design, 
 and  in  harmonj^  with  all  that  was  about  it.  We  are  just 
 like  that  fly  in  this  respect,  perched  upon  some  little 
 pinnacle  in  some  little  nook  of  this  little  world,  where 
 we  venture  to  pronounce  upon  the  whole  from  our  very 
 limited  experience  of  a  part,  forgetting  that  our  igno- 
 rance should  make  us  humble,  and  our  knowledge  that 
 God  reigns  should  make  us  trust  that  all  will  be  wisely, 
 beneficently,  and  graciously  arranged. 
 
 I  have  thus  then  looked  at  some  of  the  objections  to 
 this  truth  ;  let  me  now  notice  some  positive  facts  tending 
 to  prove  that  the  heavens  do  lule;  and  that  while  God 
 does  thus  rule,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  both  from 
 Scripture  and  experience,  that  his  rule  is  wise,  and  good, 
 and  merciful,  and  gracious. 
 
 In  the  first  place,  God  is  infinitely  wise  :  we  are  quite 
 certain,  therefore,  that  what  he  does  must  be  the  result 
 of  infinite  wisdom.  Admit  the  fact  that  God  reigns  in 
 the  atom  as  well  as  in  the  fixed  star — that  God  moves 
 with  the  current  of  the  tiny  stream  as  much  as  he  rides 
 upon  the  whirlwind  and  sails  upon  the  waves  of  the 
 desert  sea :  admit  that  God  is  in  all  the  windings  of  in- 
 dividual private  life,  as  well  as  in  the  cataracts  and 
 floods  and  storms  of  public  and  of  social  life — and  then, 
 
THE    SCEPTKE    OF    GOD.  150 
 
 recollect  that  the  God  Avho  thus  controls  all,  is  infinitely- 
 wise,  and  you  may  be  satisfied  that  there  is  no  risk  of  a 
 blunder,  there  is  no  possibilit}-  of  a  mistake,  there  is 
 nothing  done  by  God  that  will  need  to  be  undone,  that  in 
 short  there  is  no  dispensation,  from  Adam  to  the  present 
 hour,  that  is  not  associated  with  and  superintended  by  a 
 wisdom  that  cannot  err. 
 
 Eecollect,  in  the  next  place,  that  God  is  infinitely 
 good.  That  goodness  is  dimly  shadowed  forth  in  nature  ; 
 it  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  Gospel — "  God  so  loved  the 
 world,  that  he  (/ave  his  only-begotten  Son."  The  gift  of 
 Christ  is  the  measure  of  God's  goodness.  Let  us  pause 
 at  that  text :  it  is  not  said,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
 he  2)ermittecl  his  Son  to  come  and  die  for  the  world  :"  that 
 w'ould  have  been  great  love;  but  *' God  so  loved  the 
 world,  that  he  gave  his  Son."  Christ  is  the  donative  of 
 God,  the  expression  and  the  measure  of  God's  infinite 
 love ;  the  truth  is,  not  that  *'  God  loves  us  because  Christ 
 died  for  us  ;'*  but  it  is  ''  that  God  so  loved  us  that  Christ 
 died  for  us :"  Christ  is  not  the  cause  of  God's  love  to  us, 
 but  he  is  the  expression  of  God's  love  to  us.  And  this  is 
 a  beautiful  thought  which  seems  to  me  so  precious,  that 
 the  death  of  my  Saviour  is  not  only  a  channel  through 
 which  God's  love  can  reach  me  consistently  with  his 
 justice ;  but  it  is  also  evidence  to  me,  that  God  loved  me 
 from  everlasting,  and  will  love  me  to  the  end  ;  and  it  is 
 the  proof  to  me  that  when  I  am  admitted  into  heaven,  I 
 shall  not  be  admitted  there  simply  as  the  convict  who 
 has  been  pardoned,  and  to  be  treated  and  tolerated  in 
 heaven  as  such,  but  it  is  the  evidence  to  me  that  I  shall 
 be  welcomed  into  heaven  as  the  reconciled  and  accepted 
 son,  amid  the  hosannas  and  acclamations  of  angels  and  of 
 archangels,  and  that  I  shall  be  there  as  a  son  in  the  pre- 
 sence of  a  father,  not  as  a  forgiven  criminal  in  the 
 presence  of  a  judge  who  barely  tolerates  him  there. 
 "  God  so  loved  us  that  he  gai)e  his  Son."  If  this  be  so, 
 then,  not  only  is  there  infinite  wisdom,  but  there  is  infi- 
 nite love  ;  and  therefore  the  nature  of  God's  government 
 in  the  world  is  not  only  so  wise  as  to  prevent  all  possibi- 
 lity of  mistake  or  error,  but  it  is  so  good  that  it  precludes 
 
160  PEOPHETIC    STUBTES. 
 
 the  interposition  of  ill-will,  revenge,  or  enmity,  of  any 
 sort  or  of  any  degree. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  God,  who  governs  the  world,  is 
 **  omnipotent."  We  may  therefore  be  sure,  that  what- 
 ever his  wisdom  devises,  or  his  love  inspires,  his  power 
 will  execute.  We  are  sure,  therefore,  that  what  the 
 Psalmist  says,  when  he  thus  describes  the  power  of  God, 
 is  borne  out  by  history  : — "  0  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  a 
 strong  Lord  like  unto  thee,  or  to  thy  faithfulness  round 
 about  thee  ?  Thou  rulest  the  raging  of  the  sea ;  when 
 the  waves  thereof  arise  thou  stillest  them.  Justice  and 
 judgment  are  the  habitation  of  thy  throne  :  mercy  and 
 truth  shall  go  before  thy  face."  He  is,  in  the  language 
 of  the  Apostle,  "  able  to  keep  us  from  falling,  and  to 
 present  us  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with 
 exceeding  joy." 
 
 And,  in  the  last  place,  the  God  who  rules  the  world 
 in  wisdom  and  in  love,  and  with  omnipotent  power,  is 
 described  to  be  an  unchangeable  God.  If  God  were  a 
 changeable  being,  we  could  have  no  contidence  in  his 
 government  at  all ;  if  God  were  a  changeable  God,  Avho 
 would  retract  to-day  what  he  said  yesterday,  the  Bible 
 would  be  the  most  worthless  of  all  the  books  upon  earth, 
 because  how  could  I  know  that  he  would  adhere  to  the 
 promises  he  has  made,  or  how  could  I  know  that  the 
 truth  he  had  stated  he  Avill  not  reverse  ?  And  there- 
 fore the  immutability  of  God  is  the  crowning  point ;  for 
 his  wisdom,  his  love,  his  power,  his  faithfulness,  his 
 truth,  are  fixed  as  the  heavens,  and  immutable  for  ever. 
 And  so  it  is  in  creation.  The  very  facts  that  men  quote 
 as  the  evidences  that  God  does  not  reign,  are  just  the 
 very  facts  that  I  would  quote  as  the  evidence  that  God 
 does  reign.  For  instance, — the  fact  is,  that  water  shall 
 run  down  hill :  men  say,  that  is  the  law  of  water,  and 
 therefore  it  can  do  so  without  God.  It  is  the  fact,  for 
 instance,  that  fire  burns  ;  and  they  say  that  is  the  com- 
 bination of  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere  with  carbon, 
 whereby  flame  is  produced ;  that  is  the  law  ;  and  there- 
 fore we  need  not  admit  a  God  to  explain  the  phenomenon. 
 The  continuity  of  the  fact  may  give  it  the  name  of  a 
 
f 
 
 THE    SCEPTEE    OF    GOD.  161 
 
 law,  but  it  does  not  the  less  prove  it  is  the  action  of 
 Deity.  If  those  things  were  not  always  so,  we  could 
 have  no  confidence  in  creation.  What  man  would  build 
 a  ship  to  carry  his  goods  to  the  ends  of  the  world  across 
 the  desert  soa,  if  that  sea  were  accidentally  sometimes 
 liquid  and  sometimes  solid  ?  What  man  could  have  any 
 confidence  in  the  safety  of  his  house,  or  in  the  security 
 of  his  person,  if  the  fire  sometimes  burned  and  some- 
 times did  not,  or  sometimes  spread  its  flames  a  hundred 
 feet  and  sometimes  only  a  few  inches  ?  The  very  fixity 
 of  the  laws  of  nature  is  evidence  not  of  God's  retreat 
 from  his  world,  but  of  the  immutability  of  the  God  ^.hat 
 made  them,  and  one  of  the  grounds  of  my  confidence  in 
 his  governments ;  and  of  ray  firm  conviction  that  the 
 heavens  do  rule,  precious  in  this  world,  and  infinitely 
 comforting  in  the  prospect  of  that  which  is  to  come. 
 
 God  reigns ;  and  the  evidence  of  it  is  this, — that  he 
 is  showing  year  after  j'ear,  and  age  after  age,  that  all 
 the  wiles  of  Satan,  and  all  the  power  of  men,  cannot 
 permanently  build  up  a  falsehood,  and  that  all  the 
 combinations  of  them  both  together  cannot  uproot  the 
 truth  that  he  has  given  to  us.  Is  there  no  evidence 
 of  the  present  action  and  government  of  God  in  this 
 fact,  that  every  false  religion  is  proved  by  history  to 
 be  a  blunder,  and  that  every  atom  of  divine  truth  is 
 proved  b}-  experience  to  be  immortal  and  permanent. 
 Is  it  not  evidence  that  the  heavens  do  rule,  when  we 
 see  all  men,  of  all  pursuits,  in  all  acts,  and  under  all 
 circumstances,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  designedly, 
 or  undesignedly,  contributing  to  the  spread  and  adding 
 to  the  splendour  of  the  claims  and  glory  of  the  Chris- 
 tian faith  ?  Is  it  no  evidence  that  the  heavens  do  rule, 
 when  we  see  proofs  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  dug  from 
 the  lava  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  excavated  from 
 the  grave  of  Nineveh  by  Layard,  brought  forth  by 
 Young  and  Champollion  from  the  mummies  hidden 
 thousands  of  years  in  the  pyramids?  Is  there  not 
 evidence  that  there  is  a  God  watching  over  that  blessed 
 book  called  tlie  Bible,  and  guarding  that  divine  treasure 
 tailed  the  Gospel,  in  the  fact  that  he  is  bringing  forth 
 
162  TEOPnETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 elucidations  of  its  truth  and  proofs  of  its  authority  from, 
 the  grave  of  Nineveh — the  pyramids  of  the  Pharaohs — 
 tlie  crash  of  cities — the  wreck  of  nations — till  at  last 
 the  most  sceptic  minds  are  constrained  to  own  that  the 
 religion  of  the  despised  Nazarene  is  the  religion  of  the 
 great  God,  and  to  predict  that  it  "will  last,  and  flourish, 
 and  reign  for  ever  and  ever  ?  Is  it  no  evidence  that 
 God  reigns,  or  that  the  heavens  do  rule,  when  we  see  all 
 thmgs  working  together  for  good  to  the  people  of  God  ; 
 and  their  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment, 
 issuing  in  their  eternal  glory ;  and  all  the  facts  of  his- 
 tory, and  all  the  phenomena  of  science,  and  all  the 
 phases  of  national  experience,  helping,  and  in  no  respect 
 retarding  or  obstructing,  the  cause  of  Christ  ?  Is  it  not 
 an  evidence  that  God  reigns,  when  we  see  the  Church 
 and  the  University  flourish  together  —  religion  and 
 scienc(%  like  sisters,  walk  arm-in-arm,  the  one  casting 
 its  glory  upon  the  other,  and  both  arrayed  in  priestly 
 robes,  witnessing  to  him  who  gave  them  their  commis- 
 sion, and  ministering  to  the  wants  and  necessities  of 
 mankind?  And  is  not  all  this  tending  to  accekn*ate  tlie 
 advent  of  that  blessed  day  when  science  shall  come  forth 
 from  her  cells,  and  students  from  their  colkges,  and 
 philosophers  from  their  studies,  and  historians  from 
 their  labours,  and  all  men  from  all  places  in  tlie  world, 
 and  all  things  in  their  maturity  and  ripeness,  to  com- 
 bine with  one  heart  and  with  one  mind,  and  with  one 
 mouth,  in  saying,  ''The  heavens  do  rule,"  and  ''Jesus 
 is  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
 world?" 
 
LECTURE  XII. 
 
 BELSHAZZAE  8    FEAST. 
 
 Dais^iel  y. 
 
 Beixg  unable  to  select  a  verse  on  which,  to  construct 
 an  epitome  of  this  sublime  and  interesting  chapter,  I 
 have  tiken  as  the  subject  of  comment  the  Avhole  chapter. 
 The  main  facts  in  it,  as  far  as  these  relate  to  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar the  grandfather,  and  Belshazzar  the  king  his 
 grandson,  we  have  considered  in  the  successive  exposi- 
 tions of  various  passages  in  the  preceding  chapters  :  we 
 have  now  the  account  of  Belshazzar  s  reign,  his  sensual 
 life,  the  departure  of  his  kingdom,  his  own  slaughter  in 
 the  midst  of  his  revels,  the  victorious  army  of  the  Medes 
 in  the  midst  of  Babylon,  and  the  first  or  the  golden 
 empire  passed  over  to  the  second  or  the  silver  one. 
 
 There  was  no  sin  in  the  feast  over  which  Belshazzar 
 presided.  I  mean,  it  was  not  necessarily  sinful.  It  was 
 an  annual  festival,  commemorative  of  a  great  event.  The 
 sin  was  not  in  the  eating,  or  in  the  drinking,  if  both 
 were  in  moderation,  but  in  the  spirit  which  actuated  the 
 eaters  and  the  drinkers,  and  the  excess  to  which  they 
 went  in  both,  and  the  defiance  they  showed  toward 
 God. 
 
 It  was  during  this  festival  that  Babylon  was  taken. 
 The  Mede  knew  beforehand  its  date,  its  nature,  and  its 
 accomplishments,  marched  his  troops  into  the  midst  of 
 Babylon,  took  possession  of  its  palaces,  its  halls,  and  all 
 its  glory,  and  instituted  that  second  empire,  the  history 
 of  which  we  ha»ve  briefly  sketched  in  a  previous  discourse. 
 It  is  well  known  that  the  siege  of  Babylon  had  already 
 lasted  two  years  and  a  half;  all  the  besieger's  stratagems 
 
 M  2 
 
164  PBOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 had  failed,  and  he  was  on  the  point  of  retiring  from 
 Babylon  as  a  city  impregnable,  and  fitted  by  its  great 
 strength  to  defy  all  human  aggi'essive  power ;  but  on 
 this  night,  one  day's  Bacchanalian  excess  did  for  Baby- 
 lon what  all  the  siege  and  stratagems  of  two  years  under 
 the  Mede  had  been  utterly  unable  to  accomplish.  And 
 it  seems  from  this,  as  from  kindred  instances  in  the 
 history  of  nations,  that  when  God  has  pronounced  the 
 hour  of  a  nation's  doom,  the  inhabitants  of  that  nation 
 seem  to  lose  the  caution,  the  skill,  the  energy  they  had 
 exhibited  before,  and  precipitate  the  very  result  they 
 themselves  are  anxious  to  avert.  Nations  rarely  fall 
 before  a  foreign  aggressor ;  their  ruin  or  their  glorj^  is, 
 imder  God,  within  themselves.  ^Nations  die  suicides; 
 they  are  seldom  or  never  destroyed  by  any  force  ft-om 
 without.  Let  a  nation  be  true  to  God,  loyal  to  its  laws — 
 let  purity  and  piety  and  true  religion  iiTadiate  its  palaces, 
 and  cast  their  softening  influence  over  all  its  lanes,  its 
 alleys,  and  its  hovels,  and  that  nation  has  within  it  the 
 grounds,  as  it  has  over  it  the  promises,  of  immortality. 
 But  let  a  nation  be  corrupt  in  its  lower  classes,  profligate 
 and  sensual  in  its  higher  classes — let  there  be  education 
 without  religion — let  there  be  profession  without  prin- 
 ciple— let  there  be  a  name  and  a  form  without  the  sub- 
 stance, and  it  needs  no  prophet  to  predict  that  nation's 
 doom,  and  no  long  or  deep  calculation  to  count  the  years 
 that  are  sure  to  precede  it. 
 
 The  great  sin  which  seemed  to  characterise  the  feast 
 celebrated  on  this  occasion  was,  Belshazzar's  impious 
 mockery  in  taking  the  sacred  vessels  which  his  father, 
 as  he  is  here  called,  or,  strictly,  and  as  it  might  be  ren- 
 dered, his  grandfather,  had  carried  from  Jerusalem  and 
 brought  into  the  midst  of  Babylon,  and  in  making  use 
 of  those  vessels  for  the  loose  and  licentious  purposes  of 
 an  impious  festival,  as  if  he  could  hurl  defiance  at  the 
 God  of  Abraham,  and  despise  and  defy  the  power  of  him 
 by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice.  There 
 was  in  this  act  needless  insult  to  the  captive  Jews,  and 
 impious  blasphemy  against  the  God  whom  they  wor- 
 shipped.    If  the  vessels  were  taken  by  superior  power, 
 
BELSHAZZAll*S   FEAST.  165 
 
 and  in  just  judgment  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  it  became 
 him  in  the  presence  of  that  people  to  lay  them  aside  and 
 shut  them  up  from  their  rec-ch,  but  not  to  insult  them 
 by  profaning  them.  AYe  have  no  warrant  to  insult  the 
 humblest  rite  of  another's  faith.  Let  it  be  Hindooism, 
 let  it  be  Mahommedanism,  which  we  come  into  contact 
 with  ;  convince,  convert,  enlighten,  explain,  but  never 
 think  that  you  can  put  down  a  sentiment  that  is  sacred 
 by  mere  ridicule,  or  that  jon  can  exalt  a  dogma  that  is 
 divine  by  a  needless  reproaching  of  the  creed  and  rites 
 of  the  victims  of  a  superstitious  faith.  jN'o  misfortune 
 is  so  great  as  to  have  become  the  worshipper  of  a  false 
 God  ;  no  man  is  so  deeplj^  to  be  pitied  as  he  that  has 
 lost  his  way  to  heaven :  to  insult  him  is  inhuman  ;  to 
 turn  his  rites  into  ridicule  is  unchristian  ;  to  try  to  en- 
 lighten, convince,  and  bring  him  into  the  more  excellent 
 way,  is  at  once  worthy  of  our  highest  efforts  and  our 
 greatest  sacrifices,  most  likely  to  succeed  because  owned, 
 and  blessed,  and  recognised  by  him  without  whose  bless- 
 ing nothing  can  prosper,  nothing  is  wise,  nothing  is  holy, 
 and  whose  blessing  nothing  sinful  ever  inherits. 
 
 The  sin  then,  I  have  shown,  was  the  desecration  of 
 that  which  was  holy,  or  the  application  to  profane  and 
 licentious  purposes  of  the  vessels  that  were  outwardly 
 dedicated  to  the  God  of  Israel.  Is  it  possible  that  we, 
 *'on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come,"  can  in  any 
 respect  be  guilty  of  a  similar  offence  ?  It  is  possible,  and 
 in  many  wa5's.  Where  religion  is  dragged  from  its  lofty 
 and  controlling  sphere,  and  made  to  gild  the  claims  of  a 
 party  or  to  enforce  the  peculiar  principles  and  power  of 
 a  sect,  it  is  a  holy  thing  desecrated  to  an  unholy  purpose. 
 When  the  sacrament  is  taken,  not  to  commemorate  the 
 death  of  Christ,  but  to  obtain  a  j)assport  to  an  office  and 
 a  qualification  for  a  political  or  civil  sphere,  we  see  a 
 sacred  vessel  desecrated  to  an  unholy  end.  When  the 
 facts  and  the  expressions  of  the  Bible,  its  sublime,  its 
 pure,  and  its  hoh^  truths,  arc  used,  as  they  not  unfre- 
 quently  are,  to  point  a  pun,  add  edge  to  a  jest,  or  keen- 
 ness to  a  sarcasm,  to  excite  a  laugh  or  to  provoke  a 
 sneer,  you  have  God's  vessels  desecrated  to  unhallowed 
 
166  PEOPHETIC   STTTDIES. 
 
 and  profane  ends.  Never  try  to  construct  jests  from  the 
 Bible.  The  jest  that  is  based  upon  a  text  of  Scripture 
 will  come  across  you  like  a  dark  horrid  spectre  when  the 
 most  solemn  appeals  are  made  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
 most  holy  lessons  are  being  read  from  the  Bible.  I  know 
 not  a  more  reckless  act,  or  a  more  offensive  sin,  than 
 that  of  taking  divine  truths  and  making  puns  on  them, 
 or  using  them  as  double-entendres,  or  for  other  purposes 
 of  a  like  nature.  Such  deeds  reflect  little  credit  on  the 
 piety,  and  still  less,  let  me  add,  on  the  good  taste  of 
 those  that  so  use  them. 
 
 I  think  we  desecrate  holy  things  when  the  sublime 
 descriptions  of  the  judgment  to  come  are  turned  into  a 
 mere  musical  festival.  No  one  more  admires  sacred 
 music  than  I  do.  No  one  is  more  deeply  impressed  and 
 thrilled  by  its  magnificent  and  glorious  conceptions. 
 But,  when  the  awful  agonies  of  Calvary,  the  deep  and 
 sorrowful  experience  of  the  suffering  Son  of  man,  are 
 used  merely  to  create  the  most  delightful  emotions,  or 
 the  semi-sensuous,  semi-spiritual  feelings  of  the  crowd 
 that  listen,  I  do  think  it  is  the  nearest  approach  to  Bel- 
 shazzar's  feast,  '^hen  the  sacred  things  of  God  are  made 
 to  subserve  to  the  sensuous  tastes  of  man.  I  do  not 
 mean  that  there  is  to  be  no  patronage  of  good  music.  I 
 do  not  say  that  an  oratorio  is  in  itself  inherently  and 
 inseparably  sinful ;  but  I  do  say  the  music  should  be 
 used  to  imjDress  the  sentiment,  not  the  sentiment  to 
 make  the  music  only  the  more  grateful.  AVe  are  not  to 
 use  God's  truth  to  improve  our  music,  but  we  are  to  use 
 our  noblest  music  to  unfold  the  attributes  and  make 
 more  vivid  and  glorious  the  grandeur  and  the  excellency 
 of  God's  truth.  And  when  the  opposite  course  is  adopted, 
 and  man  takes  holy  and  thrilling  truths,  the  agonies  of 
 the  cross,  the  triumphs  of  Tabor,  the  prospects  of  glory, 
 the  apocalyptic  visions,  and  uses  them  for  an  unthinking 
 crowd  to  shout  Encore  !  and  demand  a  repetition,  and 
 to  applaud  as  a  splendid  exhibition  or  a  glorious  treat 
 that  they  have  listened  to ;  then  I  think  it  is  all  but  a 
 repetition  of  Belshazzar's  festival.  I  should  like  to  hear 
 those  noble  productions  of  Handel  as  acts  of  solemn 
 
belshazzae's  feast.  167 
 
 ■worship.  And  when  I  do  hear  them  I  feel  for  myself 
 that  it  is  the  unfolding  and  developing  of  the  deepest  and 
 holiest  emotions  of  my  heart.  But  when  men  who  have 
 no  sympathy  with  God  or  with  religion — no  love  to  the 
 Saviour  or  to  his  word,  but  merely  a  strong  and  enthu- 
 siastic sympathy  with  the  grand  and  touching  in  musical 
 creations,  go  to  such  festivals  and  use  sacred  words 
 merely  to  help  them  to  feel  sublime  emotions  and  praise 
 the  musician  while  pleased  themselves,  I  do  think  that 
 there  is  in  such  circumstances  a  profanation  of  that 
 which  is  holy,  and  a  desecration  of  that  which  is  conse- 
 crated to  God. 
 
 There  seems  to  me  to  be  a  desecration  of  the  holy 
 vessels  when  the  Sabbath  is  used  for  purposes  of  trade — 
 when  transactions  of  a  political  nature  are  carried  on 
 upon  it — when  the  assembly,  or  the  cabinet,  or  the  con- 
 gress, or  the  parliament,  or  chambers,  or  whatever  these 
 legislative  bodies  may  be  called,  venture  to  meet  on  it. 
 The  Sabbath  is  the  most  sacred  thing,  next  to  the  Bible, 
 if  not  equal  to  the  Bible,  that  God  has  given  us.  The 
 desecration  of  a  holy  thing  to  a  profane  and  an  unholy 
 purpose,  occurs  when  the  place  appointed  for  the  worship 
 of  God — for  whether  it  be  church  or  chapel,  whether 
 consecrated  by  a  form  or  opened  by  a  prayer,  is  to  my 
 mind  of  no  great  moment,  for  it  is,  in  the  one  case  or  in 
 the  other,  a  place  in  which  holy  hearts  are  to  beat, 
 humble  spirits  are  to  bow,  reverential  prayer  and  praise 
 are  to  be  uttered — is  emploj'ed  for  vestry  meetings,  for 
 political  disputes,  for  noisy  and  tumultuous  assemblages, 
 for  shouting  applause  with  the  tongue,  and  beating  ap- 
 plause with  the  feet.  In  this  there  seems  to  me  to  be  an 
 approximation  to  the  profanation  exemplified  at  the  feast 
 of  Belshazzar,  where  sacred  things  were  desecrated  to 
 unholy  purposes.  Let  us  then  recollect  that  it  is  possible 
 to  be  guilty  of  Belshazzar' s  sin  in  other  than  in  Bel- 
 shazzar's  circumstances.  Still  more  are  we  guilty  of 
 desecration  when  the  heart  that  was  made  for  God  is 
 made  the  throne  of  Mammon — when  the  affections  that 
 were  destined  to  cluster  around  him  are  made  to  cling  to 
 that  which  is  earthly — when  God  is  superseded  by  the 
 
168  PBOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 world,  and  things  divine  by  things  that  are  human; 
 then  that  which  was  once  the  image  of  God,  and  is 
 meant  to  be  restored  and  be  so  again,  is  desecrated  to 
 ■unhallowed  purposes,  God  is  dishonoured,  and  we  are 
 thereby  ruined. 
 
 But  I  pass  from  the  feast  itself  to  notice  the  circum- 
 stances by  which  it  was  specially  accompanied.     It  was 
 a  feast  plainly  of  no  ordinary  splendour.     All  the  lustre 
 that  rank  and  beauty  and  renown  could  shed  upon  it 
 was  there.     There  were  toasts,  I  doubt  not,  of  enthu- 
 siastic patriotism — there  were  songs  of  boundless  loyalty 
 — there  was  the  loud  defiance  of  every  foe  without,  and 
 there  was  the  expressed  and  reiterated  security  against 
 all  disloyalty  or  treacherj^  from  within.     But  it  was  just 
 when  the  feast  had  reached  its  highest  splendour,  and 
 when   all  hearts  were  bounding  and  all   spirits  were 
 joyous,  that  a  thrill  of  terror  rushed  through  every  soul 
 — that  the  cup  fell  from  the  king's  hand — and,  in  the 
 language  of  the  Spirit  of  God,   "  his  countenance  was 
 changed,  and  his  thoughts  troubled  him ;  the  joints  of 
 his  loins  were  loosed,  and  his  knees  smote  the  one  against 
 the  other."     A  mysterious  writing  appeared  upon  the 
 plaster  :    no  eye  seemed  to  guide  it,   no  visible   hand 
 seemed  to  inscribe  it,  and  mysterious  fingers,  belonging 
 none  knew  to  whom,  recorded  with  the  speed  and  with 
 the  vivid  impression  of  the  lightning,  the  unintelligible, 
 but  to  this  ungodly  prince,  because  unintelligible,  the 
 awful  inscription,  *'  Mene,  menc,  tekel,  upharsin."    One 
 may  ask,  as  the  king  and  his  lords  did  not  understand 
 it,  why  were  they  thus  afraid  ?     To  a  man  who  lives  in 
 sin,  the  unknown  is  always  the  terrible.  AVhy?  Because 
 we  always  interpret  the  events  that  we  cannot  understand 
 in  the  light  of  our  own  consciences,  which  we  cannot  but 
 feel.    The  man  that  is  at  peace  with  God  sees  all  events 
 approaching  him  as  a  joyous  procession  of  friends  and 
 benefactors,  and  helpers  to  immortaKt3\     The  man  who 
 is  not  at  peace  with  God,  but  who  live  ^  in  sin,  reads  all 
 events  in  the  light  of  his  conscience,  and  amid  the  fore- 
 thrown  terrors  of  a  judgment-day  to  which  that  con- 
 science  points.      Suspicion,   fear,    alarm,    are   in  such 
 
belshazzar's  feast.  169 
 
 circumstances  always  the  first  feelings  of  the  guilty.  It 
 is  when  unknown,  mysterious,  and  supernatural  things 
 occur,  that  the  conscience  recollects  a  thousand  crimes, 
 accuses  of  many  wrongs,  and  reasons  of  righteousness, 
 temperance,  and  judgment  to  come.  "What  an  instance 
 have  we  of  this  in  the  case  of  Adam  and  Eve !  Before 
 they  sinned  they  loved  to  hear  the  footsteps  of  their  ap- 
 proaching Father,  as  sounds  that  were  far  more  musical 
 to  their  ears  than  songs  in  the  groves  of  Paradise.  But 
 the  instant  that  they  sinned,  all  was  changed  !  they  ran 
 from  God.  "Why?  God  merely  said,  ''Adam,  where  art 
 thou?"— the  words  that  he  had  utterred  often  heiore  : 
 but  on  this  occasion,  the  instant  they  heard  them,  Adam 
 and  Eve  ran  and  hid  themselves.  Why  this  change  ? 
 Because  before  the  fall,  their  innocent  hearts  had  con- 
 strued the  footsteps  of  God  as  footsteps  significant  of 
 ncaring  beneficence  and  love  ;  but  after  they  had  sinned, 
 their  unholy  hearts  construed  God's  footsteps  in  the  light 
 of  their  sins,  and  they  felt  or  feared,  because  they  were 
 guilty,  that  it  was  an  avenger  coming  to  destroy  them. 
 In  the  case  of  Felix,  we  are  told  that  when  Paul  reasoned 
 before  him  he  trembled.  Take  the  case  of  Herod,  when 
 he  heard  of  the  progress  of  Jesus  he  was  alarmed.  What 
 had  Herod  done  ?  He  had  beheaded  John  the  Baptist,  a 
 preacher  whom  Herod  for  a  time  "heard  gladly;"  who 
 was  to  Herod  and  to  Herod's  court  the  most  popular 
 preacher  that  ever  ascended  a  pulpit,  until  he  touched 
 on  the  sin  that  Herod  loved,  and  pointed  out  the  offence 
 that  necessitated  either  Herod's  reformation  or  his  fall. 
 He  took  the  alternative  suggested  to  him  by  the  infamous 
 courtiers  that  were  about  him,  and  murdered  the  preacher 
 in  order  that  he  might  silence  the  preacher's  testimony. 
 Hence,  when  news  were  brought  to  Herod  that  Jesus 
 was  come,  and  that  great  miracles  were  wrought  by  him, 
 Herod  said,  "  This  is  John  the  Baptist,  that  is  risen 
 from  the  dead."  See  here  the  force  of  Herod's  con- 
 science :  he  was  a  Sadducee,  who  did  not  believe  in  the 
 doctrine  of  the  resurrection ;  j'et  so  strong  was  his  con- 
 science, that  it  overpowered  his  convictions,  and  suggested 
 to  him  that  John  was  indeed  risen  from  the  dead,  from 
 
170  TEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 which  he  once  thought  that  no  one  could  arise,  and  liad 
 come  to  punish  him  for  the  crimes  of  which  he  had  been 
 guilty.  Take  the  case  of  any  of  those  mentioned  in  the 
 word  of  God  in  similar  circumstances,  and  you  will  call  to 
 mind  what  the  poet  has  expressed  in  different  words : — 
 
 Thus  conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all." 
 
 Eut  Belshazzar,  who  was  so  awed  by  this  vision,  was 
 one  who  had  had  great  opportunities  of  knowing  and  of 
 doing  the  w^ill  of  God.     He  had  seen  his  grandfather 
 banished  from  the  society  of  men,  and  made  the  com- 
 panion of  the  herds  of  the  field     and  the  fact  which 
 ought  to  have  been  a  lesson  to  him  he  disregarded  as  if 
 it  had  never  occurrrd,  and  indulged  in  the  sins  and  com- 
 mitted the  crimes  M'hich  had  brought  down  such  signal 
 judgments  upon  Kebuchadnczzar.     What  he  was  con- 
 demned for  by  Daniel  was  not  that   he   himself  was 
 wrong,  but  that  he  had  not  availed  himself  of  the  oppor- 
 tunities he  had  of  being  right.  Our  condemnation  at  the 
 judgment-day  will  not  be,  that  conscientiously  we  have 
 believed  a  lie;  but  it  will  be,   that  we  neglected  the 
 opportunities    of  acquiring    and    making  ourselves    ac- 
 quainted with  the  truth.    I  do  not  believe  that  the  Deist 
 will  be  condemned  for  his  Deism,  but  for  his  neglect  of 
 the  means  of  making  himself  a  Christian.     I  do  not  be- 
 lieve that  the  creed  Ave  have  come  to  most  conscientiously, 
 as  many  a  sceptic  does,  will  be  the  great  damning  fact 
 at  the  judgment-day,  but  that  we  devoted  more  time  to 
 the  examination  of  a  pebble,  more  attention  to  the  study 
 of  a  butterfly,  more  of  genius  to  the  enriching  of  our- 
 selves and  the  filling  of  our  coffers,  than  we  ever  spared 
 for  the  solution  of  this  great  question,  AYhat  must  I  do 
 to  be  saved  ?    or  for  solemn  preparation  for  death  and 
 judgment  and  eternity,  which  the  Bible  suggests  and 
 implies  in  every  page.     It  may  be  that  the  very  Sabbath 
 which  3'ou  resolved  to  spend  in  dissipation  at  home  might 
 have  been  that  on  which  you  would  have  heard  the  truth 
 which  would  have  turned  you  from  darkness  unto  light, 
 and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.    It  may  be  that 
 the  very  sermon  which  you  neglected  or  excused  yourself 
 
belshazzae's  feast.  171 
 
 for  neglecting  by  a  head-ache  which  would  never  have 
 kept  you  from  the  Exchange,  or  from  the  appointed  hour 
 and  place  of  business,  might  have  been  the  very  sermon 
 which,  under  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  would 
 have  proved  to  you  a  savour  of  life  unto  life.  I^evcr  lose 
 an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  truth  if  you  can  jDossibly 
 avoid  it.  There  are  proper  excuses,  beyond  all  dispute, 
 but  they  ought  to  be  grave,  weighty,  and  worthy  of  the 
 subject,  to  justify  you  in  once  omitting  to  listen  to  that 
 glorious  Gospel,  in  the  preaching  of  which  some  single 
 word  dropped  in  season  may  be  to  you  the  turning  point 
 of  your  everlasting  acceptance  before  God. 
 
 AYhen  the  king  saw  this  mysterious  hand- writing,  he 
 sent  for  the  astrologers,  and  asked  them  to  explain  the 
 meaning  of  the  inscription  on  the  wall.  It  has  been  a 
 puzzling  question  to  commentators  wh}''  the  wise  men 
 were  unable  to  translate  it.  The  words  are  plain,  trans- 
 latable Chaldee ;  and  a  Chaldean  scholar  of  the  present 
 day,  if  called  upon  to  read  them  when  inscribed  upon 
 anything,  would  be  able  instantly  to  do  so.  There  have 
 been  two  or  three  reasons  assigned  for  this  inability  on 
 the  part  of  the  wise  men.  One  is,  that  they  were  'uritten 
 in  the  ancient  Hebrew  characters,  the  knowledge  of  which 
 they  had  lost,  and  not  in  the  modern  Hebrew  character, 
 which  differs  little  or  nothing  from  the  Chaldean.  The 
 character  in  which  the  Old  Testament  is  commonly 
 written  is  not  the  ancient  Hebrew  character,  and  tlie 
 square  form  of  the  letters  now  used  is  not  the  primitive 
 form.  It  has  therefore  been  supposed  that  the  inscription 
 was  in  their  ancient  characters,  and  that  therefore  the 
 Chaldeans  were  unable  to  read  it.  The  difference  be- 
 tween the  two  forms  may  be  as  great  as  between  our 
 English  letters  and  the  German,  or  perhaps  between  the 
 modern  English  letters  and  the  ancient  Saxon  or  old 
 English  character.  Others  think  that  the  words  were 
 inscribed  in  some  dark  mj^sterious  hieroglyphic,  to  the 
 signification  of  which  there  was  no  key  in  the  possession 
 of  the  astrologers.  Others,  that  it  was  the  divine  truth 
 written  by  a  divine  hand,  and  that,  like  the  Bible  itself, 
 it  was  intelligible  only  in  the  light  in  which  it  was 
 
172  PROrHETIC    STTTDIES 
 
 written — that  it  was  unmeaning  and  unintelligible  to 
 the  astrologers,  and  luminous  only  to  him  whom  the 
 Spirit  of  God  had  taught.  These  are  the  reasons  which 
 have  been  assigned,  and  any  and  all  of  them  are  sufficient 
 to  explain  why  the  Chaldean  astrologers  were  unable  to 
 interpret  the  Avriting.  AYhen  they  failed  to  do  so,  all 
 T\'as  blank  terror  and  alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  king  and 
 his  courtiers ;  but  in  the  crisis,  when  all  seemed  to  be 
 agitated  and  to  have  lost  their  self-possession,  one  woman 
 appeared  nobler  than  them  all,  and  spoke  with  a  calm- 
 ness, a  self-possession,  and  a  dignity  which  kindled  hope 
 where  all  before  was  utter  despair.  Tliis  woman — here 
 called  the  queen — was  not  ihe,  wife  of  Eelshazzar,  but 
 the  wife  of  his  grandfather,  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  and  there- 
 fore I  venture  to  call  her  the  queen  dowager.  She 
 instantly  stepped  in  and  suggested  the  person  Avho  could 
 solve  the  difficulty;  and,  in  so  doing,  she  presented  a 
 striking  contrast  to  the  conduct,  feelings,  and  condition 
 of  those  that  were  around  her.  It  is  almost  invariably 
 the  fact,  that  woman,  who  is  easily  agitated  by  trifles, 
 when  some  great  crisis  overtakes  her  which  calls  forth 
 all  the  latent  energies  of  her  soul,  is  found  to  display  a 
 calmness,  a  magnanimity,  a  self-possession,  that  makes 
 the  magnanimity  of  the  other  sex  sink  into  insignificance 
 beside  it !  A  woman  is  made  for  a  great  crisis ;  and  it  is 
 in  such  that  she  shines  like  an  angel,  and  indicates  power 
 which  man  does  not  give  her  credit  for ;  and  in  this  case, 
 where  those  powers  were  illuminated,  inspired,  and 
 sanctified  by  piety,  she  presented  a  contrast  the  most 
 complete  to  all  A\'ho  were  present  at  that  dissipated  fes- 
 tival, smitten  as  they  were  with  fear,  shuddering  with 
 alarm,  and  looking  for  the  heavens  to  rend  and  the  thun- 
 derbolts of  God  to  overwhelm  them.  And  is  not  the 
 whole  history  of  Christianity'  a  comment  on  what  I  have 
 said  ?  AVho  was  last  at  the  cross  ?  Woman.  AYho  was 
 first  at  the  tomb  on  tlie  resurrection  morn  ?  "Woman. 
 Amid  all  the  voices  of  scorn,  insult,  and  reproach  that 
 were  lified  up  against  the  blessed  Jesus  on  the  streets 
 of~  Jerusalem,  there  is  not  one  record  of  the  voice  of  a 
 M  Oman  being  heard  offering  insult  or  using  the  language 
 
belshazzar's  seast.  173 
 
 of  scorn,  or  reproach.  If  she  was  first  in  the  transgres- 
 sion, she  was  first  in  the  scenes  of  the  recovery  and  the 
 resurrection  also.  It  is  time  that  man  should  not  mention 
 the  first,  but  rejoice  in  her  altered  aspect  and  bearing  in 
 the  last.  And  who  does  not  know  that  the  vigils  of  the 
 dead,  the  beds  of  the  sick,  and  the  chambers  of  the  dying, 
 have  never  been  without  her  presence  ?  And  who  does 
 not  know  that  just  where  woman  is  placed  in  her  proper 
 position,  there  society  culminates  in  its  loftiest  grandeur  ? 
 teaching  us  that  the  ordinance  of  God  is  not  that  woman 
 should  be,  as  she  is  made  in  some  countries,  the  slave 
 and  the  serf  of  man,  but  the  ornament,  the  companion, 
 the  friend,  and  in  some  respects  the  instructor  of  man. 
 
 The  queen,  thus  exhibiting  such  magnanimity,  ap- 
 peared in  the  midst  of  the  scene,  and  suggested  Daniel  as 
 the  solver  of  doubts,  the  explainer  of  perplexities,  gifted 
 by  God  with  miraculous  and  inspired  understanding. 
 There  is  just  one  fact  which  I  will  now  dwell  upon, 
 reserving  for  another  lecture  the  inscription  on  the  wall, 
 and  that  is,  that  it  is  stated  by  the  queen  that  Daniel 
 was  the  head  of  the  astrologers  and  the  wise  men  and 
 the  magicians  of  the  kingdom,  ''  whom  thy  father  made 
 master  of  the  astrologers,  the  wise  men,  the  magicians, 
 and  the  soothsayers."  This  has  been  objected  to,  be- 
 cause it  is  expressly  stated  in  Deuteronomy  that  the 
 children  of  Israel  were  to  have  no  sympathy  or  commu- 
 nion with  diviners  and  soothsayers ;  for  instance, 
 **  There  shall  not  be  found  among  you  any  one  that 
 maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire, 
 or  that  useth  divination,  or  an  observer  of  the  times,  or 
 an  enchanter,  or  a  witch,  or  a  charmer,  or  a  consulter 
 with  familiar  spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a  necromancer." 
 (Deut.  xviii.  10.) 
 
 It  has  been  asked,  why  did  Daniel  consent,  according 
 to  the  statement  of  the  queen,  to  be  the  chief  or  the  head 
 of  the  astrologers,  soothsayers,  and  magicians  of  the  king 
 of  Eabylon  ?  The  answer  is,  that  our  apprehension,  i.e. 
 the  popular  apprehension  of  the  character  of  these  astro- 
 logers is  a  very  erroneous  one.  They  were  not  enchanters 
 who  held  communion  with  evil  spirits ;  they  were  not 
 
174  PKOPHETIC    STUDIEy. 
 
 diviners.      They  "svere  men  who  studied  the  signs  and 
 phenomena  of  astronomj-,  and,  having  no  written  reve- 
 lations, they  believed  that  God  had  written  the  present, 
 the  past,  and  also  some  presentiments  of  the  future,  in 
 the  sky ;  that  the  stars  were  the  letters  of  that  revela- 
 tion ;  and  that  by  studying  them  they  might  interpret 
 events,  present,  jjast,  and  to  come.      If  they  had  been 
 soothsayers  or  diviners  in  the  same  sense  as  those  to 
 whom  Moses  alludes,  for  Daniel  to  have  allowed  himself 
 to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  them  would  have  been  the 
 sacrifice  of  his  principles  and  the  surrender  of  his  faith. 
 This  he  did  not  and  would  not  do.  They  were  magi,  not 
 magicians.  They  were  philosophers,  not  sorcerers.  They 
 held  communion  with  God's  outward  world,  not  with 
 evil  spirits,  as  the  sorcerers  and  diviners  of  old.     When 
 Daniel  therefore  consented  to  become  their  head,  he  be- 
 came the  patron  of  science,  the  principal  of  a  university, 
 the  president  of  a  royal  society,  and  in  no  respect  did  he 
 sympathise,  by  thus  consenting,  with  sorcerers,  magi- 
 cians, or  men  that  held  communion  with  evil  spirits. 
 And  no  doubt  more  science  than  we  generally  give  them 
 credit  for  was  known  to  these  men.      I  doubt  not  that  a 
 perfect  acquaintance   with    the   stars   of   the   sky,  the 
 flowers  of  the  earth,  all  bright  things  above,  and  all 
 beautiful  things  below,  was  more  frequently  the  posses- 
 sion of  these  ancient  philosophers,   than  modern  ones, 
 with  their  loftier  discernment,  are  disposed  generally  to 
 admit.     Thus  we  may  see  that  if  we  had  no  written 
 book  reflecting  God's  mind,  the  next  book,  though  far 
 inferior  to  it,  is  God's  book  of  JS'ature :  we  can  see  his 
 smiles  in  the  sunbeams,  his  mercy  in  Providence,  his 
 glory  in  the  expanse  that  is  above  us — his  foot-print  in 
 the  depths  that  are  beneath  us ;  and  blind,  blind  indeed 
 must  that  man  be,  who  does  not  see  that  God  is  in  the 
 height,  and  in  the  depth,  having  a  centre  that  is  every- 
 where, and  a  circumference  that  is  nowhere.     These  as- 
 trologers were  not  to  be  blamed  if,  without  a  Bible  such 
 as  Ave  have,  they  took  the  next  Bible,  the  book  of  the 
 outer  world,  and  there  sought  to  understand  the  mind, 
 the  purposes,  and  the  will  of  God. 
 
belshazzar's  peast.  175 
 
 Daniel  then,  as  the  president  of  this  royal  society — a 
 student  of  science — the  principal  of  this  learned  univer- 
 sity— is  introduced  into  the  feast  amid  its  fading  splen- 
 dour, its  departing  joys,  its  miserable,  degraded,  and 
 degrading  remains ;  and  the  king  speaks  to  him  as  re- 
 cognising him  only  by  name,  but  not  knowing  hira  in 
 person.  Daniel  was  banished  from  that  court :  he  was 
 too  honest  spoken  a  prophet  to  be  very  popular  there. 
 The  king  therefore  tells  him,  "  I  have  heard  that  thou 
 canst  make  intei'pretations,  and  dissolve  doubts — that  the 
 spirit  of  the  Gods  is  in  thee,  and  that  light  and  under- 
 standing and  excellent  wisdom  is  found  in  thee."  Daniel, 
 without  being  discomposed  by  the  cold  reception  of  the 
 monarch,  and  without  being  the  least  awed  by  the 
 dangers  he  would  have  incurred  through  faithfulness,  or 
 in  the  least  seduced  by  the  honours  and  emoluments 
 which  would  have  fallen  to  his  lot  had  he  prophesied 
 smooth  things,  addresses  the  monarch,  seeing  him  dis- 
 robed of  all  the  pomp  and  splendour  of  a  throne,  and  only 
 trembling  like  a  guilty  criminal  in  the  presence  of  a  holy 
 and  a  heart-  searching  God.  Daniel  reminds  him  of  his 
 sins — tells  him  of  his  crimes — shows  him  how  lessons  he 
 might  have  learned  he  had  lost — how  events  that  were 
 significant  he  had  neglected — how  the  history  of  his 
 grandfather  he  had  read  backward — how  he  had  incurred 
 all  the  responsibilities  of  knowing  the  truth,  and  lost  the 
 benefit  of  all  its  precious  and  practical  lessons  ;  and  then 
 infonns  him  that,  because  of  these  things,  the  kingdom 
 had  passed  from  him,  and,  in  the  high  puii^oses  of  him 
 who  setteth  up  one  and  puUeth  down  others,  had  been 
 given  to  another. 
 
 Lessons  that  are  neglected  become  awful  judgments. 
 The  sermons  which  you  hear,  M'hich  are  fitted  to  instruct, 
 but  from  which  you  draw  no  practical  instruction  what- 
 ever, shall  reverberate  in  crashes  of  thunder  at  the  Judg- 
 ment Day ;  and  you  will  leara,  when  it  is  too  late,  that 
 it  would  have  been  more  tolerable  if  you  had  never 
 appeared  within  the  walls  of  the  sanctuary,  or  read  the 
 sacred  page,  or  listened  to  a  preached  Gospel,  than  to 
 have  done  all  and  despised  all,  and  perished  amid  the 
 
176  PliOPHETlC    STUDIES. 
 
 offers  of  love,  the  sounds  of  reconciliation,  and  the  hopes 
 of  glory. 
 
 Turn  to  practical  account  every  lesson  that  you  hear : 
 "when  the  preacher  has  done,  your  duties  only  commence. 
 What  I  speak  is  to  instruct  you,  and  that  instruction  is 
 meant  to  save  you.  Go  forth,  and  show  on  the  lloyal 
 Exchange — in  the  cabinet,  in  the  congress,  in  the  parlia- 
 ment— show  in  all  places  that  are  high  and  in  all  that 
 are  lowlj- — in  the  high  roads  of  public  life,  and  in  the 
 by-paths  and  isolated  lanes  of  private  life — show  in 
 every  relationship  and  position  in  society,  that  Chris- 
 tianitj'  has  made  you  holier,  happier,  nobler  than  the  rest 
 of  mankind,  and  that  it  is  not  in  vain  that  you  have 
 heard  that  a  God  has  suffered  that  mankind  might  be 
 redeemed. 
 
 \ 
 
LECTURE  Xm. 
 
 WEIGHED    AND    FOUND   WANTING. 
 
 "  Then  was  the  part  of  the  hand  sent  from  him  ;  and  this 
 writing  was  writte^i.  And  this  is  the  writing  that 
 was  written^  Mene,  Mene,  Tekel,  JJpharsiny — Daniel 
 V.  24,  25. 
 
 I  noticed,  in  my  previous  addresses,  the  circumstances 
 that  preceded  the  intei-pretation  of  this  mysterious  in- 
 scription on  the  plaster  of  the  royal  palace :  I  now  beg 
 your  attention  to  the  significance  of  each  word  of  that 
 inscription,  but  especially  to  one  which  seems  most 
 capable  of  affording  improvement  to  us,  namely,  '*  tekel." 
 The  word  **  mene"  is  twice  repeated,  simply  to  give  em- 
 phasis to  the  word:  ''mene,  mene;"  literally,  "there  is 
 number,"  "  thy  kingdom  is  numbered,"  or,  "  God  hath 
 numbered  thy  kingdom  and  finished  it."  It  is  repeated 
 merely  to  give  emphasis,  just  as  the  words  are  repeated, 
 "thou  shalt  surely  die;"  literally,  "dying,  thou  shalt 
 die."  "  Tekel,  again,  means  simply,  "  he  hath  weighed ;" 
 it  is  applied  to  the  act  of  a  goldsmith,  who  weighs  the] 
 gold,  and  ascertains  the  amount  of  alloy,  that  he  may  sepa-| 
 rate  it  from  the  pure  metal.  The  word  "upharsin"  is  the 
 plural  number  of  the  same  word  which  is  repeated  in  the 
 28th  verse,  "peres;"  and,  though  it  reads  so  difiercntly 
 to  us,  it  is  really  one  word,  difiering  only  in  number,  and 
 the  meaning  of  it  is,  simply  and  literally,  "  is  divided  ;" 
 and  Daniel  the  prophet  adds,  in  the  prophetic  spirit,  the 
 words  or  the  commentary,  '  and  is  given  to  the  Medes 
 and  Persians."  The  word  "  upharsin,"  or  "percs,"  has 
 nothing  to  do  with  the  word  "Persian,"  or  the  word 
 "  Mode  ;"  this  last  is  the  explanation  given  by  the  pro- 
 ph.jt ;  and  the  inscription,  literally  translated,  would  be 
 "  numbered,  weighed  (and,  probably^  found  wanting), 
 
\^: 
 
 178  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 and  divided  :"  and  Daniel  thus  explains  the  mysterious 
 enigma,  by  saying,  '*  tliy  kingdom  is  numbered,"  or  the 
 years  of  its  existence  are  now  completed;  "  thyself  art 
 Aveighed  in  the  srr.les  of  the  .s:i;icMiary,  and  found  want- 
 ing ;  and  your  kingdom  now  is  a'ooal  to  be  divided  among 
 the  Mcdes  and  Persians,  j'our  bitterest  enemies."  Such 
 is  the  meaning  of  the  words. 
 
 God  is  represented  as  weighing  all  men  ;  all  their 
 motives,  their  ends,  their  characters.  It  is  a  common 
 scriptural  expression,  which  indicates  that  it  is  meant 
 by  God  that  we  should  feel  and  realise  this  fact.  For 
 instance,  Hannah  said,  *'The  Lord  is  a  God  of  know- 
 ledge, and  by  him  actions  are  Aveighed:"  David  says, 
 **  Men  of  low  degree  are  vanity,  and  men  of  high  degree 
 are  a  lie  ;  to  be  laid  in  the  balance  they  are  altogether 
 wanting."  Again,  Isaiah  says,  *'  Thou  most  upright 
 dost  iveiffh  the  path  of  the  just;"  and  Solomon  writes, 
 "All  the  ways  of  a  man  are  clean  in  his  own  eyes ;  but 
 the  Lord  wcigheth  the  spirit."  From  these  passages  Ave 
 learn  that  the  idea  contained  in  this  inscription  is  one 
 frequently  found  in  Scripture,  as  applicable  to  all.  It 
 suggests  to  us  many  precious  and  important  lessons. 
 
 Let  us  realise  this  one  fact,  that  there  is  not  a  motive 
 in  one  single  heart  in  this  assembly  that  the  eye  of  God 
 does  not  now  see  as  clearly  as  if  that  motive  were  the 
 only  thing  in  the  whole  universe,  and  that  God  does  not 
 weigh  with  an  exactness  as  complete  as  if  the  destinies 
 of  the  universe  depended  upon  this  one  result.  Let 
 every  man  in  this  assembly  only  realise  this.  It  is 
 important  that  I  should  ask  you  to  do  so :  for  I  believe 
 it  is  not  increase  of  light  that  you  need  from  the  pulpit, 
 so  much  as  increase  of  power  in  the  pew,  that  will  make 
 the  light  which  you  feel  to  become  life,  and  the  lessons 
 that  you  know  to  be  impressed  with  effect.  Let  us  then 
 try  to  realise  this  solemn  truth ;  and  if  there  be  a  God 
 in  heaven  it  is  true,  that  there  is  not  a  motive  in  the 
 depths  of  our  hearts,  there  is  not  a  design  the  most  in- 
 tricate, the  most  secret  within  us,  there  is  not  a  crooked 
 path  you  intend  to  pursue  to-morrow,  nor  a  crooked 
 practice  in  which  you  intend  to  indulge  next  week,  that 
 
WEIGHED    AND    FOUND    WANTING.  1 79 
 
 God  does  not  now  completely  comprehend  and  unravel, 
 the  estimate  of  which  God  does  not  now  form,  and  the 
 doom  of  which  is  not  denounced  at  a  tribunal  from  which 
 there  can  be  no  appeal.  Psalm  cxxxix.  ought  to  be  the 
 expression  of  our  feelings  now.  *'  Lord,  thou  hast  ] 
 searched  me,  and  known  me ;  thou  art  acquainted  with 
 all  my  ways  ;  thou  knowest  my  thoughts  afar  off."  I 
 have  often  been  struck  Avith  that  single  clause  in 
 Psalm  cxxxix.,  God  **  knows  our  thoughts  afar  off." 
 While  the  thought  looms  in  the  distant  horizon,  before 
 we  have  clearly  conceived  it  ourselves  in  all  the  length 
 and  breadth  of  its  dimensions,  God  sees  it,  knows  it,  and 
 thoroughl)^  appr(?ciates  it.  By  him  all  thoughts  are 
 estimated,  all  actions  are  weighed,  and  all  desires  are 
 known.  This  is  not  the  case  with  one  individual  more 
 than  another,  or  one  degree  or  rank  more  than  another. 
 The  Psalmist,  in  the  passage  I  have  already  quoted,  says, 
 "  Men  of  low  degree  are  vanity,  and  men  of  high  degree 
 are  a  lie ;  to  be  laid  in  the  balance,  they  are  altogether 
 lighter  than  vanity;"  let  the  thought  be  in  the  heart  of 
 a  monarch  or  a  beggar,  let  it  be  the  appropriated  dis- 
 honesty of  a  penny,  or  the  seizing  violently  of  a  kingdom 
 — God  sees  it  and  notes  it :  and  every  deed  that  is  done 
 upon  the  earth,  unrepented  of  and  unforgiven,  shall  be 
 heard  in  reverberating  crashes  throughout  eternity ;  the 
 crime  containing  in  its  bosom  its  punishments,  and  all 
 eternity  attesting  that  it  is  so. 
 
 But  let  me  look  at  the  words  I  have  selected,  and 
 speciallj^  at  the  word  *'tekel,"  "  weighed  in  the  balance 
 and  found  wanting,"  because  it  is  to  each  individually 
 and  personally  instructive.  God  weighs  every  man,  we  i 
 are  told,  in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuary.  He  weighs  them 
 at  the  judgment -seat,  and  in  reference  to  their  everlast- 
 ing state  of  happiness  or  of  sorrow.  There  is  placed,  if 
 you  will  allow  me  to  prosecute  the  figure  without  ex- 
 hausting it,  or  extracting  more  from  it  than  it  is  meant 
 to  convey,  in  one  scale,  God's  holy,  everlasting,  immu- 
 table law — that  law  which  is,  "  thou  shalt  love  thei 
 Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heai't,  and  with  all  thy  soul,', 
 and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and' 
 
 N  2  * 
 
180  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 thy  neighbour  as  thyself."     He  T\dll  not  subtract  one 
 atom. :  it  is  not  "  thou  shalt  love  with  much  of  thine 
 heart ;"  but,  "  thou  shalt  love  with  all  thine  heart."   It 
 is  not,  ''  thou  shalt  love  tvith  a  large  share  of  thy  mind," 
 but  "  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself." 
 This  is  placed  in  one  scale :   every  man's  character  is 
 placed  in  the  opposite  scale,  and  by  its  preponderance  or 
 its  lightness  every   man's  doom   is   fixed  and   decided 
 accordingly.    What  have  we  to  place  against  it  ?    Years  H 
 without  thought,  and  days  and  nights  without  a  sense  of  / 
 responsibility  to  God.     Years  of  selfishness,  and  sin,  and  | 
 rebellion,  and  suspicion,  and  hatred,  is  all  that  man,  the 
 best  amongst  us,  can  place  in  the  scale  that  is  weighed 
 against  this.     And  needs  it  any  logic  of  mine  to  demon- 
 strate that   when   in   the  one   scale  there  is  a  perfect 
 unchanging   law,   demanding   perfect,    continuous,   un- 
 swerving obedience,  and  in  the  other  are  sin  and  folly 
 and  shame,  the  inscription  must  ap])ear  upon  the  very 
 scales  that  belong  to  the  balance,  "By  deeds  of  law  no 
 man  living  can  be  justified?"   ''  Tekel,  thou  art  weighed 
 in  the  balance,  and  art  found  wanting." 
 
 But  suppose,  in  the  next  place,  I  keep  still  in  the  one 
 scale,  this  holy,  perfect  law,  demanding  perfect  love  for 
 God,  and  perfect  love  for  your  neighbour  ;  and  suppose  I 
 select  the  most  accomplished,  the  most  honourable,  the 
 most  just,  the  most  generous  of  mankind,  (and  all  these 
 traits  are  beautiful,  because  originally  divine)  and  sup- 
 pose I  place  this  man,  who  has  paid  eveiy  debt,  who 
 owes  no  man  anything,  who  is  characterised  by  every 
 social,  national,  personal,  and  domestic  excellence — and 
 all  these  things  arc  most  precious  and  most  excellent ; 
 and  I  only  wish  that  Christians  were  more  and  more 
 adorned  Avith  them  than  they  are — suppose  I  put  surh 
 an  one  in  the  scale  opposite  to  that  which  contains  the 
 holy  and  the  unchanging  law  of  God.  What  would  be 
 the  result  ?  That  this  scale  must  inevitably  kick  the 
 beam.  For,  when  the  experiment  is  made,  we  must  say 
 to  him,  ''Most  justly  have  you  done  to  man,  but  how 
 stand  you  with  reference  to  God  ?  most  generouslv  have 
 you  acted  in  society,  but  how  have  you  acted  towards 
 
WEIGHED    AND    FOrND    WANTING.  181 
 
 God  ?  you  have  kept  the  last  six  comniandments  of  the 
 ,  law,  I  Avill  assume,  perfectl}^  but  what  have  you  done 
 V  with  the  four  first  ?  you  have  loved  your  neighbour,  I 
 will  admit,  with  all  your  heart ;  but  have  you  loved  God 
 with  all  your  heart,  and  mind,  and  strength?  It  is 
 utterly  impossible  that  a  half-obedience  can  meet  the  re- 
 quirements of  a  law,  which  demands  whole  obedience  to 
 every  commandment  and  every  section  of  it.  You  are 
 not  wanting  if  you  are  weighed  against  the  last  six  com- 
 mandments of  the  law ;  but  you  are  "  tekel,''  altogether 
 wanting,  if  weighed  against  the  whole  ten  command- 
 ments of  the  law.  It  will  be  no  justification  in  the  sight 
 of  God  that  you  have  been  blameless  towards  man,  if  you 
 have  not  been  what  God  requires  you  to  be  towards  him 
 that  made  you,  and  gave  his  Son  to  redeem  you. 
 
 But  I  will  adduce  another  character,  and  weigh  him. 
 I  Avill  take  the  man  who  is  not  only  just,  and  generous, 
 and  good  in  all  the  relationships  of  social  life — and  such 
 men  there  are,  bearing  mark  of  man's  original  beauty 
 and  perfection  which  sin  and  Satan  have  not  altogether 
 effaced — but  who,  in  addition,  is  most  strict  in  his  at- 
 tention to  what  are  popularly  called  ''all  his  religious 
 duties;"  who  is  never  absent  from  the  Church;  who 
 belongs  to  the  strictest  and  the  most  rigid  sect  in  that 
 Church;  who  is  a  punctilious  observer  of  every  ceremony; 
 who  never  made  a  genuflexion  too  few  or  too  many ; 
 who  never  was  absent  from  matins  in  the  morning  or 
 from  vespers  at  night ;  never  failed  to  bow  at  the  name 
 of  Jesus ;  wore  black  on  Good  Friday,  and  dressed  in 
 white  upon  Easter  Sunday  ;  one  who  fasted  while  others 
 feasted — is  such  a  one  who  has  been  thus  exact,  thus 
 punctilious,  thus  obedient  to  every  ecclesiastical  require- 
 ment, who  has  been  thus  baptised,  thus  confirmed,  thus 
 consecrated,  thus  dedicated,  thus  absolved — is  he  to  be 
 classed  with  the  multitude  of  mankind  r — is  he,  when 
 weighed  in  the  scales,  to  be  pronounced  *'  altogether 
 wanting?"  The  answer  is,  God's  law  is  not  satisfied 
 with  ceremonies.  You  cannot  pay  your  debts  to  God  in 
 rubrics.  The  sound  will  still  thunder  in  your  ears,  Who 
 hafl  required  this  at  your  hand  ?     God's  law  is,  "  Thou 
 
7 
 
 182  rEOPKETIC   STTTDIES. 
 
 shalt  love;"  your  response  has  been,  ''I  have  per- 
 formed." The  decision  must  be,  that  with  all  your 
 ecclesiastical  ceremonies,  and  Avith  all  your  social  excel- 
 lences, the  first  ecclesiastically  perfect,  the  last  morally 
 exact,  when  weighed  against  the  holy,  unchangeable,  un- 
 swerving law  of  God,  you  are  ''  altogether  wanting." 
 
 But  I  will  add  one  feature  more,  and  will  assume  this 
 character  to  be  perfected  by  another ;  that  he  is  in  all  not 
 only  perfectly  sincere,  but  an  earnest  inquirer  after  truth, 
 anxious  in  all  respects  to  know  and  do  his  duty.  Surely 
 such  a  one,  when  weighed  in  the  balance,  though  he  has 
 erred  and  come  short  in  some  things,  will  be  forgiven, 
 in  that  he  was  sincere  in  the  pursuit  of  all  things.  I 
 answer,  sincerity  added  to  a  sin  does  not  make  it  virtue; 
 sincerity  added  to  a  heresy  does  not  make  it  orthodoxy. 
 "When  one  is  sincere,  we  respect  the  man  because  he  is 
 so  ;  but  if  he  is  in  error,  we  do  not  the  less  condemn  the 
 error,  because  he  is  sincere  that  holds  it.  The  sincerity 
 with  which  he  holds  it  makes  us  no  less  heartily  de- 
 nounce the  error  that  ruins  his  soul.  I  have  not  a  doubt 
 that  there  are  sincere  Jews,  sincere  and  enthusiastic 
 Romanists,  sincere  Socinians  and  sceptics — I  have  no 
 doubt  of  it.  Their  sincerity  must  make  me  treat  them 
 with  respect,  their  error  remains  to  be  judged  by  him  in 
 whose  word  it  is  clearly  and  unequivocally  denounced. 
 Saul  of  Tarsus  said,  "  I  verily  thought  that  I  ought  to 
 do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus."  He 
 was  perfectly  sincere ;  but  he  adds,  in  the  retrospect  of 
 his  sincerity,  *'  Those  things  which  were  gain  to  me, 
 those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ ;  and  I  count  all  things 
 but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
 Christ."  The  sincerest  ecclesiastic,  and  the  sinccrest 
 moralist,  if  unjustified  by  a  righteousness  without  them, 
 and  unwashed  in  the  Redeemer's  blood,  when  weighed 
 in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuary,  must  be  found  "  altogether 
 wanting."  There  is  not,  in  one  word,  a  saint  uj)on 
 earth,  the  most  excellent  that  ever  breathed,  who  is  not 
 compelled  at  every  moment  to  say,  ''  If  we  say  that  we 
 have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not 
 in  us ;"  and  there  is  not  an  enlightened  and  a  Christian 
 
WEIGHED   AND   FOUND   WANTING.  183 
 
 heart  that  does  not  breathe,  in  the  prospect  of  a  judg- 
 ment-scat, *' Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant, 
 
 0  Lord,  for  in  thy  sight  can  no  man  living  be  justified." 
 There  is  not  a  Christian  in  this  assembly  who  knows 
 what  sin  is,  and  what  his  own  heart  is,  and  how  pure, 
 how  perfect,  how  infinite  in  its  exactions  is  the  holy 
 law  of  God,  who  does  not  feel,  ''  If  thou.  Lord,  shouldst 
 mark  iniquity,  0  Lord,  who  could  stand?"  Therefore 
 there  is  not  a  Christian  who,  as  he  thinks  of  this  dread 
 balance,  and  of  that  most  perfect  law,  and  of  his  own 
 deep  and  conscious  defects,  does  not  crj-,  and  cry  with 
 unfeigned  lips,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 
 
 How  then  can  we  meet  this  law  ?  how  can  we  escape 
 the  inscription  '' tekel,"  weighed  and  found  wanting? 
 Against  the  law  is  weighed  for  us  the  magnifier  of  that 
 law.  Against  the  law  with  its  infinite  demands,  is 
 weighed  the  infinite  righteousness  of  him  that  made  it 
 honourable.  Against  the  breach  of  that  law  is  placed 
 that  precious  blood  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  When 
 we  look  at  that  law,  the  inscription  impressed  upon 
 every  soul  is,  ''weighed  and  found  wanting."  But  when 
 we  look  at  Christ,  who  is  our  representative  in  the  pros  • 
 pect  of  the  decisions  of  that  law,  then  the  inscription 
 "  tekel,"  weighed  and  found  wanting,  is  washed  aAvay 
 in  his  precious  blood,  and  the  glorious  and  illuminated 
 characters  are  inscribed  in  their  stead,  ''  complete  in 
 Christ,  without  spot  or  blemish  or  any  such  thing," 
 
 I  have  looked  then  at  man  as  weighed  against  God's 
 holy  law ;  and  Ave  have  seen  that  by  deeds  of  law  no 
 flesh  can  be  justified" — that  ''weighed  and  found  want- 
 ing" is  our  inscription  by  nature ;  and  that  justified,  and 
 complete,  and  accepted  is  only  our  inheritance  bj*  grace. 
 
 1  now  take  the  expression  "  M'oighed  and  found  wanting" 
 in  reference  to  Christian  character.  I  put  in  the  one 
 scale  not  God's  holy  law,  but  I  put  in  it  true,  though  it 
 maj'-  be  not  perfect.  Christian  character ;  and  I  wish  you 
 to  look  at  various  characters,  as  weighed  against  it,  and 
 see  if  we  are  among  those  who,  thus  weighed,  are 
 "  found  wanting." 
 
 In  the  first  place,  they  are  weighed  and  found  wanting 
 
184  PBOPHETIC    SirDIES. 
 
 Trho  are  not  converted,  or  bom  again,  or  changed  in 
 heart  and  spiiit.  We  are  told  in  Scripture  that  the 
 carnal  mind  is  "  enmity  against  God,"  and  the  uncon- 
 Terted  man,  however  outwardly  decorous,  is  the  child  of 
 the  wicked  one.  Js'ow  understand  what  I  mean  by  re- 
 generation. I  do  not  mean  baptism ;  I  do  not  mean  a 
 decent  outward  change ;  but  total  transformation  of 
 character — a  transition  from  a  state  of  darkness,  of  dis- 
 tance, and  of  sin,  to  a  state  of  light,  of  nearness  to  God, 
 of  holiness,  and  of  happiness.  I  mean  by  it,  not  a  mere 
 ecclesiastical  change,  but  life  from  the  dead,  or  as  it  is 
 called  by  the  Apostle,  "  a  new  creature."  It  is  not,  as 
 some  persons  call  it,  thoughtfulness.  That  is  not  con- 
 version. It  is  not  seriousnesf^,  but  regeneration :  it  is 
 not  becoming  thoughtful,  but  it  is  being  converted.  It 
 is  not  outward  conformity  to  any  requirement,  but  a 
 thorough,  inner,  radical  revolution  of  mind,  of  prefer- 
 ence, of  wishes,  of  hopes.  It  is  not  religious  excitement  ; 
 it  is  hot  ecclesiastical  zeal ;  it  is  not  an  inappreciable  and 
 minute  change,  but  it  is  as  complete  in  the  soul  as  the 
 symbol  that  indicates  it,  "  being  born  again."  Do  not 
 deceive  yourselves  in  this  matter  :  depend  upon  it,  it  is 
 far  easier  to  know  if  T\e  are  so  than  many  persons  are 
 disposed  to  admit.  Many  get  rid  of  the  responsibility  of 
 ascertaining  if  they  are  so,  by  pronouncing  it  very  diffi- 
 cult and  very  delicate.  Certainly,  to  pronounce  upon 
 others  is  a  very  doubtful  and  delicate  point ;  but  to  pro- 
 nounce upon  ourselves  is  not  so  difficult  a  thing  as  our 
 own  passions  and  prejudices  lead  us  to  suppose.  I  ask 
 you,  can  the  sun  rise  to  his  meridian  at  noon  and  shine 
 upon  the  earth,  and  we  be  unconscious  of  it }  Can  the 
 dead  step  forth  from  their  tombs,  and  themselves  not  be 
 aware  of  the  change  ?  Can  the  spring  burst  upon  the 
 earth,  and  make  it  break  forth  into  blossom,  verdure,  and 
 beauty,  and  we  not  know  it  ?  Can  the  slave  be  made  free — 
 the  maniac  be  made  rational,  and  neither  of  them  be  con- 
 scious that  a  great  change  has  overtaken  them  ?  And  yet 
 all  these  changes  are  not  greater,  but  very  much  less  than 
 that  change  which  must  pass  upon  every  man  before  he 
 can  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  for  it  is  written,  "Ex- 
 
WEIGHED    AND    FOUND    WANTING.  185 
 
 cept,"  and  until  '^  ye  be  bom  again,  ye  cannot  sec  the 
 kingdom  of  God."  And  therefore,  my  dear  friends, 
 whatever  excellencies  you  may  have  outwardly — and  I 
 do  not  wish  to  depreciate  them — whatever  external 
 accomplishments  you  may  have — and  I  do  not  wish  to 
 deny  them — if  they  were  weighed,  the  brightest  of  them 
 all,  against  the  definition  of  Christian  character,  as  given 
 by  the  Spirit  of  God,  will  be  found  utterly  *' wanting." 
 Then,  if  this  be  so,  is  there  a  question  we  can  ask  which 
 more  vitall)^  concerns  us  than  this, — Are  we  born  again  ? 
 are  we  shams  or  realities  ?  are  we  Christians  or  world- 
 lings ?  are  we  transformed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  or  are 
 w^e  still  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ?"  If  I  have  over- 
 stated the  doctrine,  then  you  may  despise  it;  but  if  I 
 have  understated  it,  which  is  what  I  have  done,  then,  my 
 dear  friends,  carry  home  with  you  this  night  this  deep, 
 personal,  individual  impression,  that  whatever  you  may 
 be,  whatever  you  may  have  given,  whatever  you  have 
 suffered,  whatever  you  have  sacrificed,  however  j'ou  may 
 have  been  baptised,  at  whatever  church  or  chapel  you 
 may  worship,  ''  except  j-ou  be  born  again,  you  cannot 
 see  the  kingdom  of  God."  , 
 
 Let   me,    in   the   next   place,    state  this, — men   aro 
 "  weighed  and  found  wanting"  when  they  arc  living,  \ 
 constantly  living  at  this  moment  in  the  practice  of  anyy 
 known,   deliberate,   and   voluntary   sin.     It  is  true  of 
 every  man  at  every  moment,  ''  if  we  say  Ave  have  no  sin 
 we  deceive  ourselves ;"  but  it  is  as  true  of  the  Christian 
 at  every  moment,  that  he  wars  against  all  transgressions, 
 and  becomes  everj'-  day,  like  the  shining  light,  more  and 
 more  victorious.     Do  not  in  this  matter  deceive  your- 
 selves.    If  you  harbour  deliberately  pride,  vain-glory,  ^ 
 avarice,   ambition,   murmuring,    discontent,    bitterness, 
 evil-speaking,  lying,  and  slandering, — if  these  sins  you 
 knowingly  indulge  in,  then,  my  dear  friends,  you  give 
 evidence  in  so  far,  that  you  are  not  born  again — that  j^ou 
 have  not  the  Christian  character  that  will  stand — that 
 you  are  in  the  category  and  condition  of  tliose  who, 
 when  weighed  in  the  scales  in  order  to  ascertain  if  they 
 are  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  have  in  them  that 
 
186  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 amount  of  alloy  which  destroys  all  tlie  value  of  the  gold : 
 they  have  not  reached  the  standard — they  cannot  be 
 stamped  with  the  impress  of  divine  approval — they  must 
 he  rejected  as  reprobate  and  worthless  gold, 
 y/'  They,  too,  in  the  next  phice,  are  ''  weighed  and  found 
 /  wanting,"  Avho  do  not  exhibit  in  their  character  the  dis- 
 tinctive and  peculiar  features  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
 Many  men  are  constitutionally  moral,  and  the  man  Avho 
 is  addicted  to  one  sin  from  his  constitutional  tempera- 
 ment, is  generally  found  the  most  eloquent  denouncer  of 
 him  who  lives  in  the  sin  to  which  he  is  not  naturally 
 prone.     There  may  be  very  moral  men  who  nevertheless 
 
 /are  not  Christians.  If  I  understand  the  object  of  the 
 Gospel,  it  is  not  simply  to  make  us  moral,  but  to  make 
 us  more  than  moral — "a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people 
 — a  chosen  generation,  zealous  of  good  works."  Surely 
 Christ  did  not  die — surely  Pentecost  did  not  dawn,  in 
 order  that  we  might  be  just  like  the  rest  of  mankind,  in 
 order  that  it  might  be  ven^  difficult  to  distinguish 
 y  M'hether  we  are  Christians  or  not.  The  little  space 
 /  between  us  and  the  world  is  proof.  I  fear  the  world  has 
 not  made  a  nearer  approach  to  us,  but  that  we  have  made 
 a  nearer  descent  towards  the  world.  If  I  read  the  Scrip- 
 tures aright — and  it  is  so  clear  in  these  cases  that  he  that 
 reads  it  may  run  while  he  reads  it — Christians  are  a 
 people  distinguished  and  separate  from  the  rest  of  the 
 world ;  they  belong  to  an  empire  of  glory  and  of  beauty, 
 so  impressive,  that  the  world's  enmity  is  provoked  by  the 
 contrast.  I  ask  you  if  you  are  the  subjects  of  this  em- 
 pire ?  if  you,  not  separating  myself  from  you,  are  cha- 
 racterised by  the  features  of  them  who  are  heirs  of  God 
 ■ — who  arc  lollowers  of  the  Lamb — who  are  witnesses  for 
 Christ — who  let  their  light  so  shine  before  men  that 
 others,  seeing  their  good  works  might  glorify  their  Father 
 in  heaven  ? 
 
 All  these,  I  would  notice,  are  "  weighed  and  found 
 wanting" — wanting  in  ^(rix  fitness  for  heaven,  which  is 
 just  as  necessary  as  their  title  to  heaven,  of  which  I  have 
 already  spoken.  JS'ever  forget  this  great  truth,  that  we 
 need  two  things  in  order  to  reach  heaven ;  we  need  as 
 
WEIGHED    AIS^D    FOITND    WANTING.  187 
 
 itmch  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  within  us  to  fit  us 
 for  heaven,  as  we  need  the  work  and  the  righteousness  of 
 Christ  without  us  to  entitle  us  to  heaven ;  and  the  man 
 whose  heart  has  not  been  changed  bj^the  Spirit's  power, 
 may  depend  upon  it  that  he  is  destitute  of  anything  like 
 a  title  that  will  admit  him  to  the  presence  of  God  and  of 
 the  Lamb. 
 
 I  have  looked  at  man  then  as  ''  weighed  and  defec- 
 tive "  in  his  title ;  I  am  looking  at  him  now  as  "  weighed 
 and  defective  "  in  his  fitness  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  : 
 and  I  observe,  that  they  are  "  weighed  and  found  want- 
 ing," who  take  deeper  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world 
 than  they  take  in  those  of  Christ.  One  of  the  charac- 
 teristics of  earthl}-  minds  given  by  the  Apostle  is,  "  who 
 mind  earthly  things."  One  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
 people  of  God  is,  "  whose  conversation,  i.e.  their  conduct, 
 their  sympathies,  their  feelings,  are  all  in  heaven.  I  ask 
 you,  what  is  the  predominating  tone  in  your  mind,  what 
 is  the  great  direction  in  which  you  are  impelled  ?  where 
 runs,  and  to  what  runs  the  main  current  of  all  your 
 sympathies,  your  affections,  your  hopes,  and  your  de- 
 sires ?  We  are  not,  my  dear  friends,  borne  to  heaven  " 
 accidentally  :  no  man  goes  to  heaven  but  he  that  sets  his 
 heart  thitherward.  Ask  yourselves  then.  Do  you  mind 
 earthly  things,  or  heavenly  things  r  what  is  the  aim,  the  "C 
 object,  the  predominating  desire  of  your  mind  ?  where  is 
 your  heart  ?  what  is  your  treasure  ?  for  whom  do  jon 
 chiefly  live  ?  These  are  weighty  questions ;  they  are 
 scriptural  ones ;  your  response  to  them  will  determine 
 whether  you  are  or  are  not  wanting  in  fitness  for  heaven, 
 and  in  real  Christian  character. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  they  are  Avanting  when  weighed 
 in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuary,  who  do  not  aid  the  cause 
 of  Christ  and  its  extension  through  the  world  by  their 
 prayers,  their  efforts,  their  means,  and  their  exertions. 
 If  you  be  a  Christian,  you  must  be  a  missionary.  I 
 doubt  if  it  be  possible  to  be  a  Christian  oneself  and 
 not  to  be  consumed  by  an  absorbing  desire  to  make  all 
 the  world  Christians  too.  I  ask,  then,  if,  when  you 
 hear  that  there  are  minds  unenlightened  by  the  glorious 
 
188  PEOPHETIC    STUDHS. 
 
 Gospel — that  there  are  children  uninstructed  in  the 
 things  that  belong  to  their  present  and  their  everlasting 
 peace — that  there  are  Bibles  needed,  that  there  are 
 missionaries  to  be  sent,  in  order  that  the  blessings  of 
 Christianity  may  be  advanced,  however  poor  your  means 
 may  be,  however  inadequate  to  the  demands  and  exi- 
 gences of  the  case,  can  it  then  be  said  of  you,  as  was 
 said  of  the  woman  in  the  Gospel,  "  She  hath  done  Avhat 
 she  could?"  If  you  were  poor,  or  hungry,  or  thirsty, 
 or  naked,  would  you  call  him  a  friend  who  refused  to 
 give  you  food,  and  water,  and  raiment  ?  But  Christ 
 identifies  himself  with  all  the  needy  upon  earth,  when 
 he  says,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  them  ye  did  it 
 unto  me."  There  cannot  be  the  supreme  love  of  Christ 
 within  you  unless  there  is  corresponding  sympathy  with 
 God's  people  without  you.  It  is  thus,  then,  that  I 
 have  asked  you  to  weigh  your  own  condition  against 
 what  seem  to  be  the  characteristics  of  a  Christian,  and 
 to  ascertain  if,  in  the  sight  of  God,  you  are  those  who 
 are  "  made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
 light,"  or  among  those  who  give  obvious  evidence  that 
 they  have  no  lot  or  part  in  this  matter.  I  may  apply 
 the  same  great  truth  to  official  personages.  Let  me 
 apply  it  to  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  Such  an  one  may 
 be  gifted,  eloquent,  versed  in  theology,  outwardly  moral, 
 laborious  in  all  pastoral  duties  ;  and  yet,  weighed  in  the 
 scales  of  the  sanctuary,  he  may  be  "  altogether  wanting." 
 Gifts  need  not  be  graces  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  There 
 may  be  the  eloquence  of  the  gifted  tongue,  without  the 
 unction  of  the  consecrated  heart.  There  may  be  the 
 ordination  of  the  bishop  or  the  presbytery,  but  not  tlie 
 consecration  which  God's  Holy  Spirit  alone  can  give. 
 He  may  have  all  gifts,  all  eloquence,  all  theological 
 knowledge,  all  polite  learning — yet,  if  wanting  in  single- 
 ness of  eye,  unity  of  purpose,  earnest  devotedness  to  the 
 true  end  of  his  office,  the  conversion  of  souls,  and  the 
 glory  of  God,  however  he  may  be  applauded  by  the 
 tongues  of  men,  weighed  in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuary, 
 he,  too,  is  "  altogether  wanting." 
 
 So  I  may  apply  thece  words  to  a  church.    It  may 
 
WEIGHED  AND  FOUND  -WANTING.  189 
 
 have  all  that  Caesar  can  give — able  ministers,  a  splendid 
 literature,  the  rich  and  the  great  in  its  audience,  and 
 yet  it  may  be  wanting  in  all  that  constitutes  the  Church 
 of  Christ.  The  architect  can  build  a  glorious  cathedral ; 
 Christ's  presence  alone  can  make  it  a  Church.  The 
 builder  may  raise  a  magnificent  edifice,  the  Queen's 
 presence  alone  can  make  it  a  palace.  The  orator  may 
 preach  so  that  the  crowd  may  be  thrilled  with  his 
 oratory,  impressed  with  his  reasoning,  riveted  by  his 
 appeals  ;  but  he  may  not  be  a  minister,  and  that  crowd 
 may  not  be  a  church  : — ■"  AVhere  two  or  three  are 
 (fathered  together  in  my  name,''^ — that  is  the  essential — 
 *'  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  JSTo  presence  can 
 compensate  for  the  absence  of  this.  !N'o  patronage  can 
 be  a  substitute  for  this.  Laodicea  said,  ''I  am  rich  and 
 increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;"  and 
 at  the  very  moment  when  she  was  saying  so,  Christ  was 
 weighing  her  in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuarj-,  and  he 
 pronounced  of  her,  ''tekel;"  thou  art  weighed  in  the 
 balances;  "thou  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched 
 and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked." 
 
 In  the  same  manner  I  may  apply  these  words  to  a 
 nation.  It  was  applied  in  the  passage  on  which  I  am 
 now  commenting  to  a  nation — namely,  to  that  great 
 kingdom  over  which  Belshazzar  reigned.  A  nation 
 may  have  brave  soldiers,  hardy  sailors,  gifted  legislators, 
 eloquent  senators,  prosperous  trade,  thriving  agriculture, 
 all  the  splendour  and  power,  all  the  material  strength  of 
 Imperial  Rome,  all  the  glory  and  the  literary  fame  of 
 Athens,  and  yet  that  nation,  when  weighed  in  the  scales, 
 may  be  altogether  ''wanting."  Its  aim  may  be  terri- 
 torial aggrandisement — its  sole  passion  may  be  ambition 
 — its  eloquence,  its  efforts,  its  arms  may  all  be  exerted 
 in  favour  of  conquest  and  aggression — it  may  not  be 
 seeking  the  glory  of  its  God,  but  the  supremacy  and 
 the  immortality  of  itself.  ISTever  forget  that  a  nation's- 
 sinews  are  its  Christians ;  its  battlements  are  its  prin- 
 ciples ;  its  guide  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  word  of  God. 
 Ileal  principle  running  through  a  land,  pervading  every 
 institution,  giving  its  tone  to  aU  its  varied  national  crys- 
 
190  PEOrHETIC    SirDEES. 
 
 tallisation — not  expediency, — is  power,  and  strength, 
 \  and  immortality.  A  nation  has  not  done  its  duty  when 
 ■  it  builds  gaols ;  it  has  not  done  all  it  ought  to  do,  when 
 it  pays  a  police.  There  is  something  higher,  nobler, 
 more  precious  than  all  this ;  and  if  it  fail  here,  when 
 weighed  in  the  scales  it  will  be  found  to  be  ''tekel;" 
 and  its  doom  is  written,  ''  Mene,  mene,  tekel,  npharsin ;" 
 its  years  are  numbered ;  it  is  weighed  in  the  balances, 
 and  found  wanting. 
 
 Such  then,  are  some  of  the  practical  thoughts  arising 
 out  of  the  words  I  have  now  read.  Let  me  ask  you  now, 
 in  closing  my  remarks,  to  examine  yourselves.  Is  there 
 anything  wanting  in  your  title — anything  deficient  in 
 j'our  fitness  for  heaven  ?  Forget  not,  my  dear  friends,  \  / 
 that  it  is  possible  to  be  '■'■  almost  a  Christian,"  and  not  ^ 
 to  be  saved.  It  is  possible  to  reach  nine  points  of 
 Christian  character,  and  to  perish  because  you  have  not 
 the  tenth.  To  be  almost  saved,  is  onlj'-  to  be  con- 
 demned with  a  more  terrible  judgment.  The  very 
 height  from  which  you  fall  renders  that  fall  the  more 
 disastrous. 
 
 And,  in  the  next  place,  let  there  be,  after  the  ex- 
 amination of  our  hearts,  dee^D  humility.  All  that  is  in 
 us  is  fitted  to  humble  us ;  and  the  man  that  knows 
 himself  best  will  feel  most  humbled  in  the  sight  of 
 God.  All  present  will  have  some  share  in  the  com- 
 mon inscription  upon  the  greatest  and  the  lowest, 
 "  tekel ;  Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
 wanting." 
 
 And  let  us  recollect,  in  the  next  place,  that  if,  under 
 a  deep  sense  of  the  pressure  of  that  perilous  condition, 
 we  cry  with  our  whole  heart  unto  God,  that  he  will 
 save  us — if  conscious  that  we  have  not  a  farthing  to  pay 
 we  ask  him  frankly  to  forgive  us  all — if  conscious  that, 
 when  weighed  against  his  law,  we  must  kick  the 
 beam,  and  be  found  altogether  wanting, — lest  us  fly  to 
 that  righteousness  which  alone  can  justify  us,  let  us 
 seek  shelter  in  that  City  of  Eefuge  in  which  alone  we 
 can  bo  saved — let  us  appeal  to  that  cleansing  blood 
 which  alone  can  wash  away  the  inscription  "tekel." 
 
"VTEIGHED    AND    FOUND    WANTING.  191 
 
 and  that  righteousness  which  alone  can  constitute  our 
 title  as  "  accepted  and  beloved."  Each  minute  as  it 
 passes  carries  us  nearer  to  the  burial-place  of  the  dead, 
 and  to  the  judgment-seat  of  the  living.  A  few  more 
 j'cars,  and  those  faces  that  are  now  looking,  I  trust,  with 
 anxious  thoughts,  will  be  numbered  with  the  dead,  and 
 our  souls,  those  live  sparks  that  never  can  be  quenched 
 — those  great  and  sacred  "  bundles  of  responsibilities" 
 which  can  never  die,  will  have  to  stand  at  the  judgment- 
 scat  of  God,  either  shivering  and  looking  into  that  un- 
 known, unfathomed  abyss  of  woe,  or  rejoicing,  clothed 
 in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  anticipating  that  joy, 
 that  inheritance,  that  blessedness  which  is  incorruptible 
 and  fadeth  not  away.  My  dear  friends,  deal  honestly" 
 Mdth  yourselves ;  have  done  with  church,  with  cere- 
 mony, with  sign,  with  sacrament,  till  you  have  settled 
 this  question.  Am  I  a  child  of  God,  or  am  I  not  ?  I 
 believe  that  nine-tenths  of  the  controversies  of  the  day 
 are  the  devil's  delusions  to  prevent  men  from  settling 
 God's  great  controversy,  "  Are  we  the  children  of  God, 
 or  the  chiidieu  of  the  wicked  one  ?" 
 
CHAPTEE  XIV. 
 
 THE    PEIME    MINISTEE. 
 
 "  It  pleased  Darius  to  set  over  the  kingdom  an  hundred 
 and  twenty  'princes,  ivhich  should  he  over  the  whole 
 hngdom ;  and  over  these  three  presidents,  of  whom, 
 Daniel  was  first :  that  the  princes  might  give  accounts 
 unto  them,  and  the  king  should  have  no  damage.  Then 
 this  Daniel  was  preferred  ahove  the  2>^'c^ide7its  and 
 princes,  because  an  excellent  spirit  was  in  him  ;  and  the 
 king  thought  to  set  him  over  the  whole  realm.  Then  the 
 presidents  and  princes  sought  to  find  occasion  against 
 Daniel  conccr7ung  the  kingdom  ;  lut  they  could  find  none 
 occasion  nor  fault ;  forasmuch  as  he  was  faithful,  neither 
 was  there  any  error  or  fault  found  in  him.  Then  said 
 these  men.  We  shall  not  find  any  occasion  against  this 
 Daniel,  except  we  find  it  against  him  concerning  the  law 
 of  his  God.  Then  these  presidents  and  princes  assembled 
 together  to  the  king,  and  said  thus  unto  him.  King 
 Darius,  live  for  ever.  All  the  inesidents  of  the  king- 
 dom, the  governors,  and  the  princes,  the  counsellors,  and 
 the  captains,  have  consulted  together  to  establish  a  royal 
 statute,  and  to  make  a  firm  decree,  that  whosoever  shall 
 ask  a  ptetition  of  any  god  or  man  for  thirty  days,  save  of 
 thee,  Oking,  he  shall  be  cast  into  the  den  of  lions.  Now, 
 0  king,  establish  the  decree,  and  sign  the  writing,  that 
 it  be  not  char.ged,  according  to  the  law  of  the  Medes  and 
 Persians,  which  altereth  not.  Wherefore  king  Darius 
 signed  the  icriting  and  the  decree.  Now  when  Daniel 
 knew  that  the  icriting  was  signed,  he  went  into  his 
 house :  and  his  windows  being  open  in  his  chamber  to- 
 ward Jerusalem,  lui  kneeled  upon  his  knees  three  times  a 
 day,  and  prayed,  and  gave  thanks  before  his  God,  as  he 
 did  aforetime." — Daisiel  vi.  1 — 10. 
 
"WEIGHED    AND    F0T7XD    WANTING.  193 
 
 We  read  in  the  previous  chapters  that  great  Babylon, 
 the  excellency  of  the  Chaldees,  had  passed  away,  and 
 that  on  the  very  night  when  the  mysterious  fingers 
 wrote  the  long  inexplicable  inscription  on  the  plaster, 
 Eelshazzar,  the  king  of  the  Chaldeans,  was  slain,  and 
 Darius,  the  king  of  the  Medo-Persian  empire,  mounted 
 its  forsaken  throne  and  received  the  reigns  of  govern- 
 ment. It  was  after  this,  and  on  the  crumbling  ruins  of 
 Babylon,  tliat  the  Medo-Persian  empire  rose  to  splen- 
 dour, and  occupied  its  brief  space  in  the  history  of  the 
 world.  Darius,  who  was  appointed  to  be  king,  was,  of 
 course,  a  heathen ;  but,  heathen  as  he  was,  he  saw 
 something  in  the  character  and  general  conduct  of 
 Daniel,  Avhich  led  him  to  believe  that  there  was  no  one 
 more  worthy  of  a  dignified  place,  a  place  of  power  and 
 responsibility,  than  Daniel ;  the  Christian,  as  we  may 
 truly  call  him, — the  Jew,  as  he  nationally  was.  He  had 
 witnessed  his  skill  in  solving  a  mysterious  inscription,  a 
 skill  which  indicated  communion  Avith  the  fountain  of 
 wisdom  :  he  saw  strongly  developed  prudence,  integrity, 
 talent,  steadfastness,  and  even  success  in  all  he  undertook; 
 and,  amid  his  own  gross  superstition,  his  eyes  could  not 
 fail  to  distinguish  so  remarkable  a  subject,  nor  his  own 
 sense  of  propriety  and  advantage  fail  to  see  in  that 
 captive  Jew  a  meetness  for  service  as  rare  as  valuable. 
 They  who  do  not  understand  a  Christian's  creed,  will  and 
 do  appreciate  a  Christian's  walk.  Heathens  understand 
 a  pure  and  noble  life,  even  if  they  do  not  comprehend 
 an  orthodox  creed.  A\^e  learn  from  the  impression  pro- 
 duced upon  Darius  by  the  conduct  of  Daniel — a  conduct 
 which  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  Avas  unobtru- 
 sive and  retiring,  that  real  Christianity  cannot  be  hid. 
 If  you  are  not  a  Christian  it  is  of  no  use  for  you  to  call 
 yourself  one,  or  to  pretend  to  be  one,  for  the  eye  even 
 of  the  most  casual  observer  will  be  able  to  penetrate 
 the  veil  of  hypocrisy,  and  detect  the  shame  and  preten- 
 sion that  are  beneath ;  and  if  jou  are  a  Christian,  you 
 need  not  proclaim  the  fact  in  the  market-place.  Depend 
 upon  it,  wherever  real  Christianity  reigns  in  the  heart,  it 
 will  press  outward  and  outward  and  unite  its  name  and 
 
 0 
 
194  PEOPHETIC    STTJDIES. 
 
 impress  its  influence  upon  the  place  you  occupy — the 
 duties  of  the  office  entrusted  to  you — upon  the  family 
 — the  nation — upon  all  over  whom,  in  the  Providence  of 
 God,  you  are  placed.  If  there  be  health  in  the  heart 
 it  will  bloom  on  the  cheek ;  if  there  be  vigour  in  the 
 muscles  it  will  show  itself  in  your  walk.  If  there  be 
 salt  in  the  earth  it  will  spread  ;  if  there  be  light,  it  will 
 shine  ;  if  the  city  be  set  upon  a  hill,  it  cannot  be  hid; 
 if  the  epistle  be  written  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Apostle 
 tells  us  it  will  be  seen  and  read  of  all  men.  Or,  in  the 
 words  of  another  sacred  penman,  all  that  see  them 
 ''shall  take  knowledge  of  them  that  they  have  been 
 with  Jesus."  The  man  who  walks  with  God,  we  are 
 told  by  the  Psalmist — the  man  who  shrinks  from  the 
 scorner's  chair,  Avhose  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
 will  not  be  hid,  but  he  will  be  "like  a  tree  planted  by 
 the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  in  his 
 season ;  his  leaf  also  shall  not  wither,  and  Avhatsoever 
 he  doeth  it  shall  prosper." 
 
 Trials  and  afflictions  do  not  hide,  but  rather  bring  out 
 only  the  more  the  Christian's  character;  instead  of  dark- 
 ening they  brighten  it ;  and  many  a  one  whom  you  have 
 suspected  to  be  a  stranger  to  the  Gospel,  when  placed  in 
 the  furnace,  displays  the  most  beautiful  and  impressive 
 sense  of  a  long  tried  and  deep  union  and  communion 
 with  God.  It  is  in  affliction  that  the  Christian  shines  : 
 it  is  in  the  furnace  that  the  dross  is  consumed,  and  the 
 pure  virgin  gold  glows  in  all  its  lustre  and  beauty  :  it  is 
 under  circumstances  of  affliction  and  distress  that  divine 
 graces  are  implanted  in  the  heart  by  the  power  and  pre- 
 sence of  the  Holy  vSpirit,  -«-hich  will  rise  to  the  surface 
 and  prove  to  all  men,  what  they  cannot  fail  to  notice  in 
 the  character  and  conduct  of  real  believers,  "  that  they 
 have  been  with  Jesus."  And  this  irrepressible  nature 
 of  real  Christianity  is  matter  of  the  deepest  gratitude 
 and  joy.  Are  you  not  thankful  that  it  is  so?  would  it 
 not  be  a  pity  that  one  truth  in  the  Gospel  should  be 
 capable  of  being  concealed  ?  what  article  in  your  creed 
 w^ould  a  Christian  wish  to  hide  r  what  fruit  in  that 
 cluster  of  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit/'  of  which  we  read  in  the 
 
ini:    PRIME    MINISTER.  193 
 
 fifth  chapter  of  the  epistle  addressed  to  the  Galatians, 
 would  you  wish  to  conceal  ?  Let  the  miser  hide  his  gold 
 — let  the  admired  of  all  conceal  her  beauty — let  rank  he 
 ashamed  of  its  honours — let  the  infidel  conceal  his  scep- 
 ticism, but  let  not  the  Christian  be  ashamed  of  that  which 
 is  the  ornament  of  the  earth,  the  beauty  of  heaven,  which 
 gives  A\'eight  to  the  lightest,  and  dignity  at  once  to  the 
 greatest  and  the  meanest  of  mankind.  Thank  God,  then, 
 that  Christianity  cannot  be  hid ;  and  that  where  it  is, 
 there  it  will  be  felt  and  seen,  and  men  will  own  that 
 it  is  so. 
 
 I  may  state,  too,  that  it  is  this  silent  but  continuous  and 
 irrepressible  power  of  Christian  principle,  which  really 
 tells   upon   the    world   around  us.     It   is   not  a   mere 
 syllogism  that  will  convert  a  sceptic.    It  is  not  a  power- 
 fully constructed  argument  that  will  alone  convert  a 
 Roman  Catholic  :  it  is  not  such  specimens  of  Christianity 
 as  church  and  chapel  often  furnish,  Avhich  will  make 
 men  feel  that  Christianity  is  the  ambassadress  of  God 
 and  the  benefactress  of  mankind.     It  is  when  the  world 
 sees   Christianity  softening  all,   sweetening,    subduing, 
 sanctifying,    inspiring,   directing   all — giving   its    tone, 
 shape,  and  colour,  and  freshness  to  all ;  it  is  when  the 
 world  sees  Christianity  in  self-sacrifice — in  submitting 
 our  own  temper  and  our  own  inclinations  to  those  of 
 others — in  giving  way  and  suffering,  rather  than  appear- 
 ing to  dictate  and  presume — it  is  in  the  quiet  by-paths 
 of  human  life,  that  Christianity  acts  with  the  greatest 
 force,    and   in   which,    if   detected  by   the    sceptic,   he 
 owns  there  is  there  the  finger  of  God,  the  evidence  of 
 a  power  greater  and  holier  than  human.     So  Darius  saw 
 Daniel's  Christianity  :  he  understood   not   his   sublime 
 creed,  but  he  appreciated  his  honesty,  his  integrity,  his 
 truthfulness,  his  faithfulness.     The  world  itself,  if  it  do 
 not  practise,  yet  appreciates  faithfulness  and  integrity. 
 The  merchant  on  the  Exchange  understands  character, 
 when  he  neither  studies  nor  subscribes  a  creed.     Hence 
 the  pulpit  is  not  the  only  place  for  preaching. 
 
 Darius  saw  that  integrity  of  conduct  was  an  admirable 
 qualification  for  a  prime  minister's  office, — that  the  man 
 
 0  2 
 
196  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 who  pi'ayed  to  his  God  ^Yas  not  the  least  likely  to  be  use- 
 ful to  his  king.  Even  the  heathen  Darius  saw  that  the 
 most  admii'able  elements  of  political  efficiency  were,  not 
 party-zeal  and  partizan  enthusiasm,  but  faithfulness,  in- 
 tegrity, honour — all  that  constitute  these  moral  charac- 
 teristics, Avhich  are  the  creations  of  Christianity  in  tJieir 
 greatest  brightness;  and  have  been  often,  but  less  dis- 
 tinctly, illustrated  even  by  the  heathens  in  their  deepest 
 degradation.  Darius  unquestionably  ^vas  right :  the 
 true  Christian  is  ever  the  greatest  patriot.  The  men 
 who  are  restless,  discontented,  fond  of  change  for  change's 
 sake,  are  not  generally  those  who  have  family  worship 
 and  weU-read  Eibles,  and  who  are  seen  oftenest  in  the 
 sanctuary;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  men  who  are 
 most  loj-al  to  their  sovereign — most  attached  to  their 
 country — most  devoted  to  its  best  interests — most  cou- 
 rageous on  the  field,  most  steadfast  on  the  deck — most 
 dutiful  in  all  things,  generally  are  actuated  by  motives 
 inspired  by  the  truth  of  God,  and  distinguished  by  actions 
 influenced  by  the  continual  recollection  of  this  great 
 truth,—"  Thou  God  seestme." 
 
 It  is  no  argument  against  all  this,  that  there  are  hypo- 
 crites who  make  their  pretensions  to  religion  a  passport 
 to  distinguished  notice,  or  to  political  power.  Whatever 
 is  excellent  has  been  imitated  ever  since  the  world  was. 
 Kever  yet  was  there  a  coin  current  in  a  realm  that  was 
 not  forged :  never  yet  was  there  a  good  bank-note  that 
 Avas  not  imitated.  You  do  not  say  the  thing  itself  is 
 bad,  because  there  is  a  mockery  of  it.  You  do  not  reject 
 the  good  bank-note  because  there  are  bad  ones  in  the 
 market.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  a  Christian,  it  is  another 
 and  a  very  difi'erent  thing  only  to  pretend  to  be  so.  And 
 because  there  are  some  men  Avho  pretend  to  be  Christians 
 and  are  not,  you  are  not  therefore  to  suspect  that  every 
 man  who  seems  to  be  a  Christian  is  not  so.  In  your  oAvn 
 conduct,  rather  be  suspected  not  to  be  a  Christian  than 
 sound  a  trumpet  to  proclaim  that  you  are  so.  Let  your 
 Christianity  be  an  inference  that  the  world  might  draw 
 in  the  exercise  of  its  reason,  rather  than  a  proclamation 
 in  the  market-place. 
 
THE    rEIME    MINISTER.  197 
 
 Daniel  did  not  proclaim  his  religion.  He  did  not 
 thrust  himself  into  the  palace  of  Belshazzar,  and  because 
 he  was  faithful  to  his  God  he  did  not  therefore  act  dis- 
 courteously towards  his  king.  But  the  instant  he  was 
 sent  ibr  he  appeared,  and  he  acted  as  a  Christian  ever  will. 
 He  did  not  use  his  religion  in  order  to  obtain  political 
 power  :  he  did  not  make  his  communion  to  be  a  j^assport 
 to  political  office  ;  but  he  lived  as  a  Christian,  and  left 
 the  world  to  notice  him  or  not,  as  the  world  pleased. 
 
 Daniel  was  promoted  to  be  prime  minister  in  one  of 
 the  greatest  empires  on  which  the  sun  shone.  I3ut,  like 
 many  prime  ministers  of  every  country  and  of  every  age, 
 the  elevation  to  which  his  virtues  raised  him  created 
 envy,  calumny,  and  suspicion.  I  doubt  whether  eleva- 
 tion in  this  world  is  so  desirable  a  thing  as  man's  igno- 
 rant ambition  makes  him  think.  He  that  is  placed  upon 
 the  loftiest  pinnacle,  "  the  observed  of  all  observers,"  is 
 sure  to  create,  or  at  least  see  projected  around  him,  a 
 dark,  long-drawn  shadow  of  envy,  jealousy,  suspicion, 
 and  all  uncharitablencss ;  not  because  he  acts  incon- 
 consistently,  but  because  self-seeking  and  dishonest 
 spirits,  ever  enmity  to  truth  aiid  integrity,  the  highest 
 beautj^,  hate  the  man  in  proportion  as  he  is  the  persona- 
 tion of  them  all.  They  disliked  Daniel,  and  they  could 
 not  say  why  :  they  could  not  veto  him,  because  he  was 
 a  royal  appointment ;  they  could  not  dismiss  him,  for 
 they  had  not  the  power  ;  and  Daniel  occupied,  therefore, 
 the  most  painful  and  perplexing  of  all  positions, — an 
 honest  prime  minister  presiding  over  a  dishonest,  an  anti- 
 christian,  and  an  unmanageable  cabinet  They  could 
 find,  however,  no  fault  or  cause  of  complaint  against 
 him,  so  they  determined,  in  their  envy  and  malignity,  to 
 create  one.  They  endeavoured  to  find  out  that  his  policy 
 was  bad — that  he  had  been  open  to  bribery — that  he  was 
 unfaithful,  but  they  did  not,  and  could  not,  succeed  ; 
 they  could  fiiid  none  occasion  or  fault,  inasmuch  as  lie 
 was  faithful  in  all  things.  He  was  a  perfect  phenomenon 
 in  an  Eastern  court,  where  bribery  ever  has  been,  and  is, 
 to  this  day,  universal,  jind  where  a  bribe  can  blind  the 
 eye  of  justice,  or  shut  the  mouth  of  truth,  or  promote  or 
 
198  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 put  down,  just  as  the  man  in  power  thinks  most  expe- 
 dient, or  most  conducive  to  his  own  interests,  They 
 found  that  Daniel,  however,  was  faithful,  neither  was 
 there  any  error  or  fault  found  in  him.  AVhy,  then,  did 
 they  so  dislike  him  ?  why  hate  this  good  man  ?  Plato 
 asserted,  that  if  Truth  were  to  come  4own  from  heaven, 
 and  display  itself  in  all  its  glory  upon  earth,  all  men 
 would  instantly  fall  down  and  worship  it.  What  Plato 
 stated  as  an  hypothesis,  inspired  history  records  to  have 
 been  a  lamentable  miscalculation  on  his  part.  Truth 
 came  down  from  the  skies — appeared  upon  the  world  in 
 untainted  glory,  beauty,  and  perfection ;  neither  hell  nor 
 earth  was  able  to  detect  a  flaw  in  it ;  but  so  false  proved 
 the  prophecy  of  the  learned  and  accomplished  philoso- 
 pher, that  the  world  rose  up  against  it,  and  shouted  in  a 
 voice  of  thunder, — "  Away  with  him,  away  with  him  ! 
 cnicify  him,  crucify  him  !  ^N^ot  this  Man,  but  Barabbas." 
 If  Plato  had  known  what  the  child  in  our  Sunday-school 
 or  ragged-school  is  now  being  taught,  that  "  the  heart  of 
 man  is  enmity  against  God,''  he  would  not  have  uttered 
 any  such  prediction. 
 
 What  was  the  fault  his  cabinet  urged  against  the 
 detested  Daniel  r  Pirst,  he  was  a  comparatively  young 
 man,  while  many  of  these  princes  and  counsellors  were 
 probably  aged  men  :  he  was  a  junior  promoted  over  the 
 heads  of  his  seniors ;  this  was  an  old  otfence,  and  an 
 offence  that  is  felt  in  eveiy  profession.  Put  when  the 
 junior  displays  intellect,  genius,  talent,  discretion,  pru- 
 dence, heroism,  devotedness,  such  as  his  seniors  do  not 
 display,  all  will  soon  learn  to  forget  that  he  is  young, 
 and  to  feel  that  it  is  not  years,  but  excellence,  that  con- 
 stitutes the  requisite  to  command  the  veneration  of  man- 
 kind. Probabh^  they  also  hated  and  envied  him  because 
 he  was  a  Jew.  Peligious  prejudices  are  not  extinct  even 
 amid  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  century.  We  do  not 
 like  to  see  one  promoted  who  is  not  of  our  sect ;  we  are 
 offended  if  one  of  a  rival  partj'  is  advanced  to  power. 
 And  these  men  were  worshippers  of  Bel :  they  assembled 
 in  the  temple  of  Bel  for  worship ;  and  they  were  indig- 
 nant that  a  worshipper  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  cap- 
 
THE    PKIME    MIXISTEE.  199 
 
 tive  and  detested  Jew,  should  be  advanced  to  the  liighest 
 post  of  honour  and  authority  in  that  great  empire.  And 
 partly,  perhaps,  they  hated  and  envied  him,  because  he 
 was  a  stranger  and  a  captive.  Daniel  was  one  of  the 
 spoils  of  war, — a  slave  ;  and  though  of  royal  family,  ho 
 was  held  as  a  captive  in  the  midst  of  Babylon  ;  and  the 
 haughty  princes  of  that  mighty  monarch  could  not 
 endure  the  insult  of  a  Hebrew  slave  being  made  chief 
 ruler  over  all  of  them.  But  the  grand  reason,  in  which 
 they  all  concurred,  no  doubt  was,  that  Daniel's  integrity 
 stood  in  the  way  of  their  enrichment.  He  would  not 
 take  the  bribes  Avhich  they  were  accustomed  to  receive ; 
 he  did  not  approve  of  cheating,  which  they  thought  was 
 canonical,  and  had  made  almost  legal ;  they  loved  the 
 wages  of  unrighteousness,  while  he  hated  them;  and, 
 like  bold,  bad  men,  they  detested  him,  and  determined 
 on  his  destruction.  The  great  difficulty  was,  where  to 
 obtain  a  pretext  for  getting  rid  of  him.  They  could  find 
 none  whatever  in  his  management  of  the  kingdom  :  ho 
 dispensed  his  patronage  with  perfect  justice  ;  he  redressed 
 the  Avrongs  that  were  submitted  to  him  with  the  greatest 
 impartiality ;  he  gave  such  good  counsel  to  his  gracious 
 sovereign,  that  all  that  that  sovereign  did  prospered. 
 They  could  find  nothing  against  the  character  of  Daniel 
 as  touching  the  kingdom  over  which  he  presided  Avitli 
 such  dignity  and  justice,  and  with  so  remarkable  suc- 
 cess. But  they  saw  that  he  had  a  difi'erent  religion ; 
 and  if  they  could  not  impeach  him  as  a  prime  minister, 
 they  might  assail  him  througli  the  dogmas  of  his  creed 
 as  a  Jew.  They  proceeded  with  great  skill  and  artifice, 
 and  formed  the  scheme  recorded  in  verses  6 — 9.  "  The 
 presidents  of  the  kingdom,  the  governors,  and  the 
 princes,  the  counsellors,  and  the  captains,  have  consulted 
 to  establish  a  royal  statute,  and  to  make  a  firm  decrte, 
 that  whosoever  shall  ask  a  petition  of  any  God  or  man 
 for  thirty  days,  save  of  thee,  0  king,  he  shall  be  cast  into 
 the  den  of  lions.  JS^ow,  0  king,  establish  the  decree,  and 
 sign  the  writing,  that  it  be  not  changed,  according  to  the 
 law  of  the  Modes  and  Persians,  which  altercth  not. 
 "Wherefore  king  Darius  signed  the  writing  and  the  decree." 
 
200  PKOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 The  quiet  self-possession  of  Daniel  on  this  occasion 
 "was  complete.  ''  !N^ow,  when  Daniel  knew  that  the 
 writing  was  signed,  he  went  into  his  house  ;  and  his 
 windows  hcing  open  in  his  chamber  toward  Jerusalem, 
 he  kneeled  npon  his  knees  three  times  a-day,  and  prayed, 
 and  gave  tlianks  before  his  God,  as  he  did  aforetime." 
 We  are  not  to  be  the  slaves  of  circumstance,  but  circum- 
 stances are  to  be  slaves  to  us.  I  am  not  to  do  wrong 
 because  circumstances  urge  me  to  do  so ;  but  I  am  to  do 
 right  in  tlie  face  of  all  danger,  and  in  spite  of  all  threats. 
 We  have  continually,  in  the  army  and  in  the  navy, 
 instances  of  military  s(.'lf-possession  the  most  remarkable, 
 showing  how  even  the  natural  man  may  be  drilled  into 
 a  state  of  discipline,  subordination,  and  obedience  to  a 
 human  leader,  that  will  make  him  fearless  amid  all  the 
 elements  of  terror  and  of  death.  I  recollect  reading, 
 that  Avhen  Marshal  Massena  was  marching  at  tlie  head 
 of  a  body  of  iSTapoleon's  A-ictorious  troops,  through  the 
 gorge  of  the  Cardinell,  in  the  Alps,  a  vast  avulanche 
 descended  from  the  heiglits  above,  and  swept  into  the 
 valley  below  some  hundreds  of  his  soldiers;  and  on  the 
 very  ridge  of  the  snow  that  was  swept  into  the  ravine 
 beneath,  was  a  drummer-boy,  who,  undisturbed  amid 
 the  peril,  continued  beating  the  march  he  liad  com- 
 menced before  the  avalanche  fell,  until  every  soldier  had 
 passed  through  the  gorge;  this  was  his  own  funeral 
 march  :  he  then  sank  down  to  die, — an  instance  of  the 
 effective  discipline  Avhicli  then  prevailed  in  the  French 
 army.  One  of  Xapoleon's  greatest  marshals  never  felt 
 himself  perfectly  calm  and  self-possessed  till  the  dead 
 fell  in  thousands  round  him,  and  the  tide  of  battle 
 seemed  roUiug  against  him  ;  —  showing  how  human 
 nature,  in  circumstances  of  great  trial,  may  feel  great 
 calmness,  and  do  its  duty  with  unshaken  and  unflinching 
 nerve.  But  if  discipline  can  do  this,  Christianity  can 
 do  more.  It  could  make  Daniel  calm  in  the  prospect  of 
 certain  death ;  it  could  make  Poh'caq)  regard  the  flames 
 only  as  a  chariot  that  wafted  him  to  glor}' ;  it  could 
 make  the  Apostles  feel  bonds,  imprisonment,  and  death, 
 to  be  not  calamities,  but  blessings,  because  they  took 
 
THE  PiaME  iriNISTEE.  201 
 
 them  from  scenes  of  suffering:,  and  conveyed  them  to  tht 
 realms  of  glory.  A  Chi'istian  has  ever  felt, — and  in 
 proportion  to  the  depth  and  force  of  his  Christianity  he 
 ever  will  feel,  that  "  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be 
 peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness,  and 
 assurance  for  ever."  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
 peace,  whose  mind  is  staj'ed  on  thee."  And  I  believe 
 tliat,  if  our  Christian  principle  were  what  it  should  be, 
 and  what  we  are  responsible  for  its  being,  though  the 
 mountains  were  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and 
 though  the  earth  should  sliake  and  vibrate  with  the 
 swelling  thereof,  —  though  all  things  should  seem  to 
 prognosticate  the  return  of  chaos,  ruin,  and  destruction, 
 — a  Christian  would  hear  and  accept",  sounding  from  his 
 Father's  lips,  those  beautiful  and  soothing  accents,  "  Be 
 still,  and  know  that  I  am  God."  So  Daniel  learned 
 and  felt. 
 
 Would  that  our  confidence  in  God  were  deeper  than 
 it  is  !  we  slioidd  not  then  be  in  the  depths  to-day  and  in 
 the  heights  to-morrow;  we  should  not  be  so  often  sur- 
 prised, alarmed  at  this,  and  afraid  of  that.  Do  not 
 think,  my  dear  friends,  that  you  and  I  are  indispensable 
 to  the  government  of  God.  God  governs ;  he  controls 
 the  universe  and  all  its  movements ;  and  he  is  working 
 out  his  own  briglit  and  beneficent  designs  sometimes 
 with  us,  as  often  without  us,  and  occasionally  in  spite  of 
 us.  Have  confidence  in  God,  confidence  in  our  Father's 
 love,  confidence  in  his  wisdom, — a  deep  and  indestruc- 
 tible persuasion  that  ''  all  things  work  together  for  good 
 to  them  that  love  God,  and  are  the  called  according  to 
 his  purpose." 
 
 But  in  looking  at  the  manner  in  which  Daniel  dis- 
 charged his  duty,  there  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  in  it 
 something  like  ostentation,  or  something,  at  least,  rather 
 inexplicable  as  to  its  absolute  necessity,  in  the  attitude 
 which  he  assumed.  It  is  stated,  that  his  icindoics  heing 
 open,  he  kneeled  upon  his  knees,  in  his  chamber,  towards 
 Jerusalem,  and  prayed  in  that  direction.  What  was 
 meant  by  his  thus  "  praying  towards  Jerusalem  P"  We 
 have  it  explained  in  the  prayer  of  Solomon,  at  the  dcdi- 
 
202  TEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 cation  of  the  temple,  in  which  he  says,  ''  If  they,"  thy 
 people  "  sin  against  thee  (for  there  is  no  man  that 
 sinneth  not),  and  thou  be  angry  with  them,  and  deliver 
 them  to  the  enemy,  so  that  thej'  carry  them  away  cap- 
 tives unto  the  land  of  the  enemy  far  or  near :  3-et  if 
 they  shall  bethink  themselves  in  the  land  whither  they 
 were  carried  captives,  and  repent,  and  make  supplica- 
 tion unto  thee  in  the  land  of  them  that  carried  them 
 captives,  saying,  We  have  sinned,  and  have  done  per- 
 versely, we  have  committed  wickedness  ;  and  so  return 
 unto  thee  with  a]l  their  heart,  and  with  all  their  soul, 
 in  the  land  of  their  enemies,  which  led  them  away 
 captive,  and  pray  unto  thee  toward  their  land,  which 
 thou  gavest  unto  their  fathers,  the  city  Avhich  thou 
 hast  chosen,  and  the  house  which  I  have  built  for  thy 
 name :  then  hear  thou  their  prayer  and  their  suppli- 
 cation in  heaven  thy  dwelling-place,  and  maintain  their 
 cause." 
 
 Hence  every  pious  Jew,  when  he  prayed,  "  kneeled 
 upon  his  knees,"  or  stood,  the  other  attitude  of  prayer, 
 according  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews  ;  and,  wherever  he 
 was,  directed  his  face  invariably  towards  Jerusalem. 
 The  reason  why  the  Jew  did  so,  was,  that  the  temple 
 and  the  furniture  within  it  constituted  the  only  tj'pe 
 that  he  had  of  Jesus,  the  great  Mediator  between 
 heaven  and  earth.  He  rested  his  eye  upon  the  signifi- 
 cant sign  of  the  only  Mediator  every  time  he  prayed, 
 and  did  in  that  dispensation  by  a  figure,  what  we  in 
 this  dispensation  do  in  fact — prayed  in  the  name,  leaning 
 on  the  intercession,  trusting  to  the  mediation  of  Jesus. 
 But  if  you  were  to  argue,  as  certain  very  superstitious 
 persons  do  argue,  that  because  the  Jews  did  so  in  the 
 days  of  Levi  or  Solomon,  therefore  we,  too,  when  we  pray, 
 ought  to  turn  our  faces  towards  the  east ;  or,  if  you 
 were  to  contend  that  when  we  build  churches  we  sliould 
 build  them  with  their  chancels,  or  what  some  ignorantly 
 term  their  altars,  towards  the  east,  3'ou  would  be  just 
 doing  precisely  what  the  Galatians  did ;  letting  go  the 
 liberty  Avherewith  Christ  hath  made  you  free :  there 
 would  be  in  that  fact  a  reflux  to  Judaism.     You  are 
 
 I 
 
THE  PEIML  MIXISTEE.  203 
 
 thereby  displacing  Christ,  the  only  Mediator,  and  sub- 
 stituting an  exhausted  type,  a  shrivelled  symbol,  in  the 
 room  of  him  who  is  its  substance,  its  reality,  and  its 
 end.  The  law  of  the  worship  of  the  Jew  was,  *'  Pray 
 with  the  face  towards  Jerusalem;"  the  great  law  of  the 
 worship  of  the  Christian  is,  "  Pray  in  the  name  of 
 Josus."  What  constituted  the  Church  with  the  Jew 
 was,  his  having  that  very  temple,  those  very  stones, 
 that  grand  altar,  those  overshadowing  cherubim,  those 
 bright  beams  of  the  ineffable  glory;  but  what  constitutes 
 our  Church  is,  not  dead  stones,  but  living  ones ;  not  the 
 glory  that  is  visible  and  palpable,  but  that  bright  glor}^ 
 Avhich  consists  of  the  mingling  beams  of  mercy  and 
 truth  that  have  met  together — righteousness  and  peace 
 that  have  kissed  each  other.  And  hence  there  is  a 
 Christian  Church,  and  a  true  and  acceptable  worship, 
 wherever,  on  the  sea-  shore  or  on  the  mountain-side ;  on 
 the  tesselated  pavement  or  in  the  public  highway ; 
 within  the  communion  rail,  in  the  pulpit,  or  in  the  pew ; 
 on  the  deck,  in  the  city,  in  the  field;  in  the  deepest 
 mine  to  which  the  miner  can  descend,  and  on  the  loftiest 
 pinnacle  to  which  the  Alpine  herdsman  can  climb ; 
 wherever  there  are  two  or  three  met  in  the  name  of 
 Jesus,  there  is  a  temple  more  glorious  than  that  of 
 Jerusalem;  there  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
 which  God  dwells,  and  where  all  his  glory  is  manifested 
 in  another  Avay  than  that  in  which  he  manifests  it  to  the 
 world. 
 
 We  see  then  the  reason  why  Daniel  prayed,  looking 
 toward  the  east.  But  it  certainly  does,  at  first  sight, 
 appear  somewhat  diificult  to  reconcile  his  conduct,  in 
 having  his  window  open,  with  the  idea  that  there  M-as 
 nothing  in  what  Daniel  did  resembling  pride,  ostenta- 
 tion, or  the  needless  thrusting  forward  of  his  custom  in 
 the  face  of  the  heathen  nation  among  whom  he  dwelt. 
 It  is  best  explained  by  the  fact,  that  the  Jews'  houses 
 were  built  with  flat  roofs,  and  on  the  top  of  each  flat- 
 roofed  house  there  was  what  is  called  in  the  Acts  of  the 
 Apostles  "  an  upper  room,"  not  corresponding  to  our 
 garret,  but  a  sort  of  chamber  built  upon  the  flat  roof,  in 
 
204  PEOPHETIC    SXrDIES. 
 
 •whicli  the  pious  Jew  sequestered  himself  from  the  world ; 
 read  the  law,  prayed  and  held  communion  with  God. 
 And  in  the  Septuagint  translation  of  this  very  book — 
 i.e.  the  translation  from  the  Hebrew  into  Greek,  exe- 
 cuted by  the  Alexandrian  Jews  three  hundred  years 
 prior  to  the  birth  of  Christ — the  Avord  that  is  used  for 
 "his  chamber"  means,  literally,  ''he  retired  ev  Toig 
 VTTifJioou:/'  the  very  word  that  is  used  in  the  Acts  of 
 the  Apostles  to  denote  the  place  in  which  the  Chris- 
 tians met  at  Pentecost,  and  where  they  were  accustomed 
 to  worship  God.  And  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
 it  is  evident  that  the  upper  room  was  the  ordinary 
 place,  the  most  sacred  and  the  most  sequestered  of  all 
 the  rooms  in  the  house,  whither  the  Jew  betook  him- 
 self for  prayer.  And  when  Daniel  therefore  retired  to 
 his  upper  room,  with  the  windows  open  towards  Jeru- 
 salem, it  was  not  for  the  purpose  of  disj^laying  his 
 religious  firmness,  or  for  the  purpose  of  defying  those 
 whom  he  knew  to  have  conspired  against  his  life,  but 
 lie  did  that  which  he  had  always  been  accustomed  to 
 do, — prayed  with  his  face  toward  Jerusalem,  and  seek- 
 ing the  blessing  and  the  presence  of  his  God.  It  is  thus 
 in  this  simple  fact  then,  and  in  this  beautiful  habit,  that 
 you  have  a  chapter  of  the  inner  life  of  Daniel,  the  prime 
 minister  of  Darius  the  king  of  Persia.  His  inner  life 
 was  fed  by  prayer  ;  his  outer  life  was  characterised  by 
 integrity,  faithfulness,  and  justice.  It  was  his  home 
 habits  that  made  his  court  habits  so  beautiful,  and  just, 
 and  true  ;  it  was  his  private  nearness  to  God  that  sus- 
 tained and  elevated  his  public  consistency  before  men. 
 I  hope  there  are  such  statesmen  still  who  preface  their 
 policy  b}^  their  communion  with  God.  AVould  it  not 
 be  the  loftiest  dignity,  were  the  highest  in  the  land  to 
 prostrate  themselves  before  the  King  of  kings,  the 
 Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  not  seek  to  devise, 
 to  meditate,  to  plan,  till  lirst  there  had  been  implored 
 an  abundant  blessing  from  Him,  without  whom  nothing 
 is  strong,  nothing  is  wise,  nothing  is  holy,  and  nothing 
 can  prosper.  An  hour  in  '' the  upper  room,"  in  com- 
 munion with  God,  before  spending  many  hours  in  the 
 
TUE  PRIME  MIXISTEE.  205 
 
 House  of  Lords  or  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  trans- 
 acting the  business  of  the  empire,  is  a  recommendation 
 ■worth  all  tlie  political  qualitications  that  a  man  can 
 have.  Depend  upon  it,  that  God  Avill  not  bless  in  poli- 
 ticians what  he  does  not  bless  in  private  men, — the 
 habit  of  trying  to  work  the  world  without  God.  Depend 
 upon  it,  he  will  not  prosper  measures  in  the  high  places 
 of  the  cartli  which  he  will  not  prosper  in  the  humble 
 places  of  the  earth,  when  those  measures  are  concerted 
 and  attempted  without  recognising  him.  It  should  be 
 written  on  the  heads  of  princes,  on  palaces,  and  cabinets, 
 "  JJy  me  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice." 
 
 And  is  it  not  a  privilege,  as  well  as  a  duty,  to  lia\'e 
 jjrayer  ?  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  nature  of  prayer ; 
 for  I  trust  there  is  not  a  Christian  in  this  assembly  who 
 knows  not  what  it  is.  It  is  not  a  thing  to  be  taught : 
 it  is  the  dee^icst  instinct  of  humanity.  It  is,  in  my 
 judgment,  just  as  natural  to  pray  as  it  is  to  breathe. 
 And  what  the  Spirit  teaches — without  whose  teaching 
 prayer  will  not  be  the  incense  that  rises  to  heaven — is 
 to  pray  for  things  that  are  truly  good,  in  the  name  of 
 him  through  whom  those  things  are  given ;  and  in  every 
 Christian's  heart  such  prayer  is  an  irrepressible  instinct. 
 He  cannot  live  without  it,  he  cannot  move  without  it. 
 He  feels  that  a  prayerless  man  is  a  graceless  man  ;  and 
 that  the  enterprise  he  commences  without  asking  God 
 to  bless  it,  is  one  in  which  he  can  expect  no  great  suc- 
 cess. God  asks  the  tribute  of  your  acknowledgment  of 
 him,  and  he  will  give  you  all  the  blessings  of  success ; 
 "for  whatsoever  such  an  one  doeth  shall  prosjier." 
 Pray  in  your  closets ;  pray  in  the  house  of  business ; 
 pray  when  you  are  w^alking  upon  the  highway.  Shut 
 your  doors  ;  sound  not  the  trumpet ;  make  no  display  ; 
 but  lift  the  heart  daily — three  times  a-day  if  you  like — 
 at  stated  hours,  and  in  stated  places,  if  you  like,  for 
 these  remind  you  of  the  habit;  but  ^'  pray."  Pray  that 
 God  would  give  jow  grace  for  each  day,  (for  there  is 
 only  promise  for  the  daj,)  that  he  Avill  give  you  bread 
 for  each  day:  that  he  will  give  you  '^ forgiveness  of 
 your  sins,  and  an  inheritance  among  all  them  that  are 
 
206  PEOPnETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 s;:uLtilicd."  Great  soldiers  of  our  country-,  the  great 
 AVashington  of  America,  prayed  upon  the  field  of  battle ; 
 prayed  under  that  stern  and  terrible  necessity  of  na- 
 tions where  men  made  in  the  image  of  God  take  part  in 
 the  dire  shock  of  battle, — prayed,  at  such  a  crisis,  that 
 tlie  God  of  justice  would  decide  the  conflict.  Let  us 
 pray,  in  approaching  a  communion-table,  in  approach- 
 ing the  judgment-seat  at  which  we  must  appear;  know- 
 ing, that  whatsoever  we  shall  ask  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
 heliering,  he  will  give  it  us.  Pray,  and  you  will  prosper 
 upon  earth ;  pray,  and  you  Avill  find  your  prayers  on 
 earth  lost  in  the  praises  of  eternity,  through  Jefus 
 Chrifit. 
 
LECTUEE  XV. 
 
 DANIEL    IX    THE    DEX    OF    LIONS. 
 
 "  The7i  the  ling  commanded,  and  tliey  IrougJit  Daniel,  and 
 cast  him  into  the  den  of  lions.  JVoiv  the  king  spake  and 
 said  unto  Daniel,  Thy  God  whom  thou  servest  continu- 
 ally, he  icill  deliver  theeT — Daniel  vi.  16. 
 
 Looking  at  the  whole  treatment  and  experience  of 
 Daniel,  one  cannot  but  feel  how  truly  our  Lord  spoke, 
 when  he  said,  *'  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation." 
 It  needs  but  a  vcrj'  limited  acquaintance  with  the  history 
 of  the  people  of  God,  to  see  that  the  most  illustrious  and 
 and  the  most  distinguished  of  them  have  been  the  victims 
 of  the  most  continuous  and  unmerited  suffering.  They 
 have  been  stoned,  they  have  been  sawn  asunder,  they  have 
 been  tempted,  they  have  been,  slain  with  the  sword  : 
 they  have  wandered  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins,  in  dens 
 and  caves  of  the  earth,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tor- 
 mented,— although  the  world  was  not  worthy  of  them. 
 And  yet  through  that  faith  Avhich  overcame  the  Avorld, 
 *'  they  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,"  says  the  Apostle, 
 alluding  to  the  case  of  Daniel,  ''and  quenched  the  vio- 
 lence of  fire,"  alluding  to  the  case  of  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
 and  Abed-nego.  When  the  world  sees  Christians,  like 
 Daniel,  thus  condemned,  set  apart  for  punishment  and 
 inevitable  death,  it  exclaims,  "  God  hath  forgotten  him  : 
 he  trusted  in  God  that  he  would  deliver  him,  let  him 
 deliver  him,  seeing  he  hath  pleasure  in  him."  JJut  amid 
 all  the  taunts  of  the  world,  and  the  revilings  of  the 
 worldly-wise,  the  child  of  God  can  hear,  notwithstand- 
 ing the  clamour  of  a  thousand  tongues,  the  still  small 
 voice,  the  voice  of  his  Eather  in  the  skies,  sounding  in 
 his  heart,  unspent  by  the   distance  through  which  it 
 
208  TEOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 passes  in  its  transit,  and  saying,  "  I  will  never  leave 
 thee.  I  will  never  forsake  thee.  A  mother  may  forget 
 her  infant,  that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the 
 son  of  her  Avomb,  3'et  will  not  I  forget  thee."  And 
 thus,  in  spite  of  the  world's  elamour,  and  because  he 
 hears  his  Father's  voice,  the  Christian  enjoys  in  the 
 world  peace,  quietness,  and  assurance  for  ever ;  and 
 when  he  is  placed  in  the  lions'  den  with  Daniel,  or  walks 
 amid  the  llamcs  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace  with 
 Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego ;  whether  he  is 
 crucified  Avith  Peter,  or  cast  to  the  wild  beasts  with  Paul, 
 he  can  begin,  in  the  agonies  of  death,  the  paean  of  a  noble 
 victory, — '*I  am  persuaded  that  neither  life,  nor  death, 
 nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
 present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
 any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  me  from  the 
 love  of  God  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 
 
 I  need  not  say  that  when  Daniel  was  thus  condemned 
 by  the  king, — and  condemned  by  the  king  who  was 
 ensnared  by  the  subtlet}*  and  wiles  of  these  wicked  men, 
 — he  expected  death,  and  that  death  a  very  temble  one. 
 Death  is  not  a  natural  thing  :  it  is  the  most  homble 
 and  unnatural  of  all  things.  Man  was  never  made  to 
 die :  it  was  never  God's  design  that  he  should  die ;  he 
 was  made  instinct  with  all  the  yearnings,  and  arrayed 
 with  all  the  powers  of  endless  life.  And  "when  man 
 shrinks  from  death,  there  is  nothing  unchristian  in  it. 
 Paul  did  not  desire  death  for  its  own  sake,  Avhen  he  said, 
 **I  desire  to  be  unclothed,"  or,  ''I  desire  to  depart," 
 but  he  was  willing  to  meet  the  foe  for  the  sake  of  the 
 victory ;  he  was  willing  to  pass  through  the  swelling  of 
 a  dark  and  stormy  sea  because  of  the  land  of  beauty  and 
 of  blessedness  that  stretched  beyond  it.  ]S"ature  shrinks 
 from  death  ;  but  Christian  nature,  even  in  its  agonies 
 can  exclaim, — "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave, 
 where  is  thy  victory  r  Thanks  be  unto  God  that  givetli 
 us  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ."  But  when  the 
 Christian  dies,  it  is  not  the  Christian  himself,  but  death 
 that  dies.  AVhen  tlie  Christian  dies,  he  does  not  cease 
 to  be.     "When  the  loved,  the  near,  and  the  dear  have 
 
DANIEL   IN   THE   DEI?^    OF   LlOlfS.  209 
 
 ceased  to  communicate  with  us — when  the  eye  that 
 looked  upon  us,  and  the  lips  that  breathed  her  name,  are 
 closed,  he  has  not  ceased  to  be.  He  has  only  begun  to 
 be  as  he  never  was  before.  Death  to  the  Christian  is 
 not  even  a  momentary  suspension  of  the  cc*.tinuity  of 
 life  :  it  is  only  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  and  the 
 trammels  of  this  life :  it  is  the  Levite  laying  aside  the 
 coarse  garment  in  which  he  ministered  as  a  Levite  in  the 
 outer  temple,  and  putting  on  the  sacerdotal  and  coronation 
 robes  in  which  he  shall  minister  as  a  priest  and  a  king 
 in  the  inner  temple  of  God  his  Father.  And  in  such 
 a  case, — in  the  case  of  Daniel, — if  he  had  died  when 
 placed  amid  the  ravenous  wild  beasts,  death  M'ould  have 
 been  but  the  precursor  of  truly  living;  the  lions'  den 
 would  have  become,  in  this  case,  only  the  vestibule  of 
 giory ;  the  flame  that  consumes  the  martyr's  flesh  is  the 
 chariot  that  wafts  his  soul  to  immortality  and  joy;  and 
 the  evening  twilight  of  this  M'orld  does  not  close  upon 
 the  eye  of  that  happy  spirit  till  the  morning  twilight  of 
 yon  world  bursts  upon  it  with  a  brightness  of  eternal 
 day.  Thus  we  like  not  to  leave  the  old  house,  every 
 nook  and  cranny  of  which  is  dear  to  us  ;  but  if  we  could 
 only  fix  our  hearts  more  upon  the  house  not  made  with 
 hands, — if  we  could  think  less  of  all  that  is  seen,  and 
 feel  more  of  the  magnificence  and  glory  of  the  unseen 
 that  awaits  us,  we  should  rather  long  to  depart,  than 
 desire  to  remain,  that  we  might  be  with  Christ,  which 
 is  far  better. 
 
 The  language  here  addressed  by  Darius  to  Daniel,  is 
 language  which  proves,  I  think,  when  taken  in  con- 
 nexion with  other  expressions  of  the  same  monarch,  that 
 king  Darius  was  an  altered  man, — that  something  trans- 
 pired in  the  life,  and  was  heard  in  the  language  of 
 Daniel,  which  led  the  sovereign  to  think,  and,  by  the 
 blessing  of  God,  to  think  savingly.  He  sought  to  save 
 Daniel,  and  he  could  not.  We  must  not  imagine  that 
 kings,  because  they  may  be  called  absolute,  are  really 
 practically  so.  Nay,  it  is  the  monarch  of  all  who  is  often 
 the  greatest  servant  of  all;  and  he  who  occupies  the 
 loftiest  position,  and  seems  to  us  to  have  only  to  speak 
 
 p 
 
210  PROPHETIC    SICDIES. 
 
 and  it  shall  be  done,  is  often  the  man  who  is  least  abl* 
 to  do  what  he  pleases  to  those  that  are  beneath  him. 
 Darius  was  unable  to  reverse  his  sentence  ;  but  he  said 
 to  Daniel,  and  said  it  plainly,  not  in  scorn,  not  in  bitter- 
 ness, but  as  a  prophecy, — partly  a  prophecy,  partly  a 
 prayer, — '•'  The  God  Avhom  thou  servest  continually,  he 
 he  will  deliver  thee."  It  is  plain,  from  this,  that  the 
 king  had  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
 God.  And,  connected  with  the  last  verse  of  this  chapter, 
 which  contains  so  remarkable  a  decree,  it  is  a  plain  proof 
 that  he  had  learned  and  felt  the  truth  which  he  here 
 speaks,  not  in  scorn,  but  in  solemn  and  painful  earnest- 
 ness. And  Avhat  must  have  been  the  cause,  next  to  the 
 grace  of  God,  of  the  conversion  of  the  monarch  ?  I  have 
 no  doubt  it  was  the  meekness,  the  mngnanimity,  the 
 gentleness,  the  patience,  the  submission  of  Daniel,  a 
 prisoner  chained  and  sentenced  to  a  temble  death,  con- 
 nected and  associated  with  the  lessons  that  Daniel  spoke, 
 and  the  prayers  that  Daniel  offered,  and  the  religion  of 
 which  Daniel  was  the  consistent  exponent  and  the  living 
 illustration.  And  Avhat  does  this  teach  us,  my  dear 
 friends  r — That  the  means  of  conversion  to  others  are  not 
 only  the  truths  that  Christians  speak,  but  the  lives  that 
 Christians  lead,  and  the  death  that  Christians  die.  Sick- 
 beds have  exceeded  pulpits  in  persuasive  eloquence,  and 
 dying  martjTs  have  made  conversions  that  li>  ing  minis- 
 ters have  never  been  honoured  with.  'No  Christian 
 lives  to  himself,  no  Christian  dies  to  himself;  and  wher- 
 ever a  Christian  is,  there  is  an  element  of  power  wielded 
 for  God.  In  the  silent  prison,  and  in  the  Inquisitor's 
 dungeon,  and  in  the  Papal  fires,  the  sufferers  have  all 
 emitted  testimony  for  God,  and  proved  to  history  and  to 
 mankind  that  God  does  not  cease  to  reign  when  his  chil- 
 dren are  persecuted,  and  that  the  truth  docs  not  die  with 
 her  martyrs  ;  rather  that  Christianity  has  received  a 
 greater  impulse,  and  has  made  greater  progress  by  the 
 opposition  of  her  foes,  than  b}^  the  eloquence  and  advo- 
 cacy of  her  friends. 
 
 But  the  words  are  not  onlj'  expressive  of  the  pity  of 
 the  man,  but  they  are,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  an 
 
"DANIEL    IN"    THE    DEN    OF    LIONS.  211 
 
 unconscious  prophecy.  God  has  often  made  use  of  men 
 ^yho  were  not  Christians,  as  well  as  of  those  who  Avere, 
 to  predict  trutlis  of  which  they  themselves  knew  not  the 
 glory.  Thus  we  read  in  the  Cosj^el  of  John,  that  Caia- 
 phas,  being-  high-]3riest  that  year,  ^'  ga\e  counsel  to  the 
 Jews,  that  it  was  expedient  that  some  one  should  die 
 for  the  people."  Thus  God  made  Caiaphas  the  trumpet 
 of  a  glorious  prophecj^  just  as  before  he  made  Cyrus  the 
 battle-axe  by  which  ho  chastised  the  enemies  of  his 
 people.  God  thus  teaches  man  (for  man  needs  to  know 
 what  a  very  little  creature  he  is  in  his  sight),  and  he 
 teaches  Christians,  what  Christians  more  and  more  feel, 
 that  all  things  are  under  the  power  and  control  of  him 
 who  holds  the  reins  and  sways  the  sceptre  of  the 
 universe, 
 
 AYe  read  that  Daniel  was  dropped  into  the  lions'  den, 
 as  a  pebble  is  dropped  into  the  silent  sea,  apparently  to 
 be  forgotten  for  ever,  and  the  world  seemed  to  have  its 
 way,  and  the  persecutors  of  the  prophet  to  have  had  their 
 will.  But  man's  thoughts  are  not  God's  thoughts,  nor 
 God's  ways  man's  ways.  The  persecutors  of  Daniel, 
 when  they  placed  him  in  that  den,  and  put  that  heavy 
 stone  over  him,  and  sealed  it  down,  believed  that  no 
 voice  could  rise  from  its  depths  to  excite  sjinpathy,  and 
 that  no  cry  could  come  from  the  martyred  prophet  to 
 arouse  the  popular  indignation,  and  still  more  that  no 
 trace  of  the  foul  murder  they  had  endeavoured  to  perpe- 
 trate, could  remain  to  witness  against  them. 
 
 They  returned  to  their  homes;  and  never  did  they 
 drink  so  freely,  or  sing  so  merrily,  as  when  they  recol- 
 lected how  successful  they  had  been  in  putting  out  of 
 their  way  a  man  who  would  not  connive  at  dishonesty : 
 that  feared  God,  and  rather  than  compromise  his  alle- 
 giance to  his  God,  was  willing  to  live  poor,  and  to  die  a 
 martyr.  They  rejoiced,  and  congratulated  each  other  that 
 the  witness  who  prophesied  against  them  was  at  last 
 disposed  of. 
 
 As  for  the  poor  king,  he  went  home,  still  giving  evi- 
 dence that  his  heart  had  undergone  a  change,  filled  with 
 remorse   for  having   signed  the  fatal  decree,  and  not 
 
 p  2 
 
^12  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 knowing  how  to  retrieve  or  to  retrace  his  steps.  "When 
 conscience  echoes  in  the  depths  of  the  heart,  it  will  cause 
 the  loins  of  the  lord  of  Christendom  to  tremble.  It  is 
 not  nerve  that  is  bravest,  it  is  a  conscience  full  of  the' 
 peace  of  God  which  passeth  understanding,  liut  when 
 conscience  is  vexed  with  a  sense  of  sin,  there  can  be  no 
 heroism,  there  can  be  no  presence  of  mind,  there  can  be 
 no  peace.  All  the  opiates  that  physicians  can  prescribe 
 will  not  give  sleep  unless  God  is  pleased  by  a  conscience 
 cleansed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  to  give  his  beloved  sleep. 
 And  when  there  is  sin  in  the  conscience,  what  awful, 
 what  mysterious  jjower  it  has  !  It  will  pierce  tlie 
 armed  battalion,  it  will  enter  within  the  thickest  walls 
 of  the  palace,  it  Avill  invade  the  secret  chambers  of 
 royalty,  it  Avill  defy  all  opiates,  it  will  hush  all  music  ; 
 and  though  all  sounds  should  be  suppressed  outside,  and 
 all  books  be  shut,  and  all  testimonies  be  silenced,  that 
 conscience  grieved,  wronged,  offended,  acting  as  the  echo 
 and  the  oracle  of  God,  will  reason,  even  in  the  roj-al 
 bosom,  of  "righteousness  and  temperance  and  judgment 
 to  come,"  and  make  the  possessor  of  it  tremble,  and  his 
 knees  smite  against  each  other,  and  be  ill  at  ease. 
 
 Early  next  morning  the  sleepless  monarch  rushes  with 
 the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  to  the  den,  and,  as  he  then 
 thought,  the  grave  of  the  murdered  prophet ;  and  half 
 hoping,  half  despairing,  rather  as  the  expression  of  his 
 deep  commiseration  than  as  the  exj)ression  of  any  hope, 
 he  looked  into  the  den  and  asked  if  the  prophet  was 
 alive ;  and  Daniel,  with  that  calmness  which  a  con- 
 science at  peace  can  alone  impart,  with  that  supreme 
 self-possession  which  Christian  principle  can  alone  create, 
 with  that  loyalty  to  his  king  which  Christians  ever  have 
 expressed,  called  out,  *'God  save  the  king."  And  his 
 second  accents  are  giving  glory  to  him  who  had  sent  his 
 angel  to  shut  the  lions'  mouths  and  save  him  from  so 
 terrible  and  cruel  a  death.  God  is  ever}' where.  You 
 cannot  banish  a  saint  from  God.  You  may  banish  him 
 from  his  home,  or  from  his  country  ,  you  may  bury  him 
 in  the  cave,  you  may  seal  him  in  the  lions'  den  ;  5'ou  may 
 cast  him  into  the  depths  of  the  suUen  and  unsounded 
 
DANIEL   IN    THE   DEX    OF   LIONS.  213 
 
 sea  ;  but  yon  cannot  banish,  him  from  his  God.  On  the 
 top  of  ancient  Ararat,  when  it  was  surrounded  by  its 
 first  rainbow  coronal,  God  saw,  pitied,  and  blessed  his 
 people.  In  the  depths  of  the  lions'  den,  and  among  the 
 beasts  ravenous  with  hunger,  God  was  present,  and  heard 
 his  praying  proj)het.  In  the  silent  catacombs  of  Home ; 
 amid  the  sands  of  the  untrodden  desert,  or  on  the  waves 
 of  the  great  and  silent  sea;  on  the  heights,  wherever 
 man  has  soared;  in  the  depths,  wherever  man  has  des- 
 cended; there,  if  there  be  a  Christian  heart,  will  be 
 found  a  present  help,  a  Christian's  God.  How  blessed 
 is  this  thought !  the  poor  Roman  Catholic  cannot  have 
 his  God  unless  he  has  his  consecrated  altar ;  he  cannot 
 obtain  absolution  unless  he  has  access  to  his  priest ;  he 
 cannot  have  his  sacrifice  for  forgiveness  unless  he  has  his 
 priest,  altar,  and  wafer.  But  the  Christian — let  him  be 
 the  miner  in  the  depths  of  the  dark  mines  of  iSorthum- 
 berland,  has  there  his  priest,  his  altar,  and  his  sacrifice, 
 even  Jesus  ;  or  let  him  be  placed  on  the  loftiest  pinnacle 
 to  which  Alpine  herdsman  can  climb,  there  he  finds  a 
 temple,  a  sacrifice,  and  an  altar,  even  Jesus.  If  he 
 ascend  into  heaven,  he  is  there ;  if  he  descend  into  the 
 grave,  he  is  there  ;  if  he  take  the  wings  of  the  morning 
 and  go  dowTi  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  even  there  is  his 
 Lord  and  Saviour  too.  God's  eye  can  pierce  all  darkness ; 
 God's  heart  can  pity  his  captive  anywhere,  and  God's 
 hand  can  help  him  in  spite  of  all  obstacles.  So  Daniel 
 felt,  and  so  thousands  of  God's  saints  have  felt  it  too. 
 
 AYhen  the  king  found  the  captive  alive,  he  commanded 
 the  den  to  be  opened,  and  Daniel  to  be  taken  out ;  and, 
 as  eastern  monarchs  often  did  in  the  exercise  of  a  rash 
 and  passionate  revenge,  sinful,  improper,  and  unworthy 
 of  him  as  a  Christian,  and  injurious  to  him  as  a  monarch, 
 ordered  men  who  certainly  deserved  it,  but  to  whom 
 showing  mercy  would  have  been  a  brighter  jewel  in  the 
 regal  crown, — he  commanded  those  men,  their  wi^Ts, 
 and  their  childi-en,  to  be  cast  into  the  lion's  den  as  a 
 punishment  for  their  cruelty  and  perfidy.  Do  not  say, 
 *'  This  book  is  not  from  God,"  because  it  states  this.  It 
 does  not  describe  the  cruel  conduct  of  Darius  as  right ; 
 
214  PBOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 it  simply  nan-ates  the  fact.  It  does  not  say  the  king  did 
 what  was  merciful  and  good  ;  it  simply  states  his  deeds. 
 These  men  were  most  guilty  :  whether  their  punishment 
 exceeded  their  crime,  it  is  not  for  rae  to  pronounce — but 
 this  certainly  they  found,  that  he  which  made  a  pit  and 
 digged  it,  is  fallen  into  tlie  snare  which  he  laid.  Jose- 
 phus,  the  Jewish  historian,  recording  this  fact,  mentions 
 the  following  circumstance  : — he  says  that  when  Daniel 
 thus  wonderfully  escaped  the  lions'  den,  the  princes  said 
 that  the  lions  had  been  previously  surfeited  with  food, 
 and  on  that  account  it  was  that  they  refused  to  touch 
 Daniel.  The  king,  out  of  abhorrence  to  their  wickedness, 
 ordered  that  a  great  deal  of  flesh  should  be  thrown  to 
 the  lions,  and  when  the  beasts  had  filled  themselves  with 
 the  flesh,  he  gave  further  orders  that  Daniel's  enemies 
 should  be  cast  into  the  den,  when  they  were  all 
 destroyed. 
 
 This  is  the  statement  of  an  uninspired  historian,  and 
 of  course  must  be  taken  for  what  it  is  worth ;  but  these 
 Persian  princes  were  plainly  very  much  like  some  of  our 
 modern  philosophers,  who  account  for  eveiy  phenomenon 
 without  admitting  the  element  of  God.  If  pestilence 
 comes,  it  was  the  want  of  ozone,  or  volcanic  action  that 
 occasioned  it.  If  pestilence  is  removed,  it  was  the  cold 
 weather  that  removed  it.  The  thermometer  becomes 
 their  God,  and  weather-phenomena  the  other  idols  they 
 worship.  So  these  princes  said.  It  was  not  God  that 
 saved  Daniel :  no  doubt  the  lions  had  been  well  fed,  and 
 therefore  they  spared  Daniel.  The  experiment,  accord- 
 ing to  Josephus,  was  tried ;  and  the  result  proved  that 
 God  delivered  Daniel,  while  the  lions  devoured  his 
 enemies;  not  because  their  flesh  was  sweeter  to  their 
 taste. 
 
 AVe  see,  in  his  preserving  Daniel  from  the  lions,  the 
 evidence  of  a  great  fact, — namely,  God's  power  over 
 the  beasts  of  the  earth  :  he  is  able  to  stay  their  fierce 
 ")  propensities,  when,  and  vihere,  and  under  what  circum- 
 '  stances  he  pleases.  When  Adam  was  created,  there  is 
 no  doubt  that  the  beasts  were  at  peace  M'ith  him,  and  at 
 peace  with  one   another.     There  is   no  evidence   that 
 
DANIEL    IN    THE  DEN    OF    LIONS.  215 
 
 what  are  now  called  carnivorous  animals  ate  flesh  before 
 Adam  fell.  I  know  well  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  I 
 know  there  are  traces  of  death  among  the  gi'eat  Saurian 
 tribes  long  before  Adam  was  created  ;  as  geologists  have 
 clearly  shown.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  this  orb  is 
 probably  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  old ;  Genesis 
 records  merely  the  present  collocation  of  its  surface,  the 
 creation  of  man,  and  all  that  relates  to  man :  and  there 
 is  no  doubt  that  fossil  remains  have  been  excavated  from 
 the  bowels  of  the  earth,  among  which  one  animal  has 
 been  discovered  petrified  in  the  jaws  of  another ;  showing 
 that,  prior  to  the  creation  of  man,  this  earth  has  existed 
 in  a  chaotic  or  inferior  state,  in  which  there  Avas  death 
 and  mutual  destruction  among  the  lower  animals  ;  and 
 some  of  the  best  and  ablest  of  our  scientific  men  have 
 doubted  whether  animals  were  originally  made  to  live 
 for  ever,  arguing,  that  if  animals  had  never  died,  the 
 earth,  according  to  our  present  notions,  would  have 
 been  over-filled  and  over-stocked  with  them  :  and  that 
 death  among  tlie  lower  animals  is  no  part  of  the  curse 
 pronounced  upon  man, — '']n  the  day  that  thou  eatest 
 thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die."  I  know  there  are  great 
 difficulties  in  the  subject :  at  some  future  time  1  hope 
 to  look  more  minutely  at  tl^em ;  but  of  this  I  am  quite 
 persuaded,  that  when  man  was  created,  and  the  animals 
 were  brought  to  him  to  receive  their  names,  they  were 
 at  peace  with  him,  and  at  peace  with  one  another. 
 And  I  am  as  persuaded  of  this,  that  what  are  now 
 called  the  carnivorous  animals  did  not  then  feed  on 
 flesh.  I  know  the  medical  men  and  physiologists  in 
 this  congregation  will  smile  at  what  they  will  consider 
 my  ignorance,  because  we  know  that  the  structure  and 
 physical  economy  of  the  animal  that  feeds  on  grass  is 
 quite  different  from  that  of  the  animal  that  feeds  on 
 flesh.  Their  respective  viscera  differ  greatly.  ]^o 
 doubt  of  it.  I  do  not  say  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
 the  point ;  but  I  am  stating  this  fact,  on  the  authority 
 of  God,  that  when  God  created  man,  he  said,  '*  Behold, 
 I  have  given  thee  every  herb  bearing  seed,  which  is 
 upoft  the  f^jce  pf  all  the  earth,  and  every  tree  in  which 
 
216  PEOPHETIC    SXrDIES. 
 
 is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  seed ;  to  you  it  shall  ba 
 for  meat.  And  to  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to 
 every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  thing  that  ereepeth 
 upon  the  earth,  wherein  there  is  life,  I  have  given 
 every  herb  for  meat:  and  it  was  so."  Man,  in  inno- 
 cence, did  not  eat  animal  flesh.  "We  have  no  evidence 
 that  the  permission  was  given  him  till  after  the  flood  ; 
 and  what  do  we,  therefore,  gather  from  this  fact  ? 
 That  animals  were  not  slain  in  order  to  supply  man's 
 wants  till  the  deluge.  It  is  plain,  too,  from  the  passage 
 I  have  read,  that  the  stronger  carnivorous  animals  did 
 not  originally  feed  upon  the  flesh  of  the  weaker  ani- 
 mals ;  and  the  presumptive  inference,  therefore,  is,  that 
 all  animals,  the  lion  and  the  lamb,  the  wolf  and  the 
 sheep,  were  at  perfect  peace  with  each  other ;  and  that 
 when  they  were  so,  they  presented  only  a  dim  fore- 
 shadow of  that  better  paradise,  when,  as  I  believe,  it 
 will  literally  come  to  pass,  that  "  the  lion  shall  eat 
 straw  like  the  ox,  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them." 
 I  know  some  will  ask.  How  can  you  understand  that 
 prediction  literally?  You  may  recollect  what  I  told 
 you  in  a  previous  lecture, — the  prophecy  of  Zechariah 
 was,  that  Christ  shall  come,  "  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  on 
 a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass."  Our  spiritual  and  figurative 
 interpreters  would  say  this  does  not  mean  that  the 
 Messiah  will  come  literally  seated  upon  an  ass,  but  that 
 he  will  come  in  very  great  humility.  But  when  you  turn 
 to  history,  you  find  the  minutest  particular  fulfilled, — 
 that  Jesus  so  came,  so  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  on  a  colt, 
 the  foal  of  an  ass.  And  in  the  same  manner  I  under- 
 stand those  glowing  descriptions  of  the  millennial  day, 
 when  all  things  shall  be  renewed,  when  the  High  Priest 
 who  is  now  in  the  holy  place  shall  come  forth,  and  pro- 
 nounce, as  creation's  High  Priest,  creation's  grand 
 benediction, — a  benediction  which  shall  ascend  to  the 
 heights,  and  descend  to  the  depths,  of  all  created  things ; 
 — I  believe,  upon  the  testimony  and  authority  of  God, 
 that  all  creatures  shall  again  recognise  man  as  their 
 lord ;  and  that  lion  and  tiger,  and  fish  of  the  sea  and 
 bird  of  the  air,  shall  all  do  him  homage  as  creation's 
 
DATJIEL    IX    TILE    DEN    OF   LIO^S.  217 
 
 king,  God's  vicar  upon  earth.  God  gave  token  of  this, 
 when  he  showed,  as  I  explained  to  you  in  discoursing 
 on  the  miracles  of  our  Lord,  that  though  man  has  lost 
 the  reins,  God  still  holds  them.  And  hence  there  are 
 scattered  throughout  the  Bible  instances  of  a  similar 
 kind, — where  the  ravens  bring  food  to  the  prophet; 
 where  the  dumb  ass,  at  God's  bidding,  preached  a  ser- 
 mon to  the  disobedient  prophet ;  and  where  the  fierce 
 lions,  as  in  the  example  before  us,  revered  the  flesh  of 
 the  sainted  man,  and  dared  not  touch  him.  God  has 
 but  to  speak,  and  the  curse  shall  be  withdrawn ;  sin 
 shall  be  obliterated,  and  all  things  become  beautiful, 
 harmonious  and  happy,  and  the  world  blossom  into 
 paradise. 
 
 Looking  at  Daniel's  miraculous  escape,  let  us  never 
 cease  to  have  confidence,  imder  all  circumstances,  in 
 God.  Do  not  look  at  things,  but  look  at  the  Lord  of 
 things.  Do  not  calculate  what  shall  be  by  what  you 
 see,  but  calculate  "  how  safe  is  that  mother's  child,"  to 
 use  the  language  of  Hooker,  "whose  trust  is  in  the 
 Rock  of  ages,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  If  God  be  your 
 foe,  or  rather,  if  you  be  his,  all  creation  shall  bristle 
 with  enmity  and  hostility  to  3'ou;  but  if  you  be  God's 
 friend,  and  God  j^our  friend,  the  winds  sliall  make 
 music  to  you,  the  waves  shall  joyfully  bear  you,  as 
 their  ornament,  not  their  load,  and  all  things  shall  work 
 together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  and  are  the 
 called  according  to  his  purpose. 
 
 The  monarch,  thus  impressed  with  the  truth  of 
 Daniel's  faith,  and  struck  with  the  interposition  of 
 Daniel's  God,  issues  a  decree, — a  decree  which  certainly 
 shows  his  profound  and  solemn  conviction, — enacting 
 that  the  God  of  Daniel  should  be  worshipped  and 
 adored,  and  accepted  throughout  the  whole  earth. 
 -There  was  much  in  this  decree  that  did  credit  to  the 
 monarch :  there  was  much  in  it  that  displayed  his 
 thorough  ignorance.  The  king  issued  a  decree,  com- 
 manding men  to  lay  aside  the  creeds  that  they  loved, 
 however  wrong  they  were,  and  to  adopt  a  creed  that 
 was  new  and  strange  to   them,   however   good.     The 
 
218  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 king  forgot  that  the  despotic  monarch  of  the  East  might 
 lay  his  hand  upon  the  projiertj-,  or  his  sword  upon  the 
 lite  of  his  subjects ;  but  that  there  is  a  hoh'  place  of 
 humanitj',  the  conscience,  into  which  even  a  royal  hand 
 is  not  permitted  to  enter.  And  when  kings  suppose 
 that  they  can  dictate  creeds  to  their  subjects,  tliey 
 assume  a  power  that  docs  not  belong  to  them,  and  a 
 power  it  becomes  lawful  instantly  to  resist.  Intellectual 
 convictions  and  conscientious  impressions  are  created 
 by  truth,  and  they  never  can  be  coerced  by  force.  I 
 will  tell  you  what  I  think  the  king  should  have  done  : 
 instead  of  trying  to  persecute  his  subjects  into  the  true 
 religion,  it  would  have  been  better  if  he  had  called 
 every  Christian  throughout  the  land  of  Chaldea,  all  the 
 friends  and  f.'llow- sufferers  of  Daniel,  and  sent  them 
 out,  two  and  two,  throughout  all  Chaldea,  telling  them 
 to  go  and  proclaim  to  all  people,  to  all  his  subjects,  of 
 Jill  tongues,  and  of  all  tribes,  that  Jehovah  is  the  living 
 God;  that  his  dominion,  to  use  his  own  words,  is  an 
 everlasting  dominion,  and  that  Daniel's  creed  is  the 
 creed  of  truth.  But  his  decree  that  men  should  become 
 Christians  might  create  uniformity  in  subscripti<m  to  a 
 creed,  but  it  could  not  produce  unity  of  conviction,  or 
 heartfelt  adoption  of  the  truth  that  he  thus  forced 
 upon  his  unwilling  subjects.  Never,  my  dear  friends, 
 let  us  believe  that  truth  can  be  aided  by  force,  or  that 
 a  lie  can  be  burned  out  by  the  fire.  If  the  sword 
 is  to  be  unsheathed,  let  it  be  unsheathed  not  by  the 
 friends,  but  by  the  foes  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  The 
 weapons  of  our  warfare  are  mighty;  and  mighty  just 
 because  they  are  not  carnal.  But  while  the  king's 
 decree  was  wrong,  inasmuch  as  he  tried  to  force  convic- 
 tion where  truth  alone  could  create  it,  yet  the  truths 
 which  he  embodied  in  his  decree  were  grand  and  beau- 
 tiful. He  said,  God  is  the  living  God.  Juj^iter  is  a  dead 
 god.  Bel  is  a  dead  god.  Mars  is  a  dead  God.  But 
 Jehovah  is  "  the  living  God.''  And  he  spoke  truly  when 
 he  said,  "  and  his  kingdom  shall  not  be  destroyed." 
 Why,  what  is  the  history  of  the  Avorld  ?  Dynasties 
 have  changed,  and  thrones  have  tottered,  and  crowns 
 
DANIEL   IN    THE    DEN    OF    LIONS.  219 
 
 have  been  tossed  as  baubles,   and  sceptres  have  been 
 snapt   as   infants'   toys  ;    vicissitude,   and  change,   and 
 decay  have  seized  upon  and  made  sport  of  the  brightest 
 and  the  noblest  of   created  things ;    but  there  is  one 
 kingdom  that  emerges  more  beautiful  from  wrecks, — the 
 kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Christianity  still    ^ 
 holds  on  her  upward  and  her  onivard  career.     Persecu- 
 tion has  tried  to  destroy  her  power,  or  crush  her  influ- 
 ence ;  but  all  history  attests  what  the  Bible  confirms, 
 that  no  power  of  man  can  permanently  build  up  a  lie, 
 and  that  no  hatred  of  man  can  permanently  injure  the 
 truth  of  God.      "  He,"  says  the  monarch  in  his  decree, 
 "  maketh  signs  and  wonders;"  and  ho   does   so    still. 
 The  flower  that  germinates, — the  bud  that  bursts  from 
 the  stem, — the  spring  of  the  year,  which  if  it  came  only 
 once  in  a  hundred  years,  would  be  the  wonder  and  the 
 admiration  of  the  world, — these  are  all  evidences  just  as 
 decisive  of  the  signs  and  wonders  of  his  presence  and  his 
 power,  as  the  miracles  he  wrought  in  Palestine.  There  is 
 just  as  much  of  God's  signs  and  wonders,  and  mighty 
 power,  in  making  my  living  heart  continue  to  beat,  as  there 
 was  in  making  Lazarus' s  dead  heart  begin  to  beat  again. 
 What  philosophers  call  phenomena,  the  Bible  calls  the 
 signs,  and  wonders,  and  the  tokens  of  the  living  God. 
 He  guides  still  by  his  hand  the  orbs  that  Newton  dis- 
 covered :  he  mingled  those  beauteous  colours  that  ]N^ewton 
 was  the  first  to  untwine.     He  buried  the  Saurian  tribes 
 before  man  was  created.     He  knows  all  the  discoveries 
 that  science  will  make,  all  the  creeds  that  theorists  will 
 form,  and  all  the  projects  that  diplomatists  will  propose. 
 He  makes,  by  his  almighty  power,  the  wrath  of  man  to 
 praise  him.     He  causes  obstructions  to  aid  the  progress 
 of  the  Gospel,  and  all  things  to  work  together  for  good 
 to  them  that  love  him,  and  are  the  called  according  to 
 his  purpose. 
 
 Thus,  then,  we  have  seen  Daniel  in  the  den,  Daniel 
 delivered,  and  the  monarch  praising,  and  acknowledging, 
 and  thanking  God. 
 
 In  concluding  my  remarks,  and  especially  in  pleading 
 the  claims  of  my  schools,  which  I  do  in  this  lecture,  let 
 
220  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 me  remind  you  that  all  the  excellence  and  the  Christian 
 heroism  that  Daniel  exhibited,  Avas,  as  we  are  told  at 
 the  beginning  of*  the  book,  mainly  the  result  of  early 
 religious  education.  Daniel  as  a  j'outh  was  educated  in 
 the  Gospel,  and  therefore  Daniel  as  a  man  lived  accord- 
 ing to  the  Gospel.  And  how  did  he  show  his  Christian 
 principle  ?  Just  as  I  wish,  and  as  you  would  wish, 
 your  babes  to  show  it.  When  ho  was  told  that  if  he 
 prayed  he  would  be  put  to  death,  that  if  he  confessed 
 his  religion  he  would  bring  down  upon  himself  the 
 shame  and  the  disapprobation  of  others,  he  cared  not 
 what  man  might  say ;  he  only  thought  of  what  God 
 would  think.  And  therefore,  my  dear  friends,  we  are 
 to  teach  our  children,  when  they  are  entering  upon  any 
 duties  in  the  world,  not  to  submit  to  public  opinion, 
 but  only  to  defer  it ;  not  to  fear  the  censure  of  the 
 sinful,  or  the  thoughtless,  but  to  do  right  because  it  is 
 right,  and  to  cleave  to  duty  just  because  it  is  duty.  Let 
 our  children  be  taught  to  bow  circumstances  to  duty, 
 never  to  bow  duty  to  circumstances.  AVe  have  nothing 
 to  do  with  circumstances  but  to  conquer  them  :  ours  is 
 duty,  God's  the  issue. 
 
 A  second  feature  in  Daniel  was  self-sacrifice,  another 
 result  of  his  early  education.  He  was  ready  to  give  up 
 his  honours,  his  profits,  his  life,  but  never,  never  to  give 
 up  his  confidence  in  God,  his  belief  in  the  Gospel  of 
 Jesus.  Accustom  your  children  to  self-sacrifice.  Ac- 
 custom them  to  be  ready  to  give  up  their  money,  their 
 plans,  their  play,  Avhen  the  requirement  of  a  higher  duty 
 demands  that  the)^  should  do  so.  Accustom  them  to 
 give  to  the  claims  of  humanity,  to  the  cause  of  God. 
 A  boy  parting  his  only  apple  with  his  schoolfellow, 
 looks  to  many  as  a  mere  childish  act :  it  is  a  sublime 
 and  significant  fact.  Daniel  had  parted  his  apple  with 
 his  schoolfellow  before  he  grew  up  to  part  Avith  his 
 life,  if  needs  were,  at  the  bidding  of  his  Father  and  his 
 God.      . 
 
 Teach  your  children,  like  Daniel,  to  shrink  from 
 everything  like  recrimination.  When  Daniel  was 
 accused,   how  meekly  he  bore  it !  when  uni  ustly  sen- 
 
da:n^iel  in  the  den  of  lioxs.  221 
 
 tenced,  how  gently  he  took  the  sentence !  not  one 
 ■Nvord  of  acrimony  or  retaliation  fell  from  his  lips.  But 
 what  do  many  of  you  sometimes  teach  your  children  ? 
 You  tell  your  boy,  when  he  is  struck  by  another  boy, 
 *' Show  a  little  spirit;  retaliate."  Kay,  I  have  seen 
 the  nurse  in  the  nursery  doing  a  most  mischievous 
 thing,  by  teaching  the  little -child  that  had  accidentally 
 struck  its  head  against  a  table  or  a  chair,  to  beat  and 
 scold  the  table  or  the  chair  by  which  the  accident  hap- 
 pened, thus  instilling  into  its  mind  the  principle  of 
 revenge  even  with  its  mother's  milk.  It  is  a  lesson 
 too  soon  and  too  readily  learned.  How  much  l)etter  to 
 teach  your  child  the  lesson  we  read  in  our  Saviour's 
 sermon  on  the  mount :  '*  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them 
 that  curse  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use 
 you  and  persecute  you!"  Daniel  had  better  teachers 
 and  better  schooling,  and  therefore  retaliation — ''an 
 eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth" — was  no  dogma  in 
 Daniel's  creed. 
 
 Daniel  was  plainly  a  child  trained  to  prayer.  Teach 
 your  children  not  only  the  words,  the  sentiment  of 
 prayer,  but  teach  the  hahit  of  prayer.  Teach  them 
 by  a  form,  but  tell  them  also  to  lift  that  little  beating 
 heart  when  the  tongue  must  be  dumb  and  give  no  ex- 
 pression to  its  feelings,  and  to  think  of  our  Father,  who 
 so  loved  us  and  gave  Christ  to  die  for  us.  Teach  them 
 to  pray,  and  to  seek  a  new  heart  from  the  Spirit  of  God, 
 who  alone  can  give  that  new  heart.  Pray  that  you  may 
 see  them  made  Christians  first ;  they  will  be  churchmen 
 or  dissenters  soon  enough.  See  that  they  be  Christians ; 
 leave  all  the  rest.  Teach  them,  as  Daniel  had  been 
 taught.  Christian  courtesy.  But  draw  courtesy  for  jouv 
 children  not  from  Chesterfield,  but  from  the  Apostle 
 Paul.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  refinement.  I  like  to 
 see  children  good,  but  I  like  to  see  them  self-sacrificing. 
 What  is  the  highest  Christianity  ?  Giving  way  to  your 
 neighbour  in  all  that  can  please  him,  without  any 
 sacrifice  of  principle  or  duty  on  your  part.  What  is 
 the  highest  mark  of  courtesy,  the  great  evidence  of  a 
 true  gentleman  ?     It  is  yielding  to  the  convenience,  the 
 
222  PEOPflETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 comfort,  and  happiness  of  another.  Teach  your  children 
 so  to  act.  Teach  them  at  your  own  table  :  don't  say, 
 *'lt  is  only  home,"  it  is  only  your  own  dining  or 
 di-awing-room,  and  thercforo  the  child  may  do  as  it 
 likes.  Teach  them  to  do  at  home  as  you  wish  them  to 
 do  abroad,  and  then  they  will  do  abroad  without  re- 
 straint that  to  which  they  are  accustomed  on  the 
 principle  on  which  that  issue  is  sustained. 
 
 Thus  then  Daniel  showed  in  his  grown-up  life  the 
 graces  which  he  learned  in  his  earlier  j'ears.  Those 
 great  reforms  which  are  to  revolutionise  the  world  must 
 begin  in  the  nursery.  From  the  first  moment  that  the 
 child  leaves  its  cradle,  to  the  last  moment  that  he  spends 
 at  the  university,  there  must  be  Christian  instruction 
 bestowed  upon  him.  Education  of  the  head  v/ithout 
 education  of  the  heart  is  worse  than  no  education  at 
 all, — it  is  not  worthy  of  the  name  of  education. 
 
LECTURE  XVI. 
 
 THE   PAPACY. 
 
 '' I  came  near  unto  one  of  ihem  that  stood  hy,  and  asJced 
 him  the  truth  of  all  this.  So  he  told  me,  and  made  me 
 hioiv  the  interpretation  of  the  things.  These  great 
 beasts,  ichich  are  four,  are  four  Icings,  which  shall  arise 
 out  of  the  earth.  Bat  the  saints  of  the  most  High  shall 
 talce  the  hingdom,  and  2)ossess  the  kingdom  for  ever,  even 
 for  ever  and  ever,  llien  I  would  know  the  truth  of  the 
 fourth  least,  ichich  ivas  diverse  from  all  the  others,  ex- 
 ceeding dreadful,  ivhose  teeth  were  of  iron,  and  his  nails 
 of  brass ;  ichich  devoured,  brake  in  pieces,  and  stamped 
 the  residue  with  his  feet ;  and  of  the  ten  hovns  that  were 
 in  his  head,  and  of  the  other  which  came  up,  and  before 
 whom  three  fell ;  even  of  that  horn  that  had  eyes,  and  a 
 mouth  that  spake  very  great  things,  whose  look  was  more 
 stout  than  his  fellows.  I  beheld,  and  the  same  horn 
 made  icar  -with  the  saints,  and  prevailed  against  them  ; 
 until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judgment  teas  given 
 to  the  saints  of  the  most  High;  and  the  time  came  that 
 the  saints  p)ossessed  the  kingdom.  Thus  he  said,  The 
 fourth  beast  shall  be  the  fourth  kingdom  iqjon  earth, 
 which  shall  be  diverse  from  all  kingdoms,  and  shall 
 devour  the  whole  earth,  and  shall  tread  it  down,  and 
 break  it  in  pieces.  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  king- 
 dom are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise :  and  another  shall 
 arise  after  them  ;  a?id  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the  first, 
 and  he  shall  subdue  three  kings.  And  he  shall  speak 
 great  words  against  the  most  High,  and  shall  wear  out 
 the  saints  of  the  most  High,  and  think  to  change  times 
 and  laws :  and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hand  until  a 
 time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of  time.     But  the  judg- 
 
224  PEOFHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 me7it  shall  sit,  and  they  shall  tal:e  away  his  dominion,  to 
 consume  and  to  destroy  it  nnto  the  end.  And  the  king^ 
 dom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom 
 under  the  tvhole  heaven,  shall  he  given  to  the  people  of 
 the  saints  of  the  most  High,  -whose  kingdom  is  an  ever- 
 lasting kingdom,  and  nil  dnmmions  shall  serve  and  obey 
 him.  Hitherto  is  the  end  of  the  matter.  As  for  me, 
 Daniel,  my  cogitations  much  troubled  me,  and  my  coun- 
 tenance changed  in  me :  hit  I  kept  the  matter  in  my 
 heart."— Dx:siBL  vii.  16—28. 
 
 The  four  chapters  on  which  I  have  discoursed  on  suc- 
 cessive Sunday  evenings  have  been  evidences  of  the 
 power  of  real  religion,  when  the  upholder  and  advocate 
 of  that  religion  was  persecuted  and  oppressed.  The 
 sixth  chapter,  on  the  last  verse  of  which  I  addressed 
 you  last  Sunday  evening,  closed  the  personal  biography, 
 if  I  may  so  call  it,  of  the  prophet  Daniel,  presenting  to 
 us  a  specimen  of  Christianity  in  ancient  times,  as  beau- 
 tiful as  it  was  rare,  and  showing  us  that  if  Daniel,  amid 
 such  circumstances — a  captive,  persecuted,  oppressed, 
 misrepresented,  cast  to  the  wild  beasts,  denounced  to  his 
 king — exhibited  imder  such  circumstances,  and  amid  the 
 darkness  of  an  age  on  which  the  Sun  of  righteousness  had 
 not  fully  risen,  such  constancy,  such  attachment  to  his 
 principles,  such  hatred  of  everything  like  compromise  or 
 concession  of  the  truth,  such  devotedness  to  God,  such  a 
 martyr's  spirit  amid  more  than  a  martyr's  sufferings, 
 ''Ho\v  shall  we  escape  if,"  amid  intenser  light  and  with 
 greated  privileges,  ''we  neglect  so  great  a  salvation?" 
 
 Before  proceeding  to  expound  the  passage  I  have 
 selected,  I  should  like  to  read  to  you  a  sketch  Avhich 
 has  been  drawn  of  the  prophet  Daniel  by  an  ancient 
 writer,  wliich  I  hold  in  my  hand. 
 
 "  It  was  this  love  of  God  which  made  his  greatly  be- 
 loved Daniel  prosperous  in  adversity,  that  gave  him 
 freedom  in  captivity,  friendship  among  enemies,  safety 
 among  infidels,  victory-  over  his  conquerors,  and  all  the 
 privileges  of  a  native  in  strange  countries  :  it  was  the 
 love  of  God  that  gave  his  greatly  beloved  '  knowledge 
 
THE    PAPACY.  225 
 
 and  skill  in  all  learning  and  dreams.'  It  was  this  love 
 of  God  that  delivered  him  in  danger — from  the  con- 
 spiracy and  malice  of  the  Median  princes  ;  from  the  fury 
 of  the  lions ;  that  sent  one  angel  in  the  den  to  stop  their 
 mouths,  and  another  angel  at  another  time  to  bring  a 
 prophet  on  purpose  to  feed  him ;  that  signally  avenged 
 hira  of  his  enemies,  and  did  by  a  miracle  vindicate  his 
 integrity.  It  was  the  love  of  God  that  sent  the  angel 
 Gabriel  to  visit  him — to  be  his  interpreter — to  strengthen, 
 to  comfort,  to  encourage  him ;  to  reveal  secrets  to  him, 
 and  to  assure  him  that  his  prayers  were  heard.  It  was 
 tho  love  of  God  which  gave  him  the  spirit  of  prophecy — 
 that  excellent  spirit,  that  spirit  of  the  holy  gods  (as  the 
 Babylonians  styled  it),  bj-  which  he  foretold  the  rise  and 
 period  of  the  four  monarchies,  the  return  of  the  captivity, 
 and  wrote  long  beforehand  the  history  of  future  ages. 
 Butbej'ond  all  this,  it  was  the  love  of  God  that  presented 
 him  with  a  clearer  landscape  of  the  Gospel  than  any 
 other  prophet  ever  had ;  he  was  the  beloved  prophet 
 under  the  old  dispensation,  as  John  was  the  beloved  dis- 
 ciple under  the  new,  and  both  being  animated  by  the 
 same  divine  love,  there  was  a  wonderful  harmony  be- 
 tween them ;  both  of  them  had  miraculous  preservations 
 ■ — one  from  the  lions,  the  other  from  the  burning  caldron ; 
 both  engaged  young  in  the  service  of  God,  and  consecrated 
 their  lives  by  an  early  piety ;  and  both  lived  to  a  great 
 and  equal  age — to  about  an  hundred  years :  both  had 
 the  like  intimacy  with  God — the  like  admittance  into 
 the  most  adorable  mysteries — and  the  like  abundance  of 
 heavenly  visions :  both  had  the  like  lofty  flights  and 
 ecstatic  revelations," 
 
 Such  is  the  sketch  of  the  prophet  given  by  an  ancient 
 "writer,  as  comprehensive  as  it  is  beautiful  and  true.  I 
 spoke  last  Lord's  day  evening  of  the  safety  of  Daniel 
 when  cast  among  the  furious  wild  beasts,  because  of  his 
 attachment  to  his  God  and  his  devotedness  to  his  religion. 
 I  cannot  but  read  here  also  a  beautiful  passage  from  the 
 justly -called  judicious  Hooker,  which  is  founded  upon 
 this  incident, — Daniel's  preservation  in  the  den  of  lions. 
 
 •'  It  was  not  the  meaning  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  in 
 
 Q 
 
226  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 saying,  *  Father,  keep  them  in  thy  name,'  that  Tre 
 should  be  careless  to  keep  ourselves.  To  our  own 
 safety  our  own  sedulity  is  required ;  and  then,  blessed 
 for  ever  be  that  mother's  child,  whose  faith  hath  made 
 him  the  child  of  God.  The  earth  may  shake,  the 
 pillars  of  the  world  may  tremble  under  us,  the  counte- 
 nance of  the  heaven  may  be  appalled,  the  sun  may  lose 
 his  light,  the  moon  her  beauty,  the  stars  their  glory  ; 
 but  concerning  the  man  that  trusteth  in  God,  if  the 
 fire  once  proclaimed  itself  unable  to  singe  a  hair  of  his 
 head — if  lions,  beasts  ravenous  by  nature  and  keen 
 with  hunger,  being  set  to  devour,  have,  as  it  were, 
 religiously  adored  the  flesh  of  the  faithful  man, — what 
 is  there  in  the  world  that  will  change  his  heart,  over- 
 throw his  faith,  alter  his  affection  towards  God,  or  the 
 affection  of  God  to  him?  If  I  be  of  this  note,  who 
 shall  make  a  separation  between  me  and  my  God  ? 
 *  Shall  tribulation,  or  anguish,  or  persecution,  or  famine, 
 or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  : '  I  am  persuaded  that 
 neither  tribulation,  nor  anguish,  nor  persecution,  nor 
 famine,  nor  nakedness,  nor  peril,  nor  sword,  nor  death, 
 nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor 
 things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth, 
 nor  any  other  creature,'  shall  ever  prevail  so  far  over  me. 
 I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed ;  I  am  not  ignorant 
 whose  precious  blood  hath  been  shed  for  me ;  I  have  a 
 Shepherd  full  of  kindness,  full  of  care,  and  full  of 
 power;  unto  him  I  commit  myself:  his  own  finger 
 hath  engraven  this  sentence  on  the  tables  of  my  heart : 
 '  Satan  hath  desired  to  winnow  thee  as  wheat,  but  I  have 
 prayed  that  thy  faith  fail  not ; '  therefore  the  assurance 
 of  my  hope  I  %at.11  labour  to  keep  as  a  jewel  unto  the 
 end ;  and  by  labour,  through  the  gracious  mediation  of 
 his  prayer,  I  shall  keep  it." 
 
 Such  is  first  a  sketch  of  the  life — such  is  a  grand 
 exhibition  of  the  safety  enjoyed  by  Daniel,  and  not  only 
 by  Daniel,  but  all  who  have  like  faith,  like  love,  and  a 
 like  God  to  serve,  to  glorify,  and  to  honour. 
 
 I  now  enter  upon  that  passage  which  is  in  some 
 degree  a  repetition  of  what  has  been  sketched  before. 
 
THE    PAPACl  227 
 
 Tou  recollect  that  a  great  image  appeared  to  Kehiichad- 
 nezzar,  having  a  head  of  gold,  the  breast  and  arms  of 
 silver,  the  belly  and  the  thighs  of  brass,  and  the  feet 
 of  iron,  and  these  feet  divided  into  ten  toes,  partly  clay 
 and  partly  iron,  which,  apparently  cohering  together 
 by  the  great  law  of  attraction,  were  never  made  perma- 
 manently  to  do  so.  And  I  explained,  in  expounding 
 that  passage,  that  the  vision  related  by  the  prophet 
 was  a  description  of  the  doom  of  Babylon ;  the  second, 
 the  Mcdo-Persian  empii-e ;  the  third,  the  Macedonian, 
 under  Alexander, — the  brass-coated  Greeks ;  the  fourth, 
 the  Eoman,  or  the  iron  empire  divided  ultimately  at 
 the  breaking  up  of  the  empire  into  ten  kingdoms. 
 These  ten  kingdoms  preserved  in  every  century  more 
 or  less  distinctness,  and  although  Charlemagne  made 
 tlie  effort  in  one  century  and  I^apoleon  in  a  subsequent 
 centmy,  to  extinguish  the  ten  kingdoms,  and  to  erect 
 the  fifth  empire  composed  of  all  the  empires  of  the 
 world,  God's  AYord  was  found  to  be  stronger  than  the 
 sword  of  Charlemagne,  or  the  iron  crown  of  j^Tapoleon, 
 and  the  ten  kingdoms  still  remain,  and  God's  prediction 
 still  stands  true.  You  have  now  the  very  same  histori- 
 cal facts — and  this  will  prevent  the  necessity  of  again 
 dwelling  upon  them — sketched  in  this  chapter,  under 
 the  symbol  of  beasts.  The  first  was  revealed  to  a 
 heathen  king  ;  the  second  is  disclosed  to  a  holy  prophet ; 
 and  while  it  is  perfectly  true  that  God  sometimes  uses 
 his  enemies  to  be  the  exponents  of  his  truth,  it  is 
 generally  true  that  '*  holy  men  of  old  spake  as  thej'  were 
 moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
 
 But  the  very  repetition  of  this  passage  shows  that 
 there  must  be  importance  in  it.  Surely  God  does  not 
 reiterate  trifles.  I  ask  jou,  Do  those  men  treat  the 
 Scripture  with  that  reverence  which  is  its  due,  or  God 
 with  truly  responsive  gratitude,  who  tell  us  that  we 
 ought  to  pass  over  such  passages  as  these,  as  if  our  duty 
 were  not  to  pray  and  labour  to  be  able  to  explain,  and, 
 if  possible,  to  understand  vs^hatever  God  has  written  for 
 our  learning  ?  And  yet  I  have  heard  ministers  of  the 
 Gospel  speak  as  if  it  were  to  their  credit,  that  they 
 
 Q  2 
 
228  mOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 were  so  dazzled  by  the  glories  of  Palestine,  that  they 
 could  not  spare  one  glance  at  "what  they  think  the 
 humbler  and  the  more  misty  beauties  of  Patmos.  It 
 does  seem  to  me  that  ''  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspira- 
 tion of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  correction, 
 and  for  instruction  in  righteousness;"  and  if  God  saw 
 it  to  be  for  his  gloiy  to  write  it,  surely  the  least 
 response  that  we  can  give  is,  to  make  it  our  study  to 
 understand  it.  Of  course  it  becomes  us  never  so  to 
 dwell  upon  one  part  as  to  give  a  disproportionate  atten- 
 tion to  the  rest.  These  historic  and  prophetic  pictures 
 are  tlie  few  and  the  far  between ;  and  we  are  only  to 
 discourse  upon  them  on  Sabbaths  that  are  few  and  far 
 between.  The  great,  saving,  vital  truths  of  the  Gospel 
 are  to  be  the  woof  and  the  warp  of  every  sermon  ;  the 
 sum,  the  substance,  the  core,  the  life,  of  every  appeal. 
 But  wlien  such  passages  as  these — historical,  it  is  true ; 
 prophetic,  it  is  also  true — come  before  us,  in  the  ordi- 
 nary course  of  our  ordinary  reading,  it  becomes  us  to 
 look  at  them,  and  pray  for  light  to  understand  them, 
 and  to  gather  from  the  tree  that  God  has  planted  leaves 
 that  shall  be  for  healing,  and  fruit  that  shall  be  for  food 
 to  the  people. 
 
 These  four  kingdoms,  then,  are  now  depicted  under  a 
 new  symbol.  The  first  symbol  was  the  image  composed 
 of  different  metals ;  the  second  class  of  symbols  are 
 four  wild  beasts  ;  the  first,  a  lion  with  wings ;  a  hiero- 
 glyph in  one  respect;  because  this  composite  animal 
 alone  could  express  what  was  the  mind  of  God,  and 
 denote  the  strength  and  courage  t]mt  combined  with 
 them  the  speed  and  progress  of  the  Babylonian  empire. 
 The  second  symbol,  or  type,  was  the  bear, — the  symbol 
 of  Persia,  and  expressive  of  its  cruel  and  savage  nature. 
 The  third  was  the  leopard, — the  Macedonian  leopard, 
 with  four  wings,  to  give  a  greater  idea  of  the  rapidity 
 of  its  conquests ;  and  with  four  heads,  into  which  the 
 empire  of  Alexander  was  divided  after  his  death,  and 
 the  dominion  that  was  given  to  them.  And  then  the 
 last,  an  animal,  not  named,  but  described, — *'  dreadful 
 and   terrible,   and    strong    exceedingly,   stamping    the 
 
THE   PAPACT.  229 
 
 residue  with  the  feet  of  it,  and  diverse  from  all  the 
 other  beasts," — plainly  the  Roman  empire,  represented 
 by  the  iron  feet  and  toes  of  the  great  image.  It  had 
 also  ten  horns.  The  horn  is  always  used  in  Scripture 
 to  represent  power :  it  denotes,  in  prophetic  language,  a 
 dynasty,  a  political  empire.  This  last  wild  beast,  of 
 terrific  power  and  strength,  and  irresistible  victories, 
 was  to  have  upon  his  head,  as  the  hieroglyph  expresses 
 it,  "  ten  horns."  These  were  the  ten  kingdoms,  sym- 
 bolised in  the  former  image  by  the  ten  toes,  into  which 
 the  Roman  empire  was  to  be  divided ;  these  ten  king- 
 doms I  have  enumerated  in  their  order,  in  the  course 
 of  my  remarks  upon  the  great  image  ;  and  I  therefore 
 forbear  to  repeat  them  now.  These  ten  horns,  or  king- 
 doms, have  existed  in  every  age  since  the  empire  came 
 into  being,  and  are  in  existence  at  the  present  moment. 
 Then  there  was  to  spring  up  in  the  midst  of  the  ten 
 horns,  a  '^ little  horn,"  politically  and  physically  small, 
 but  from  its  pretensions  and  its  assumptions,  terrible 
 and  influential.  This  little  horn  was  to  pull  down  three 
 of  the  ten  horns.  IS'ow,  is  there  any  one  fact  in  history 
 by  which  this  is  borne  out,  and  which  shows  bow  truly 
 this  prediction  has  been  fulfilled  ?  This  I  will  look  at 
 by-and-bye ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  let  me  call  upon 
 you  to  notice  that  these  four  wild  beasts  arose  from  the 
 ocean,  or  the  great  sea,  convulsed  and  agitated  by  the 
 four  winds  that  swept  it ;  teaching  us  that  these  govern- 
 ments were  to  arise  from  social  chaos,  or,  if  I  may  so 
 express  myself,  that  society,  torn  and  convulsed  to  its 
 centre  by  the  antagonistic  passions  of  those  that  com- 
 pose it,  should  be  driven  to  have  recourse  to  rule, 
 government,  and  authority,  in  order  to  preserve  it  from 
 utter  extinction;  to  consolidate  its  powers,  and  main- 
 tain harmony  within ;  to  defend  itself  from  the  aggres- 
 sions of  enemies  without.  But  these  governments  that 
 were  to  arise  are  here  called  ''wild  beasts;"  denoting 
 what,  after  all,  has  been  the  character  of  those  great 
 empires,  and  of  every  empire  that  has  not  the  Gospel  of 
 peace  to  perfect,  to  sanctify,  and  to  cement  it.  What 
 has  been  the  histoiy  of  nation^  in  the  past  ? — they  have 
 
230  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 raised  themselves  to  ascendancy  by  force  or  by  fraud ; 
 and  they  have  maintained  that  ascendancy  generally  by 
 force  or  by  fraud  also.  War  has  been  the  pride  and  the 
 glory  of  nations  in  the  past.  Coercion  has  been  the 
 language  of  the  most  illustrious  emperors ;  and  the 
 sword  cast  into  the  scale,  as  in  the  case  of  Camillus  of 
 old,  has  been  the  justice  which  nations  have  meted  out, 
 and  kings  and  great  kingdoms  have  called  in.  A  wild 
 beast  is  the  true  sjTubol  of  a  nation,  a  d3'nasty,  or  a 
 kingdom  that  knows  not,  and  coheres  not  by,  the 
 cementing  influence  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  And  when 
 we  know  that  this  is  the  character  of  nations,  how  fer- 
 vently should  we  pray  for  the  advent  of  that  blessed 
 period,  when  the  spear  shall  be  turned  into  the  prun- 
 ing-hook,  and  the  sword  shall  be  beaten  into  the  plough- 
 share ; — when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become 
 the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  his  Christ,  and  the 
 only  sceptre  that  shall  sway  the  nations  from  sea  to 
 sea,  shall  be  the  sceptre  of  the  Prince  of  peace,  the 
 righteousness,  the  love,  the  mercy,  of  the  Son  of  God. 
 
 I  have  noticed  that  this  last  wild  beast,  the  fiercest, 
 or  the  most  powerful  of  all,  had  ten  horns;  or,  as  I 
 explained  to  you,  was  divided  into  ten  separate  and 
 independent  d^'nasties.  Of  these  I  have  akeady  given 
 you  a  list,  as  they  exist  at  the  present  moment,  with 
 the  slightest  shade  of  differences,  in  the  modern  Euro- 
 pean nations.  In  the  midst  of  all  these,  there  was  to 
 arise  a  little  horn ;  plainly  a  political  dynasty,  like  the 
 rest,  but  with  very  great  moral,  personal,  and  distinc- 
 tive peculiarities.  This  little  horn  was  not  Mahomet, 
 or  Eramah,  or  Confucius,  because  it  was  to  appear  in 
 the  midst  of  the  other  ten  horns.  It  spread  from  the 
 head  of  the  wild  beast,  amid  the  ten  horns,  or  king- 
 doms, which  first  arose ;  and  it  was,  like  the  other 
 horns,  a  political  dynasty ;  but  it  differed  from  the  rest 
 in  this  respect,  that  it  had  eyes  for  seeing,  and  a  mouth 
 for  speaking.  We  are,  therefore,  taught  that  this  power 
 should  be  a  combination  of  the  power  of  the  seer  and 
 the  speaker,  the  eiridKOTrog,  and  the  priest,  and  the 
 political  speaker.     It  should  be  ''a  horn,"  having  poll- 
 
231  THE    PAPACY. 
 
 tical  power ;  but  should  have  eyes ;  the  origin  of  the 
 Greek  word  tTrtd/coTroc,  from  Avhich  is  derived  the 
 English  word  episcopacy,  signifying  ''one  that  over- 
 sees;" "one  that  sees  and  looks  over  other  persons ;" 
 and  the  name  given  to  the  prophets  of  old  is  ''  a  seer;" 
 ''  one  that  sees."  The  ecclesiastical  character  of  this 
 little  horn  is,  therefore,  plainly  indicated  by  the  pecu- 
 liar feature  that  it  was  to  have  eyes  for  seeing,  or 
 superintending  those  that  were  beneath  it.  And  not 
 only  was  it  to  have  eyes,  but  it  was  also  to  have  a 
 mouth,  speaking  great  things ;  a  preacher  of  proud  pre- 
 tensions, or  a  doctor  of  despotic  laws ;  an  enacter  of 
 canons,  or  rules  for  government  and  for  regulation. 
 
 Then  you  will  notice  another  feature  in  it,  that  it 
 was  to  uproot  three  out  of  the  ten  kingdoms.  JS'ow  if 
 I  apply  this  little  horn  where  I  think  it  is  indisputably 
 applicable,  to  the  Papal  power  that  now  reigns  at  Bome, 
 I  think  you  will  find  every  feature  of  the  prophecy  met 
 and  embodied  in  the  history  of  that  power.  The  three 
 kingdoms  that  were  rooted  up  by  this  little  horn  were 
 the  three  kingdoms  of  the  Yandals,  Ostrogoths,  and  the 
 Lombards,  who  were,  after  a  succession  of  troubles, 
 rooted  up  by  the  Papacy  and  constituted  into  the  states 
 of  the  Church.  K'ow  here  is  a  very  remarkable  coin- 
 cidence. Can  this  be  accident,  that  there  is  here  a 
 description  of  a  little  horn,  an  ecclesiastico-political 
 power,  which  was  to  root  out  three  horns  or  kingdoms 
 that  preceded  it  ?  And  you  find  in  the  history  of 
 Europe  that  the  Papacy  has  destroyed,  partly  by  force 
 and  parti)'  by  fraud,  long  ago,  three  of  the  estates  of 
 the  ten  into  which  Europe  was  divided ;  and  the  Pope 
 wears  upon  his  head  at  this  very  moment  the  tiara  or 
 three-crowned  cap,  to  denote  the  three  kingdoms  or 
 horns  which  he  rooted  up,  and  over  which  he  now 
 reigns. 
 
 Then  you  will  notice  that  this  power  was  to  have  a 
 mouth  speaking  great  things — a  mouth  by  which  it 
 claims  to  be  the  vicar  of  God,  and  to  have  the  keys  of 
 heaven  and  hell.  It  assumes  the  language,  and  arrogates 
 to  itself  the  attributes  of  Deity.  A  mouth  which  assume.. 
 
232  PROPHETIC    STUDIES, 
 
 what  bishop  never  assumed  before,  and  claims  an  in- 
 timacy with  the  world  of  spirits  such  as  God  never 
 vouchsafed  to  any  creature  upon  earth.  The  Pope  pro- 
 fesses to  see  into  the  realms  of  spirits  ;  to  read  and  to 
 make  known  God's  hidden,  unsearchable,  and  inscrutable 
 record  ;  and  pronounces,  by  declaring  that  he  sees,  what 
 is  the  doom  of  the  lost  that  are  in  woe,  and  the  destiny 
 of  the  saved  that  are  in  glory ;  and  can,  for  payment, 
 facilitate  the  escape  of  the  suiferers  in  purgatory,  and 
 can  canonise  and  constitute  into  saints,  to  be  worsliipped, 
 those  who  are  the  inmates  of  the  latter. 
 
 But  the  better  way  to  show  how  tliis  prophecy  is  ful- 
 filled is  to  refer  to  some  of  the  great  things  that  this  horn 
 speaks.  Do  not  say  that  it  is  of  no  importance  to  explain 
 this.  Whatever  God  has  written,  it  is  the  dutj^  of  the 
 minister  to  endeavour  to  expound.  Here  is  a  proplu^cy 
 that  this  episcopal  ecclesiastico-political  power  was  to 
 have,  in  the  first  place,  a  mouth  that  should  spe;dc  great 
 things.  Let  rae  read  to  you  very  briefly  what  I  m3'self 
 have  collected,  at  considerable  labour  and  pains,  from 
 among  the  ''great  things"  which  this  mouth  speaks. 
 I  might  give  you,  not  my  description  of  the  things,  but 
 the  verv  things  themselves,  as  I  have  taken  them  from 
 the  writings  in  which  they  are  contained.  The  bull  of 
 Pope  Sextus  Y.  against  the  two  sons  of  wrath,  as  he  calls 
 them,  Henry  of  Xavarre  and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  is  one 
 specimen  amid  many  of  the  pretensions  put  forth  by  the 
 Papal  power.  You  say  perhaps,  "these  are  obsolete." 
 What  was  infallibly  riglit  in  the  sixteenth  centurj-  can- 
 not be  wrong  in  the  nineteenth.  These  pretensions 
 never  have  been  diluted,  still  less  repudiated.  The  Pope 
 claims  jurisdiction  over  all  the  kings  and  governments  of 
 the  earth ;  though,  thanks  be  to  God,  I  think  his  poli- 
 tical sovereignty  is  gone  substantially,  never  to  be 
 wielded  again  with  anytliing  like  success  over  the  nations 
 of  the  earth  ;  though  his  spiritual  power,  in  our  own 
 land  especially,  seems  to  be  making  progress  to  a  degree 
 unprecedented  since  the  Reformation. 
 
 In  making  these  arrogant  assumptions,  "  the  mouth," 
 |s  it  is  here  called,  proceeds  upon  the  assumption  that 
 
THE   PAPACY.  233 
 
 Peter  was  the  chief  of  the  apostles,  and  that  the  Popes 
 of  Home  are  the  successors  of  Peter.  There  is  not  the 
 least  evidence  in  the  Bible  or  in  history  that  such  was 
 the  case.  In  the  first  place,  when  the  apostles  contended 
 which  should  be  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
 our  Lord,  instead  of  setting  Peter  before  them  and  saying, 
 '^  Here  is  your  superior,"  took  a  little  child,  and  set  him 
 in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said,  *'  He  that  is  greatest  of 
 all  shall  be  servant  of  all."  Was  Peter  constituted  an 
 ambassador  r  So  was  Paul.  Did  Peter  receive  the  keys  ? 
 So  did  Paul.  And  Peter,  in  his  epistles,  styles  himself 
 only  an  "  elder : "  '*  I  who  am  also  an  elder  ....  unto 
 you  Avho  are  elders."  Did  Peter  receive  the  power  of 
 binding  and  of  loosing  ?  So  did  Paul.  Do  not  we  read  that 
 the  apostles  "  sent  Peter  and  John,"  &c,,  and  that  St.  Paul 
 rebuked  Peter  to  his  face  ?  And  if  we  ask  the  present 
 pontiff  to  trace  his  succession  to  Peter,  we  shall  see  that 
 Honorius  the  Monothelite,  and  Liberius  the  Arian,  had 
 not  the  succession  in  doctrine  ;  Alexander  YI.  and  Gre- 
 gory VII.  had  not  the  succession  in  holiness.  The  popes 
 do  not  preach,  as  Peter  did.  The  Pope's  shadow  does 
 not  heal  diseases,  as  Peter's  did.  And  in  all  these  re- 
 spects, and  in  man)'  others  which  might  be  mentioned, 
 the  succession  seems  to  have  failed,  and  the  Popes  of 
 Rome  to  have  become  the  successors  of  Judas,  not  the 
 successors  of  Peter  the  fisherman  of  Galilee.  There  is 
 left  then  only  ''a  mouth  speaking,"  not  proving,  "  great 
 things." 
 
 Put  these  "  great  words "  are  said  to  be  spoken 
 specially  against  the  Most  High.  What  are  the  assump- 
 tions of  the  popes  ?  I  will  quote  what  I  have  copied 
 literally  from  Baronius,  the  celebrated  Poman  Catholic 
 historian,  in  his  annals ;  such  epithets  as  these  bestowed 
 by  such  high  authority  on  the  Poman  pontiff:  ''the 
 sovereign  of  the  Church  ;"  the  "head  of  the  Church  ;" 
 "our  Lord;"  the  "high-priest  and  pastor;"  the  "  chief 
 doctor  ;"  the  "  master ;"  the  "  father ; "  the  "judge  of 
 all."  (Baron.  An.  34.)  "  It  is  idolatry  to  disobey  the 
 Pope's  commands."  (Greg.  VII.  ch.  4.)  And  that  he 
 speaks  great  words  against  the  Most  High,  I  show  you 
 
234  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 from  Bellarmine,  the  great  cardinal  and  upholder  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome,  who  says  :  ''  Si  autem  Papa  erraret 
 pr£ecipiendo  vitia  vel  prohibendo  virtutcs,  teneretur 
 ccclesia  credere  vitia  esse  bona  et  virtutcs  malas,  nisi 
 vellet  contra  conscientiam  peccare."  (Bel.  de  Horn.  Pont, 
 vol.  i.  p.  546.  Prag.  1721.)  "  If  the  Pope  should  err  by 
 commanding  vices  or  prohibiting  virtues,  the  Church 
 would  be  bound  to  believe  that  vices  were  good  and 
 virtues  bad,  unless  she  wished  to  sin  against  conscience." 
 I  have  quoted  these  words  not  at  second-hand,  but  from 
 the  works  of  the  author,  which  I  have  been  at  the  pains 
 to  consult.  These  indeed  are  "  great  words  "  against  the 
 Most  High.  But  there  is  other  and  equally  strong 
 evidence  :  Jesus  said,  ''Drink  ye  all  of  this  cup;"  the 
 Pope  says,  ''  The  laity  shall  not  drink  of  it."  God  says, 
 *'  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,  or 
 the  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  in 
 the  earth  beneath,  or  in  the  waters  under  the  earth  : 
 thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them  nor  worship  them." 
 In  most  of  the  Iloman  Catholic  catechisms  that  I  have 
 seen,  that  commandment  is  either  left  out  altogether,  or 
 "  bow  "  is  changed  into  *'  adore,"  though  the  meaning  of 
 the  original  is  strictly  "  bow,"  because  the  attitude  of 
 the  body  was  forbidden,  lest  there  should  be  the  feelings 
 of  the  soul  immediately  following  or  accompanying  it. 
 And  the  Pope  permits  images  to  be  reared,  crosses  to  be 
 adored,  and  the  bread  upon  the  altar  to  be  worshipped. 
 God  says,  ''Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother;"  the 
 Pope  substantially  says,  "  If  the  father  be  a  heretic,  the 
 son  is  bound  to  reveal  him."  God  says  again,  "  Thou 
 shalt  not  steal;"  the  Eomish  doctors  say  that  "small 
 thefts  are  only  venial  sins."  God  says,  "  Eemember  the 
 Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy ;"  the  Ilomish  catechism,  as 
 printed  and  published  at  Rome,  says,  "  Remember  the 
 festivals  to  keep  them  holy:"  "Recordati  di  sanctificare 
 le  festi."  We  have  here  then  "  the  mouth  speaking 
 great  things  and  words  against  the  Most  High." 
 
 Sanctissimus  Dominus  noster,  "  our  most  holy  Lord," 
 is  the  appellation  given  to  the  Pope  by  the  Council  of 
 Trent.      (Decretum  super  petitione  concessionis  calicis. 
 
THE    PAPACY.  235 
 
 Cone.  Trid.  sess.  22,  cap.  ii.  p.  223.  Paris,  1837.)  "All 
 power  is  given  to  thee  in  heaven  and  earth,"  are  words 
 addressed  to  Gregory  YII.  (Binius,  vol.  vii.  p.  484.) 
 It  would  be  tedious  to  quote  all  the  evidence  afforded  by 
 documents,  monuments,  official  claims,  and  accepted 
 titles,  of  the  idolatrous  and  blasphemous  pretensions  of 
 tlie  popes  of  Rome.  '*  The  mouth  speaking  great  things" 
 is  too  characteristic,  too  graphic,  to  escape  the  application 
 I  have  given. 
 
 Another  feature  that  identifies  this  little  horn  with  the 
 Papal  power  is  the  prediction  that  ' '  he  will  make  war 
 with  the  saints."  The  whole  history  of  Europe  is  pain- 
 fully conclusive  evidence  of  this  feature.  It  was  a  pope 
 who  raised  the  crusades  against  the  Albigenses,  and 
 carried  them  on  until  the  whole  province  was  depopu- 
 lated. It  was  a  pope  that  instigated  Alberic  III.  to 
 make  war  against  the  Paulicians  in  the  East,  till,  within 
 a  few  years,  one  hundred  thousand  were  put  to  death. 
 Aquinas,  the  celebrated  casuist,  said  that  ''the  goods  of 
 heretics  were  to  be  confiscated,  and  their  lives  to  be  taken 
 away."  Bellarmine  says,  "It  is  not  enough  to  put  here- 
 tics in  prison  for  the  extinction  of  their  tenets,  which  go 
 forth  from  prison  walls  and  taint  the  fold  ;  therefore  it  is 
 best  to  send  them  to  their  own  place."  When  we  look 
 back  to  the  persecutions  to  which  the  Albigenses,  the 
 Paulicians,  and  the  Waldenses  were  subjected,  and  when 
 we  become  acquainted  with  the  sentiments  and  doctrines 
 of  Pome's  most  eminent  and  accredited  upholders,  we 
 can  have  little  doubt  that  tlie  power  which  thus  made 
 war  against  the  saints  is  "  the  little  horn,"  which  grew 
 up  amidst  the  ten ;  for  all  history  in  all  its  chapters,  and 
 the  word  of  God  in  its  most  solemn  sentences,  declares 
 that  that  power  has  been  "  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the 
 saints."  It  was  the  retrospect  of  such  cruelties  which 
 made  Milton  exclaim — 
 
 *•  Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  slaughter'd  saints,  whose  bones 
 Lie  scatter'd  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold. 
 Even  they  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 
 When  all  our  fathers  worshipp'd  stocks  and  stoiiea 
 Forget  not.     lu  thy  book  record  their  groans 
 
236  PEOPHETIC    STTTDIES. 
 
 Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 
 Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  roU'd 
 Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moans 
 The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
 To  heaven.     Their  martyr'd  blood  and  ashes  sow 
 O'er  all  the  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
 The  triple  tyrant,  that  from  these  may  grow 
 A  hundred-fold,  who,  having  learn'd  the  way, 
 Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  woe." 
 
 It  is  true  the  Pope  does  not  ^D.o^v  persecute,  unless  '\^e 
 should  quote  Dr.  Achilli  as  an  instance  of  an  attempt  to 
 do  so ;  but  you  are  not  therefore  to  conclude  that  his 
 principles  have  changed,  for  they  are  precisely  the  same. 
 It  is  not  because  his  taste  has  been  improved,  for  the  in- 
 stance of  Achilli  sliows  that  it  has  not ;  but  it  is  because 
 the  freedom  of  the  press,  the  spread  of  popular  liberty, 
 the  mildness  of  the  governments  of  Europe,  and  the  pro- 
 gress and  triumph  of  cnliglitencd  education,  have,  by  the 
 blessing  of  God,  brought  it  to  pass  that  the  Pope's  power 
 is  limited  to  his  church  pro\dnces.  And  the  system  of 
 Popery  seems  to  me  at  this  moment  to  totter,  waiting  for 
 that  tremendous  crash  which  shall  sink  it  like  a  millstone 
 into  the  depths  of  the  sea  for  ever  and  ever.  The  oath 
 of  every  Eomish  bishop  is  persecuting :  "  Omnes  ha?re- 
 ticos  persequar  ct  impugnabar."  Force  and  fraud  are  the 
 two  main  pillars  of  the  Popedom. 
 
 Thus  then  I  have  looked  at  these  two  points :  first, 
 the  heathen  kingdoms  that  were  to  emerge  from  the 
 chaos  in  the  convulsions  of  the  earth ;  next,  the  ten 
 kingdoms  into  which  the  first  was  to  be  split  under  the 
 symbol  of  horns;  next,  the  little  horn  that  sprung  up 
 amid  the  ten,  and  therefore  in  Europe  ;  next,  the  three 
 that  were  to  be  pulled  down — the  Yandals,  the  Ostro- 
 goths, and  the  Lombards — by  this  little  horn ;  next,  the 
 evidence  of  its  fulfilment  in  the  Papacy, — a  see,  an  epis- 
 copal power,  v/ith  a  mouth  speaking  great  things  and 
 words  against  the  Most  High,  and  making  war  with  the 
 saints  and  the  people  of  God.  And  then  we  have  ex- 
 plained, in  another  portion  of  the  chapter,  the  length  of 
 time  during  which  this  politico-ecclesiastical  power  was 
 to  make  war  with  the  saints.      It  is  in  ver.  25  :   "  They 
 
THE    PAPACY.  237 
 
 shall  be  given  into  his  hand  until  a  time  and  times  and 
 the  dividing  of  time."  Every  writer  npon  prophecy  is 
 satisfied  that  a  "time"  signilies,  in  prophetic  language, 
 a  year;  "  times,"  two  years;  and  *' the  dividing  of  a 
 time,"  or  "  half  a  time,"  half  a  prophetic  year.  Eiit  as 
 a  prophetic  day  stands  for  a  literal  year,  so  a  prophetic 
 year  consists  of  365  prophetic  days,  or  365  literal  years. 
 A  time,  times,  and  half  a  time,  make  then,  when 
 added  togetliei",  1260  days,  called  by  St.  John  in  the 
 ajjocalypse  42  months.  AVe  are  to  understand,  then, 
 that  the  saints  of  God  were  to  be  given  into  the  power 
 of  the  ecclesiastico- political  despotism  for  1260  years.  If 
 we  begin  to  count  this  period  from  the  time  when  Justi- 
 nian issued  his  pandects,  and  constituted  the  pope  not 
 only  the  ecclesiastical  pontiff  of  Christendom,  but  armed 
 him  also  with  power  to  punish  heresy  with  death,  then 
 the  1260  years  ended  at  the  epoch  of  the  Trench  revolu- 
 tion in  1792  ;  and  certainly,  by  the  blow  it  then  received, 
 anything  like  the  power  of  persecution  on  tlie  part  of  the 
 Papacy  has  been  destroyed.  Its  principles  remain — its 
 ability  only  is  broken.  If,  however,  you  begin  to  count 
 the  1260  years  from  the  time  when  the  Pope  fii'st  put 
 forth  his  claim  to  be  universal  bishop,  a.d.  256,  tliis  cal- 
 culation would  bring  you  down  to  the  year  1517,  when 
 the  Reformation  began  and  the  Papal  power  was  broken. 
 Taking  either  of  these  two  epochs — and  either  of  them 
 may  be  the  right  one, — from  either  1517  or  1792  the 
 poAver  of  the  Papacy  to  persecute  has  practically  and 
 substantially  ceased.  And  if  this  be  the  case,  the  fears 
 of  some  Protestants  that  the  Pope  will  again  get  the 
 upper  hand  in  England,  and  that  he  will  sway  our 
 sceptre,  and  occupy  our  throne,  and  direct  our  parlia- 
 ments, are,  in  m.y  humble  opinion,  perfectly  absurd.  If 
 there  be  truth  in  the  propositions  I  have  stated,  then 
 there  is  not  the  possibility  of  such  an  event,  for  God  has 
 said  that  the  saints  should  be  given  into  his  hand  for 
 1260  years.  Those  years,  I  think,  have  expired,  at  the 
 earliest  in  1517,  at  the  latest  in  1792;  and  therefore, 
 whatever  temporary  success  the  Papal  power  may  attain 
 in  England — whatever  proselytes  it  may  make  from  the 
 
238  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Tractarlan  clergy — whatever  adherents  it  may  gather 
 from  the  tainted  hi.ity — I  do  not  believe  that  the  papal 
 power  win  ever  attain  political  ascendancy  in  England. 
 I  do  not  think  there  is  the  remotest  possibilitj'  of  it. 
 
 But  I  do  not  dwell  longer  upon  this.  I  draw  two 
 or  three  practical  lessons,  which  will  perhaps  be  more 
 useful.  First,  then,  predictions  of  the  increasing  power 
 of  the  papacy  are  given,  in  order  to  be  to  us  increasing 
 evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  word  of  God.  I  have 
 shown  you  that  a  perpetual  miracle  would  destroy  itself. 
 The  present  miracle  is  that  the  grass  grows  in  spring 
 and  withers  in  autumn.  If  it  were  to  be  reversed,  and 
 grass  were  to  groAV  in  autumn  and  wither  in  spring, 
 whatever  God  ordained  would  be  found  to  be  the  natural 
 thing.  The  present  law  is,  that  the  dead  are  buried 
 and  do  not  rise  ;  but  if  it  had  been  the  experience  of 
 eighteen  centuries  that  the  dead  should  rise  twelve 
 months  after  their  burial,  we  should  pronounce  it  to  be 
 no  miracle,  but  the  natural  law  or  order  of  things.  The 
 miracles  that  we  see  around  us  are  the  springing  of  the 
 grass,  the  blooming  of  the  flowers — the  productions  of 
 the  earth.  All  these  things  are  just  as  much  results  of 
 the  touch  of  God  as  the  turning  of  the  water  into  wine, 
 the  raising  of  the  dead  Lazarus,  or  the  feeding  of  the 
 five  thousand  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes ;  only  we 
 are  so  accustomed  to  these  phenomena,  that  we  call 
 them,  in  our  language,  ''  the  laws  of  nature,"  and 
 fi'equently  forget  that  they  are  the  evidences  of  the 
 presence  of  God.  But  prophecy  is  not  liable  to  this 
 objection  :  it  is  a  miracle  of  accumulative  power.  The 
 evidence  becomes  stronger  every  day  of  the  origin  and 
 inspiration  of  the  Bible  :  one  brings  a  city  like  Nineveh, 
 pale  and  ghastly  from  its  grave  ;  another  discovers  some 
 great  phenomenon  in  distant  lands,  or  another  brings 
 from  science  some  new  and  long  hidden  fact  that  men 
 have  never  detected  before,  or  discovers  some  new 
 medical  power  that  hears  a  relation  to  the  curse,  and 
 seems  to  be  an  instalment  of  the  day  when  that  curse 
 shall  be  transformed  into  a  blessing, — we  have  all  these 
 growing  and  accumulating  proofs  of  the  authenticity 
 
239  THE    PAPACY. 
 
 and  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  and  that  lioly  men  of  old 
 spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
 thus  the  longer  the  Bible  continues  to  give,  by  the  ful- 
 filment of  its  prophecies,  accumulating  evidence  of  the 
 inspiration  of  God,  the  clearer  will  be  our  convictions 
 that  the  Bible  is  true. 
 
 Another  reason,  perhaps,  why  the  prophecies  were 
 given,  is  to  show  the  perfect  harmony  between  the  Old 
 Testament  and  the  IS^ew.  Head  the  records  of  Daniel 
 which  he  wrote  in  Babylon  ;  read  the  apocalypse  of 
 John  recorded  by  him  in  Patmos,  and  jo\i  find  that  the 
 facts,  the  historic  facts  that  they  pre-intimated,  are  sub- 
 stantially the  same  :  and  that  Daniel  and  John  were  both 
 taught  from  the  same  wisdom,  inspired  by  the  same 
 God,  and  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  same  holj^ 
 influence. 
 
 Another  reason  why  God  has  so  largely  depicted  in 
 Daniel,  so  minutely  described  in  the  apocalypse,  and  so 
 vividly  sketched  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  the 
 great  Papal  power  that  was  to  arise,  was  that  "fore- 
 warned, we  might  be  fore-armed."  And,  if  ever  there 
 was  a  day  when  it  was  needful  to  disclose  a  system 
 whose  spires  sparkle  in  the  rays  of  rising  and  of  setting 
 suns,  but  underneath  which  are  dungeons  so  dark  and 
 dens  so  cruel,  it  is  surely  in  a  day  when  the  rush  and 
 current  of  the  religious  movement  of  the  age  seems  all 
 to  be  rolling  and  hastening  towards  Babylon.  I  heard 
 Mr.  Newman,  the  most  distinguished  convert  that  Home 
 has  recently  made,  arguing,  and  in  eloquent  and  im- 
 pressive terms,  with  those  Avho  are  called  Anglicans ;  and 
 lie  assumed  the  ground  which  the  Church  of  Home  has 
 so  repeatedly  marked  out,  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  a 
 perpetually  visible  Church,  which  might  fall  into  inci- 
 dental errors,  but  by  no  possibility  into  absolute  apostasy; 
 and  I  declare  that  if  I  believed  that  dogma,  I  should, 
 after  having  heard  his  argument,  feel  it  my  duty  to  leave 
 the  Church  of  Scotland  or  the  Church  of  England,  and 
 to  join  the  Church  of  Pome.  His  reasoning  as  addressed 
 to  Messrs.  Maskell  and  Bennet  was  irresistible.  There 
 is  no  ground  that  you  can  stand  on  but  this — Evangelical 
 
240  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 religion,  the  Christianity  of  the  Bible,  the  rehgion  and 
 the  cement  of  the  saints  of  God,  or,  the  Church  of  Rome 
 — not  a  corrupt  Church,  but  the  Babylon  of  the  Ajwea- 
 lypse,  the  great  apostasy  that  is  delineated  here   and  in 
 the  Eepistle  to  the  Thessalonians.  If  the  Church  of  Home 
 be  only  a  corrupt,  reformable  Church,  the  reformers  ought 
 to  have  remained  in  it  and  tried  to  make  it  better :  but 
 they  felt  it  what  Luther  maintained  it  to  be,  that  it  was 
 the^Babylon  of  prophecy,  and  heard  sounding  in   their 
 ears  the  commission  of  their  God,  ''Come  out  of  her, 
 my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  plagues." 
 I  *do  not  wonder    that    the    Church    of  Rome    practi- 
 cally prohibits    the    perusal,  or  at  least   the    interpre- 
 tation of   the  Bible.     It  contains  her  own  picture  so 
 plainly,  so  vividly,   so  unmistakably  sketched,   that  if 
 she  allowed  the  Bible  to  be  read,  he  that  runs  would 
 read  that  picture,  and  fasten  the  brand  where  the  spirit 
 of  God  has  fastened  it  eighteen  centuries  ago — on  her. 
 Take  care  then,  in  these  days,  of  any  approach  to  that 
 system.     Your  dogmas  of  apostolical  personal  succession 
 — baptismal  regeneration — a  perpetually  visible  Church 
 — these   are   the    postulates    that    Mr.  Is'ewman    asks. 
 Grant  him  these,  and  the  Pope  will  hold  Saint  Paul's 
 and  Westminster  Abbey  in  a  very  few  years.     I  repeat 
 it  again,  my  dear  friends,  the  only  ground  on  which  we 
 can  stand,  is  this,  that  the  Bible  alone  is  the  rule  of 
 faith — that  justification  by  faith  alone  is  the  article  of 
 a  standing  Church— that  regeneration  by  the  Spirit  of 
 God  alone  is  the  article  of  a  living  Church.     Without 
 this   justification   by   faith,   there  is   a  fallen  Church. 
 Without  this  regeneration  by  the  Spirit,  there  is  a  dead 
 Church.     Concede  these,   and  you   may,   without   any 
 great   sacrifice,    and   consistently  enough,    concede    all 
 points  besides.    Kever  forget,  then,  my  dear  friends,  that 
 the  great  safety  of  the  people  of  God  is  cleaving  to  the 
 Bible  ;  and  that  the  great  secret  of  the  Apostasy  of  Rome 
 is,  the  elevating  of  human  authority  into  the  place  of 
 God.     Here  is  just  the  whole  spring  and  source  of  the 
 mischief.      Remember   this,   that   neither   the   General 
 Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  nor  the  House  of 
 
241  THE   PAPACY. 
 
 Commons  of  Great  Britain,  nor  the  Convocation,  is  any 
 authority  with  me  as  to  what  I  am  to  believe.  J^either 
 the  Bishop  of  Exeter  in  the  one,  nor  our  own  beloved 
 and  gracious  Queen  in  the  other,  constitute  the  rule  of 
 faith.  It  is  not  the  Bible  explained  by  the  bishop,  nor 
 the  Bible  explained  by  the  presbyterj-,  but  the  Bible 
 alone,  that  is  the  rule  of  faith  of  all  true  Christians. 
 Once  concede  that  you  are  to  look  at  the  Bible  through 
 the  lens  of  the  presbytery,  or  through  the  telescope  of 
 the  bishop,  and  you  give  up  your  great  and  strongest 
 citadel,  and  you  are  sure  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
 enemy.  Cleave,  then,  to  that  blessed  book  as  your  only 
 rule  of  faith — the  arsenal  of  the  soldiers  of  Christ — the 
 armoury  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  The  oracles 
 of  God  are  as  fresh  and  beautiful  as  when  first  taken, 
 like  a  leaf  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  committed  to  the 
 nations.  The  Bible  is  a  lamp  ever  bright,  a  light  ever 
 sure.  And  be  not  satisfied  with  holding  the  Bible  in 
 your  hand  ;  hold  it  also  in  your  heart.  AYe  are  strong, 
 not  by  possession  of  the  Bible  as  a  book,  but  by  the 
 embodiment  of  the  Bible  as  a  living  plastic,  regulating 
 faith.  It  is  God's  truth  icithin  us,  not  God's  truth 
 without  us,  that  is  the  strength  of  Christians,  the  safety 
 of  the  saints  of  God.  Show,  then,  to  the  Church  of 
 Bome — show  to  the  world  at  large,  that  we  have  a 
 succession  that  never  fails — the  succession  of  the  sons 
 of  God ;  that  we  have  a  religion  which  is  ever  beautiful, 
 and  mighty  to  make  us  holy  and  to  make  us  happy — a 
 religion  that  is  not  meat,  nor  drink,  but  righteousness, 
 and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Seek  to  show 
 your  missionary  spirit  by  diffusing  this  faith ;  and  leave 
 not  the  sisters  of  charity,  so  active  in  our  streets,  or  the 
 long-robed  priest  of  the  Oratory,  so  busy  in  eveiy  place 
 into  which  they  can  gain  admission,  to  eclipse  or  excel 
 you  in  ministering  to  the  wants  of  jovlv  fellow  men, 
 and  in  sj)reading  this  blessed  Gospel  among  those  who 
 are  ignorant  of  it.  The  great  defence  against  Pusej'ism 
 and  Pojiery  is — living  religion.  Be  Christians,  and 
 Home  will  feel  it.  Be  orthodox  in  head,  but  cold  and 
 unsanctified  in  heart  and  inactive  in  life,   and  Home 
 
242  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 will  not  only  rejoice,  but  gain.  Let  us  bless  God  that 
 we  know  this, — that  however  that  dark  system  may 
 spread  for  a  little,  its  mightiest  triumphs  are  the  pre- 
 cursors of  its  greatest  downfal.  God's  judgments  on 
 Home  have  already  begun — Babylon  is  now  drinking  of 
 the  cup  of  the  indignation  of  God ;  and  all  her  boasted 
 triumphs  are  but  the  instalments,  as  it  were,  or  fore- 
 tokens of  her  speedy  downfal.  She  is  only  gathering 
 together  all  her  forces,  till  the  earth  shall  explode  from 
 beneath,  and  the  heavens  rain  floods  of  fire  from  above, 
 and  great  Babylon  shall  perish  like  a  ship  foundering  at 
 sea.  AVe  rejoice  not  at  the  sufferings  of  any  :  but  yet 
 we  cannot  but  join  with  saints  that  are  in  heaven  and 
 angels  that  are  round  the  throne  in  giving  glory  to  God 
 that  the  great  waster  of  the  earth  is  about  to  be  re- 
 moved ;  and  that  the  Jews,  his  ancient  heritage,  have 
 heard  liis  voice  and  are  soon  to  come  back ;  and  that 
 the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  has  nearly  arrived,  and  "  the 
 kingdoms  of  this  world  are  soon  to  become  the  kingdoms 
 of  our  God  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever 
 and  ever."     Amen. 
 
LECTURE  XYII. 
 
 THE    COMINa    KINGDOM. 
 
 *'  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and  the  Ancient 
 of  days  did  sit,  ichose  garment  was  ivhite  as  snow,  and 
 the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  j^ftre  wool :  his  throne  was 
 like  the  fieri/  flame,  and  his  icheels  as  burning  f  re  .  .  . 
 And  there  ivas  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
 kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should 
 serve  him:  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
 which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which 
 shall  not  be  destroyed  .  .  .  Until  the  Ancient  of  days 
 came,  and  judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
 High  ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the 
 kingdom  .  .  .  But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall 
 take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it 
 unto  the  end.  And  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the 
 greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
 be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, 
 •whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all 
 dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him." — Daniel  vii. 
 9,  14,  22,  26,  27. 
 
 The  first  fact  that  is  here  worthy  of  notice  is  the 
 consumption,  or  the  wasting  away,  of  that  power  which 
 is  called  the  "  little  horn."  I  have  iclentilied  this  power 
 with  the  Papacy,  hy,  I  think,  irresistible  evidence. 
 There  is  here  a  clear  intimation,  that  in  the  first  in- 
 stance it  shall  be  gradually  wasted  or  consumed  till  it 
 is  all  but  exhausted  by  the  wasting  influence  of  a  power 
 without  it ;  and  next,  that  after  it  has  undergone  a 
 series  of  successive  wastings  or  consumptions,  it  shall 
 then  be  utterly  and  signally  destroyed,    and  its  body 
 
 R  2 
 
244  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 given  to  the  devouring  flame.  In  this  description  of 
 Daniel,  one  cannot  but  notice  the  basis  of  the  predictions 
 of  St.  Paul  respecting  the  man  of  sin,  and  so  far  the 
 evidence  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  book  of  Daniel. 
 In  2  Thess.  ii.  we  have  a  description  of  a  ])ower  that 
 should  *'  sit  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  as  if 
 he  were  God  ;"  that  power  which  he  calls  *'  the  mystery 
 of  iniquity,"  Avhich  was  so  soon  to  be  developed,  and  of 
 which  he  foretcls  the  end. 
 
 "  Then  shall  that  wicked  one  be  revealed,  whom  the 
 Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth  :"  that 
 is  the  first  stage;  and  then  uttei'ly  ^'  destroy  with  the 
 brightness  of  his  coming."  You  have  thus  the  very 
 events  predicted  by  St.  Paul,  clearly  indicated  by  Daniel 
 long  belbre.  Botli  prophets  drew  from  a  common  foun- 
 tain. Daniel  states  that  "the  judgment  shall  sit,"  that 
 they  shall  take  away  the  dominion  of  the  little  horn,  to 
 consume  it,  and  then  to  ''destroy  it  unto  the  end." 
 St.  Paul  on  this  subject  utters  predictions  which  are 
 completely  the  echo  of  the  prophecy  of  Daniel ;  not  that 
 the  one  transcribed  the  predictions  of  the  other,  but  that 
 both  were  inspired  by  the  same  Spirit,  foresaw  the  rise 
 of  the  same  dread  and  destructive  superstition,  and 
 predicted,  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  first 
 its  gradual  decay — a  decay  that  is  now  obvious  in  every 
 land — and  lastly  its  final  and  irretrievable  destruction 
 by  the  brightness  of  the  lledecmer's  coming. 
 
 We  cannot  but  see  in  the  next  place  that  the  utter 
 destruction  of  *'the  false  prophet"  is  not  jjn'or  but  siib- 
 acquoit  to  the  appearance  of  the  "Ancient  of  days,"  or 
 the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  AVe  see  the 
 thrones  set ;  we  see  the  Ancient  of  days  arrayed  in  his 
 garments,  Avhite  as  snow — thousands  of  attendant  angels 
 ministering  before  him;  and  '■'■after  this,''''  says  the  pro- 
 phet, "  I  bclield  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great 
 ^vords  wliicli  the  horn  spake  :  I  beheld  even  till  the 
 beast  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to 
 the  devouring  flame."  And  so,  in  verse  26,  where  it  is 
 explained,  "The  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take 
 away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto 
 
THE   COMING   KINGDOM.  245 
 
 the  end."  It  therefore  appears  to  me  that,  first,  the 
 Lord  shall  come,  and  next,  the  Papacj'  shall  be  finally 
 destroyed.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Church  of  Home 
 will  be  swept  away  utterly,  except  by  Christ's  imme- 
 diate personal  revelation.  All  Scripture  seems  to  me 
 clearly  to  indicate  this.  Her  consumption,  in  fact,  is 
 now  going  on ;  and  soon,  as  soon  as  the  Lord  comes, 
 the  final  destruction  of  the  system  and  of  all  that  cleave 
 to  it,  by  what  the  Apostle  calls,  *'the  brightness  of  the 
 Eedeemer's  coming,"  shall  be  signally  accomplished. 
 So  we  read  of  the  stone  that  first  smites  the  image  upon 
 its  ten  toes,  or  the  ten  kingdoms  ;  and  then  the  God  of 
 heaven  sets  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  not  be  destroyed 
 or  be  left  to  other  people,  but  which  shall  break  in 
 pieces  and  consume  all  other  kingdoms,  and  it  shall 
 stand  for  ever.  There  is  first,  the  revelation  of  the 
 stone,  i.e.  the  second  coming  of  Christ ;  then  there  is 
 the  destruction  of  all  hostile  dominions  or  empires,  and, 
 among  others,  that  of  the  Ptoman  apostasy  also.  So 
 here  it  is,  after  the  advent,  that  the  beast  ''  was  slain, 
 his  body  destroj-ed,  and  given  to  the  devouring  flame." 
 jS^ow  notice  how  parallel  this  runs  with  the  descrip- 
 tion of  our  Lord's  advent  in  2  Thess.  i.  7  :  ''To  you 
 who  are  troubled  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus 
 shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels, 
 in  flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not 
 God,  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ :  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  de- 
 struction from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
 glory  of  his  power ;  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified 
 in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  be- 
 lieve." You  see  how  perfectly  one  passage  responds  to 
 the  other.  First  of  all  there  is  to  be  the  revelation  of 
 Christ,  as  the  Apostle  says;  next,  he  is  to  ''take  ven- 
 geance in  flaming  fire  on  them  that  know  not  God  and 
 obey  not  the  Gospel :"  or,  according  to  Daniel,  this 
 beast,  or  false  prophet,  or  antichristian  horn,  is  to  be 
 committed  to  the  burning  flame ;  or,  as  St.  John  tells 
 us  in  the  Apocalypse,  "she,"  i.e.  "the  great  whore," 
 is  to  be  burned,  and  "  the  smoke  of  her  torment  shall 
 
246  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 ascend  up  for  ever  and  ever."  This  identity  of  lan- 
 guage, so  specific  in  every  case,  cannot  be  accidental ; 
 it  is  the  coincidence  of  men  -svho  were  inspired  by  the 
 same  Spirit,  and  who  proclaim  the  same  grand  events, 
 — the  destruction  of  the  apostasy  by  the  personal  ap- 
 pearance of  the  Lord,  the  glorifying  of  all  that  believe 
 and  are  found  when  he  comes  "  looking  for  him  the 
 second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation,"  and  his  being 
 ** admired  in  all  them  that  believe,"  and  "glorified  by 
 his  saints." 
 
 Such  is  the  blessed  hope  that  is  set  before  us  in  the 
 Gospel.  Such  is  the  prospect  that  we  have,  that  all 
 that  is  hostile  to  the  Lord  of  glory  shall  be  utterly 
 destroyed,  and  that  the  truth  in  all  its  purity  shall  pre- 
 vail, and  overflow  the  human  family  from  sea  to  sea, 
 and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  It  is  thus 
 that  those  who  look  for  the  utter  destruction  of  Eome 
 before  Christ  comes  look  for  a  vain  thing.  It  will  last 
 till  he  comes.  It  spans  the  chasm  between  Christ's 
 first  and  second  advent;  it  will  be  weakened  by  the 
 force  of  the  pre-intimatory  strokes  of  the  stone  cut  out 
 without  hands ;  it  will  be  consumed  by  the  preaching 
 of  the  Gospel ;  it  will  be  exhausted  by  the  hostility  of 
 a  thousand  kings  who  once  were  charmed  with  its 
 grandeur,  and  made  drunk  with  the  cup  of  its  intoxi- 
 cation ;  but  it  will  only  be  utterly  and  completely 
 destroyed  and  broken  up  by  the  brightness  of  the 
 Bedeemer's  coming. 
 
 This  leads  me  to  notice  those  passages  I  have  read, 
 which  announce  his  coming.  AVe  have  in  verse -9,  a 
 most  sublime  description:  "I  beheld  till  the  Ancient 
 of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and 
 the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool :  his  throne  was 
 like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning  fire.  A 
 fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  before  him : 
 thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and  ten  thou- 
 sand times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him  :  the  judgment 
 was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened."  This  is  plainly 
 not  the  last  judgment,  for  it  precedes  the  destruction  of 
 antichrist;  it  is  a  judgment  previous  to  the  last,  de- 
 
THE   COMING   KDfGDOM.  247 
 
 scribed,  as  I  shall  show  you,  in  other  parts  of  Scripture. 
 But  the  first  question  is,  who  is  the  "  Ancient  of  days  r" 
 Some  think  it  is  a  description  of  God  the  Father ;  but 
 it  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  there  is  not  from  the 
 commencement  of  the  Bible  to  its  close  any  portrait, 
 even  in  words,  of  the  appearance  to  human  eye  of  God 
 the  Father,  He  is  spoken  of  as  "  dwelling  in  light  in- 
 accessible and  full  of  glory;"  as  ''the  God  whom  no 
 man  hath  seen  nor  can  see ;"  and  there  is  nothing  like 
 a  picture  for  the  eye  given  of  God  the  Father.  Just  in 
 the  same  manner,  there  is  nothing  in  Scripture  like  a 
 portrait  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Hence  nothing  is  to  my 
 mind  more  revolting  than  to  see  a  dove  set  forth  as  if 
 it  were  the  Scriptural  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
 know  the  passage  on  which  the  idea  is  founded,  in 
 which  it  is  stated  that  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon 
 Jesus  ''like  a  dove:"  but  every  one  who  knows  the 
 construction  of  the  Greek  language,  and  will  be  at  the 
 trouble  to  consult  the  original,  will  see  that  it  is  not 
 said  that  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  "  m  the  form  of  a 
 dove;"  there  is  conveyed  no  such  meaning;  but  that 
 "he  descended  as  a  dove  descends,"  i.e.  with  the  flut- 
 tering, rapid  movement  of  a  dove ;  and  for  this  purpose 
 other  birds  might  probably  have  been  selected  -v^dth 
 equally  expressive  justice,  in  order  to  denote  the  idea 
 intended.  There  is  no  picture  of  God  the  Father  re- 
 corded in  the* Bible  to  have  been  seen  by  man;  nor  is 
 there  any  picture  or  similitude  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost : 
 there  is  a  portrait  of  Him  who  is  "  God  manifest  in  the 
 flesh,"  "seen  of  angels,"  "justified  in  the  Spirit,"  "be- 
 lieved on  in  the  world,"  and  finally,  "received  up  into 
 glory."  This  is  to  be  expected.  If  this  then  be  so,  I 
 think  the  inference  is  just,  that  the  Ancient  of  days — 
 great  as  may  be  the  difficulty  on  this  hypothesis  of 
 reconciling  this  with  the  statement  in  verse  13 — is  none 
 else  than  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  I  am  justified  in 
 making  this  assertion  seems  to  me  plain  from  the  corres- 
 ponding statement  in  the  book  of  Kevelation,  where  a 
 description,  analogous  if  not  identical,  is  given  of  our 
 blessed  Lord  avowedly  and  by  name.  First,  "He  cometh 
 
248  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 in  the  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him."  Then  says 
 John,  ''  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  which  spake  with  me. 
 And  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks  one  like  unto 
 the  Son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the 
 foot,  and  girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle.  His 
 head  and  his  hairs  were  white  like  avooI,  as  white  as 
 snow  ;  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  and  his  feet 
 like  unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace ;  and 
 his  voice  as  the  sound  of  many  waters.  And  he  had  in 
 his  right  hand  seven  stars  :  and  out  of  his  mouth  went 
 a  sharp  two-edged  sword  :  and  his  countenance  was  as 
 the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength."  I^ow  see  what  Daniel 
 saj's  of  the  Ancient  of  days  :  ''His  garment  was  white 
 as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool : 
 his  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as 
 burning  fire." 
 
 Is  not  the  sketch  given  by  John  as  it  were  a  reflec- 
 tion of  the  sketch  by  Daniel  r  are  not  these  substantial 
 features  of  identity  ?  and  is  not  the  inference  at  least 
 highly  probable,  that  the  being  described  by  the  one 
 is  delineated  by  the  other ;  and  that  in  the  picture  of 
 Daniel  it  was  Jesus  Christ  in  one  of  those  frequently- 
 occurring  anthropomorphic  manifestations  of  himself 
 prior  to  his  incarnation  ?  If  so,  how  clear  the  assertion 
 of  his  deity  as  the  Ancient  of  Days  with  a  garment 
 white  as  snow,  and  before  whom  thousands  and  tens  of 
 thousands  stood  and  ministered  ! 
 
 Another  reason  why  I  conclude  that  this  is  not  a 
 representation  of  God  the  Father,  is  the  following  : — 
 The  Father  is  never  spoken  of  as  coming  to  judge  the 
 world:  ''He  has  committed  all  judgment  unto  the 
 Son."  We  must  appear,  not  "before  the  judgment-seat" 
 of  God  the  Father,  but  before  "the  judgment-seat  of 
 Christ."  And  every  prediction  in  the  Kew  Testament 
 leads  us  to  suppose  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
 judge,  and  appointed  to  be  so,  of  the  living  and  the 
 dead.  The  onlj-  difficulty  in  the  way  of  this  interpre- 
 tation is  the  statement  contained  in  ver.  13:  "I  saw  in 
 the  night  visions,  and,  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  man 
 came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the  Ancient 
 
THE    COMIXG    KINGDOM.  249 
 
 of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him."  Herein 
 is  the  difficulty,  because  the  portrait  of  this  first-men- 
 tioned personage  is  unquestionably  that  of  our  blessed 
 Lord.  If  so,  how  can  he  be  said  to  be  '*  brought  before 
 the  Ancient  of  Days?"  I  admit  and  feel  the  difficulty. 
 I  cannot  explain  it :  I  have  not  yet  discovered  ^^hat 
 will  be  discovered, — the  solution  of  these  words  :  but  it 
 is  plain  enough  that  the  Son  of  man  is  the  portrait  of 
 the  Saviour.  It  appears  to  me  scarcely  less  plain  that 
 the  other  passage  is  a  portrait  of  the  Saviour  also.  The 
 two  may  be  portraits  of  the  Saviour  in  his  different  as- 
 pects :  one  as  the  absolute  God ;  the  other  as  the  incar- 
 nate Man  :  one  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  Ancient  of  days  ; 
 the  other  as  the  Son  of  man,  born  of  the  Virgin,  cruci- 
 fied for  us,  and  for  our  salvation.  That  ver.  13  gives  the 
 picture  of  the  Saviour,  is  plain  ;  for  it  is  the  foundation 
 of  all  the  imagery  used  by  the  apostles  to  denote  him 
 when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints.  Parallel 
 passages,  corroborative  of  this,  are  to  be  found  in  Matt, 
 xxiv.  30  :  ''  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son 
 of  man  in  heaven."  ''  Then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the 
 earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming 
 in  the  clouds  of  heaven  in  power  and  great  glory."  AYe 
 have  the  same  picture  in  Matt.  xxvi.  64,  where  he  him- 
 self says,  '  *  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting 
 on  the  right  hand  of  power,"  (answering  to  the  Ancient 
 of  days,)  "  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  : "  and  in 
 Bev.  i.  7,  we  have  the  same  picture  again  placed  before 
 us  :  "  Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds  ;  and  every  eye 
 shall  see  him."  And  in  Acts  vii.  55,  56,  we  have  the 
 very  same  picture  as  seen  by  Stephen,  when  "  being  full 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  looked  up  into  heaven,  and  saw 
 the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand 
 of  God,  and  said,  Behold,  I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and 
 the  Son  of  man  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God." 
 
 We  thus  then  see,  first,  the  picture  of  Christ  as  the 
 Ancient  of  days ;  next  we  see  him  coming  in  the  clouds 
 of  heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory : — the  first,  his 
 essential  deity ;  the  second,  his  mediatorial  character ; 
 and  immediately  after ,  we  perceive,  "  there  was  given 
 
250  TROrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 him  his  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all 
 people,  nations,  and  languages,  should  serve  him  :  his 
 dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not 
 pass  awaj-,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be 
 destroyed."  I  wish  you  to  notice  this  fact:  our  Lord 
 first  descenils  from  heaven  borne  upon  the  clouds,  and 
 appears  upon  the  earth;  next,  and  immediately  after 
 this  manifestation  of  himself,  the  saints  take  possession 
 of  the  kingdoms  under  the  whole  heaven.  **  All  people, 
 and  nations,  and  kingdoms,"  it  is  here  said,  "  shall 
 serve  him."  Chronologically  viewed,  the  order  of  pro- 
 ceeding is  this :  Christ  comes  first,  Christ's  foes  are 
 depressed  and  destroyed  next,  and  the  millennium  is 
 immediately  established  upon  earth.  If  this  event, 
 the  destruction  of  the  antichristian  apostasy,  be  the  first 
 thing  that  takes  place  immediately  after  Christ's  second 
 advent,  then  the  inference  seems  to  me  plain,  whatever 
 may  be  the  difficulties  that  beset  it,  that  the  millennium 
 is  not  the  dawn  tliat  ushers  in  Christ,  but  that  Christ  is 
 the  sun  emerging  from  beneath  the  horizon,  whose  noon- 
 day beams  constitute  that  full  millennial  light  and  un- 
 shaded glory  which  shall  overflow  the  whole  habitable 
 globe.  It  is  impossible  that  all  these  descriptions  should 
 be  merely  figurative.  It  is  too  plainly  expressed — too 
 clearly  taught  in  the  language  ot  the  IS^ew  Testament — 
 too  direct  and  historical  in  its  tone  and  bearing,  to  be 
 considered  as  a  mere  figurative  delineation  of  a  great 
 Providential  event,  which  leads  to  the  destruction  of  the 
 man  of  sin  and  to  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
 Christ.  And  if  there  were  any  difficulty  or  mistake 
 about  it,  sureh'  it  is  cleared  up  by  such  a  passage  as 
 that  contained  in  Acts  i.  9:  "When  Christ  had  spoken 
 these  things  unto  the  apostles,  behold,"  it  is  added,  "  he 
 was  taken  up  into  heaven,  and  a  cloud  received  him  out 
 of  their  sight."  You  recollect  the  apocalyptic  picture 
 is,  ''Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds;"  "then  shall  ye 
 see  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
 heaven."  Thus  when  Christ  ascended  into  heaven,  after 
 his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the  phraseology  employed 
 to  denote  that  ascension  is,  that  ' '  a  cloud  received  him 
 
THE    COMING    KINGDOM.  251 
 
 out  of  their  sight;"  and  then,  at  ver.  10,  we  arc  told, 
 that  ''whilst  they  looked  steadfastly  toward  heaven  as  he 
 went  up,  behold,  two  men  stood  by  them  in  wliite  ap- 
 parel ;  which  also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye 
 gazing-  up  into  heaven  ?  this  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken 
 up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as 
 ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."  He  was  taken  up  to 
 heaven  in  a  cloud  :  the  prediction  uttered  by  the  angel 
 was,  that  he  should  come  exactly  in  the  same  manner ; 
 and  therefore  the  event  that  Cliristians  are  to  anticipate 
 as  the  brightest,  the  holiest,  and  the  most  precious  that 
 can  occur,  is,  the  second  appearance  of  him  who  left  us 
 in  the  cloud  to  plead  at  the  Father  s  right  hand,  and 
 who  shall  come  again  in  all  the  pomp  and  grandeur  of 
 the  Ancient  of  days,  seated  upon  the  clouds  as  his  chariot, 
 in  form  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,  consuming  with  ever- 
 lasting fire  the  false  prophets,  the  beast,  and  the  apostasy; 
 taking  vengeance  upon  all  that  know  not  God,  and  that 
 obey  not  the  Gospel ;  and  to  be  admired  in  the  saints 
 that  have  been  raised  from  the  dead,  and  gathered  from 
 the  ranks  of  the  living,  and  constituting  that  happy  and 
 blessed  consummation  when  the  bridegroom  shall  have 
 come  and  the  bride  shall  have  made  herself  ready. 
 
 We  gather  then  from  all  this,  after  careful  comparison 
 and  analysis,  that  Christ  shall  come  with  the  speed  and 
 brilliancy  of  the  lightning  upon  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
 and  at  a  moment  when  the  world  shall  be  asking  in 
 scorn,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?  and  that 
 lightning  flame  which  precedes  the  chariot  on  which  he 
 comes  shall  penetrate  everj  grave,  until  each  saint  that 
 has  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  shall  feel  the  reflux  of  a  new 
 life,  and  bone  shall  be  joined  to  bone,  and  sinew  to  sinew, 
 and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first.  The  despised  and 
 rejected  of  men  will  appear  as  the  Ancient  of  days — the 
 crucified  between  two  thieves  shall  be  seen  coming  in 
 the  glory  of  his  Father  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  AVhat  a 
 piercing  cry  shall  rise  from  the  lost  as  they  behold  him 
 Avhom  they  have  pierced  ! — in  what  bitter  language  shall 
 they  mourn !  What  an  exulting  shout  of  victory  and  of 
 gratulation  shall  roll  from  ten  thousand  times  ten  thou- 
 
252  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 sand  tongues,  "  Lo,  this  is  our  God  !  vre  have  waited  for 
 him  :  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
 
 Immediately  after  this  revelation  of  the  Ancient  of 
 days,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall  be  establislied  upon 
 earth.  A  kingdom  is  given  him — an  everlasting  do- 
 minion—  a  dominion  that  shall  not  pass  away.  This  is 
 the  same  kingdom  which  is  described  in  the  last  two 
 chapters  of  the  Revelations,  under  the  emblem  of  the 
 new  Jerusalem  that  cometh  down  from  heaven  :  that 
 kingdom  whose  constituent  elements  are  righteousness, 
 and  peace,  and  joy  ;  whose  subjects  are  kings,  and  priests, 
 and  saints  :  a  kingdom  in  which  present  political  great- 
 ness shall  have  no  place  ;  in  which  great  wealth  sliall 
 have  no  welcome ;  into  which  nothing  that  defileth  shall 
 enter,  but  only  they  who  have  washed  their  robes  and 
 made  tliem  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
 
 The  ninth  verse  indicates  also  that  those  saints  who 
 rise  ^^'ith  Christ  shall  sit  upon  thrones.  For  the  language 
 of  ver.  9  is,  '*  I  beheld  until  the  thrones  were  cast  down." 
 There  is  but  one  who  is  to  reign  absolutely,  the  Ancient 
 of  days;  then  how  do  we  explain  the  appearance  of 
 man  5'  '*  thrones?"  This  might  be  inexplicable,  if  we 
 had  not  parallel  passages  to  show  its  meaning.  One  of 
 these  is  found  in  Luke  xxii.  30,  where  we  find  these 
 words  :  "  That  ye  maj'  eat  and  drink  at  my  table  in  my 
 kingdom,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  So, 
 Matt.  xix.  28  :  "  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  which 
 have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son  of 
 man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit 
 upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." 
 And  this  identifies  the  description  with  the  description 
 of  the  Ancient  of  days  in  ver.  9  of  this  chapter.  And 
 that  this  is  not  a  deduction  from  a  solitary  or  an  isolated 
 passage,  is  plain  from  another  descriptionin  1  Cor.  vi.  2, 3  : 
 "  Do  ye  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world? 
 .  .  .  know  ye  not  that  we  shall  judge  angels  ?"  I  next 
 turn  to  Hev.  xx.,  at  the  description  of  the  very  com- 
 nT^ncement  of  the  millennium, — not  after  it,  recollect — 
 (and  this  shows  that  the  Ancient  of  days,  as  described  in 
 ver.  9,  comes  before  the  millennium).    At  ver.  4  of  that 
 
THE    COmXG   KmGDOM.  253 
 
 chapter  we  have  the  •words,  "  I  saw  thrones  "  with  which 
 compare  the  words  of  Daniel,  *'  and  the  thrones  were 
 Bet," — "  and  they  sat  upon  them."  AVho  sat  upon 
 them  ?  Those  that  were  raised  and  reigned  with  Christ 
 a  thousand  years; — '^and  judgment  was  given  unto 
 them  :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  which  were  beheaded 
 for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and 
 which  had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image, 
 neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in 
 their  hands ;  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a 
 thousand  years.  Uut  the  rest  of  the  dead,"  I'.e.  the  un- 
 converted, the  unrcgenerated  dead,  those  that  had  the 
 mark  of  the  beast  upon  their  forelieads  and  had  wor- 
 shipped tlie  beast — "lived  not  again  until  the  thousand 
 years  were  finished." 
 
 Now,  put  all  these  passages  together,  study  them  at 
 your  leisure,  and  they  will  prove,  I  think,  iiTCsistibl}', 
 that  ver.  9  of  this  chapter  of  Daniel,  which  describes 
 the  Ancient  of  days  as  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to 
 judge  the  world  and  to  receive  a  dominion  and  a  king- 
 dom, is  a  delineation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  coming 
 prior  to  the  millennial  reign ;  and  the  saints  who  are 
 raised  from  the  dead  and  gathered  from  the  living  who 
 are  found  alive  at  that  day,  shall,  as  a  mark  of  the 
 esteem  and  affection  of  their  Lord,  be  placed  on  thrones 
 beside  the  Saviour  himself,  and  concur  with  him  in  the 
 judgment  of  all  flesh.  There  is  nothing  strange  or  un- 
 reasonable in  supposing  that  Christians  will  thus  become 
 the  assessors  of  Christ ;  that  they  will  express  an  Amen 
 to  his  judgment,  and  sympathise  with  him  in  all  his  just 
 and  righteous  decisions,  then  and  there  seen  and  felt  to 
 be  so. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  we  read  that  the  character  of  those 
 who  shall  occupy  this  kingdom  Avill  be  "saints;"  but 
 that  their  worldly  aspect  is  to  be  "  kingdoms,  and 
 languages,  and  people."  This  shows  us  that  after  the 
 Ancient  of  days  has  come — after  the  thrones  have  been 
 set — after  the  Son  of  man  has  been  revealed  in  the  clouds 
 of  heaven, — all  nations,  people,  and  languages  existing 
 in  all  their  diversity,  and  with  all  their  distinctions,  but 
 
254  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 individually  and  morally  saints,  though  circumstantially 
 nations,  shall  constitute  that  empire  of  peace  and  joy, 
 over  Avhich  he  shall  reign  in  glory  and  in  beauty.  If  this 
 be  so,  nations  will  exist  in  the  millennial  reign.  Per- 
 haps all  the  distinctions  that  separate  nation  from  nation 
 shall  be  perpetuated  then ;  but,  whilst  they  have  different 
 colours  and  complexions  then  as  now — whilst  they  speak 
 ditierent  tongues  as  they  do  now, — they  shall  have  one 
 grand  characteristic  in  common,  they  shall  be  the  saints 
 of  God,  the  sons  of  the  Most  High — Asia,  Africa, 
 America,  and  Europe,  shall  all  be  baptised  by  one  spirit 
 and  washed  in  one  fountain,  and  have  in  their  hearts  the 
 image,  the  likeness,  and  the  superscri^ition  of  the  Lamb. 
 Flower  will  still  differ  from  flower,  star  from  star,  coun- 
 try from  country ;  there  will  be  all  variety  of  modes,  all 
 diversity  of  circumstance,  but  perfect  unity  of  moral  and 
 spiritual  character,  united  and  consolidated  in  Christ, 
 and  gathered  round  him  to  worship  and  adore  him  as  the 
 brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image 
 of  his  person — tlie  Saviour  of  sinners,  the  Lamb  slain. 
 Then  Christians  whose  complexion  is  white  shall  be 
 ashamed  that  they  have  ever  looked  with  contempt  on 
 Christians  whose  faces  are  not  so.  Then  the  American 
 Christian  who  would  refuse  to  approach  the  Communion 
 table  in  the  company  of  the  Christian  black,  will  find 
 that  he  with  whom  he  would  not  partake  of  the  symbol 
 upon  earth  is  a  fellow-partaker  with  him  of  the  sub- 
 stance in  glory ;  and  he  shall  wonder,  if  not  grieve,  that  he 
 was  ever  tempted  to  make  so  foolish  and  sinful  a  distinc- 
 tion where  were  the  common  law,  the  common  faith,  and 
 the  common  Father,  and  one  Spirit  animating  and  sus- 
 taining the  hearts  of  both.  Then  nations  that  warred 
 with  each  other  shall  wonder  that  they  did  so.  Then 
 perhaps  the  buried  dead  of  Waterloo  shall  start  to  their 
 feet ;  the  last  sounds  they  recollected  upon  earth,  were 
 the  roar  of  artillery,  the  roll  of  the  victorious  drum,  the 
 cries  of  the  wounded  and  the  dying ;  and  the  first 
 sounds  they  shall  hear  at  that  day  shall  be  the  trumpet 
 of  judgment,  and  the  songs  of  the  saved  and  the  curses 
 of  the  lost,  and  the  voice  of  Jesus,  saying,  ''  Arise,  ye 
 
THE    COMING    K1XGD0:M.  'Ioo 
 
 dead,  and  come  to  judgment!"  And  how  shall  the 
 French  Christian  marvel  that  he  ever  consented  to  destroy 
 the  British  Christian  in  battle,  or  that  man  ever  wielded 
 against  man  any  other  than  spiritual  weapons ! 
 
 Languages  also  shall  exist  in  that  day :  for  there  shall 
 be  ''people,  and  nations,  and  languages."  The  division 
 of  tongues  was  part  of  the  curse ;  but  the  reversal  of  that 
 curse  will  not  be  the  reduction  of  all  languages  into  one, 
 but  the  perpetuation  of  all  languages,  each  nation  under- 
 standing what  the  other  speaks.  The  miracle  at  Pente- 
 cost was  not  that  all  the  Apostles  s2:)oke  one  language, 
 and  all  that  believed  spoke  the  same  language  ;  but  that 
 each  man  spoke  in  his  oM^n  tongue,  and  each  understood 
 what  his  neighbour  spoke.  So  shall  it  be  in  the  millen- 
 nial day.  There  shall  be  many  tongues,  but  one  senti- 
 ment ;  many  languages  by  many  tongues,  but  eacli  un- 
 derstanding perfectly  the  other :  the  many  languages, 
 like  the  cletfs  in  music,  shall  only  constitute  the  more 
 glorious  harmony ;  there  shall  not  be  uniformity  of 
 speech,  but  unity  of  sentiment.  There  will  not  be  the 
 monotony  of  a  single  language,  but  the  comj^onent  har- 
 mony of  many  languages,  praising  one  God  and  the  Lamb 
 for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 Then  the  unity  of  character  of  all  people  and  lan- 
 guages, and  nations,  and  tongues  is,  that  they  shall  all 
 *'  serve  and  obey  him."  All  the  nations  of  the  globe 
 shall  perpetually  behold,  and  without  ceasing  magnify 
 and  praise  the  Lamb.  Every  language  shall  be  burdened 
 with  this  one  song ;  every  heart  shall  overflow  with  this 
 all- encompassing  and  adoring  love;  every  voice  shall 
 give  utterance  to  an  unceasing  anthem  ;  all  shall  serve 
 him  in  that  blessed  abode  where  they  "  rest  not  day  nor 
 night,  saying,  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us 
 from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us,  out 
 of  every  language  and  people  and  tongue,  kings  and 
 priests  unto  our  God,  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  for 
 ever." 
 
 We  now  gather  from  the  whole  of  this  statement, 
 then,  that  truth  shall  eventually  triumph;  there  is  no 
 reason  to  doubt  that  the  right  and  the  true  and  the  holy 
 
256  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 shall  have  the  victory.  All  dominions  that  are  hostile 
 to  Christ  must  give  vraj.  All  kingdoms  incompatible 
 with  his  must  be  dissolvtd.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world 
 have  tlieir  symbols  in  the  lion,  the  bear,  the  leopard, 
 and  the  fourth  dreadful  and  terrible  beast ;  and  by  a  law 
 universally  proved,  their  passions  and  discord  shall  pre- 
 cipitate their  own  destruction  ;  but  Christ's  kingdom  has 
 notliing  anarchical,  because  it  has  nothing  sinful  in  it. 
 It  lias  not  one  element  of  decay,  because  into  it  nothing 
 that  detileth  can  enter.  Suns  shall  grow  pale,  stars  shall 
 become  dim  ;  the  crescent  shall  wane,  the  crucifix  shall 
 fall  from  the  hands  of  him  that  holds  it :  Judaism  shall 
 be  cast  away  an  exhausted  formula :  the  philosophy  of 
 Socrates  and  Plato,  the  Academy  and  the  Stoa,  shall  be 
 forgotten,  and  their  discussions  cease.  All  other  names 
 shall  be  shaded  or  utterly  disappear;  and  Christ's  name 
 bhall  be  all,  and  Christ's  kingdom  shall  extend  over  all 
 the  earth,  and  all  shall  bless  him  and  be  blessed  in  him. 
 AVe  see  already  tokens  of  that  day.  I  take  a  bright  view 
 of  the  coming  days.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  man  of  sin 
 shall  re-assert  his  ancient  political  supremacy  in  this 
 land,  or  that  he  shall  be  able  any  more  to  wield  the  des- 
 tinies of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  or  to  persecute  the 
 saints  of  God,  at  least  on  a  gigantic  scale.  I  believe, 
 too,  that  there  shall  be  given  before  the  time  of  the  end 
 auguries  and  instalments  of  the  coming  glory,  partly  the 
 fultilment  of  Joel  ii.  28.  What  progress  do  knowledge, 
 science,  education,  Christianity,  the  Eible,  make  every- 
 where throughout  the  world  at  this  moment!  Do  we 
 not  see  the  whole  human  family  drawing  nearer  to  each 
 other  ?  Do  we  not  see  the  two  great  nations,  America 
 and  England,  speaking  a  tongue  that  promises  more  and 
 more  everj'^  day  to  become  the  tongue  of  the  whole 
 world?  Do  we  not  see  all  languages,  however  diver- 
 sified, becoming  reducible  to  two,  three,  or  four  at  the 
 very  most, — Christians  becoming  less  earthly  and  Christ- 
 ianity less  alloyed  ?  What  are  these  but  the  tokens  of 
 the  approaching  glory — voices  in  the  wilderness  prepar- 
 ing the  way  of  the  Lord — messengers  sent  before  to 
 announce  that  the  bridegroom  cometh  ?     I  see  Howers  of 
 
THE   COMING   EINGDOM.  257 
 
 paradise  begin  to  bloom  in  many  a  desert,  and  afar, 
 many  a  temple  spire  emerging  into  the  light  of  rising 
 and  setting  suns  where  pagodas  were  before.  I  can  see 
 the  first  rays  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  beginning  to 
 penetrate  the  Mosque  and  the  Alhambra,  and  to  surprise 
 the  superstitious  devotee  in  the  midst  of  his  devotions. 
 The  Indian  begins  to  burn  his  shaster,  the  Arab  his 
 Koran,  and  the  Chinaman  his  gods.  Fewer  are  found  in 
 Pckin  to  cast  their  infants  in  the  streets  to  perish ;  fewer 
 still  in  India  to  light  the  flames  that  are  to  consume  the 
 widow  ;  fewer  still  to  drag  the  wheels  of  the  chariot  of 
 .Juggernaut  over  the  bodies  of  his  prostrate  devotees.  I 
 sec  upon  all  sides  the  sea  of  barbarism  and  superstition 
 begin  to  ebb,  and  many  a  dove  to  take  wing  and  fly  over 
 the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world's  chaotic  flood, 
 giving  tokens  that  the  Prince  of  peace  is  on  his  way, 
 warning  us  that  the  sound  of  his  approach  already  breaks 
 upon  the  ear.  Let  us  hail  the  twilight :  let  us  urge  on, 
 as  far  as  Ave  can,  the  coming  day;  and  let  us  rest  assured, 
 whatever  tlie  prospects  be,  because  God  has  said  it,  that 
 Christ  Avill  have  a  kingdom  and  a  dominion  which  shall 
 not  pass  away — a  kingdom  that  shall  not  be  destroyed  ; 
 and  that  the  power  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of 
 the  kingdom  under  the  v.'hole  heaven,  shall  be  gi"\»?n  to 
 the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  king- 
 dom is  an  everlasting  donmuon,  and  all  nations  shall 
 serve  and  obey  him.  Are  you  members  of  his  church 
 now,  that  you  may  be  membeis  of  his  church  then  ? 
 Are  you  the  saints  of  God  by  grace,  or  the  sinners  of  the 
 world  still  by  natuie  }  Have  you  been  translated  from 
 the  kingdom  of  Satan  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear 
 Son  r  Is  the  prospect  which  Daniel  saw  a  bright  one 
 for  you  ?  When  this  trumpet  shall  sound,  will  it  startle 
 you  AA'ith  terror,  or  cheer  your  soul  with  joy  ?  What 
 the  Gospel  is  to  you  now,  the  sound  of  that  trumpet  will 
 be  to  you  then.  The  interest  that  you  have  in  the 
 Gospel  now  will  determine  the  event  of  which  that  sound 
 will  be  the  precursor  then.  My  dear  friends,  let  me  ask 
 you,  in  the  prospect  of  that  day,  to  resolve  that  you  will 
 be  found  in  the  number  of  the  saints  of  God — that  you 
 
 s 
 
258  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 "svill  be,  if  it  be  possible,  the  sons  of  the  Most  High — • 
 that  no  persecutions  that  are  possible,  no  scorn  that  may 
 assail,  no  bribes  that  may  seduce  yon,  no  sins  that  may 
 tempt  3'ou,  shall  prevent  you  from  arising,  and  going  to 
 your  Father,  and  saying,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
 heaven  and  in  thy  sight;"  and  he  will  rise  and  meet 
 you;  and  he  Avill  say,  "Bring  forth  the  fairest  robe, 
 and  put  it  on  him,  and  let  there  be  joy  ;  for  this  my  son 
 was  dead  and  is  alive,  was  lost  and  is  found." 
 
LECTURE  XVIII. 
 
 the  moslem. 
 Daniel  YIII. 
 
 You  will  easily  perceive  that  it  is  necessary  to  read 
 tlie  whole  of  this  chapter  as  the  basis  of  a  consecutive 
 exposition.  It  is  an  historico-prophetical  narrative, 
 and  must  be  studied  as  a  whole.  Because  it  is  not 
 doctrinal  theology,  it  is  not  on  that  account  to  be  passed 
 over  as  uninstructive.  God  directed  it  to  be  written 
 for  our  learning ;  at  the  same  time  it  embosoms  in- 
 structive lessons,  which  we  shall  not  fail  to  gather  as 
 Ave  proceed. 
 
 The  signs  by  which  great  truths  are  set  forth  in  this 
 chapter  are  in  perfect  accordance  with  what  is  con- 
 tained and  set  forth  in  j^revious  portions  of  this  book. 
 All  ancient  writers  have  set  forth  truth  hieroglyphically, 
 Avith  greater  or  less  propriety.  Symbols  remain  Avhen 
 languages  change,  and  thus  become  the  most  permanent 
 representatives  of  great  truths.  Especially  does  it  seem 
 appropriate  to  set  forth  AA'hat  shall  take  place  in  the 
 latter  days,  still  future  under  some  of  these  hieroglyphic 
 symbols.  If  the  future  had  been  so  plainlj^  revealed 
 that  all  could  read  future  as  they  see  present  things, 
 men's  responsibility  Avould  liaA-e  been  destroj-ed.  If,  on 
 the  other  hand,  it  had  been  so  dimly  disclosed  that 
 nobody  could  understand  it  at  all,  there  would  have 
 been  little  use  in  disclosing  it  at  all.  If  some  AA^ould 
 say  these  prophecies  are  meant  to  be  understood  after 
 they  have  been  revealed,  Ave  ask  them,  why  Avere  they 
 preA^iously  given  ?  Do  you  say  that  it  is  to  conA'ince 
 man  that  God's  Word  is  truth  ?  Eut  the  fulfilment  of 
 many  stretches  into  the  millennial  glory,  and  Ave  shall 
 
 s2 
 
2G0  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 need  thcu  no  additional  conviction  that  God's  ^Yord  is 
 true,  for  all  scepticism  will  have  passed  away ;  and  we 
 shall  see  and  know  God,  whom  there  will  be  none  to 
 deny.  It  is  rather  more  dutiful  in  us  reverently  to 
 study,  and  humbly  to  explain  as  we  discover  truth, 
 and  where  we  cannot  see  clearly,  patiently  to  wait, 
 aware  that  what  we  know  not  now  we  shall  know 
 hereafter. 
 
 The  bear  in  the  former  division  is  plainly  the  ram  in 
 the  present,  as  I  explained  to  you  in  the  course  of  a 
 previous  lecture.  The  two  horns  that  start  up  on  the 
 head  of  the  ram  are,  as  I  explained,  the  Medes  and  the 
 Persians,  constituting  one  great  kingdom.  The  ram's 
 head  of  gold  was,  as  every  historian  will  tell  you,  the 
 diadem  of  the  Persian  king,  this  alone  identifying  that 
 symbol  with  the  pei*sonage  to  whom  it  refers;  and 
 ''  pushing  westwards,"  denotes  that  empire  subduing 
 Lydia  imd  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  and  Egypt  by  Cambyses. 
 The  he- goat  is  plainly  explained  in  the  chapter  to  be 
 the  Macedonian  power;  his  ''pushing"  (as  it  is  stated 
 inverse  4)  ''westward,  northward,  and  southward,  so 
 that  no  beast  might  stand  before  him,"  denotes  his  con- 
 quests, his  advancing  and  irresistible  might.  The 
 notable  horn  that  starts  up  between  the  ears  of  the  goat 
 might  shortly  be  shown  to  be,  what  it  may  be  indis- 
 putably proved,  Alexander  the  Great,  by  whom  the 
 Persian  ram  was  destroyed,  and  by  whose  destruction 
 immense  addition  was  made  to  his  own  empire.  This 
 victorious  jjrogress  of  Alexander  is  matter  of  history; 
 it  is  not  matter  of  conjecture  from  prophecy,  but  matter 
 of  historical  fact.  The  great  horn,  which  typified 
 Alexander,  as  we  read  in  this  passage,  was  broken,  not 
 gradually  wasted  away,  not  desolated  inch  by  inch  until 
 it  disappeared,  but  snaj)t  asunder^  tc  indicate  that  his 
 sovereignty,  with  his  life,  was  suddenly  cut  short. 
 Everybody  who  knows  his  biography  is  aware  that 
 Alexander  was  seized  with  fever  in  the  verj-  inidst 
 of  his  victories,  and  died.  His  ton,-  teaches  us  what  the 
 prophecy  indicates  by  four  notable  homs  towards  the 
 four  winds  of  heaven,  as  is  stated  in  ver.  8  ;  it  tells  us 
 
THi:    M0SLE3I.  261 
 
 that  when  Alexander  fell,  his  empire  was  divided  among 
 his  four  generals  :  Cassander  had  Greece ;  Thrace,  with 
 its  provinces,  was  given  to  Lysimachus  ;  Egypt  to 
 Ptolemy  ;  and  the  remainder  of  Asia  was  given  to 
 Selencus.  We  have  thus  the  biography  of  Alexander 
 sketched  by  Daniel  long  before  Alexander  was  bom. 
 There  is  no  other  monarch  in  the  world  to  whom  tho 
 description  here  given  would  apply ;  there  is  no  other 
 people  in  the  world's  histor}- with  which  the  events  that 
 are  here  delineated  can  be  made  to  coincide ;  the  in- 
 ference, therefore,  is  irresistible,  that  history  here 
 records  with  its  pen,  what  prophecy  has  sketched  with 
 its  luminous  pencil.  And  so  man  in  his  writings,  de- 
 signedly, consciously,  or  otherwise,  witnesses  to  the 
 fultilment  of  the  prophecies  of  God;  and  it  is  in  so 
 doing  that  history  evermore  presents,  if  we  need  such 
 additional  testimony,  fi*esh  evidence  that  God's  word  is 
 truth.  God  sketches  the  outline  of  the  greatest  gene- 
 ral's life,  and  that  great  general  comes  forward  at  the 
 appointed  time,  and  sets  himself,  ignorant  of  it  all  the 
 while,  to  fill  it  up.  Alexander  thought  he  was  doing 
 his  own  work,  subser\-ing  his  own  ambition,  adding  to 
 the  splendour  of  an  illustiious  name,  and  to  the  sup- 
 port and  extension  of  an  almost  uniivalled  empire ;  he 
 thought  that  his  own  hand  Avas  working  out  what  his 
 own  great  genius  planned :  mistaken  man  I  Great 
 things  are  put  into  a  little  space ;  we  see  them  by  the 
 light  of  God's  truth.  Alexander  was  fiUiug  up  the 
 outline  that  God  had  sketched  ;  he  was  not  the  direct- 
 ing hand,  but  the  obedient  pencil ;  not  the  writer,  but 
 the  mere  pen;  he  was  not  the  originator,  but  the 
 humble  copyist ;  and  thus  his  glory  becomes  pale,  his 
 grandeur  mean,  while  we  see  that  God  had  arranged  all 
 the  space  that  he  was  to  cover,  and  determined  the 
 limits  of  his  actions  hundreds  of  years  before  Alexander 
 stepped  upon  the  field. 
 
 Thus  one  result  of  the  study  of  prophecy  is,  to  make 
 great  men  feel  humble,  and  little  men,  through  the 
 knowledge  of  God's  word,  feel  happy. 
 
 I  have   already  dwelt,   however,   on  the   sketch   Oj 
 
262  PROPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 Alexander  and  his  empire,  as  it  was  depicted  in  a  pre- 
 vious prophecy.  I  proceed,  in  this,  to  show — what  has 
 been  thought  the  more  difficult  part  of  it — what  is  meant 
 by  the  "  little  horn,"  i.e.  the  power,  sovereignty,  rule, 
 which  is  here  described.  It  has  been  thought  difficult, 
 because  there  is  a  description  of  the  Romish  power,  under 
 the  picture  of  a  ''little  horn,"  in  a  previous  chapter. 
 But  it  may  easily  be  seen  that  little  horn  is  perfectly 
 distinct  from  the  one  sketched  here.  The  former  sprung 
 out  of  the  fourth  kingdom,  and  out  of  the  fourth  king- 
 dom in  its  tenfold  division.  This  horn  plainly  springs 
 out  of  an  eastern,  or  the  Grceco-Macedonian  empire,  and 
 is  characterised  by  other  features,  and  gives  birth  to 
 other  and  very  different  exploits.  It  must  be  a  religious, 
 or  politico-ecclesiastical  power,  from  its  physical  small- 
 ness  and  its  moral  triumphs.  Let  us  see,  then,  what 
 it  refers  to ;  and  search  if  we  can  find  any  such  body 
 to  which  we  can  apply  it.  I  may  state,  that  some  have 
 supposed  this  little  horn  to  be  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who 
 appeared  three  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
 and  signalised  himself  by  his  opposition  to  God,  and  by 
 the  dishonour  which  he  brought  upon  the  religion  of 
 Judea.  But  this  seems  improbable,  from  the  following 
 circumstances,  which  I  submit  to  your  consideration. 
 The  little  horn  was  to  arise  out  of  one  of  the  four 
 Macedonian  empires,  into  which  the  empire,  or  dynasty, 
 of  Alexander  was  split.  In  the  second  place,  this  king- 
 dom was  to  arise  at  the  latter  end  of  the  four  kingdoms 
 of  Alexander,  or  Greek  dynasties,  as  explained  in  verse  3. 
 The  characteristic  of  this  little  horn  was  to  be  a  kingly 
 power.  The  four  horns  are  four  kings ;  and  the  notable 
 horn  between  the  eyes  another  king,  who  was  to  have  a 
 fierce  countenance,  and  was  to  teach  dark  oracular  say- 
 ings. And  in  the  next  place,  he  was  to  have  great 
 success  towards  the  east,  and  toward  the  ''glory," — this 
 last  expression  denoting  plainly  Jerusalem :  for  the 
 Apostle  says — "  the  Jews,  to  whom  pertained  the  adop- 
 tion, the  covenants,  and  the  glory.^^  In  the  next  place, 
 the  success  of  this  little  horn  was  to  be  so  great,  that  it 
 should  cast  truth,  i.e.  we  suppose,  Christianity,  to  the 
 
THE    MOSLEM.  263 
 
 gi'ound,  and  spread  and  propagate  itself  by  craft.  It 
 was  to  take  away  the  daily  sacrifice,  prayer,  praise,  and 
 thanksgiving ;  and  it  was  to  stamp  upon  all  secular 
 powers,  *'the  mighty  ones,"  and  upon  *^the  people  of 
 the  holy  ones,"  And  the  reason  why  the  holy  ones  upon 
 whom  it  was  thus  to  stamp  w'ere  thus  depressed,  is 
 stated,  in  ver.  12,  to  have  been  ''by  reason  of  their 
 transgression."  And  the  punishment  thus  inflicted  on 
 them  is  stated  in  ver.  19  to  be  **  at  the  latter  end  of  the 
 indignation."  And  this  power,  in  the  next  place,  was 
 to  magnify  itself  against  "  the  prince  of  the  host."  And 
 it  was  to  last  in  its  power  exactly  2,300  prophetic  daj's, 
 i.e.  2,300  literal  years.  Xow  the  first  question  that  we 
 have  to  determine,  is,  who  Avere  the  people  that  were 
 thus  to  be  visited  in  consequence  of  their  transgression, 
 at  the  latter  end  of  the  indignation,  and  to  be  stamped 
 upon  and  destroj'od,  by  reason  of  their  sin,  by  the  great 
 power;  and  this  will  help  us  more  clearly  to  identify  it. 
 That  it  cannot  be  the  Jews,  I  think  is  plain,  for  many 
 reasons.  From  the  days  of  Daniel  to  the  final  overthrow 
 of  the  Jews,  there  were  only  two  powers  that  desolated 
 or  destroyed  them; — the  first,  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
 300  years  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord ;  and  the  second, 
 the  lloman.  And  if  I  show,  as  I  will  do  bj^-and-bye, 
 that  this  little  horn  cannot  be  either  of  these,  I  then, 
 show  that  the  Jews  are  not  the  people  w^ho  are  here 
 described  as  the  holy  ones  and  the  mighty  ones,  but 
 some  other  people,  whom  we  are  hereafter  to  specify. 
 That  this  little  horn  does  not  denote  Antiochus 
 Epiphanes,  is  clear  from  this  one  circumstance,  that, 
 like  all  the  other  horns  mentioned  by  Daniel,  it  must 
 be  the  symbol  of  a  continuous  sovereignty,  not  of  one 
 solitary  individual  who  starts  into  existence,  and  then 
 disappears,  but  of  a  realm,  or  sovereignty,  governed,  pro- 
 tected, and  preserved  by  him.  But  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
 was  only  a  single  individual,  w^ho  appeared  upon  the 
 stage  and  passed  away.  The  kingdom  of  Antiochus  never 
 could  be  said,  like  that  of  this  little  horn,  to  be  a  gigan- 
 tic empire,  prospering  toward  the  south  and  toward  the 
 east.     In  the  days  of  Antiochus,  the  Jews'  transgres- 
 
264  PEOPHETIC    SrUDIES. 
 
 sion  was  not  full ;  for  at  that  period  the  Jewish  dynasty- 
 was  almost  in  its  meridian  glory  :  some  of  its  most 
 illustrious  men  were  then  living.  And,  lastly,  Antio- 
 chus  died  about  300  years  after  the  commencement  of 
 the  2,300  years  which  describe  the  duration  of  the 
 dynasty  represented  by  the  little  horn.  From  these 
 facts  it  is  plain  that  the  little  horn  does  not  describe 
 Antiochus  Epiphanes.  And  in  the  next  place,  it  can- 
 not refer  to  the  llomans,  for  the  Roman  power  did  not 
 increase  eastward,  so  much  as  this  is  described  to  have 
 done ;  but  it  increased  specially  westward  and  north- 
 ward. jS^either  did  the  Eoman  power  increase  by  craft ; 
 for  there  was  very  little  craft  in  the  aggressions,  the 
 victories,  or  the  progress  of  Rome,  but  rather  honesty, 
 manliness,  and  open  battle.  And  again,  the  Roman 
 power  was  not  a  realm  that  rose  out  of  Macedon,  but 
 from  Latium.  And  lastly,  the  Roman  power  had  no 
 hold  in  Greece,  until  long  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
 salem. And  if  the  little  horn  represents  Rome  pagan, 
 it  is  utterly  absurd  to  suppose  that  it  can  represent 
 Rome  papal  at  the  same  time.  There  are  m  prophecy 
 two  distinct  sj-mbols  for  Rome  in  its  pagan,  and  Rome 
 in  its  papal  state;  the  one  is  the  *'  iron  legs,"  or  Rome 
 pagan,  and  the  other  is  the  ''  ten  toes,"  iron  mixed  with 
 clay,  describing  Rome  papal ;  and  it  cannot,  therefore, 
 refer  to  Rome.  In  the  Apocalypse,  the  seven-headed 
 dragon  is  pagan  Rome,  and  the  seven-headed,  ten-horned 
 beast  is  papal  Rome.  And  since  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
 and  the  Romans  were  the  only  two  powers  who  perse- 
 cuted the  Jews,  and  as  these  are  not  the  two  powers 
 here  indicated, — for  it  is  certain  that  they  are  not, 
 either  of  them,  the  power  indicated  by  the  little  horn, 
 — so  the  Jews,  over  whom  they  triumphed,  are  not  the 
 people  indicated  by  those  who  are  here  described  as 
 **the  holy  ones,"  and  ''the  transgressing  people."  I 
 believe,  therefore,  that  it  denotes  professing  Christen- 
 dom, which  was  visited  in  the  last  days  of  the  Graeco- 
 Macedonian  empire,  by  reason  of  the  transgression  of 
 its  people,  as  I  showed  you  under  the  eighth  seal,  in 
 my  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  when  descx'ibing  the  irruption 
 
THE    MOSLEM.  265* 
 
 of  the  Turks  and  Saracens  into  Asia  and  Europe,  in 
 order  to  chastise  "  heathen  Christendom  "  for  its  idohx- 
 try.  Then  the  epithet  ''mighty"  is  totally  inapplic- 
 able to  the  Jews.  They  never  were  a  mighty  people, 
 though  they  might  have  been  represented  as  a  "  holy 
 people;"  and  verse  23  seems  almost  to  identity  the 
 Gentiles;  for  it  declares,  that  "in  the  latter  times  of 
 the  four  kingdoms,  when  the  transgressors  are  come  to 
 the  full,  a  king  of  tierce  countenance,  and  understanding 
 dark  sentences,  shall  stand  up."  In  my  judgment, 
 therefore,  and  in  the  judgment  of  those  who  have 
 studied  and  written  at  length  upon  the  subject  of  this 
 prophecy,  it  is  the  Turkish  or  Mahometan  power  that  is 
 here  represented  by  the  little  horn.  I  have  showed  you 
 that  it  cannot  be  Antiochus,  as  some  theologians  hold ; 
 because  in  so  many  particulars  the  application  fails  in 
 reference  to  him.  It  cannot  be  the  Iloman  power,  be- 
 cause in  every  particular  the  application  fails.  It  must, 
 therefore,  be  some  other  power ;  and  the  features  deli- 
 neated by  the  prophet,  and  the  facts  thrown  up  in  the 
 history  of  Mahometanism,  so  completely  talh',  that  tlie 
 inference  is  almost  irresistible,  that  it  is  the  Turkish 
 or  Mahometan  power  that  is  here  intended. 
 
 The  history  of  its  rise  and  progress  may  be  compre- 
 hended in  a  few  sentences.  It  originated  in  Chorassin, 
 a  part  of  Parthia  south  of  the  Oxus,  and  in  the  vcry^ 
 territory  of  the  Syrian,  or  Grseco- Macedonian  empire. 
 The  birth-place  of  Mahometanism  is,  therefore,  the  very 
 locality  here  indicated  in  prophecy.  In  that  eastern 
 territory,  so  clearly  indicated  as  the  place  of  its  rise,  the 
 Turcomans,  a  shepherd  tribe,  revolted  against  their 
 ruler ;  became  independent ;  elected  Togrul  Beg  as 
 their  chief,  who  appeared  at  this  moment  a  "little 
 horn,"  the  petty  chief  of  a  petty  but  increasing  clan; 
 so  that  his  origin,  rise,  and  beginning,  may  lairlj-  bo 
 represented,  as  far  as  his  physical  prominence  is  referred 
 to,  by  the  symbol  of  a  little  horn.  This  Togrul  Beg, 
 having  thus  become  the  chief  of  this  petty  tribe,  moved 
 first  southward,  at  the  call  of  the  Caliph  of  Bagdat. 
 He  added  to  his  "victorieB  year  after  year,  and  was  at 
 
266  PEOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 length  appointed,  by  reason  of  liis  success,  the  caliph- 
 general  of  Islam.  He  married  the  caliph's  daughter, 
 and  became,  from  a  petty  and  contemptible  chief,  the 
 royal  and  all  but  irresistible  propagandist  of  Mahome- 
 tan fanaticism.  By-and- bye  he  conquered  Judea,  ''the 
 glory,"  or  the  ''glorious  land"  that  is  here  alluded  to. 
 He  next  oyerran  Asiatic  Christendom,  and  already  he 
 developed  ever}'  feature  of  the  character  described  in 
 verse  23,  as  the  "king  of  a  fierce  countenance,"  causing 
 to  understand  dark  sentences ;  mighty  in  his  own  power, 
 but  not  by  his  own  power,  but  by  the  influence  of  a 
 fanatical  system  which  lie  adopted,  progressing  and 
 prospering  wonderfull}',  destroying  the  miglitiest  na- 
 tions and  the  holy  people ;  through  his  policy  causing 
 craft  to  prosper  in  the  land,  and  magnitying  himself 
 even  against  the  Prince  of  princes ;  till,  as  we  shall 
 afterwards  show^,  he  was  ultimately  broken  witliout 
 hand.  And  to  show  how  completely  this  chief,  rising 
 from  a  little  to  be  a  great  and  powerful  sovereign,  ful- 
 filled, in  his  history,  the  predictions  of  this  prophecy, 
 I  Cjiiote  from  the  unwilling,  but  faithful,  narrator, 
 Gibbon,  who  says  : — "  Togrul  Beg  extended  his  juris- 
 diction from  the  Chinese  frontier,  ived  and  south,^' — 
 almost  the  very  language  of  the  prophecy, — "  as  far  as 
 the  neighbourhood  of  Constantinople,  the  holy  city, 
 Jerusalem," — again  using  the  very  language  of  pro- 
 phecy,— "and  the  spicy  groves  of  Arabia  Felix;  and 
 extended  a  dominion  which  surpassed  the  Asiatic  reign 
 of  Cj'i'us  and  of  the  Caliphs."  Just  read  the  prophecy 
 at  your  leisure ;  and  recollect,  as  you  read,  the  sketch 
 I  have  given  from  Gibbon,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
 prophet  describes  Avhat  shall  be  most  minutely ;  and  the 
 historian,  who  had  never  read  the  pi'ophecy,  records, 
 wdth  equal  fidelity,  what  has  been ;  and  Gibbon  the 
 sceptic  becomes  the  commentator  on  Daniel  the  prophet, 
 and  presents  the  unconscious  and  the  unwilling  proof, 
 that  "holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
 the  Holy  Ghost." 
 
 This  prince,  or  horn,  or  power,  is  described  as  being 
 "of  a  fierce  countenance."      It  is  interesting  to  notice, 
 
THE   MOSLEM.  267 
 
 in  reading  the  history  of  Gibbon,  that  the  expression 
 he  more  than  once  uses  to  denote  Mahomctaiiism,  is 
 ''fierceness,"  or  ''ferocity,"  For  instance,  this  very  ex- 
 pression occurs  in  the  pages  of  Gibbon  : — "  The  Turkish 
 nations  still  breathed  the  fierceness  of  the  desert;"  and 
 one  of  the  phrases  that  Gibbon  uses  is,  "  he  was  fierce  as 
 a  Turk ;"  the  very  language  of  the  prophet  being  em- 
 ployed by  the  infidel  and  unbelieving  historian. 
 
 The  prophet  further  adds  :  "  He  waxed  great  to  the 
 host  of  heaven  ;  cast  down  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars  to 
 the  ground,  and  stamped  on  them  ;"  "  the  daily  sacrifice 
 was  taken  away — magnified  himself  against  the  prince  of 
 the  host," — ''cast  down  truth  to  the  ground — caused  craft 
 to  prosper."  These  features  are  recorded  by  the  histo- 
 rian. Thus  Gibbon  writes:  "By  the  choice  of  the 
 sultan,  I^ice  was  preferred  for  his  palace  and  his  fortress ; 
 and  the  divinity  of  Christ  was  denied  and  derided  in  the 
 same  temple  in  which  it  had  been  pronounced  by  a 
 general  synod."  The  Council  of  Kice  was  held  A.n. 
 315,  and  one  of  its  great  conclusions  was,  that  the  deity 
 of  Christ  was  a  plain  and  obvious  dogma  of  Holy  Writ. 
 
 It  is  stated  here  of  this  fierce  king,  that  "he  magni- 
 fied himself  against  the  Prince  of  princes  :"  the  historian 
 states  the  fact,  that  Nice,  distinguished  for  its  unequi- 
 vocal testimony  to  the  deitj^  of  Christ,  was  selected  by 
 the  sultan  as  his  palace  and  fortress,  in  which  they 
 scorned  and  derided  that  great  truth  with  the  confession 
 of  which  jSTice  is  identified  in  ecclesiastical  history. 
 Gibbon  continues  :  "  The  unity  of  God  and  the  mission 
 of  Mahomet  were  preached  in  the  mosques  ;  on  the  hard 
 conditions  of  tribute  or  servitude  the  Greek  Christians 
 might  enjoy  the  exercise  of  their  religion  :  but  the  most 
 holy  churches  were  profaned ;  the  priests  and  bishops 
 were  insulted,  and  were  compelled  to  suffer  the  triumph 
 of  the  pagans,  and  to  witness  the  apostasy  of  their 
 brethren."  Gibbon  tlius  testifies  how  completely  every 
 feature  I  have  gathered  from  the  portrait  of  the  pro})het 
 is  embodied  in  the  dark  history  and  development  of  that 
 fierce  and  j)owerful  fanaticism  which  was  let  loose,  as  I 
 showed  you  in  my  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse  under  the 
 
268  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 figure  of  the  irruption  of  Euphratean  horsemen,  for  the 
 express  pur2:)0se  of  punishing  idolatrous  Christendom  for 
 the  transgressions  into  which  they  had  fallen,  tluit  is,  the 
 idolatry  with  which  they  had  desecrated  the  worship  and 
 defiled  the  temple  of  God. 
 
 I  think,  then,  from  these  points  of  coincidence,  and 
 from  the  utter  impossibility  of  applying  this  picture  to 
 any  other  power  in  actual  history,  we  are  warranted  in 
 concluding  that  the  "little  horn"  that  rose  up  in  the 
 eastern  empire,  of  fierce  countenance,  as  described  by  the 
 prophet,  and  recorded  by  the  historian,  *'  causing  to  un- 
 derstand"— for  the  word  in  the  original  is  in  this  mood, 
 "causing  to  understand" — dark,  mysterious,  and  oracu- 
 lar sayings,  that  is,  the  teaching  of  the  Xoran,  stamping 
 upon  God's  people,  or,  as  Gibbon  says,  "  insulting  the 
 bishops  and  the  jH'iests,"  and  degrading  every  Christian 
 with  whom  they  came  into  contact,  and  magnifying 
 himself  against  the  prince  of  the  host ;  in  all  these  coin- 
 cidences we  have  the  conclusive  evidence,  or,  at  least, 
 the  strongest  possible  presumption,  that  Gibbon,  in  des- 
 cribing the  irruption  of  Mahometan  fanaticism,  Avith  all 
 its  characteristic  features,  is  the  echo  of  the  voice  of 
 Daniel  describing  the  little  horn  springing  up  in  the 
 eastern  empire,  the  fierce  king  punishing  professing 
 Christendom  for  its  great  transgression.  The  following 
 extracts  present  a  correct  idea  of  Mahomet  andMahomet- 
 anism  ; — 
 
 Gibbon  describes  the  Koran,  with  its  dark  sentences, 
 as  an  "  endless  incoherent  rhapsody  of  fable  and  precept 
 and  declamation,  which  seldom  excites  a  sentiment  or  an 
 idea,  which  sometimes  crawls  in  the  dust,  and  is  some- 
 times lost  in  the  clouds." 
 
 Gibbon  states  :  "In  the  exercise  of  political  govern- 
 ment Mahomet  was  comjielled  to  abate  the  stern  rigour 
 of  fanaticism,  to  comply  with  the  prejudices  and  passions 
 of  his  followers,  and  to  employ  even  the  vices  of  man- 
 kind as  the  instruments  of  their  salvation.  I'he  use  of 
 fraud  and  perfid}-,  of  cruelty  and  injustice,  was  often 
 subservient  to  the  propagation  of  the  faith,  and  Maho- 
 met  commanded  or  aj)proved  the  assassination  of  the 
 
THE   MOSLEM.  269 
 
 JeTvs  and  idolators  who  had  escaped  from  the  field  of 
 battle.  By  the  repetition  of  such  acts  the  character  of 
 Mahomet  must  have  been  graduall}"  stained,  and  the 
 influence  of  such  pernicious  habits  would  be  poorly  com- 
 pensated by  the  practice  of  the  personal  and  social  vir- 
 tues which  are  necessary  to  maintain  the  reputation  of  a 
 prophet  among  his  sectaries  and  friends.  Of  his  last 
 years  ambition  was  the  ruling  passion,  and  a  politician 
 well  suspected  that  he  secretly  smiled  (the  victorious 
 impostor)  at  the  enthusiasm  of  his  youth  and  the  credu- 
 lity of  his  proselytes.  In  the  support  of  truth  the  arts 
 of  fraud  and  fiction  may  be  deemed  less  criminal,  and  he 
 would  have  started  at  the  foulness  of  the  means,  had  he 
 not  been  satisfied  of  the  importance  and  justice  of  the 
 end." 
 
 "Light  and  darkness,"  says  Dr.  Hales,  ''were  not 
 more  opposite  than  Christ  and  Mahcmet.  It  is  no 
 wonder,  therefore,  that  a  sensual  and  corrupt  world 
 loved  darkness  more  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were 
 evil — more  congenial  to  the  Koran  of  Mahomet  than  to 
 the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  pure  and  holy  Jesus,  who 
 did  no  sin,  nor  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth, — who  went 
 about  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  by  his 
 beneficent  miracles,  and  still  more  salutary  doctrines, — 
 nobly  and  boldly  challenged  his  enemies  to  impeach  his 
 moral  character  if  they  could  :  '  Wliich  of  j'ou  con- 
 vinceth  me  of  sin  ?' — and  even  his  betraj'er  and  perse- 
 cutors bore  testimony  to  the  'innocent  blood'  of  the  Son 
 of  God,  the  righteous  Son  of  man.  On  the  contrary', 
 boundless  ambition  and  unbridled  lust,  cloaked  under  the 
 most  consummate  and  presumptuous  hypocrisy,  possessed 
 like  fiends  the  heart  of  Mahomet.  He  was  indeed  a 
 true  son  of  Belial.  '  'None  but  great  souls  can  be  com- 
 pletely wicked  ;'  little  souls  w^ant  the  ability  to  contrive 
 and  to  execute  splendid  ndschief  on  a  great  scale.  Ma- 
 homet wore  the  mask  of  sanctity  and  mortification  while 
 he  was  preparing  his  imposture  and  establishing  his  re- 
 putation as  an  apostle  of  God  and  a  refoi^mcr  of  the 
 world.  But  while  his  mission  was  acknowledged,  and 
 his  deluded  followers  became  disposed  to  swallow  the 
 
270  PEOPKETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 greatest  impieties  and  absurdities,  implicitly  surrender- 
 ing to  him  all  authority  over  their  souls,  their  senses,  and 
 their  understandings,  he  quickly  threw  off  the  mask  and 
 broke  through  all  the  restraints  that  prudence  and  policy 
 had  hitherto  laid  on  his  impetuous  passions,  and  went 
 about  as  a  raging  and  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he 
 might  devour,  and  with  the  most  matchless  effrontery, 
 and  most  daring  impiet}',  he  deliberately  brought  down 
 pretended  revelations  from  heaven  to  sanction  his  lies 
 and  pander  to  his  vices." 
 
 "If  ever  there  was  a  finished  hypocrite,  possessed  of 
 the  most  audacious  and  shameless  effronter}',  it  surely 
 ■was  Mahomet,  whose  God  was  his  belly,  who  gloried  in 
 his  shame — who  minded  earthly  things,  under  the  garb 
 of  sanctity  and  religion." 
 
 "  Islamism,  therefore,  in  its  whole  extent,  is  adverse 
 to  the  mild  spirit  and  liberal  genius  of  Christianity.  It 
 was  liatched  and  matured  in  hypocrisy  and  falsehood.  It 
 was  addressed  to  the  appetites  and  passions  of  n  sensual 
 and  corrupt  people.  It  was  distinguished  by  a  spirit  of 
 hatred  and  hostility  to  the  rest  of  mankind, — Christians, 
 Jews,  Pagans.  It  befriended  arbitrary  and  despotic 
 power  over  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  It  encouraged 
 ignorance,  by  representing  all  liberal  arts  and  sciences  as 
 unnecessary  or  as  prejudicial,  either  if  not  Avarranted  by, 
 or  if  contrary  to,  the  Koran  ;  and  it  produced  a  torpor 
 and  apatliy  which  chilled  and  deadened  every  tendency 
 to  speculative  exertion  and  moral  improvement  by  the 
 desolating  doctrine  of  fixed  fate  or  predestination." 
 
 iS^ow  the  next  question — and  it  will  be  very  shortly 
 answered — is,  AVhen  did  the  2,300  years,  at  the  end  of 
 which  this  ''little  horn"  Avas  to  fail,  begin  r— and  at 
 what  period  therefore  may  it  be  supposed  that  its  pros- 
 perity closed  ?  It  is  not  the  date  of  the  rise  but  of  tlic 
 decay  of  Mahometanism  that  is  here  indicated.  The 
 two  dates  at  one  of  Avhich  the  2,300  3-ears  must  com- 
 mence, are  either  the  year  538  e.g.,  when  the  supremacy 
 of  the  Persian  and  Macedonian  empire  began,  or  the 
 year  480  B.C.,  just  prior  to  the  defeat  of  Xerxes  on  his 
 invasion  of  Greece.     The  one  period  is  the  commence- 
 
THF,    irOSLP:M.  271 
 
 ment  of  the  Persian  ch-iiasty,  the  second  is  the  era  of 
 its  meridian,  or  its  noontitle  power  and  glory.  AVe 
 may  prefer,  for  various  reasons,  the  hitter  period.  Take 
 the  meridian  giory  of  Persia  as  its  commencement ;  and 
 then  we  shall  find  that  the  end  of  the  2,300  years  will 
 bring  us  down  to  a.d.  1820.  Bicheno,  who  lived  in  the 
 last  century,  stated  in  1797  that  the  2,300  jcnrs,  dur- 
 ing the  last  part  of  which  the  Mahometan  delusion  was 
 to  prosper,  prevail,  and  stamp  under-foot  all  that  opposed 
 it,  began  480  b.c,  and  would  terminate,  as  he  then  said, 
 about  A.D.  1820.  Tliirty  years  ago  then,  if  this  pro- 
 phecy be  correct,  or,  rather,  if  this  application  of  the 
 datf  here  specified  be  the  true  one,  the  Mahometan  em- 
 pire' began  to  give  way.  Is  this  matter  of  tact,  or  is  it 
 not  ?  I  might  give  you,  at  great  length,  evidence  that 
 it  is  so.  For  instance,  it  is  stated  in  the  Annual  llegister 
 for  the  year  1820,  "The  Ottoman  empire  had  reached 
 its  meridian  strength,  free  from  all  foreign  invasion, 
 and  in  possession  of  perfect  domestic  peace."  Every- 
 thing in  the  history  of  Turkey,  up  to  the  spring  of  1820, 
 Avas  powerful,  peaceful,  prosperous.  ^o\v  just  notice 
 Avhat  begins  to  take  place  at  that  period.  In  the  sum- 
 mer of  that  year  Ali  Pacha  revolted  against  the  domi- 
 nion of  the  sultan,  and  intestine  war  V)cgan.  In  October 
 1 820,  the  Greek  insurrection  took  place ;  and  Turkey 
 was  crippled  in  its  strength  and  reduced  in  its  terri- 
 tory. And  from  1820,  if  anybodj'  will  be  at  the 
 trouble  to  read  its  history,  down  to  the  present  hour, 
 plague,  earthquake,  fire,  revolt,  destruction,  have  not 
 ceased  continually  to  lay  it  waste,  till,  in  the  language 
 of  Lamartine,  "  Turkey  is  dying  rapidly  for  want  of 
 Turks."  Since  1820,  Greece,  AYallachia,  Moldavia, 
 Algiei's,  have  been  separated  from  the  power  of  the 
 Moslem  dominion  :  and  a  missionary,  writing  recently 
 from  Constantinople,  says,  "  Turkey  is  in  the  agony  of 
 dissolution  ; "  and  a  traveller,  writing  on  the  same  sub- 
 ject, says,  "There  is  no  law,  no  safety  for  property,  in  this 
 unhappy  country."  It  requires  no  prophecy  to  satisfy  us 
 that  the  Mahometan  power  is  rapidly  falling  to  ruin. 
 Now  is  this  an  accidental  coincidence  ? — Four  hundred 
 
272  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 and  eighty  years  before  Christ,  when  the  Persian  laws 
 were  supreme,  and  the  Persian  empire  was  in  its  me- 
 ridian power,  a  ''little  liorn"  is  predicted  to  spring  up 
 in  after  ages  with  features  that  identify  it  with  the 
 Mahometan  superstition ;  the  very  period  of  the  end  of 
 its  duration  is  assigned,  2,300  years,  from  B.C.  480;  and 
 80  when  the  end  of  this  2,300  years  comes — not  a  year 
 before  or  a  year  after — Turkey  begins  to  hear  the  knell 
 of  its  approaching  doom,  and,  piecemeal,  year  by  year, 
 it  falls  to  ruin ;  and  every  one  who  reads  the  present 
 history  of  that  country  knows  that  every  day  some  new 
 revolutionary  reform  is  taking  place  in  its  government 
 The  paddle-wheel  disturbs  the  silence  of  its  waters ;  tht 
 European  engineer  is  invited  to  Constantinople ;  Prot(;s- 
 tant  residents  are  multiplving  in  every  direction  in  the 
 midst  of  it ;  the  sultan  is  casting  off  the  dress,  the  forms, 
 the  ceremonies,  the  habits  of  the  Turk  ;  it  is  ceasing  to 
 be  a  capital  crime  for  a  Turk  to  become  a  Christian.  The 
 sultan  has  given  leave  to  the  Jews  to  build  a  temple,  if 
 they  please,  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  :  and  only  lately, 
 her  Majesty's  representative  at  the  court  of  the  sultan 
 secured  rights  and  privileges  for  all  denominations  of 
 Christians,  and  for  those  of  the  ancient  Armenian 
 cliurches,  utterly  incompatible  with  the  essential  princi- 
 ])les  of  the  Koran, — ''  it  dies  without  hand."  And  what 
 renders  yet  more  striking  all  this  fultilment  of  prophecy 
 is  the  fact,  that  the  "  little  horn"  was  not,  like  that 
 which  "sprung  up  between  the  eyes  of  the  goat,  to  be 
 snapped  in  sunder,  but  was  to  be  broken  witliout  liands ; 
 or,  to  use  the  apocalyptic  symbol,  the  great  river  Eu- 
 phrates was  to  be  gradually  dried  up.  You  have,  in  the 
 first  case,  the  little  horn  suddenh'  broken ;  but  you  have 
 in  this  case  the  power  or  dynasty  symbolised  by  the  little 
 horn  broken  without  hands, — a  gradual  desolation  and 
 decay  corresponding  to  the  prediction  so  plainly  denun- 
 ciated  by  Daniel. 
 
 I  have  stated,  then,  the  prophecj'  and  the  plain  his- 
 toric fact.  Let  us  now  diaw  from  it,  for  ourselves,  one 
 or  two  useful  lessons.  And  the  first  is  this,  that  all  the 
 otherwise  inexplicable  facts  in  the  history  of  the  church 
 
THE    MOSLEM.  273 
 
 and  of  the  world  are  here  plainly  explained.  'Not  one 
 cloud  lias  fallen  upon  the  church  that  God  did  not 
 foresee ;  not  one  opposing  force  has  arisen  to  ohstruct 
 the  march  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  which  prophecy 
 has  not  predicted.  There  has  occurred  no  unexpected 
 dislocation — there  has  taken  place  in  the  history  of  the 
 people  of  Christ  no  unforeseen  corruption  ;  all  has  come 
 as  God  foresaw,  an'l  as  liis  prophets  predicted ;  and 
 therefore  we  know  that  God  has  not  because  of  these 
 things  forsaken  his  church  ;  but  rather,  because  these 
 have  occurred,  he  has  shown  his  Providence  acting  in 
 tlie  world's  history  that  which  his  Spirit  inspired  in  the 
 prophecy  of  ancient  writers. 
 
 It  is  thus,  too,  that  we  see  in  the  rise  and  origin 
 of  this  system  the  ever  active  presence  and  power  of 
 Satan.  Mahometanism  came  ''like  a  dark  smoke,"  as  the 
 Apocalypse  tells  us,  "from  the  bottomless  pit."  Satan 
 is  its  agent  and  its  inherent  might.  But  his  limits  are 
 fixed.  How  delightful  to  know  that  God  has  fixed  the 
 bound -lines  of  his  power,  and  told  us  in  words  which 
 can  never  be  contradicted  or  reversed,  when,  where,  and 
 how  his  power  and  his  policy  shall  cease  together.  And 
 in  the  next  place,  do  we  not  see  in  the  very  existence  of 
 Christianity,  amid  all  those  dark  and  overshadowing 
 superstitions,  an  evidence  of  the  presence  of  God  ?  The 
 Gospel  has  been  the  creation  and  the  care  of  the  living 
 God,  or  it  must  have  been  extinguished  long  ago.  All 
 elements  have  assailed  it — all  forms  have  tried  to  over- 
 shadow it — but  it  has  emerged  not  only  existing,  but 
 triumphant,  from  them  all,  and  proved  that  it  is  linked 
 with  the  throne,  overshadowed  by  the  presence,  inspired 
 by  the  truth,  and  protected  by  the  power  of  God  himself. 
 And  every  one  of  these  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  is  sureb/ 
 a  fore-augury  and  a  fore-earnest  that  it  will  eventually 
 triumph.  A  religion  that  has  survived  so  much  is  surely 
 not  destined  to  perish  ;  a  book  that  has  emerged  from  so 
 many  dread  collisions  is  surely  not  a  book  that  is  to  be 
 ultimately  destroyed.  What  the  Gospel  has  done  is  a 
 pledge  and  presentiment  of  what  the  Gospel  will  do. 
 Its  existence  to-day  is  the  strongest  proof  that  it  will 
 
 X 
 
274  PROPHETIC    STTJD1E3. 
 
 last  while  the  sua  and  moon  endure.  Every  prophet 
 saj^s  so  ;  every  history  indicates  that  it  will  be  so,  and 
 every  fact  that  is  occurring  around  us — the  folly  of  its 
 opponents  and  the  wisdom  of  its  friends,  speech  and 
 silence — is  giving  token  of  its  rapid  and  approaching 
 triumph.  The  crescent  wanes,  and  the  cry  of  the 
 Muezzim  becomes  fainter — the  cimeter  is  less  appealed 
 to,  and  craft  is  more  exposed.  The  Hindoo  is  ceasing  to 
 liglit  the  fire  for  the  consumption  of  the  widow,  and  the 
 China-woman  refuses  to  leave  her  babe  to  perish  in  the 
 streets  of  Pekin.  The  Indian  objects  to  drag  the  san- 
 guinar}^  cliariot  of  Juggernaut  over  the  bleeding  remains 
 of  his  fellow- creatures,  and  the  Hindoo  mother  no  longer 
 casts  the  infant  that  she  bore  into  the  waters  of  the 
 Ganges.  The  altars  of  Paganism  crumble,  the  lights  in 
 the  temple  of  superstition  are  being  extinguished  one 
 by  one,  and  the  first  dawn  begins  to  overspread  the 
 distant  lands  of  the  world,  of  that  emerging  **  Sun," 
 which  shall  soon  arise  with  ''healing  in  his  wings," 
 assume  his  noontide  throne,  and  cover  the  Avhole  earth 
 with  that  glory  that  never  shall  be  diminished.  The 
 Thames  and  the  Tiber,  the  Danube  and  the  Rhone, 
 among  the  waters  of  Europe,  shall  soon  call  on  tlie 
 Ganges,  the  Euphrates  and  Xile  in  the  East,  and  both 
 joined  by  the  Ohio,  the  Missouri,  and  Mississippi,  the 
 great  rivers  of  America,  in  the  far  west,  shall  meet  and 
 mingle ;  and  the  praise  of  the  Lord  shall  arise  as  the 
 voice  of  many  waters,  and  the  wide  world  shall  be 
 covered  with  the  knowledge  of  him,  as  the  waters  cover 
 the  channels  of  the  great  deep.  All  that  God  has  pro- 
 claimed to  be  fulfilled  has  been  fulfilled  ;  all  that  God 
 has  said  is  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  future  will  be  fulfilled ;  all 
 shall  bless  him  and  shall  be  blessed  in  him.  We  stand 
 on  the  threshold  of  great  and  solemn  events :  a  great 
 epoch  in  which  a  thousand  prophecies  are  being  fulfilled 
 is  just  at  our  doors;  an  era,  as  I  have  told  you  before, 
 of  short  but  terrible  duration,  in  which  old  controversies 
 shall  be  revived  and  new  controversies  shall  be  added, 
 and  all  dangers  meet  and  mingle  in  one  dread  turmoil, 
 is  just  about  to  overtake  us.     There  is  at  the  present 
 
THE    MOSLEiT.  275 
 
 moment  a  pause,  but  only  a  lull ;  it  is  not  the  settling 
 down  of  all  to  quiet,  it  is  a  lull  which  betokens  to  re- 
 flecting minds  the  outburst  of  a  more  terrific  and  irre- 
 sistible storm,  before  which  all  ecclesiastical  and  all  civil 
 bulwarks  and  battlements  the  consolidations  of  centuries 
 shall  bow,  tremble,  and  break  up.  Some  smiled  at  me 
 when  I  told  you,  three  or  four  years  ago,  that  our 
 Church  establishments,  if  pro2)hecy  speaks  plainly,  were 
 soon  to  give  wliat  has  already  taken  place — signs  of 
 approaching  dissolution.  One  of  the  representatives  of 
 the  Episcopal  bench  tells  the  House  of  Lords  that  a  great 
 secession  is  about  to  take  place,  and  proposes  ecclesi- 
 astical despotism  as  the  only  resistant.  Men  distin- 
 guished for  their  earnestness  and  zeal,  but  blinded  by  a 
 dread  superstition,  are  rushing  from  us  into  that  great 
 apostasy,  which  has  been  drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints, 
 and  is  still  bent  upon  their  ruin.  All  things  give  token 
 that  institutions  venerable  for  their  age,  valued  for  use- 
 fulness, Scriptural  in  their  foundations,  are  about  to  give 
 way,  in  order  that  there  may  emerge  from  the  chaos  a 
 church  more  beautiful  by  far,  whose  foundations  are  the 
 attributes  of  God,  whose  altar  is  the  living  Lamb,  whose 
 towers  shall  sparkle  in  the  rays  of  rising  and  of  setting 
 suns  throughout  millennial  days,  and  in  perfect  peace 
 for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 My  dear  friends,  if  ever  there  was  a  crisis  when  a 
 man  should  ask  himself,  What  am  I  ?  and  AVhere  am  I 
 to  be  ?  it  is  the  hour  in  which  our  lot  is  cast.  Tell  me, 
 then,  not  the  sect  to  which  you  belong,  but  the  side  to 
 which  you  cleave.  Let  me  beg  of  you  this  day  to 
 answer,  beseeching  you  to  ask  your  own  consciences  in 
 the  sight  of  God,  Am  I  a  Christian,  or  am  I  not  ?  not 
 Am  I  an  Episcopalian,  a  Presbyterian,  or  an  Indepen- 
 dent ?  Any  of  these  you  may  be,  and  not  be  a  Christian 
 at  all.  But,  is  mj^  heart  renewed  ?  is  my  soul  reformed  ? 
 are  my  sins  forgiven  and  blotted  out  ?  am  I  a  new 
 creature  r  do  I  hate  what  I  once  loved  ?  do  I  now  love 
 w^hat  I  once  hated  ?  do  I  count  all  thiniys  but  loss  for 
 the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  ?  and, 
 Do  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  consecrate  every  hour   that 
 
 T  2 
 
276  PEOrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 remains  to  the  service  of  that  Master,  who  died  that  I 
 might  live,  and  rose  again  that  I  might  be  holy  and 
 happy  for  ever  ? 
 
 Fair-weather  Christianity  will  not  do  in  the  time 
 into  which  we  are  rushing.  That  sentimental  and 
 tasteful  religion,  so  elegant  because  so  indifferent,  so 
 beautiful  to  the  natural  man  because  so  cold  and  statue- 
 like, will  not  do.  Intensity  is  taking  possession  of  and 
 rushing  into  everything  upon  earth.  Infidels  are  be- 
 coming intensely  so  ;  pagans  are  becoming  intensely  so. 
 Should  Christians  alone  become  more  cold,  more  callous, 
 more  indifferent  ?  A  new  life  is  proceeding  from  be- 
 neath, and  taking  possession  of  all  Satan's  agencies.  A 
 new  life  is  descending  from  on  high,  and  taking  pos- 
 session of  all  God's  people ;  and  pious  men  are  begin- 
 ning, more  than  ever,  to  feel  now  that  there  is  nothing, 
 comparatively,  worth  contending  for,  but  the  glory  of 
 Christ,  the  salvation  of  souls,  the  spread  of  evangelical 
 religion,  the  supremacy  of  Protestant  and  Scriptural 
 truth.  If,  then,  the  only  rock  that  will  stand  is  the 
 !Rock  of  ages  ;  if  the  only  vessel  that  will  float  securely 
 upon  the  waters  is  that  ark  which  God  himself  has  pre- 
 pared ;  make  sure  that  your  building  is  on  that  rock ; 
 be  sure  that  you  are  in  that  vessel.  Do  not,  my  dear 
 friends,  risk  eternity  on  a  probability.  And  if  you 
 should  not  be  spared  to  enter  that  chaos  which  is 
 coming,  but  should  be  removed  and  called  to  the  judg- 
 ment-seat of  God  before,  in  either  case  it  becomes  you, 
 and  it  becomes  me,  to  ask  ourselves,  AVhat  wiU  eternity 
 be  to  us  ?  !No  man  goes  blindfold  to  heaven.  He  knows, 
 if  he  will  look  into  his  own  conscience,  and  read  it, 
 whether  he  is  going  to  heaven  or  not.  It  is  not  at  all  a 
 difficult  question.  A  man  whose  heart  is  absorbed  in 
 his  counting-house,  whose  pleasure  is  the  gaming-table, 
 or  the  follies,  the  gaity,  and  the  amusements  of  this 
 world ;  Avhose  highest  excitement  is  the  opera  or  the 
 playhouse ;  who  has  little  thought  about  eternity,  but 
 many  thoughts  about  what  he  shall  eat  or  drink,  and 
 wherewithal  he  shall  be  clothed;  gives  no  proof  of  a 
 procession  heavenward.     My  dear  friends,  I  cannot  dis- 
 
THE    MOSLEM.  277 
 
 guise  from  you  the  fact,  if  such  be  the  type  of  your 
 character,  that  you  are  marching  on  the  broad  road  aa 
 plainly,  as  intelligibly,  as  if  your  name  and  your  doom 
 were  written  upon  the  broad  blue  firmamf nt,  and  every 
 eye  could  read  it,  and  every  ear  could  hear  it. 
 
 But  you,  on  the  other  hand,  who  •'  count  all  things 
 but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
 Jesus;"  you  who  are  resting  upon  the  living  Saviour, 
 as  your  only  hope  ;  whose  heart's  desire  and  prayer  is, 
 that  you  may  know  what  true  life  is,  that  you  may  feci 
 what  the  power  of  real  religion  is  ;  you  who  bring  your 
 property,  your  time,  your  talents,  and  your  influence, 
 and  pray  that  God  would  consecrate  them,  and  make 
 them  all  subserve  his  holy  will,  and  the  good  of  your 
 fellow- creatures ;  you  whose  only  Sanctifier  is  the  Holy 
 Spirit,  whose  bright  hope  is  the  kingdom  that  never  can 
 be  removed ; — there  is  no  doubt  about  your  destiny. 
 You  are  in  the  path  which  may  be  narrow,  which  may 
 have  many  obstructions  and  many  difficulties,  but  it 
 leads  you  to  the  presence  of  him  "  in  whose  presence  is 
 fulness  of  joy,  and  at  whose  right  hand  there  are 
 pleasures  for  evermore." 
 
 My  dear  friends,  do  not  leave  the  house  of  prayer 
 this  night  without  choosing  whom  ye  will  serve.  Be 
 decided.  Do  not  live  in  doubt.  Do  not  have  any  more 
 suspensive  feelings  about  the  future,  or  anxious  thoughts 
 about  the  present,  but  go  now  with  bended  knee,  and 
 believing  heart,  and  vow  solemnly,  in  the  sight  and 
 hearing  of  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  that,  as  for  you,  for 
 the  rest  of  youi'  life,  you  will  be  the  Lord's. 
 
LECTTJEE  XIX. 
 
 FASTING. 
 
 **  And  I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek  hj 
 prayer  and  supplications,  tvith  fasting,  and  sackcloth, 
 and  ashes.^' — DA^'IEL  ix.  3. 
 
 The  whole  chapter  from  which  I  have  selected  my 
 text  is  rich  with  Christian  petitions.  I  know  not  that 
 there  is  in  the  Bible  a  sublimer  litany  than  that  which 
 is  contained  in  this  chapter,  or  clauses  more  appropriate 
 as  channels  of  a  Christian's  praj'ers,  than  such  earnest, 
 beautiful,  and  yet  simple  ones  as  these — '*  0  Lord,  hear ; 
 0  Lord,  forgive ;  0  Lord,  hearken  and  do ;  defer  not, 
 for  thine  own  sake,  0  my  God :  for  thy  city  and  thy 
 people  are  called  by  thy  name."  The  whole  chapter  as 
 we  pass  along  will  suggest  precious  thoughts  as  well  as 
 seasonable  prescriptions  for  prayer.  In  this  lecture  I 
 will  introduce  my  reflections  in  the  words  which  I  have 
 now  read.  ^'  I  set  my  i\xce  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek 
 by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fasting,  and  sackcloth, 
 and  ashes."  The  Avhole  chapter — as  indeed  is  indicated 
 here — is  a  specimen  of  the  inner  life  of  the  prophet 
 Daniel.  He  who  was  made  illustrious  for  his  prophetic 
 wisdom,  as  is  proved  in  previous  chapters,  was  not  the 
 less  remarkable  for  his  earnest,  his  spiritual  and  devoted 
 prayers :  and  perhaps  he  was  so  wise  as  a  prophet, 
 because  he  was  so  devoted  as  a  suppliant.  If  he  had 
 prayed  less  fervently,  he  had  perliaps  been  favoured 
 with  much  less  remarkable  and  interesting  prophecy. 
 It  was  by  prayer  he  drew  down  the  liglit  which  he 
 needed  for  the  present,  and  which  made  the  future  so 
 luminous  to  his  eyes.  ]  t  was  by  prayer  that  he  drew 
 down  the  omnipresence  of  God  to  shelter  him  in  the 
 
PASTING.  279 
 
 den  of  lions,  and  to  protect  him  in  the  hour  of  peril  from 
 the  machinations  of  his  bitter  and  relentless  enemies. 
 And  if  we  are  not  called  upon  to  prophesy  as  Daniel 
 prophesied,  because  the  age  of  prophecy  has  passed  away, 
 we  are  certainly  called  upon,  not  only  here,  but  through- 
 out the  whole  Bible,  to  pray  as  Daniel  prayed,  for  the 
 age  of  prayer  still  lasts.  Our  Avants  are  deep,  our 
 necessities  as  many  as  his,  and,  blessed  be  the  name  of 
 Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  he  is  as  ready  to  forgive 
 the  sins  and  hear  the  prayers  of  the  nineteenth  century 
 as  those  of  the  six  hundredth  year  before  the  birth 
 of  our  Lord ;  for  his  mercy  is  now  what  is  was  then, 
 unchangeable  by  circumstance,  inexhaustible  by  time  : 
 *' The  Lord  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and 
 abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for 
 thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin." 
 As  far  as  relates  to  prophecy,  the  sacred  canon  is  now 
 closed,  and  therefore  we  may  not  expect  that  we  shall 
 be  gifted  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  There  is  a  time 
 mentioned  in  the  Bible  for  everything — a  time  for  pro- 
 phecy, which  ceased  with  Malachi,  under  the  Old  Tes- 
 tament, and  with  John  in  the  New.  There  is  a  time  to 
 pray  which  shall  only  cease  when  there  shall  be  no  more 
 wants  to  be  supplied,  and  there  sliall  only  be  praise  for  the 
 full  and  perfect  rest  of  every  affection  and  desire.  The 
 present  age  is  not  the  age  of  uttering  prophecy,  but  the 
 age  of  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  It  is  to  me  one  of  the 
 most  interesting  studies  to  trace  the  outlines  of  the  future 
 as  sketched  in  the  Bible,  and  to  watch  the  filling  up  line 
 upon  line  of  that  outline  which  is  taking  place  in  the 
 present.  What  is  modern  history  ?  The  translation  of 
 ancient  prophecy;  and  the  longer  modern  history  records 
 its  facts,  and  rolls  along  its  stream,  the  more  clear  and 
 remarkable  is  the  light  that  is  cast  upon  ancient  pro- 
 phecy, reminding  us  that  once  holy  men  of  God  spake  as 
 they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  proving  in  the 
 second  place,  that  God  reigns  in  Providence  as  surely  as 
 he  ruled  in  the  affairs  of  ancient  Babjdon.  Every  day 
 strengthens  the  conviction  that  God  has  taken  care  that 
 the  minutest  jot  and  tittle  of  all  that  he  has  predicted 
 
280  PEOPHETIC    STTJKIES. 
 
 shall  be  adequately  and  certainly  performed.  But  while 
 the  age  of  prophecy,  as  far  as  it  was  inspired,  has  thus 
 passed  away,  the  age  and  need  of  prayer  still  lasts.  It 
 is  an  instinct  of  the  human,  an  inspiration  of  the  divine, 
 a  privilege  Christians  enjoy,  a  duty  all  men  should  bow 
 to.  I  will  take  an  opportunity  in  a  subsequent  discourse 
 of  enlarging  upon  the  nature  and  characteristics  of 
 prayer.  This  evening  I  am  anxious  to  call  your  atten- 
 tion to  a  subject  on  Avhich  various  opinions  liave  been, 
 and  are  now  entertained,  and  on  the  obligation  of  which 
 various  controversies  have  been  held ;  namely,  that 
 which  is  here  stated  to  have  accompanied  Daniel's 
 prayer,  '^  fasting,  sackcloth,  and  ashes."  There  is  a 
 constant  allusion  throughout  the  wliole  of  the  Old 
 Testament  to  "  fasting,  sackcloth,  and  ashes,"  as  accom- 
 paniments of  prayer.  There  are  also  frequent  allusions 
 to  fasting  scattered  throughout  the  !N'ew  Testament ; 
 and  some  are  strongl}'  convinced,  that  even  as  an  evan- 
 gelical duty  they  are  bound  to  practice  it,  and  believe 
 that  those  who  cannot  see  that  it  is  obligatory  upon 
 them  in  this  dispensation,  are  guilty  of  violating  a  clear 
 and  unequivocal  commandment  of  our  blessed  Lord.  I 
 Avill  glance  very  briefly  at  this  interesting,  and,  in  some 
 degree,  very  practical  inquiry. 
 
 In  all  the  works  that  Christ,  that  great  example, 
 performed,  I  do  not  find  that,  except  in  one  special 
 instance,  so  clearly  supernatural  as  to  be  placed  beyond 
 the  range  of  any  approximate  imitation  on  our  part, 
 our  blessed  Lord  ever  fasted.  The  only  occasion  on 
 which  he  is  said  to  have  fasted,  was,  when  he  was  in 
 the  wilderness,  during  a  period  of  forty  days,  led  up  by 
 the  Spirit  to  be  tempted,  not  for  the  purpose  of  fasting, 
 for  fasting  was  an  incident,  not  an  end.  That  he  felt 
 no  hunger  during  that  fast,  is  abundantly  plain  from  the 
 observations  contained  in  Matt.  iv.  2,  which  records, 
 that  when  he  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  he 
 *'  was  afterwards  an  hungred ;"  as  if  he  were  not 
 hungry  during  the  forty  days  that  he  fasted,  but  only 
 after  the  forty  days  had  expired ;  words  which  imply, 
 I  think,  without  straining  the  passage,  that  the  fasting 
 
FASTING.  281 
 
 of  our  Lord  was  not  the  mere  abstinence  from  food,  but 
 a  complete  withdrawal  from  the  more  public  duties  of 
 his  sublime  ministrj-, — a  season  of  solitary,  sequestered, 
 and  isolated,  or  rather  insulated,  communion  with  God. 
 
 But  it  has  been  argued,  from  Matt.  vi.  16,  that  our 
 Lord  expressly  enjoins  fasting.  He  says,  for  instance, 
 in  that  passage, — '*  Moreover  when  ye  fast,  be  not,  as 
 the  hypocrites,  of  a  sad  countenance  :  for  they  disfigure 
 their  faces,  that  they  may  appear  unto  men  to  fast." 
 Reading  this  passage,  a  person  may  naturally  infer  that 
 our  Lord  here  prescribes  fasting  as  a  positive  duty ;  but 
 I  do  not  think  that  such  an  inference  can  be  legitimately 
 deduced  from  it ;  because  we  find  him  alluding  to  vari- 
 ous practices  that  prevailed  among  the  Jews  in  his  day, 
 which  are  not  believed  by  any  to  be  obligatory  on  us. 
 He  merely  regulated  the  existing  practices  wliich  we 
 know  were  then  lawful,  but  have  now  passed  away. 
 
 Wc  have  an  instance  of  this  in  Matt.  v.  23,  where  he 
 says,  ''Therefore  if  thou  briug  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and 
 there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  liath  aught  against 
 thee ;  leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy 
 way."  There  was  an  altar  in  the  temple;  but  this 
 temple  and  that  altar  have  ceased  to  exist.  AYe  know 
 that,  by  the  very  nature  of  the  Gospel,  there  is  but  one 
 altar,  namely  Jesus,  who  was  at  once  the  altar,  the 
 sacrifice,  and  the  priest.  Hence  those  prescriptions  of 
 bringing  the  gift  to  the  altar,  and  leaving  it  there,  and 
 then  going  to  be  reconciled  to  a  brother,  are  not  to  be 
 considered  as  a  reason  for  the  permanent  existence  of  an 
 altar  in  every  church,  but  the  temporary  correction  of  a 
 fault  committed  under  that  economy  wliich  had  not 
 then  wholly  passed  away. 
 
 It  seems  to  me  clear,  that  when  our  Lord  alluded 
 to  fasting,  he  was  not  enjoining  a  duty  permanently 
 obligatory,  but  regulating  and  correcting  the  abuse  of 
 an  existing  practice  which  he  found  perverted  among 
 the  people  to  whom  he  preached.  AVe  have  another 
 instance  of  the  same  thing  in  Matt,  xxiii.  18  :  "  Who- 
 soever sweareth  by  the  altar,  it  is  nothing ;  but  who- 
 soever sweareth  by  the  gift  that  is  upon  it,  he  is  guilty." 
 
282  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 And  again, — *'Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
 hypocrites  !  for  ye  pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise  and 
 cummin,  and  have  omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
 law.''  He  alludes  to  practices  that  then  prevailed.  He 
 does  not  prescribe  tithes  as  permanent  obligations ;  but 
 ho  regulates  the  conduct  of  the  Jews  in  the  then  exist- 
 ing duties,  and  no  more. 
 
 Our  Lord's  remarks  on  fasting  are  to  be  considered 
 in  the  light  of  the  passages  I  have  quoted,  not  as  the 
 inculcation  of  a  permanent  precept  obligatory  upon  us, 
 but  simply  as  a  direction  intended  to  regulate  a  practice 
 which  he  found  grossly  and  grievously  abused.  There 
 is  not  any  passage,  throughout  the  whole  Old  Testa- 
 ment Scriptures  (and  this  will  startle  you  if  j'ou  have  not 
 noticed  it  before),  that  positively  and  directly  enforces 
 fasting,  however  venerated  in  the  feelings  or  prevalent 
 in  the  practice  of  the  Jews  The  only  passage  that 
 seems  capable  of  this  construction  is  Leviticus  xvi.  29, 
 where  it  is  said,  *'  This  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  unto 
 you  :  that  in  the  seventh  month,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the 
 month,  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls,  and  do  no  work  at 
 all."  But  it  is  not  the  Avord  ''fast"  that  is  used,  but 
 the  words  "afflict  your  souls,"  which  would  seem  to 
 mean  humbling  the  soul,  drawing  near  to  God,  in  the 
 exercise  of  penitence,  supplication,  and  prayer.  But 
 though  it  is  not  a  divine  prescription,  it  is  yet  unques- 
 tionable, that  in  almost  eveiy  instance  of  fervent  piet}^, 
 and  especially  of  public  prayer,  fasting  was  observed. 
 In  the  case  of  Ahab,  he  humbled  himself,  and  fasted, 
 and  prayed,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  So  in  the  case  of 
 Daniel  before  us  :  he  fasted  in  sackcloth,  and  in  weep- 
 ing and  with  ashes.  So  the  people  of  Xineveh  fasted 
 with  weeping,  and  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  So  Jonah 
 speaks  of  fasting.  But  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  those 
 who  quote  the  passages  I  have  read,  only  take  out  of 
 each  text  so  much  as  suits  them.  If  those  texts  are  to 
 be  literally  observed,  and  are  obligatory  at  all,  then 
 there  must  be,  first,  prayer;  secondly,  fasting;  and, 
 thirdly,  sackcloth  and  ashes.  The  advocates  of  the  per- 
 manent obligation  of  literal  fasting  as  the  accompani- 
 
FASTING.  283 
 
 ment  of  prayer,  understanding  by  fasting,  abstinence 
 from  food,  take  this  one  practice  ;  but  they  leave  out 
 the  other  two,  viz.,  the  wearing  of  sackcloth,  putting 
 ashes  on  the  head,  or  the  lying  on  the  ground. 
 
 If  5'ou  insist  that  fasting  is  clearly  and  literally  en- 
 joined in  this  passage,  you  must  allow  me  to  insist  that 
 the  wearing  of  sackcloth,  and  putting  ashes  on  the  head, 
 are  as  clearly  and  as  literally  enjoined.  At  the  same 
 time,  I  hold  that  fasting  is  unquestionably  referred  to 
 in  Scripture,  and  in  some  respect,  I  believe,  in  its  spirit, 
 and  true  import,  and  right  use,  it  is  obligatory  upon 
 every  true  Christian.  It  does  not  always  mean,  as  it 
 has  been  generally  considered  to  mean,  pure  abstinence 
 from  food,  as  I  think  such  a  passage,  for  instance,  as 
 Joel  i.  14  clearly  shows  :  "  Sanctify  ye  a  fast,  call  a 
 solemn  assembly,  gather  the  elders  and  all  the  inhabit- 
 ants of  the  land  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
 and  cry  unto  the  Lord."  This  cannot  mean  abstinence 
 from  food — this  is  inadmissible,  because  the  judgment 
 under  which  the  peoj^le  was  actually  suffering  was 
 famine;  for  it  is  said,  "The  vine  is  dried  up,  and  the 
 fig-tree languisheth;  the  pomegranate- tree,  the  palm-tree 
 also,  and  the  apple-tree,  even  all  the  trees  of  the  field, 
 are  withered."  And  in  verses  17,  18,  "The  seed  is 
 rotten  under  their  clods,  the  garners  are  laid  desolate, 
 the  barns  are  broken  down  ;  for  the  corn  is  withered. 
 How  do  the  beasts  groan !  the  herds  of  cattle  are  per- 
 plexed, because  they  have  no  pasture."  In  short,  there 
 was  a  literal  famine  predominant  throughout  the  land. 
 This  was  the  actual  judgment ;  and  if  so,  what  would 
 be  the  meaning  of  prescribing  to  a  people  starving  for 
 hunger,  fasting  or  abstinence  from  food?  This  inter- 
 pretation is  untenable — it  is  obviously  absurd.  So  in 
 Joel  ii.  12 — "Therefore  also  now,  saith  the  Lord,  turn 
 5'e  even  to  me  with  all  5'our  heart,  and  with  fasting, 
 and  with  weeping,  and  with  mourning."  This  he  ex- 
 plains in  verse  13  :  "  And  rend  your  heart,  and  not 
 your  garments,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God  :  for 
 he  is  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger,  and  of  great 
 kindness,  and  repenteth  him  of  the  evil." 
 
284  PEOPHETiC    STUDIES. 
 
 True  fasting  is  not  a  piece  of  mere  externalism — a 
 mere  mechanical  act;  it  is  far  higher,  it  is  a  fasting 
 that  the  soul  undergoes,  not  an  outward  abstinence 
 which  the  body  alone  can  feel.  It  consists  not  in  ab- 
 staining from  food,  wearing  of  sackcloth,  and  sitting  in 
 ashes,  but  in  humbling  the  soul,  in  bowing  the  heart, 
 in  wearing  a  meek,  lowly,  and  humble  spirit.  This  is 
 fasting  worthy  of  the  name,  this  tends  to  a  good  pur- 
 pose. I  refer  to  a  passage  in  ISIatt.  ix.  14,  which  will, 
 I  think,  confirm  the  position  I  have  already  taken  : 
 *'  Then  came  to  him  the  disciples  of  John,  saying,  "Why 
 do  we  and  the  Pharisees  fast  oft,  but  thy  disciples  fast 
 not  r"  To  which  our  Lord  replies,  in  the  next  verse, 
 Can  the  children  of  the  bridechamber  mourn,  as  long  as 
 the  bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  but  the  days  will  come, 
 when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them,  and 
 then  shall  they  fast^  Does  he  not  liere  imply  that 
 mourning  and  fasting  are  convertible  terms,  and  that  he 
 that  mourns  and  is  truly  humbled  in  heart  fasts,  in  fact, 
 though  not  in  appearance,  truly  in  the  sight  of  God, 
 though  unseen  by  men?  There  is,  I  say  again,  no 
 evidence  that  our  blessed  Lord  fasted  according  to  the 
 rites  and  practices  of  the  Jews,  except  on  one  special 
 occasion  already  referred  to,  if  indeed  then,  and  his  con- 
 duct in  it  is  wholly  inimitable  by  us.  But  to  suppose 
 tliat  by  observing  forty  days  of  abstinence  from  animal 
 food,  while  we  indulge  in  all  the  other  delicacies  of  the 
 season,  is  to  imitate  our  blessed  Lord,  is  a  thorough  and 
 useless  piece  of  Pharisaic  formalism.  "To  undo  the 
 heavy  burdens,  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,"  this  is  the 
 fast  that  God  hath  chosen,  and  nothing  but  this  is  so 
 near  an  imitation  of  him  "  who  went  about  doing  good." 
 In  Matt.  xvii.  14 — 21,  we  have  another  allusion  to 
 fasting,  which  is  worth  looking  at,  in  order  to  enable  us 
 more  clearly  to  judge  of  its  true  meaning  :  "  And  when 
 they  were  come  to  the  multitude,  there  came  to  him  a 
 certain  man,  kneeling  down  to  him,  and  saying,  Lord, 
 have  mercy  on  my  son  :  for  he  is  a  lunatic,  and  sore 
 vexed  :  for  ofttimes  he  falleth  into  the  fire,  and  oft 
 into  the  water.     And  I  brought  him  to  thy  disciples. 
 
FASTING.  285 
 
 and  they  could  not  cure  him.  Then  Jesus  answered 
 and  said,  0  faithless  and  perverse  generation,  how  long 
 •  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I  sufFcT  you  ? 
 bring  him  hither  to  me.  And  Jesus  rebuked  the  devil ; 
 and  he  departed  out  of  him :  and  the  child  was  cured 
 from  that  very  hour.  Then  came  the  disciples  to  Jesus 
 apart,  and  said,  Why  could  not  Ave  cast  him  out  ?  And 
 Jesus  said  unto  them,  Because  of  your  unbelief:  for 
 verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of 
 mustard-seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Eemove 
 hence  to  yonder  place ;  and  it  shall  remove :  and  no- 
 thing shall  be  impossible  unto  you.  Howbeit  this  kind 
 goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting."  What  is 
 meant  by  fasting  here,  to  which  so  much  importance 
 seems  to  be  attiibuted }  One  thing  is  perfectly  obvious, 
 that  faith  is  the  grace  requisite  in  order  to  work  the 
 miracle,  and  that  unbelief  was  the  reason  Avhy  they 
 could  not  cast  out  the  foul  spirit.  Our  Lord  does  not 
 snj'  that  their  not  fasting  Avas  the  reason  Avhj-  they 
 could  not  cast  him  out,  or  that  fasting  was  a  practice  in 
 the  exercise  of  which  they  could  cast  him  out ;  but  that 
 faith  was  wanted,  and  that  unbelief  Avas  the  reason  of 
 the  failure.  Fasting — i.e.  insidation  from  the  world, 
 and  praj-er  or  earnest  application  to  God,  were  and  are, 
 he  indicates,  the  means  of  obtaining  this  faith. 
 
 But  Ave  naturally  ask,  in  considering  the  meaning  of 
 fasting  and  its  application,  What  is  the  end  of  fasting  ? 
 Xot  to  mortify  the  body,  as  men  seem  general!)"  to  con- 
 sider, but  to  mortify,  as  the  Bible  tells  us,  the  lusts  or 
 the  deeds  of  the  bod}-.  And  it  seems  to  me  therefore 
 that  AAdiatever  may  be  one's  predominating  moral  dis- 
 ease, fasting  is  the  Avithdrawal  of  the  evil  that  feeds 
 and  facilitates  the  progress  of  that  disease.  And  so  it 
 appears  to  me  that  the  fasting  Avhich  our  Lord  enjoins 
 as  the  accompaniment  of  prayer  must  be  \uewed  in  the 
 light  of  the  special  malady  for  Avhicli  it  is  adopted. 
 And  what  Avould  be  fasting  most  appropriate  in  one 
 case  Avouldjustbe  the  very  rcA-erse  and  most  inappro- 
 priate in  another  case.  For  instance,  if  yau  find  one 
 whose  besetting  sin  is  excessive  indulgence  at  the  table — 
 
286  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 one  of  the  most  humiliating  and  most  discreditable  of 
 man's  weaknesses — and  by  this  I  mean  not  the  man 
 who  eats  to  excess  at  one  meal,  which  surely  is  a  rare 
 thing,  because  an  unnatural  thing,  but  the  man  who 
 dines  twice,  once  by  anticipation  and  once  actually  and 
 truly ;  whose  anxiety  in  the  morning  is  what  he  shall 
 eat  and  what  he  shall  drink ;  who  thinks  much  about 
 the  enjoyments  of  the  table — not,  be  it  observed,  an  un- 
 common thing  in  this  age  of  luxury,  civilisation,  and 
 social  refinement,  as  it  is  called — it  is  that  man's  duty 
 to  fast  in  the  sense  of  eating  less,  thinking  less  on  such 
 a  subject,  and  being  more  anxious  about  more  important 
 and  weightier  things,  and  less  so  about  what  he  shall 
 eat  and  drink.  In  his  case  fasting  is  a  dut^^ ;  but  it 
 means  not  abstaining  from  food,  but  taking  the  food 
 provided  for  him,  thinking  about  it  less,  and  about 
 better  things  more. 
 
 But  suppose  the  case  of  another  person  v."ho  is  ad- 
 dicted to  an  excessive  use  of  alcohol  in  an}'  of  its  shapes, 
 who  parts  with  his  senses,  his  reason,  and  responsibility, 
 under  the  excessive  excitement  of  alcoholic  stimulants, 
 M'luit  is  the  cure  for  such  a  person  ?  I  hope  I  address  no 
 individual  here  who  is  the  victim  of  so  debased  and 
 brutal  a  habit — a  habit  that  is  even  rebuked  by  the 
 beasts  of  the  field,  and  denounced  in  the  most  awful 
 tones  in  the  Word  of  God ;  for  drunkards,  we  are  told, 
 shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  what 
 is  tbe  cure  for  such  a  person :  I  believe  that  of  human 
 and  mechanical  means  there  is  no  other  remedy  than 
 total  abstinence.  And  why :  Because  he  at  least  can- 
 not control  his  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants.  But  if  A 
 uses  wine  as  a  refreshment  or  as  necessary  to  him,  and 
 uses  it  without  in  the  least  passing  the  bounds  of  mode- 
 ration, it  would  not  be  right  to  say  to  A,  '*  You  shall 
 abstain  totally  from  the  use  of  it,  because  B  cannot  touch 
 it  without  being  intoxicated."  But  you  should  say  to  A, 
 "  Continue  in  the  legitimate  and  proper  use  of  what  God 
 has  not  forbidden,  and  what  science  has  proved  to  be 
 occasionally  useful ;"  and  we  should  say  to  B,  who  can- 
 not touch  it  without  indulging  to  excess,  *'It  is  your 
 
FASTIXG.  287 
 
 duty  at  once  totally  to  abstain  from  it."  And  when- 
 ever I  have  met  with  drunkards,  and  spoken  to  them,  I 
 have  always  felt  that  total  abstinence  is  the  only  right 
 prescription  in  their  case.  They  have  lost  their  self- 
 control,  and  their  passion  for  intoxicating  liquors  has 
 become,  not  only  a  moral  sin,  which  makes  them  odious 
 in  the  sight  of  God,  but  a  physical  disease,  the  only 
 cure  for  which  is  total  abstinence  from  the  pernicious 
 cause  that  feeds  it  at  all  hazards  and  on  every  occasion. 
 Eut  because  this  is  the  fasting  Avhich  becomes  13,  who 
 cannot  touch  wine  witnout  taking  it  to  excess,  it  is  not 
 the  fasting  which  is  required  in  the  case  of  A,  ^\ho 
 takes  it  in  its  place  and  for  its  proper  use. 
 
 Let  me  take  another  instance,  and  you  will  see  how 
 truly  fasting  is  a  usage  to  be  observed  in  tlie  spirit,  and 
 not  in  the  letter.  Suppose  the  case  of  a  miser,  who 
 spends  his  days  in  endeavouring  only  to  make  and 
 amass  money,  and  his  nights  in  counting  the  gains  he 
 has  accumulated  in  the  day,  or  devising  fresh  schemes 
 for  increasing  his  hoard — one,  in  short,  who  is  the 
 victim  of  that  frightful  disease  which  is  always  gather- 
 ing and  never  distributing.  Suppose  some  one  were 
 to  go  to  him  and  say,  *'Lent  has  arrived;  you  ought 
 during  these  forty  days  to  fast  and  abstain  from  food." 
 The  miser  will  tell  you,  "I  stint  myself  in  every  meal, 
 and  every  da}^,  in  order  to  save  and  to  accumulate  money; 
 and  therefore  to  tell  me  to  fast  is  only  to  ask  me  to  do 
 what  I  have  been  doing  continually  for  the  last  ten  or 
 twenty  years."  Plainly,  abstinence  from  food  is  not 
 the  fasting  that  such  a  man  requires  ;  but  the  fasting 
 that  is  proper  for  him  is  to  take  of  his  hoarded  wealth 
 and  give  to  that  poor  starving  Avidow ;  to  take  of  his 
 abundance  and  clothe  those  shivering  orphans;  to  dis- 
 tribute ganuents  to  the  naked,  and  to  deal  bread  to  the 
 hungry.  To  a  man  like  this  we  would  say,  "  Such  is 
 the  fast  that  the  Lord  thj-  God  requires  of  thee." 
 
 Let  me  give  another  instance  to  show  how  we  are  to 
 observe  this  custom  of  the  prophets  in  the  spirit,  and 
 not  in  the  letter.  Take  the  case  of  the  victim  of  inces- 
 sant and  excessive  excitement — one  who  goes  to  the 
 
288  PROPHETIC    STUDrES. 
 
 opera  three  times  a-wcek,  and  to  the  playhouse  twice; 
 one  who  is  a  large  subscriber  to  the  circulatiug  library 
 of  stimulating  romances,  the  most  pernicious  reading 
 in  which  the  rational  mind  can  indulge.  That  person 
 lives  in  constant  excitement,  and  becomes  gradually 
 uniitted  for  the  ordinary  and  proper  employments  in 
 which  a  Christian  ought  to  engage.-  Yv^hat  is  the  last- 
 ing proper  for  such  an  individual  ?  Not  the  eating  less 
 food,  for  she  eats  too  little  already ;  for  the  mind,  being 
 in  a  state  of  excitement,  acts  upon  the  body  just  as  if 
 that  body  were  in  a  state  of  constant  fever,  llie  proper 
 prescription  for  such  a  person  is,  *'  Give  up  your  box 
 at  the  opera — leave  off  going  to  the  playhouse — with- 
 draw your  subscription  from  the  library.  Do  not  ask 
 continually  what  is  the  last  new  novel ;  go  and  be  a 
 Sunday-school  teacher ;  become  the  secretary  of  a  cloth- 
 ing or  benevolent  society,  or  go  out  as  a  district  visitor ; 
 engage  in  works  of  active  beneficence,  and  your  mind 
 and  body  will  then  acquire  their  proper  health,  and 
 you  will  find,  not  in  the  literal  abstinence  from  food, 
 which  is  not  required,  but  in  loosing  the  bands  of 
 wickedness,  undoing  the  heavy  burdens,  and  letting  the 
 oppressed  go  free,  the  fasting  whi(,'h  God  requires." 
 
 Such  seems  to  me  to  be  fasting  in  its  spiritual  and 
 right  sense,  viewed  especially  in  the  light  of  those  cases 
 in  our  experience  which  it  is  intended  to  meet. 
 
 In  watching  the  conduct  of  the  apostles  immediately 
 after  the  ascension  of  our  Lord,  we  find  that  on  some 
 occasions  they  did  fast  according  to  the  ceremonial  in- 
 troduced by  the  Jews, — namely,  by  abstaining  from 
 food  ;  but  it  is  as  plain  that  they  conformed  to  many 
 other  Jewish  practices  that  were  not  injurious  to  the 
 spirit  and  purity  of  Christianity,  under  the  rule  that 
 Paul  lays  down  of  becoming  all  things  to  all  men,  in 
 order  that  he  might  win  some.  AVe  find  St.  Paul  saying 
 in  one  passage,  "  that  he  was  in  fastings  often ;"  from 
 which  some  have  argued  that  we  also  should  frequently 
 fast.  But  the  Apostle,  in  the  very  same  passage,  says 
 that  he  was  in  perils  often,  both  by  land  and  by  sea ;  it 
 cannot,  however,  hence  be  argued  that  we  too  should  go 
 
FASTIXG.  289 
 
 and  seek  onr  perils  by  sea  and  land.  And  surely,  it 
 never  can  be  argued  that  we  ought  to  imitate^  the 
 Apostle  in  fasting,  unless  we  imitate  him  in  what  ho 
 was  compelled  to  undergo,  the  painful  accompaniments 
 which  he  enumerates.  It  appears  from  the  context  that 
 this  fasting  was  not  what  he  voluntarily  practised,  but 
 what  he  was  compelled  by  his  persecutors  involuntarily 
 to  endure ;  it  is  not  therefore  a  precedent  he  gives  for 
 us  to  follow,  but  a  suffering  which  he  mentions  as 
 assigned  to  himself. 
 
 Subsequently  to  the  Apostle's  days  we  find  fasting  or 
 abstinence  from  food  alm.ost  the  glory,  if  I  may  so  °  all 
 it,  of  the  Is'"icene  Church ;  and  it  was"^  specially  practised 
 by  the  Gnostic  heretics,  who  believed  that  man's  body 
 was  constitutionally  the  curse  of  his  soul ;  and  that  to 
 persecute  and  scourge  and  lacerate  the  body,  was  the 
 only  way  to  emancipate  and  elevate  the  loftier  nature 
 within  it.     And  if  you  will  be  at  the  trouble   to  read 
 the  lloman  Breviary,  or  the  history  of  the  saints  that 
 have  been  canonised  by  that  Church,  you  will  find  them 
 all  notorious  for  scourging,  lacerating,  and  tormenting 
 the  body  with  nettles,  spikes,  thorns,  hunger,  nakedness, 
 supposing  that  there  was  something  essentially  and  in- 
 herently sinful  in  the  matter,  and  that  only  by'^its  anni- 
 hilation or  destruction,  and  not  by  its  sanctification,  was 
 man  to  be  made  holy  and  happy  and  like  God.     It  is 
 certainly  not  unworthy  of  being  noticed  on  the  present 
 occasion,  that  those  countries  in  which  there  are  the 
 most  fast-days,   are  the  very  countries    in  which   the 
 Sabbath  is  least  of  all  observed.     You  will  find,  if  you 
 read  the  Eoman  Catholic  periodical  press,  the  Tablet 
 and  other  publications  of  a  similar  description,  the  most 
 furious  invectives  against  anything  like  an  approach  on 
 the  part  of  our  country  to  hallowing   the  Sabbath  day. 
 And  why  .^     Because  they  have  raised  to  a  level  with 
 the  Sabbath  the  ordinances  and  the  commandments  of 
 men  ;  and  in  Eoman  Catholic  countries  Good  Friday  is 
 far  more  solemnly  observed  than  the  Sabbath-daj',  and 
 saints'  days  are   much  more  decorously  kept  than  the 
 Lord's  day.     This  is  just  what  we  might  expect.     ''  No 
 
 u 
 
290  PllOPHETlC    STUDIES. 
 
 man  can  serve  two  masters."  If  you  try  to  serve  man's 
 tradition  and  Grod's  command  equally,  the  result  will  be 
 that  man's  tradition  will  become  supreme  and  God's 
 commandment  will  become  depressed,  because  God's 
 word  is  uncongenial  to  the  natural  man,  for  his  heart  is 
 enmity  to  it,  whereas  man's  tradition  ministers  to  the 
 natural  man,  and  is  therefore  welcome  to  him.  Hence, 
 wherever  fast  days,  instituted  by  man,  have  been  set  up 
 as  of  equal  obligation  with  the  Sabbath,  ordained  of 
 God,  we  shall  find  the  Sabbath-day  become  ultimately 
 nothing,  and  the  fast-day  become  all.  So  much  is  this 
 the  case,  that  in  the  Iloman  Catholic  Catechism  used  at 
 Rome,  the  third  commandment  in  their  arrangement  is 
 given  as  '*  Hem  ember  to  keep  holy  the  festivals;" 
 **Eecordati  sanctificare  le  feste ;"  not  a  syllable  being 
 mentioned  about  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath-day.  It  is 
 not  only  practically  expunged  from  the  observance  of 
 the  people,  it  is  theoretically  banished  from  the  Cate- 
 chisms of  the  Church ;  the  holiday  invented  by  the 
 priest  totally  superseding  the  holy  day  instituted  by 
 God.  And  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  in  ancient  times 
 the  men  who  fasted  most — i.e.  abstained  from  food,  and 
 scourged  the  flesh, — instead  of  being  the  most  humble, 
 were  almost  without  exception  most  notorious  for  their 
 violent  and  ungovernable  tempers.  To  give  you  an 
 instance  : — In  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
 lived  two  divines,  the  history  of  each  of  whom  I  have 
 read  and  studied, — Jerome,  the  great  advocate  of  fasting 
 and  of  monkery,  and  Yigilantius,  the  great  opponent  of 
 both.  The  remains  of  the  writings  of  Yigilantius  are 
 very  few,  and  are  only  to  be  foimd  in  the  volumes  of  his 
 adversary,  with  wliom  he  carried  on  a  very  ardent  and 
 lengthened  controversy.  ls"ow,  if  you  will  read  the 
 productions  of  Yigilantius,  the  opponent  of  carnal  fast- 
 ing, you  will  find  them  full  of  a  beautiful  and  quiet 
 spirit,  replete  with  gentleness  and  forbearance,  ever 
 putting  the  best  interpretation  on  the  conduct  of  his 
 adversarj',  and  yet  firmly  contending  that  fasting,  or 
 abstinence  from  food,  and  total  retreat  from  society  Avcre 
 not  of  divine  obligation.     Jerome,  on  the  other  hand, 
 
FASTING.  291 
 
 who  fasted  from  food  to  a  severe  extent,  calls  his  oppo- 
 nent endless  nicknames,  makes  puns  of  his  name,  and 
 displays  always  the  most  bitter  and  quarrelsome  spirit. 
 So  that  the  man  who  never  observed  a  fast-day  or  a 
 feast-day,  but  ate  what  was  convenient  for  him,  was  of 
 a  beautiful  and  Christian  temper ;  Avhile  the  man  that 
 fasted,  and  went  into  the  desert,  and  clothed  himself 
 with  rags,  and  walked  barefoot,  was  notorious  for  the 
 most  violent,  imsanctified,  and  ungovernable  temper. 
 We  learn  from  this,  that  it  needs  grace  to  sanctify  the 
 soul ;  and  that  whether  you  pamper  or  starve  the  body, 
 or  M'hethcr  you  feast  or  fast,  you  do  not  thereby  neces- 
 f-arily  purify  the  soul.  Christianity  presents  to  us  some- 
 thing nobler  and  grander  than  prescriptions  either  for 
 feasting  or  for  fasting.  *'  One  believeth,"  says  the 
 Apostle,  ''  that  he  may  eat  all  things :  another,  who  is 
 weak,  eateth  herbs."  Then  mark  what  is  his  command  : 
 — ''Let  not  him  that  eateth  despise  him  that  eateth 
 not ;  and  let  not  him  which  eateth  not  judge  him  that 
 eateth  :  for  God  hath  received  him.  "Who  art  thou  that 
 judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  to  his  own  master  he 
 standeth  or  falleth.  Yea,  he  shall  be  holdcn  up  :  for 
 God  is  able  to  make  him  stand.  One  man  esteemeth  one 
 day  above  another:  another  esteemeth  everyday  alike." 
 Every  English  churchman  believes  that  Good  Eriday  is 
 obligatory.  If  he  believes  it,  he  ought  to  observe  it. 
 Every  Scottish  churchman,  on  grounds,  perhaps,  equally 
 strong,  both  being  extra-scriptural,  believes  it  is  not  of 
 divine  origin.  Let  him  not  observe  it.  One  esteems 
 one  day  above  another.  Another  esteems  every  day 
 alike.  Where  God  hath  not  spoken,  "  let  every  one  be 
 fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind." 
 
 If  men  would  only  recollect  this,  members  of  teetotal 
 societies  would  not  call  men  who  think  it  is  lawful  to 
 taste  wine,  drunkards  ;  and  men  who  think  it  is  proper 
 to  drink  wine  would  not  call  members  of  teetotal  so- 
 cieties fanatics.  Eut  each  would  be  fully  persuaded  in 
 his  mind, — he  that  eateth  eating  to  the  Lord,  and  he 
 that  eateth  not  eating  not  to  the  Lord.  Eor  the 
 sublime  and  noble  character  of  the  Gospel  is  this,  "  the 
 
 u  2 
 
292  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness, 
 and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  '*  Meat  com- 
 mendeth  us  not  to  God ;  for  neither  if  we  eat  are  we 
 the  better,  neither  if  we  eat  not  are  we  the  worse." 
 *'  He  is  not  a  Jew,  who  is  one  outwardly ;  neither  is 
 that  circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh :  but 
 he  is  a  Jew,  who  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circumcision  is 
 that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter ; 
 whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God." 
 
 AYhat  good  sense,  what  loftiness  of  spirit,  breathes  in 
 the  Gospel !  The  more  we  examine  it,  the  more  we  see 
 how  worthy  it  is  of  God  to  give  it,  and  how  suitable  and 
 profitable  it  is  for  man  to  accept  it.  And  if  we  had  only 
 a  profounder  sense  of  the  necessity  of  a  new  heart,  we 
 should  have  less  dispute  about  meat  and  drink,  and 
 holy-days,  and  feast-days,  and  fast-days,  feeling  that  the 
 kingdom  of  God  is  not  an  outward  observance,  or  con- 
 Tentionalism  of  any  sort,  but  an  inner  state,  "righteous- 
 ness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  We  are 
 justified,  not  by  fasting,  but  by  the  righteousness  of 
 Christ  alone.  We  are  sanctified,  not  by  the  tormenting 
 of  the  body,  but  by  the  renewal  of  the  heart  by  the 
 Holy  Spirit  of  God  alone.  Make  sure  that  you  are  ac- 
 cepted in  God's  sight,  by  resting  on  the  righteousness 
 that  Christ  accomplished  for  you ;  and  that  you  are 
 sanctified  in  God's  sight  by  being  made  meet  for  heaven 
 by  the  Holy  Spirit  that  is  promised  to  you ;  and  all  the 
 discussions  that  have  vexed  the  world  about  meat  and 
 drink,  and  fast-days,  and  feast- days,  will  be  crowded 
 into  very  little  bulk  indeed.  And  very  remarkable  it  is, 
 that  just  in  the  ratio  in  which  men  lose  sight  of  vital 
 religion,  do  they  become  attached  to,  and  absorbed  with 
 days,  and  forms,  and  ceremonies.  There  is  no  clearer 
 sign  of  a  church  losing  her  glory,  than  when  the  ten- 
 dency of  her  ministers  is  to  busy  themselves  much 
 about  such  matters.  And  when  such  a  church  forgets 
 that  the  inner  beaut}'  is  the  true  beautj-,  the  beauty  of 
 holiness,  and  begins  to  increase  in  inferior  beauty  by 
 robes  borrowed  from  Aaron's  faded  wardrobe,  and  the 
 flamens'  heathen  vestiy, — trying  to  make  a  grand  im- 
 
FASTING.  293 
 
 pression  in  the  sight  of  man  by  splendid  robes  and 
 pompous  rites, — she  is  all  the  while  losing  those  inner 
 and  hidden  excellences  in  which  God  delights,  and 
 which  the  spiritual  man  alone  can  appreciate.  If  you 
 are  satisfied  that  j'ou  are  justified  by  the  righteousness, 
 and  ransomed  by  the  atonement  of  Jesus  alone,  you  will 
 not  believe  that  any  rite  is  essential  to  your  acceptance 
 before  God.  And  if  you  are  thoroughly  convinced  that 
 you  are  renewed  in  your  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  alone, 
 3'ou  will  not  care  to  discuss  much  whether  you  ought  to 
 be  plunged  in  much  water  or  sprinkled  with  a  little. 
 If  you  feel  deeply  the  necessity  of  an  inner  change,  by 
 the  Spirit  and  not  by  the  baptism,  you  will  find  you 
 have  something  better  to  think  about  than  a  fruitless 
 discussion,  or  an  idle  controversy.  Take  a  Eaptist  who 
 is  a  spiritual  man,  and  take  an  Episcopalian  or  a  Presby- 
 terian who  is  equally  so,  and  they  will  agree  to  difi'er 
 about  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  used  in  baptism, 
 because  they  are  practically  agreed  about  this  one  thing, 
 • — ''Except  a  man  be  born  again  of  water  and  of  the 
 Spirit,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
 
lECTTJEE  XX. 
 
 PEA.TEK. 
 
 "  And  I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seeh  hj  prayer 
 a7id  supplications,  witli  fasting ,  and  sackcloth,  and  ashes ^ 
 Daniel  ix.  3. 
 
 Prayer  was  the  expression  of  the  spiritual  life  of 
 Daniel.  It  is  not  unworthy  of  our  exposition.  We 
 cannot  overrate  the  importance  of  praj^er,  or  attach  to  it 
 too  great  excellence,  short  of  attaching  or  attributing  to 
 it  anything  that  belongs  to  God.  There  is  a  very  beauti- 
 ful definition  given  of  it  in  a  hymn  by  the  Moravian 
 poet,  James  Montgomerj^     He  tells  us  that — 
 
 *'  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 
 
 Unutter'd,  or  express'd, 
 The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire 
 
 That  trembles  in  the  breast. 
 
 "  Prayer  is  the  burden  of  a  sigh, 
 
 The  falling  of  a  tear, 
 The  upward  glancing  of  an  eye 
 
 When  none  but  God  is  near. 
 
 "  Prayer  is  the  simplest  form  of  speech 
 
 That  infant  lips  can  try  ; 
 Prayer  the  sublimest  strains  that  reach 
 
 The  ^Majesty  on  high. 
 
 *'  Prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath, 
 
 The  Christian's  native  air, 
 His  watchword  at  the  gates  of  death  ; 
 
 He  enters  heaven  by  prayer. 
 
 "  Prayer  is  the  contrite  sinner's  voice, 
 
 Returning  from  his  ways, 
 While  angels  in  their  songs  rejoice. 
 
 And  say,  '  Behold  I  he  prays.* 
 
PEAYEE.  295 
 
 "  The  saints  in  prayer  appear  as  one 
 
 In  word,  and  deed,  and  mind, 
 When  with  the  Father  and  his  bon 
 
 Their  fellowship  they  find. 
 
 *'  Nor  prayer  is  made  on  earth  alone 
 
 The  Holy  Spirit  pleads  ; 
 And  Jesus,  on  the  eternal  throne, 
 
 For  sinners  intercedes. 
 
 "  O  Thou,  by  whom  we  come  to  God, 
 
 The  life,  the  truth,  the  way, 
 The  path  of  pi  ayer  thyself  hast  trod  ; 
 
 Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray." 
 
 Such  is  a  beautiful  definition  of  prayer,  by  one  who 
 seems  to  have  known  what  its  spirit,  its  aim,  and  object 
 are.  Life  begins  with  prayer,  and  life  ends  with  prayer. 
 The  soul  enters  on  the  currents  of  this  world  with 
 prayer  for  guidance ;  it  enters  upon  the  margin  of  the 
 ocean  of  eternity  with  prayer  also,  as  its  parting  breath. 
 But  prayer  is  often  misconceived  in  all  churches,  and  by 
 all  parties.  I  would,  therefore,  endeavour  to  detach 
 from  it  those  misconceptions  Avhich  occasionally  adhere 
 to  it. 
 
 First, — The  end  of  prayer,  offered  in  private,  in  the 
 family,  or  in  public,  is  not  to  inform  God.  Many  persons 
 pray  as  if  thoj  wished  to  tell  God  what  God  does  not 
 know.  But,  surely,  no  greater  absurdity  than  this  can 
 be  possibly  conceived.  He  knoAvs  the  thought  that 
 nestles  in  the  most  secret  nook  and  cranny  of  the  human 
 heart,  as  well  as  the  thought  that  is  embodied  in  the 
 newspapers,  and  trumpeted  by  a  thousand  tongues.  The 
 still  small  voice,  and  the  deep  cry  of  ten  thousand — the 
 want  of  an  orphan,  and  the  strong  necessity  of  a  king- 
 dom,— are  equally  known  to  him. 
 
 Kor  is  prayer  loud  speaking,  or  much  speaking,  or  any 
 one  special  form  whatever.  The  silent  aspiration  that 
 struggles  for  egress  is  heard  by  God  as  clearly  as  the 
 litany  that  is  chanted  in  the  grand  procession,  and  enun- 
 ciated by  innumerable  tongues.  God  hears  the  dumb 
 desire,  arid  sees  the  hidden  thought ;  and  if  we  pray  in 
 
296  PEOPHETIC   STUIHES. 
 
 secret,  when  no  man  can  see,  he  that  seeth  in  secret  will 
 hear  us,  and  reward  us  openly. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  prayer  is  not  prescribed  in  the 
 Scripture,  or  offered  by  a  true  believer,  in  order  to  work 
 any  change  in  God.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  by 
 petitioning  we  can  arrest  his  purposes,  or  divert  his  de- 
 signs from  the  great  end  that  he  has  in  view,  or  has  pre- 
 viously fixed.  ]N'o  eloquence  of  petition,  no  fervour  of 
 feeling,  no  perseverance  at  the  throne  of  grace  can  alter 
 one  purpose  of  the  Unchangeable,  or  change,  in  the  least 
 degree,  the  designs  of  him  who  has  "  no  variableness, 
 nor  shadow  of  turning."  Therefore,  when  we  read  in 
 Scripture  such  language  as,  **  I  will  not  let  thee  go  till 
 thou  bless  me;"  Avhen  we  read  that  in  consequence  of 
 prayer  God  "  repented"  of  what  he  had  done ;  and 
 when  we  hear  of  God  being  moved  by  prayer, — we 
 cannot  fail  to  feel  that  all  this  is  plainly  language  that 
 describes  divine  things,  accommodated  to  theiraperfections 
 and  the  weaknesses  of  human  beings.  I  need  not  tell 
 you  that  this  idea  solves  and  harmonizes  those  apparently 
 conflicting  words  that  are  in  various  parts  of  Scripture, 
 where  God  is  said  to  repent,  and  to  change, — where  he 
 is  said  to  have  taken  a  particular  course,  and  that  some- 
 thing has  occurred  Avhich  has  altered  it.  These  are  the 
 shadows  on  the  dial  of  time  of  the  incarnation,  before 
 that  incarnation  came ;  it  is  God  then  speaking  and 
 acting  within  the  limits  of  humanity,  God  speaking  in 
 imperfect  human  speech  in  order  to  be  comprehended  by 
 duU  and  imperfect  human  beings  :  and  this  very  conde- 
 scension of  God  is  most  wickedly  made  by  the  infidel  to 
 be  an  argument  against  the  inspiration  of  the  very  book 
 which  God  has  made  the  record  of  his  condescension.  I 
 have  no  doubt  that  the  language  of  the  Bible  (perfect  as 
 that  book  is)  does  not  fully  answer  to  the  great  ideas  of 
 which  it  is  the  vehicle.  Infinite  ideas  cannot  be  embo- 
 died in  finite  vehicles ;  and  therefore,  instead  of  the  ex- 
 pressions of  the  Bible  being  exaggerated,  as  some  persons 
 suppose,  I  believe  that  when  the  divine  penmen  selected 
 the  most  expressive  language  in  order  to  convey  the 
 truths  of  God,  even  that  strong  language  breaks  down 
 
PKATER.  29  7 
 
 and  fails  beneath  the  magnificence  and  splendour  of  the 
 thoughts  of  which  it  is  made  the  vehicle.  Even  the 
 Bible  then,  with  all  its  glory,  is  but  a  dim  and  shadoAvy 
 manifestation  of  that  brightness  which  the  unpurged 
 human  eye  cannot  bear  to  look  upon  in  its  intensity.  We 
 are  not,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  anj'tliing  we  pray  lor 
 can  work  the  least  change  in  God ;  prayer  is  needful  for 
 us,  not  for  God ;  it  was  instituted,  not  for  his  advantage, 
 but  for  our  salvation,  comfort,  and  convenience  ;  it  is  the 
 expression  of  our  homage,  the  declaration  of  our  de- 
 pendence, the  ciy  of  our  necessities,  a  mighty  instrument 
 which  he  has  put  into  our  hands,  the  use  of  which  he  has 
 promised  to  ])less. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  you  must  not  associate  with  prayer 
 any  idea  of  atonement  or  expiation.  Ey  tlie  Romish 
 Church,  and  those  who  have  imbibed  the  spirit  and  imi- 
 tate the  ways  of  that  church,  praj'er  is  regarded  as  a 
 penance.  Hence,  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Catechism,  you 
 wdll  find  that  one  of  the  penances  that  the  priest  assigns 
 to  people  who  have  confessed  their  sins  is  prayer;  the 
 priest  tells  them,  after  they  have  confessed,  that  they  are 
 to  repeat  so  many  Pater  i^osters  and  so  many  Ave 
 ]!k[arias,  each  and  all  of  whicli  are  regarded  and  defined 
 in  their  Catechisms  to  be  expiatory.  And  I  must  say 
 that  those  Protestant  parents  have  not  got  rid  of  their 
 ancient  Popish  affinities  who  say  to  a  child,  ''  You  have 
 conducted  yourself  very  badly  at  church  ;  you  must  go 
 home  and  learn  a  collect;"  or,  *'You  have  done  very 
 wrong;  you  must  go  and  learn  a  psalm."  My  dear 
 friends,  never  prescribe  the  sanctuarj^,  the  psalm,  the 
 Bible,  prayer,  as  a  punishment ;  always  teach  your  chil- 
 dren that  each  is  a  privilege ;  and  if  your  child  has  acted 
 wrongly,  say,  "  You  shall  not  go  to  church  to-day  ;"  or, 
 "  You  shall  not  read  the  Bible  to-day  ;"  or,  ''  You  shall 
 not  have  that  spiritual  privilege  to-day  which  you 
 always  have  had ;"  and  j'ou  will  then  act  in  the  true 
 spirit  of  Protestant  Christianitj'.  But  to  teach  the  poor 
 child  to  regard  the  bended  knee  and  the  uplifted  heart, 
 and  the  utterance  ''  Our  Father,"  as  a  punishment — to 
 teach  the  poor  child  to  regard  the  Psalms  of  David, 
 
298  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 which  are  to  be  the  bases  of  the  songs  of  heaven,  as  a 
 
 penance  and  a  punishment,  is  Avorse  than  Popery ;  it  is 
 teaching  the  child  lessons  in  its  earliest  moments,  Avhich 
 will  become  so  inveterate  by  habit,  that  they  will  not  be 
 eradicated  even  to  the  last  day  of  its  existence.  Prayer 
 is  not  an  expiation,  it  is  not  a  penance,  it  is  not  to  be 
 taught  and  impressed  as  such ;  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  in 
 every  sense,  a  privilege.  To  attach  to  prayer  anything 
 expiatory,  is  to  rob  Christ  of  h^s  prerogative,  and  to 
 attribute  to  the  ordinance  the  glory  that  belongs  to  the 
 Lord  of  the  ordinance.  Always  carry  with  you  this  idea 
 — that  there  is  no  expiatory  atonement  anywhere  in  the 
 universe  but  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  In  tears  shed  like 
 rain,  in  torture,  endured  as  martyrs  only  endure  it,  there 
 is  nothing,  and  can  be  nothing  expiatory ;  and  the  re- 
 mark, therefore,  Avhich  you  will  occasionally  hear  of 
 some  one  who  has  been  long  ill,  "  Poor  man,  he  has  suf- 
 fered enough  for  his  sins,  he  has  endured  enough,  and 
 has  made  ample  atonement  for  his  sins,*'  is  but  heathen, 
 or  Romish,  unscriptural,  unprotestant,  unspiritual  lan- 
 guage. Kot  only  is  there  nothing  atoning  in  anything 
 man  can  suffer,  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  anything 
 atoning  being  in  it.  Does  not  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanse 
 from  all  sin  ?  Does  not  tbe  righteousness  of  Christ  entitle 
 to  all  glory  ?  AYe  need  no  additional  expiatory  element 
 on  the  one  hand,  and  we  need  no  additional  perfect 
 righteousness  on  the  other ;  we  are  complete  in  Christ, 
 our  priest,  our  prophet,  and  our  king. 
 
 This  leads  me  to  another  remark.  I  meet  sometimes 
 with  excellent  Christian  persons  who  say  they  give  up 
 all  hope,  believing  that  God  does  not  hear  them ; 
 "because,"  they  say,  ''our  prayers  are  so  mixed  with 
 wandering  and  sinful  thoughts,  and  are  so  imperfect  that 
 we  cannot  pray  aright."  My  dear  friends,  that  idea 
 seems  to  imply  a  lingering  notion  that  your  prayers  are 
 expiatory,  or  that  your  prayers  are  a  title  to  heaven. 
 Why,  if  5'ou  could  pray  aright,  it  would  imply  that  you 
 could  live  aright,  and  that  you  needed  no  sacrifice,  nor 
 Saviour,  nor  atonement ;  that  you  are,  in  short,  innocent 
 and  unfallen  beings.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  you  cannot 
 
TRAYEE.  299 
 
 think  aright,  nor  speak  aright,  nor  pray  aright,  nor  live 
 aright ;  and,  instead  of  saying,  '*  I  pray  so  badly  that  I 
 will  cease  to  pray,"  you  ought  to  pray  and  pray  still  for 
 the  forgiveness  of  your  prayers  through  the  blood  of 
 Christ  Jesus  Avhich  cleanseth  from  all  sins. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  when  we  pray,  it  is  not  only  not  to 
 make  any  expiation,  but  Ave  must  not  pray,  to  use  the 
 definition  of  our  Lord,  in  order  '*to  be  seen  of  men." 
 The  Pharisees  of  old  prayed  in  the  corners  of  the  streets ; 
 and  the  Romanists  of  recent  times  pra}'  upon  the  pave- 
 ments of  cathedrals,  and,  in  their  homes,  in  what  they 
 call  "oratories," — places,  nooks  consecrated  and  set 
 apart  specialh^  for  this  purpose.  But  you  must  never 
 forget  that  there  is  no  one  spot,  or  hill,  or  dale,  or  street, 
 or  cathedral-pavement,  or  chapel-floor,  anywhere,  that 
 has  one  particle  of  more  essential  hallowedness  or  holi- 
 ness in  the  sight  of  God  than  another.  It  is  quite  right 
 and  decent  to  set  apart  places  for  public  worship,  but  to 
 suppose  that  a  prayer  will  be  heard  on  a  cathedral  pave- 
 ment which  cannot  be  heard  on  a  kitchen  floor,  is  to  for- 
 get by  whom  and  through  what  prayers  are  heard — the 
 perfect  intercession  of  the  Son  of  God.  Hence  I  regard 
 the  practice  introduced  into  the  diocese  of  Exeter,  of 
 having  ''oratories"  in  private  dwellings,  because  it  is 
 said  the  drawing-room  floor,  or  the  dining-room  floor  is 
 not  fit  to  kneel  on,  and  therefore  it  is  not  right  to  have 
 family  worship  there,  but  in  a  little  nook  cut  ofi'  from  the 
 rest  and  consecrated,  and  that  there  alone  you  must 
 pray,  as  the  first  inroad  upon  that  noble  and  precious 
 thing,  family  worship.  IS^o  one  must  submit  to  it ;  the 
 thought,  the  pra)xr  that  comes  from  an  humble  heart, 
 rises  to  God  swifter  than  angels'  wings  can  fly,  and  is 
 heard  by  the  ear  of  Jehovah  louder  than  the  seven 
 thunders  themselves.  The  only  priesthood  we  need 
 below  is  the  priesthood  of  the  afiections;  the  only 
 chancel  that  is  holy  is  the  chancel  of  an  humble  and 
 broken  heart;  the  only  fald-stool  is  the  bended  heart, 
 not  necessarily  the  bowed  knee,  and  such  prayer,  ofl'ered 
 in  such  circumstances,  God  will  hear.  Many  a  man  says 
 prayers  who  never  prays  at  all ;  and  many  a  man  rarely 
 
300  PKOPiLETlC    STUDIES. 
 
 says  prayers  "^ho  prays  continually.  It  is  not  the 
 Liturgy  or  Litany,  however  beautiful  or  eloquent ;  it  is 
 not  the  loud  utterance,  however  fervent ;  but  it  is  the 
 thought  that  flies  inaudible,  like  lightning,  from  the 
 heart,  penetrates  the  clouds,  and  conveys  the  creature's 
 wants  to  a  Creator's  fulness,  and  draws  down  benedictions 
 larger  than  tongue  can  tell  or  heart  can  conceive. 
 
 Prayer,  in  the  next  place,  is  not  to  be  an  excuse  or 
 apology  for  the  neglect  of  duties.  We  must  not  say,  "  I 
 cannot  attend  to  the  payment  of  my  debts,  because  1  am 
 too  much  engaged  in  praying."  You  must  not  say,  "  I 
 must  give  up  certain  duties  that  are  plain  and  obvious, 
 because  I  must  devote  a  certain  time  to  prayers  that  are 
 dutiful  and  right."  Prayer  is  not  to  be  a  substitute  for 
 duty,  but  the  inspiration  of  duty,  and  the  strongest  in- 
 centive to  its  effective  discharge.  Prayer  is  to  lead  to 
 pains- taking,  and  pains- taking  is  to  lead  to  prayer.  He 
 that  prays  best  will  labour  most,  and  he  that  labours  in 
 the  right  spirit  will  pray  in  the  right  spirit  also. 
 
 Again,  prayer  is  not  an  exercise  suited  to  a  great 
 crisis,  to  be  laid  aside  and  afterwards  to  be  used  on  the 
 recurrence  of  another  crisis.  AVhen  a  shipwreck  has 
 been  threatened,  I  have  seen  persons  begin  to  pray  who 
 never  prayed  before.  In  the  season  of  pestilence,  or 
 famine,  or  war,  or  battle,  or  disorganisation,  or  revolu- 
 tion, many  will  begin  to  pray,  and  you  would  suppose 
 that  they  were  rapt  saints  and  seraphs  in  such  cir- 
 cumstances ;  but  if  the  famine  passes  away,  if  the  war 
 ceases,  if  the  pestilence  is  removed,  and  if  you  should  say 
 to  such  persons,  ''  We  prayed  for  the  removal  of  these 
 things,  and  they  are  gone  ;  is  not  this  an  answer  to  our 
 prayers  .^"  they  would  laugh  you  to  scorn  for  such 
 foolery,  fanaticism,  and  enthusiasm,  showing  that  their 
 prayer  was  the  same  to  them  as  the  ringing  of  bells  is 
 to  Eoman  Catholics,  who  suppose  that  when  there  is 
 lightning  the  ringing  of  con&ecrated  bells  will  avert  it, 
 and  that  the  muttering  of  Pater  Kosters  will  keep  away 
 the  judgment  that  God  justly  sends  for  their  sins.  We 
 are  to  pray,  my  dear  friends,  at  all  times,  in  minute 
 things  and  in  mighty  things — in  all  time  of  our  tribula- 
 
PEATEE.  301 
 
 tlon,  in  all  time  of  our  wealth,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and 
 until  our  footsteps  are  heard  in  our  apj^roach  to  the  judg- 
 ment throne.  AVe  are  to  pray  in  the  high-roads  of 
 public  life,  and  in  the  hidden  and  sequestered  by-paths 
 of  individual  experience ;  we  are  to  pray  when  we  go 
 out,  and  when  we  come  in ;  little  things  are  the  hinges  of 
 great  results,  and  he  who  does  not  pray  that  God  would 
 guide  him  in  the  little  things  has  no  right  to  expect  that 
 God  will  bless  him  in  great  things.  A  Christian  feels 
 that  his  daily  bread  has  no  blessing  till  he  has  asked  it, 
 that  his  home  has  no  consecration  till  he  has  sought  it, 
 and  that  his  labours  can  have  no  increase  till  God's 
 blessing  has  rested  upon  them.  And  this  reminds  me  to 
 state,  that  every  head  of  a  family  should  have  family 
 prayer.  If  you  look  at  this  exercise  in  the  lowest  light, 
 you  must  see  that  it  brings  before  a  whole  house  the  idea 
 of  God;  it  presents  before  each  member  thoughts  of 
 eternity ;  and  the  very  fact  that  you  kneel  and  pray,  and 
 give  utterance  to  your  wants,  teaches  every  one,  from  the 
 menial  domestic  to  the  head  of  the  house,  to  feel  that 
 there  is  a  God,  a  judgment-seat,  an  eternity,  a  soul  to  be 
 saved  ;  and  when  you  recollect  how  in  this  world  we  are 
 apt  to  tread  down  and  trample  in  the  dust  such  solemn 
 thoughts,  you  will  feel  how  important  it  is  that  we 
 should  try  to  recruit,  to  revive,  and  resuscitate  them  as 
 often  as  we  can.  But  more  than  all  this,  when  we  pray 
 as  a  family,  we  seek  family  blessings,  and  God  has  said 
 that  the  families  who  do  not  call  upon  him  he  will  not 
 bless.  Many  of  your  present  aches  and  ills,  and  domestic 
 trials  and  trouljles,  may  be  to  lead  you  to  this ;  and 
 when  you  have  been  brought  to  acknowledge  God  as  a 
 family,  then  see  if  the  sunshine  of  his  countenance  will 
 not  lighten  upon  you,  and  the  blessing  that  maketh  rich 
 abundantly  descend  on  you. 
 
 I  have  thus  shown  you  what  prayer  should  not  be  ; 
 let  me  endeavour  briefly,  in  the  space  that  remains,  to 
 show  3'ou  what  it  should  be. 
 
 In  the  first  place,  proyer  should  be  addressed  unto 
 God,  as  our  Fatlier.  When  we  pray  (and  I  wisli  all 
 specially  to  notice  this),  we  do  not  come  before  God  as 
 
302  JTvOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 criminals  overwholmed  by  the  terrors  of  the  -v^'rath  of 
 a  judge,  but  as  sons, — sinful  and  eriing  sons,  it  may  be, 
 — aslving  the  blessing  of  a  Tathcr.  llecollect  that  the 
 groat  idea  of  the  Gospel — the  idea  tliat  runs  through  it 
 all,  that  gives  its  tone,  its  colouring  to  it  all — is  the  idea 
 of  God  as  our  Father ;  and  every  time  ».'e  pray  to  him, 
 we  pray  not  as  to  an  angry  judge,  but  as  to  our  Father. 
 Do  not  forget  this.  Go  to  God  as  sons  into  the  presence 
 of  a  Father,  never  as  criminals  to  deal  with  the  wrath  of 
 a  judge.  The  very  first  utterance  is,  Abba,  Father ; 
 the  verj^  first  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  given  to  us 
 is,  that  God  hath  sent  forth  the  spirit  of  his  son,  crying 
 in  our  hearts,  "  Abba,  Fatlicr."  And  our  Lord  appeals 
 to  us, — "  If  ye  [earthly  fathers,  with  all  your  faults  and 
 imperfections]  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
 children,  how  much  more  will  your  Father  which  is  in 
 heaven  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him?" 
 But  wliile  we  are  to  pr.'iy  to  God  as  a  Father,  we  are  to 
 pray  to  no  creature  on  this  side  of  God.  Such,  as  I  have 
 told  you,  is  my  idea  of  the  grandeur  of  man's  soul,  that 
 there  is  nothing  that  I  would  bring  that  soul  into  close 
 contact  with  in  religion  sliort  of  God  himself.  'No  crea- 
 ture must  come  between  me  and  God,  not  the  highest 
 angel  or  archangel ;  it  is  my  privilege  to  go  to  my 
 Father,  and  to  say  to  him,  in  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
 *'  Our  Father,  whicli  art  in  heaven." 
 
 But  prayer  is  to  be  offered,  not  only  to  our  Father, 
 but  it  is  to  be  offered  in  tlie  name  and  through  tlie  me- 
 diation of  Christ.  Christ  is  the  way  to  the  Father,  and 
 the  Father  s  way  to  us ;  his  name  is  not  a  mere  musical 
 cadence  to  a  prayer,  or  a  customary  close  to  a  collect,  but 
 it  is  to  be  the  Alplia  of  our  praj'er,  and  its  Omega  too ; 
 he  is  to  be  the  substance  of  every  praj^n-,  the  commence- 
 ment and  the  end  of  everj-  j)rayer  ;  and  it  is  because  of 
 what  he  has  done,  that  we  can  see  a  channel  by  which 
 our  prayers  shall  rise  to  Deity,  and  tlie  blessing  of  Deity 
 shall  descend  into  the  heart  of  humanitj'.  It  is,  then, 
 in  the  name  of  Christ  we  must  pray. 
 
 But  we  are  also  told  that  we  are  to  pray  in  the  strength 
 and  by  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.    l^o  man 
 
TKAYEil.  303 
 
 persists  long  in  seeking  for  a  blessing  who  does  not  give 
 evidence,  by  that  persistency,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
 taught  him  to  jiray  for  it.  We  all  kno^v  very  well  that 
 water  rises  to  the  level  from  which  it  descended  ;  it  is  so 
 with  prayer  ;  the  })ra}'(^r  only  that  God  has  inspired  will 
 reach  to  God ;  we  are  told,  therefore,  that  the  Spirit  of 
 God  pleads  and  intercedes  within  us  with  groanings  that 
 cannot  be  uttered.  What  a  thought  is  this,  and  what 
 an  evidence  of  the  helplessness  of  man  !  We  need  God 
 to  pray  to,  God  to  pray  through,  and  God  to  pray  in  ; 
 Christ  pleading  without  us,  the  Spirit  pleading  within 
 us.  Sustained  sately  is  the  creature  in  the  everlasting 
 arms.  How  safe  is  that  man  whose  God  is  our  God  ;  how 
 sure  is  that  prayer  of  an  answer  which  is  placed  in  the 
 golden  censer  of  a  Saviour's  merits,  and  kindled  by  the 
 presence  of  that  Saviour's  Spirit  !  You  may  recollect, 
 that  in  the  ancient  economy,  it  was  not  only  sin  to  offer 
 upon  a  wrong  altar,  but  it  was  no  less  so  to  offer  incense 
 kindled  from  strange  fire.  Now  the  right  altar  is  Christ, 
 the  true  fire  is  the  Holy  Spirit ;  it  is  his  fire  tliat  kindles 
 the  cold  heart, — it  is  his  inspiration  that  gives  eloquence 
 to  the  stammering  lips, — it  is  his  presence  that  gives 
 efficacy  and  expression  to  the  inmost  thoughts  and  de- 
 sires of  our  hearts.  It  is  thiiB,  then,  we  pray  to  God 
 the  Father,  in  the  name  of  Christ  the  Son,  by  the  inspi- 
 ration of  the  Hoh^  Spirit.  And  so  praying,  Ave  are  to 
 pray  for  everything.  We  forfeited  all  by  sin  ;  and  if 
 we  have  anything,  we  have  it  by  grace.  It  is  not  a  very 
 important  thought,  and  yet  a  thought  that  we  rarely 
 take  hold  off, — that  there  is  not  one  blessing,  not  one 
 happy  pulse  in  tlie  bounding  heart,  not  one  inspiration 
 of  cold  air,  not  a  glass  of  cold  water,  not  a  sensation  of 
 health  or  joy  in  the  liuman  frame,  that  are  not  as  much 
 the  purchase  of  a  Saviour's  blood  as  the  crown  of  glory 
 that  will  be  bestowed  upon  his  saints.  We  forfeited  all 
 when  we  fell  :  and  if  Me  have  aught  that  is  good,  holy, 
 happy,  beneficent,  it  is  by  grace,  and  by  grace  alone. 
 Therefore,  my  dear  friends,  let  us  recognise  the  fountain 
 of  these  things;  let  us  feel,  that  if  we  have  no  spiritual 
 mercies  yet  for  which  we  can  thank  God,  we  have  so 
 
304  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 many  temporal  mercies,  that  the  man  whose  lips  are 
 dumb  in  prayer,  has  a  heart  that  must  be  cold  and  ob- 
 durate indeed. 
 
 And  when  we  pray  for  additional  blessings — grace  and 
 g'ory — we  are  to  pra}'  for  them  earnestly, — that  is,  from 
 the  heart,  sincere!}',  truly,  under  a  deep  consciousness 
 that  we  want  them.  Do  not  express  in  prayer  more 
 than  you  feel,  but  pray  that  you  may  feel  deeplj^  what 
 you  want,  and  so  pray.  If  a  person  is  under  deep  wants, 
 and  Avishcs  from  any  one  that  which  will  satisfy  those 
 wants,  how  simple  is  the  language  he  uses.  JS^oLhing, 
 therefore,  is  to  my  mind  so  ott'ensive  as  very  splendid 
 language  in  prayer, — as  very  line  phrases,  exquisitely- 
 turned  sentences,  beautiful  idioms,  rich  similes,  and  fine 
 eloquence ; — all  this  in  prayer  is  like  ])oppies  in  a  corn- 
 field, injurious,  mischievous,  bad.  Whenever  a  person, 
 therefore,  prays  earnestly,  and  truly,  his  prayer  will  be 
 simple,  it  will  be  short,  it  will  be  to  the  purpose.  Al- 
 most every  prayer  in  the  Bible  is  a  short  prayer.  Long 
 prayers  and  repetitions  do  not  indicate  earnestness ;  it  is 
 the  deep  simple  crj^  of  a  humble,  needy,  destitute  heart 
 that  God  hears,  when  offered  through  the  name  and  the 
 merits  of  Christ  Jesus.  I  look  upon  the  General  Con- 
 fession of  the  Church  of  England  as  a  perfect  model  in 
 this  respect :  it  is  exquisitely  simple,  and  evidently 
 borrowed  from  and  moulded  upon  the  model  of  the  Lord's 
 Prayer.  There  is  scarcely  a  w^ord  in  it  that  is  not  a 
 monosyllable  :  ''  We  have  done  those  things  which  we 
 ought  not  to  have  done,  and  we  have  left  undone  those 
 tilings  which  we  ought  to  have  done."  How  simple, 
 how  intelligible,  how  much  to  the  purpose  !  and  what  a 
 contrast  to  those  splendid  extemporaneous  prayers  we  are 
 sometimes  doomed  to  listen  to  !  Let  us  pray  in  spirit, 
 and  pra)'  in  truth,  and  we  shall  pray  simply,  and  to  the 
 puiqDose  —  simple  Avords,  sublime  petitions.  So  our 
 Lord  taught  his  disciples,  and  so  he  Avill  teach  us  to 
 pray. 
 
 We  are  to  pray  intensely  and  earnestly.  I  have  been 
 looking  over  the  Bible  for  instances  of  prayer.  I  can- 
 not  quote   them   all  now;    but   I   have   noticed  liow 
 
PEA.XEE.  805 
 
 earnest  and  intense  were  the  petitions,  not  only  of 
 Daniel,  but  of  all  God's  most  distinguished  saints.  ''  If 
 thou  -wilt  not  forgive  their  sins,"  said  Moses,  ''blot  me, 
 I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book."  AVhat  earnestness  is 
 that!  Again,  St.  Paul  said,  "1  could  wish  I  were 
 accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren  and  my  kinsmen 
 according  to  the  flesh,"  What  earnestness  is  there! 
 I  remember  a  parallel  case, — that  of  John  Knox,  the 
 celsbrated  reformer,  who  has  been  blamed  and  carica- 
 tn-^ed,  just  as  it  now  seems  to  be  the  fashion  with 
 respect  to  Calvin,  of  whom  all  sorts  of  falsehoods  and 
 misrepresentations  are  circulated.  The  prayer  that 
 Jolm  Knox  constantly  offered  was,  "  0  Lord,  give  me 
 Scotland,  or  I  shall  die  ;" — meaning  b}'  that,  "  Let  me 
 see  the  Gospel  spread  in  it,  let  Protestantism  prevail  in 
 it,  let  Popery  be  cast  out  from  it,  or  I  shall  die."  I 
 quote  the  praj'er,  to  indicate  the  intensitj^  of  the  feeling 
 that  was  condensed  into  that  great  man's  heart,  when 
 he  prayed  for  such  a  blessing,  and  for  a  land  at  that 
 time  the  most  darkened  and  benighted  amid  all  the 
 nations  of  the  earth.  I  may  refer  to  Knox's  own 
 prayers,  which  are  left  to  us,  as  specimens  of  great  and 
 beautiful  sublimity  of  thought.  I  do  not  think,  how- 
 ever (this  is  my  own  judgment,  whether  you  concur 
 with  me  or  not,  for  the  Bible  is  silent  upon  such  subjects) 
 that  the  repetition  of  the  same  words  every  Sunday, 
 is  always  expedient.  Have  you  not  noticed,  that  the 
 most  exquisite  song,  if  sung  everj'  day,  begins  to  pall  ? 
 It  does  seem  to  be  the  higher  philosophy,  and  not  the 
 less  Christianity,  that  the  same  thoughts  should  be  in 
 varied  language,  in  this  dispensation  at  least,  lest  men 
 should  be  found  repeating  the  words,  like  those  of  a 
 beautiful  song,  and  losing  meanwhile  the  under-current 
 of  thought,  which  alone  is  precious  and  worthy. 
 
 We  are  to  pray  also  for  all  good  things ;  and  among 
 other  good  things  we  are  to  pray  for  temporal  blessings. 
 These,  however,  we  are  to  pray  for  with  a  certain 
 measure  of  reserve.  The  measure  of  our  temporal 
 blessings  is,  ''Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ; "  the 
 condition  of  oui-  temporal  blessings  is,  "  Thy  will  be 
 
 X 
 
306  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth."  ^Ye  are  tanght  not 
 to  ask  blessings  for  to-raorro\y,  but  for  to-day  only.  If 
 Christians  lived  as  Christians  profess  to  pray,  how 
 happy  should  we  be !  But  alas,  alas  '  man — poor 
 inconstant  man — is  constantly  fearing  dangers  that 
 may  happen  to-morrow,  and  constantly  praying  for 
 blessings  that  he  may  never  need  to-morrow;  showing 
 the  inconsistency  of  his  character,  and  thereby  the 
 grandeur  and  the  truth  of  that  petition  which  he  has 
 been  taught :  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  "  Seek 
 first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
 other  things  shall  be  added  unto  ycu."  When  you  pray 
 for  temporal  blessings,  God  may  not  give  you  the  very 
 temporal  blessing  you  ask,  but  he  will  give  you  that 
 which  will  remove  the  want  that  you  feel.  If  you  ask 
 riches,  he  may  withhold  them,  because  riches  might  be 
 a  curse  to  you ;  but  God  will  give  you  contentment, 
 which  is  sweeter  fur.  When  Paul  felt  keenly  some 
 thorn  in  the  flesh,  he  prayed  that  it  might  be  removed. 
 God  said  he  would  not  remove  the  thorn,  but  he  would 
 still  answer  the  prayer  by  doing  what  was  better — "  j\Iy 
 grace  shall  be  sufficient  for  you."  When  j'ou  are  on  a 
 sick-bed,  and  pray  for  health,  God  may  not  give  you 
 health ;  such  health  may  lead  you  to  sin ;  but  he  will 
 give  you  grace  to  bear  your  sickness,  and  the  inward 
 man  shall  be  renewed  day  by  day.  And  oh  !  what  a 
 consolation  is  it  to  know  that  we  can  pillow  our  aching 
 heads  upon  the  bosom  of  him  who  has  promised  that  he 
 will  S'lipply  all  our  wants,  and  do  exceeding  abundantly 
 above  all  that  we  can  either  ask  or  think. 
 
 But,  although  we  ask  for  temporal  blessings,  we  are 
 to  ask  specially  and  primarily  for  spiritual  blessings; 
 and  let  me  tell  you  how  you  are  to  ask  for  them.  Every 
 promise  in  the  Bible  is  meant  to  be,  if  you  will  allow 
 the  expression, — although  coarse,  it  is  expressive — the 
 "  raw  material "  of  prayer.  The  promises  are  given  us 
 to  be  turned  into  prayer  ;  and  you  will  need  no  liturgy, 
 and  feel  the  want  of  no  litany,  if  you  Avill  just  open  the 
 psalms,  and  wherever  God  gives  a  promise,  turn  that 
 promise  into  a  prayer,  and  beg  that  God  will  fulfil  it  in 
 
PRATER.  307 
 
 your  experience.  Tlio  promises  come  from  the  skies  ; 
 the  believer  accepts  them,  [ind  sends  them  back  again  in 
 the  shape  of  prayers  ;  promise  comes  down  again  as 
 performance,  and  prayer  as  a  blessing ;  and  the  hearts 
 of  them  that  accepted  the  one  and  embodied  the  other 
 rejoice  with  joy  nnntterable  and  full  of  glorj^  Hence, 
 there  is  not  one  blessing  that  a  sinner  needs  for  eternity 
 that  you  are  not  warranted  to  ask,  and  to  ask  boldly,  as 
 a  son  from  a  father,  in  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus.  Do 
 you  need  a  new  heart  ?  do  you  need  joy  ?  do  you  need 
 peace  ?  Whatever  you  need,  if  God  has  promised  it — 
 that  you  may  ask.  But  you  say,  ^'  Is  there  no  risk  of 
 presumption?"  I  answer,  presumption  is  asking  any- 
 thing that  God  has  not  promised ;  but  your  asking  for 
 grace,  or  anything  tliat  God  has  promised,  is  not  pre- 
 sumption. Were  the  Queen  to  command  you  to  ask  the 
 highest  dignity  in  the  realm,  it  would  be  no  humility  to 
 say,  ''It  is  too  great  for  me  to  ask ;"  it  Avould  be  the 
 greatest  humility,  103'alty,  and  courtesy  that  you  could 
 show  were  you  instantly  to  ask  it.  When  a  celebrated 
 French  king  once  showed  the  infidel  philosopher  Hume 
 into  his  carriage,  the  latter  at  once  leaped  in,  on  which 
 his  majesty  remarked,  *'  That's  the  most  accomplished 
 man  living."  Hume  showed  his  greatest  reverence  for 
 the  monarch,  by  doing  w'hat  royalty  commanded.  And 
 if  we  so  treat  the  kings  of  this  w^orld,  whose  crowns 
 are  crumbling  into  dust,  surely  if  the  Prince  of  the 
 kings  of  the  earth  saj',  ''  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  ask, 
 and  ye  shall  obtain ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
 unto  you,"  it  must  be  the  highest  humility  to  ask  the 
 greatest  blessings,  and  it  must  be  the  highest  pride  to 
 ask  anything  less. 
 
 To  the  complaint  often  expressed  by  many  Christians, 
 *'  We  have  asked,  but  God  has  not  answered,"  I  give 
 this  very  short  reply :  God  says  he  will  give,  but  he 
 does  not  say  how  long  you  must  pray,  or  how  often  you 
 must  ask.  When  you  are  ill,  and  apply  to  a  physician, 
 if  that  physician  promises  you  a  cure,  and  gives  5'ou 
 certain  prescriptions,  you  do  not  run  away  from  him  and 
 say,  *' All  his  promise  is  deception,"  but  you  faithfully 
 
 x2 
 
308  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 take  the  prescription  lie  gives  3-0U,  and  wait  the  result. 
 It  is  so  with  God :  God  says  he  will  answer  you,  but  he 
 bids  you  pray ;  and  if  you  go  on  using  the  prescription, 
 God  himself  has  pledged  his  veracity  that  you  shall  have 
 an  answer  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  you  can 
 ask  or  think.  God  requires  of  you  unlimited  confidence  ; 
 give  him  that  confidence,  cast  your  care  on  him,  wait 
 patiently  on  him,  and  he  will  bring  his  promises  to  pass. 
 But  you  say,  your  sorrow  continues,  and  increases  while 
 you  pray.  The  sorrow  you  feel,  or  the  calamity  you  are 
 the  subject  of,  may  be  the  medicine,  not  the  disease. 
 You  do  not  want  the  medicine  to  be  withdrawn,  you 
 only  want  the  disease  to  be  cured. 
 
 Especially  is  all  this  true  of  intercessoiy  prayer.  If 
 you  have  a  friend,  a  son,  a  daughter,  a  husband,  a  wife, 
 a  relative,  who  are  not  what  they  should  be,  and  whom 
 you  wish  to  be  what  God  would  have  them  to  be,  con- 
 tinue to  pray  for  them,  and  as  sure  as  you  do  pray,  so 
 sure  that  prayer  will  be,  sooner  or  later,  answered. 
 Many  a  prayer  offered  up  by  them  that  are  gone  is 
 doing  its  work  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  tread  reve- 
 rently upon  their  ashes.  You  may  be  gathered  to  the 
 grave  before  the  blessing  you  have  prayed  for  descends 
 upon  a  near  and  a  dear  one,  but  fall  it  will ;  God  has 
 pledged  himself  to  it,  and  he  will  most  assuredly  fulfil 
 his  pledge. 
 
 But  you  are  to  pray  for  blessings  not  only  upon  your 
 friends  and  your  relatives,  but  even  upon  your  foes. 
 The  way  to  destroy  an  enemy  is  to  love  him,  and  the 
 way  to  destroy  your  enmity  to  him  is  to  pray  for  him. 
 "Whenever  there  is  any  one  towards  whom  you  feel 
 most  uncomfortably,  go  home  and  pray  for  him,  and  all 
 your  uncomfortable  feeling  will  depart.  If  this  were 
 so — if  one  were  praying  for  another,  and  each  for  all, 
 the  world  would  have  innumerable  benefactors,  men 
 who  prayed  for  others,  the  results  of  whose  prayers 
 many  might  be  reaping,  whilst  they  knew  not  the  names 
 even  of  those  that  uttered  them.  Let  us  pray  for  all 
 men,  for  kings  and  all  that  are  in  authority,  for  our 
 friends  that  they  may  be  the  friends  of  God,  for  our 
 
PRAYER.  309 
 
 enemies  that  they  may  be  forgiven,  for  all  flesh  that 
 they  may  see  and  taste  the  great  salvation  of  our  God. 
 And  as  an  encouragement  to  such  prayer,  let  me  read  to 
 you — and  with  it  I  will  close — that  beautiful  specimen 
 which  occurs  in  the  history  of  Abraham.  God  had 
 resolved,  we  are  told,  to  destroy  Sodom.  "And  Abra- 
 ham drew  near,  and  said,  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the 
 righteous  with  the  wicked }  Peradventure  there  be 
 fifty  righteous  within  the  city :  wilt  thou  also  destroy 
 and  not  spare  the  place  for  the  fifty  righteous  that  are 
 therein  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  If  I  find  in  Sodom  fifty 
 righteous  within  the  city,  then  will  I  spare  all  the  place 
 for  their  sakes.  And  Abraham  answered  and  said, 
 Behold  now,  I  have  taken  upon  me  to  speak  unto  the 
 Lord,  which  am  but  dust  and  ashes  :  [what  humility, 
 and  yet  what  boldness  !]  Peradventure  there  shall  lack 
 five  of  the  fifty  righteous  :  wilt  thou  destroy  all  the  city 
 for  lack  of  five  ?  And  he  said.  If  I  find  there  forty  and 
 five,  I  will  not  destroy  it.  And  he  spake  unto  him  yet 
 again,  and  said,  Peraclventure  there  shall  be  forty  found 
 there.  And  he  said,  I  will  not  do  it  for  forty's  sake. 
 And  he  said  unto  him.  Oh  let  not  the  Lord  be  angry, 
 and  I  will  speak :  Peradventure  there  shall  thirty  bo 
 found  there.  And  he  said,  I  will  not  do  it  if  I  find 
 thirty  there.  And  he  said.  Behold  now,  I  have  taken 
 upon  me  to  speak  unto  the  Lord :  Peradventure  there 
 shall  be  twenty  found  there.  And  he  said,  I  will  not 
 destroy  it  for  twenty's  sake.  And  he  said,  Oh  let  not 
 the  Lord  be  angry,  and  I  will  speak  yet  but  this  once  : 
 Peradventure  ten  shall  be  found  there.  And  he  said,  I 
 will  not  destroy  it  for  ten's  sake.  And  the  Lord  went 
 his  way,  as  soon  as  he  had  left  communing  with 
 Abraham:  and  xibraham  returned  unto  his  place." 
 Abraham  left  off  praying  before  God  left  off  giving. 
 
LECTURE  XXI. 
 
 srisr,  CONFESSION,  and  absolution. 
 
 '^  And  I  lyrayed  unto  the  Lord  my  God,  and  made  my 
 confession,  and  said,  0  Lord,  the  great  and  dreadful 
 God,  liceping  the  covenant  and  mercy  to  them  that 
 love  him,  and  to  thsm  that  keep  his  commandments^ — 
 Daniel  ix.  4. 
 
 In  my  first  rt-marks  on  the  chapter  a  portion  of  wliich 
 I  liave  read,  I  endeavoured  to  show  wliat  was  the  nature 
 of  fasting,  and  ashes,  and  sackcloth,  and  how  far  obli- 
 gator}' on  us  were  these  accompaniments  of  pra5'er  which 
 Daniel  here  presented.  It  is  said  that  he  ''prayed  with 
 fasting,  Avitli  sackcloth,  and  with  ashes."  I  showed  that 
 these  were  temporary  ceremonies  in  their  material  form, 
 whilst  they  expressed  permanent  feelings  of  the  heart  in 
 the  dispensation  in  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  live  ;  that 
 the  fasting  required  now  has  rather  a  relation  to  the  heart 
 than  to  the  body ;  that  the  sackcloth  and  the  ashes  are 
 lowliness  and  humility  of  soul,  and  that,  where  these 
 are  accompanied  by  faith  and  trust  in  the  atonement  of 
 Jesus,  there  there  is  the  spirit  that  presents  acceptable 
 prayer  to  God,  and  on  which  the  blessing  pledged  and 
 promised  will  descend.  In  my  next  discorirsc  I  endea- 
 voured to  explain  the  nature  of  prayer ;  its  divisions, 
 its  obligations,  and  its  general  characteristics.  In  my 
 remarks  this  evening  I  will  call  your  attention  to  three 
 speoitic  topics  that  are  touched  upon  in  the  course  of 
 the  prayer  which  I  have  now  read  :  first,  sin,  as  the 
 root  and  cause  of  all  the  miseries  we  suffer ;  next,  the 
 confession  of  sin,  which  Daniel  here  exhibited;  and, 
 thirdly,  the  forgiveness  of  sin  by  him  to  whom  the 
 prayer  is  addressed;   ''the  Lord  our  God,"   to  whom 
 
Sm,    CONFESSIO]^,    AND    ABSOLUTTOX.  311 
 
 "belong  mercies  and  forgiveness,  though  we  have  re- 
 belled against  him." 
 
 We  have,  first  of  all,  then,  in  this  chapter,  the  ac- 
 knowledgment of  sin ;  Daniel  owning,  throughout  the 
 whole  passage,  that  whatever  evils  had  fallen  upon 
 them,  their  princes,  and  their  fathers,  their  rulers,  and 
 all  the  people  of  the  land,  were  to  be  traced  to  one  pro- 
 lific and  bitter  root,  and  that  root,  sin.  The  word  is 
 easily  uttered;  but  eternity  itself  will  not  be  able  to 
 exhaust  its  terrible  significance.     Sin  it  was  that 
 
 *'  Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe  !" 
 
 Sin  was  not  made  by  God.  Wherever  it  came  from,  it 
 came  not  from  the  creative  hand  of  our  God ;  it  was  no 
 original  portion  of  the  creation  of  God  ;  it  was  no  part 
 or  parcel  of  the  original  furniture  which  garnished  and 
 beautified  the  earth  as  it  came  from  the  hand  of  God.  It 
 is  a  foul  stain  that  has  fallen  upon  the  earth.  Whence 
 it  came  originally,  the  Bible  docs  not  tell  us  ;  and  as  we 
 are  unable  to  explain  its  origin  and  the  cause  of  its  in- 
 troduction as  a  fact,  philosophers  and  sceptics,  who 
 either  repudiate  it  or  explain  it  away,  are  e(}ually  unable 
 to  solve  the  difficulty,  and  say  why,  and  M'hereiore,  and 
 how,  sin  crept  into  the  world,  and  originated  all  the 
 disaster  and  Avreck  and  misery  which  confessedly  flow 
 from  it.  All  that  we  know  is,  that  God  is  not  the 
 author  of  it ;  and  he  cannot  be  charged  in  any  shape  or 
 sense  with  the  responsibility  of  its  existence.  God  made 
 man  holy  ;  he  made  creation  hap])y  ;  he  pronounced 
 them  both  to  be  ''very  good;"  and,  whatever  be  the 
 source  of  sin,  it  is  not  of  God,  nor  from  God,  nor  is  he, 
 in  his  government,  in  any  i^anner  whatever,  chargeable 
 with  its  existence  or  its  conse(iuences. 
 
 Sin,  in  looking  at  it  as  the  source  of  evil,  may  be  said, 
 in  the  first  place,  to  be  wrong  done  to  one's  own  self. 
 Ko  man  sins  without  suftering  in  the  act  of  his  sin,  and 
 suffering  afterwards  terrible  and  ehdurJng  consequences 
 that  follow  that  act.  Never  can  sin,  as  a  fact  in  the 
 past,  be  utterly  annihilated.  Its  dark  shadow  will  re- 
 main suspended  over  your  recollections  to  the  last ;  your 
 
312  rEorHETic  sxrDiE*. 
 
 remembrance  of  it  will  not  cease  till  grace  is  swalloTved 
 up  in  glorj'.  Forgiven  it  may  be ;  forgotten  by  you,  as 
 a  fact,  your  memorj'  will  never  suffer  it  to  be.  Sin,  I 
 have  said,  is  wrong  done  to  one's  own  self.  It  creates 
 terrible  presentiiQcnts  which  you  yourselves  are  all  con-  / 
 
 scions  of.  Th(Te  is  no  feeling  in  the  human  heart  more 
 rending,  more  insufl'erable  for  its  agonj-,  than  the  terrible 
 feeling  of  remorse.     We  know  not  fullj^  what  it  is  in  j| 
 
 this  world,  because  it  is  benumbed,  soothed,  repressed  \' 
 
 b}'  a  thousand  circumstantial  applications  round  us.  Uut  ' 
 
 when  these  are  occasionally  withdrawn,  and  the  con- 
 science is  left  to  its  gnawings,  I  believe  that  we  have  in 
 such  remorse  the  first  sensations  of  the  torment  of  the 
 worm  that  never  dies,  and  of  the  fire  that  shall  never  be 
 quenched.  But  I  do  not  noAV  refer  to  sin  as  the  source 
 of  future  misery  ;  I  look  at  it  as  the  source  of  misery 
 now  :  a  sinner  is  an  unhappy  man, — unhappy  Avhen  he 
 sins  ;  never  is  the  right  hand  lilted  up  to  sin  unless  amid  i. 
 
 the  lightnings  of  conviction  and  remonstrance.     Kever  f 
 
 does  a  man  do  what  his  conscience  declares  to  be  wrong 
 without  feeling  conflict,  misery,  discord,  Mhich  are  only 
 the  dawn  of  that  future  hell  where  sm  is  left  to  its  full 
 sway,  and  its  victim  is  consigned  to  all  its  terrible 
 results. 
 
 Sin  is  wrong  done,  specially,  I  observe,  to  man's 
 conscience.  Man's  conscience  may  be  seared,  benumbed; 
 stupified,  by  the  influence  of  sin  ;  but  it  never  sleeps 
 the  sleep  of  entire  death  in  this  world.  There  are  times 
 "When  conscience  will  awake,  and  when  all  the  opiates 
 of  this  world  utterly  fail  to  hush  it.  There  are  moments 
 of  sequestration  from  the  world,  when  some  nn'stcrious 
 light  will  flash  upon  the  conscience,  resplendent  and 
 vivid  as  the  lightning,  in  which  you  read  the  sins  you 
 have  done,  and  see  the  retribution  that  of  necessity 
 cleaves  to  them  ;  and  hard  as  you  may  try  to  stupiiy,  to 
 still,  and  to  allay  that  conscience,  you  will  not  succeed. 
 It  will  rise  from  its  temporary  lull,  and  reason  audibly, 
 till  the  wounded  spirit  can  no  longer  bear  it,  '*  of  right- 
 eousness, and  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come."  It 
 is  related  in  Scripture,  that  when  Herod,  who  was  a 
 
SIX,    CONFESSIOI^,    AIS^D    ABSOLTJTION.  313 
 
 Sadducee,  and  who,  therefore,  disbelieved  the  resurrec- 
 tion of  the  dead  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  heard 
 that  Jesus  was  performing  great  miracles,  instantly  his 
 conscience  smote  him  with  the  recollection  that  he  had 
 murdered  John,  and  that  conscience,  stronger  than  his 
 reason,  said,  *'  It  is  John,"  and,  stronger  than  his  creed, 
 it  added,  '*  who  is  risen  from  the  dead ;"  and  with  fore- 
 bodings which  he  could  not  quell,  made  him  feel  that  he 
 was  come  to  avenge  the  foul  murder  of  which  he,  Herod, 
 had  been  guilty.  So  true  is  it  that  conscience  is  more 
 eloquent  than  i^peech,  more  powerful  than  armies ;  mo- 
 narchs  have  f(dt  it  on  their  thrones,  and  sceptics  have 
 believed  in  spite  of  their  atheistical  convictions. 
 
 Sin  is  wrong  done  to  the  affections.  Evcny  one  knows, 
 and  it  is  well  that  we  should  know,  that  the  moment 
 you  introduce  sin  into  the  affections  of  a  man,  in  thought, 
 in  deed,  or  in  word,  that  moment  there  follows  disorct'r, 
 confusion,  suffering.  AYho  knows  not  the  fury  of  re- 
 sentment, the  corroding  j)^iii  of  ^  spirit  of  revenge  ? 
 "Who  is  not  aware  what  a  hardening  thing  is  avarice 
 wherever  it  is  cherished  and  entertained  r  Few  there 
 are  who  have  not  learned  by  painful  personal  experience, 
 that  the  introduction  of  sin  into  the  circle  of  the  affec- 
 tions of  the  heart  is  the  introduction  of  a  foul  demon 
 who  there  lords  it  over  j'ou,  and  torments  you  with  a 
 scorpion  sceptre  which  you  can  neither  get  rid  of  nor 
 overcome,  except  by  the  forgiving  blood  of  the  cross,  and 
 the  sanctifying  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 Sin,  too — this  sin  of  which  I  am  speaking — is  an  in- 
 jury done  to  reason.  Xot  that  the  sinner  does  not  reason: 
 avarice  calculates  its  gains  ;  ambition  lays  its  plans; 
 sensuality  arranges  its  prospective  indulgences ;  dis- 
 honesty schemes  and  plunders  most  cleverly ;  and  very 
 bad  men  may  be  very  clever  men  ; — yet  sin  is  wrong 
 done,  to  reason.  That  noble  faculty  which  was  made  to 
 trace  and  teach  the  footsteps  of  God,  is  degraded,  debf?.sod, 
 and  made  a  mere  mercenarj^  calculating  machine  for 
 sensuality,  avarice,  ambition,  dishonesty,  and  crime. 
 Sin  is  degradation  and  wrong  done  to  reason. 
 
 Sin  is  injury  done  to  the  soul !     What  sickness  and 
 
314  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 pain  are  to  the  body — what  loss  is  to  the  estate — what 
 dishonour  is  to  the  name — these,  and  more  than  these — 
 and  felt  more  intensely  than  these,  sin  is  to  the  soul ! 
 
 Sin  is  wrong  done  to  all  society  :  it  is  the  ceaseless 
 epidemic  that  is  never  stayed  ;  it  is  tlie  desolating  plague 
 for  which  there  is  no  earthly  cure.  What  exj^laius  the 
 convulsions  of  the  earth,  the  lawsuits,  the  quarrels,  the 
 disputes,  the  murders,  the  dishonesty,  by  which  society 
 in  some  of  its  sections  is  stained  :  It  is  the  contention 
 of  pride,  the  corroding  of  envj-,  the  coldness  of  distrust,  the 
 exactions  of  selfishness,  the  outbreaks  of  passion.  Sin  is 
 the  fever,  the  disease  that  tears,  and  wears,  and  wastes  it. 
 
 And  sin,  lastl}',  is  hateful  to  God.  It  is  the  only 
 thing  in  the  whole  universe  that  God  luites.  Kot  tlie 
 sinner,  but  his  sin  does  he  hate.  God  so  loved  the  sinner, 
 that  he  gave  his  oidy  begotten  Son  tliat  that  sinner 
 might  be  saved.  God  so  hates  sin,  that  rather  than  sin 
 should  triumph,  he  gave  the  blood  of  incarnate  Deity,  and 
 so  washed  it  away. 
 
 And  this  sin,  my  dear  friends,  in  one  word,  is  our  sin : 
 the  sin  we  were  born  in — nursed  in;  the  sin  that  cleaves 
 to  all  mankind ;  which  taints  our  purest  thoughts,  v.hich 
 is  the  alloy  in  our  holiest  feelings.  The  sin  that  offends 
 God,  and  is  the  conductor  of  his  lightnings  to  the  earth, 
 is  our  sin.  There  is  no  man  who  does  not  feel  that  it 
 is  so.  There  is  no  man  that  will  not  say,  *'  I  have 
 sinned."  There  is  no  memory  that  does  not  recollect 
 some  dark  shadow  that  has  swept  over  it ;  no  con- 
 science that  has  not  some  painful  quivering  in  it;  no 
 biography  that  has  not  in  its  pages  something  it  has  done 
 which  it  feels  it  should  not  have  done,  something  it  has 
 left  undone  which  it  feels  that  it  ought  to  have  done; 
 and  there  are  few  that  feel  not  in  their  best  moments 
 that  there  is  no  good  in  them. 
 
 Such,  then,  in  few  words,  is  sin  ;  and  such  is  the  re- 
 lationship of  sin  to  the  reason,  the  affections,  the  heart, 
 the  conscience,  society.  It  is  the  only  thing  that  God 
 hatf^s;  it  is  the  only  thing  that  makes  hell.  I  believe 
 hell  does  not  consist  of  literal  flame  any  more  than  of  a 
 literal  worm.   It  consists  of  far  more  terrible  agony  than 
 
SIK,    CONFESSION,    AND    ABSOLniON.  Sl/i 
 
 that ;  the  worm  that  never  dies,  is  the  conscience  ;  the 
 fire  that  is  never  quenched,  is  sin.  Let  there  be  a  com- 
 pany of  drunkards,  thieves,  ambitious  men,  envious, 
 cruel,  sanguinarj-  men — let  them  all  be  cast  together,  let 
 all  restraints  and  restrictions  be  withdrawn,  and  there 
 will  originate  and  burn  there  a  hell  of  the  most  terrific 
 kind ;  there  will  be  passions,  and  no  means  to  indulgn 
 them;  thirst,  and  no  suj^ply  for  it;  ambition,  and  no 
 thrones  to  gratify  it.  I  do  not  believe  we  have  anything 
 like  an  adequate  appreciation  of  what  sin  is.  It  is  lightly 
 committed  ;  it  is  lightly  done  ;  but  years  upon  years  do 
 not  exhaust  it.  Eut  blessed  be  God,  terrible  as  it  is, 
 there  is  no  sin,  though  it  be  of  scarlet  dye  and  of  crimson 
 hue,  that  may  not  be  washed  away  in  that  precious  blood 
 "that  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 
 
 liut,  in  the  next  place,  Daniel  not  only  admitted  sin 
 as  the  cause  of  all ;  but  in  this  eloquent,  because  simple 
 and  earnest  prayer,  he  freely  and  fully  confessed  it.  The 
 constant  expression  that  he  uses  is,  "  I  confessed ;"  "I 
 made  my  confession  unto  the  Lord;"  ''I  said,  I  have 
 sinned,  and  have  done  wickedly;"  '*The  sins  that  we 
 have  sinned  have  brought  on  this  great  evil." 
 
 The  next  feature,  tlierefore,  in  this  prayer  which  I 
 proceed  to  consider  is.  Confession.  Confession,  if  truly 
 felt,  is  freely  uttered.  There  are  two  sorts  of  confession  : 
 there  is  the  confession  of  sin  extracted  by  unexpected 
 disaster,  or  by  the  foreboding  of  a  deserved  judgment ; 
 and  there  is  the  confession  of  sin  freely  and  sponta- 
 neously given  utterance  to.  AYhen  Pliaraoh  Avas  under 
 the  judgments  of  God,  he  confessed  his  sins,  but  he  did 
 it  as  if  it  wci'e  an  atonement ;  and  the  insttmt  that  the 
 judgment  ceased,  the  monarch  returned  to  his  crimes. 
 We  read  also  tliat  Balaam,  wlien  ^he  angel  witlistood 
 him,  with  a  sword  drawn  in  liis  hand,  confessed  his 
 error :  and  Judiis,  in  an  agony  of  remo]  se,  and  amid  the 
 sparks  of  that  hell  which  his  own  wickedness  had 
 kindled,  confessed  that  he  had  betrayed  innocent  blood. 
 But  such  was  not  the  confession  that  Di.niel  made  ;  and 
 such  is  not:  the  confession  to  which  the  Christian  gives 
 expression.      The  Christian's  confession  of  sin  is  a  very 
 
316  PEOPHETIC    STTJDIES. 
 
 different  thing.  Many  men  confess  their  sins  just  as 
 merchants  in  a  storm  at  sea  cast  their  goods  overboard ; 
 not  that  they  dislike  their  goods,  but  that  self-  preserva- 
 tion compels  them  to  fling  tliem  away.  Their  confession 
 is  wrung  and  extorted  from  them,  not  by  a  sense  of  the 
 hatefulness  of  sin,  but  from  a  desire — a  vain  one,  I 
 admit — of  thereby  obtaining  security  from  the  judgment 
 of  God ;  but  a  (Jiiristian  sees  sin,  and  feels  sin,  to  be 
 hateful.  "What  pain  is  to  the  body,  that  a  Christian  feels 
 sin  to  be  to  the  soul ;  he  owns  that  he  has  been  guilty  of 
 it;  and  he  pours  out  his  confession  of  it,  like  Daniel, 
 freely  and  spontaneously  before  God. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  where  there  is  true  confession  of 
 sin,  and  si^ch  confession  as  Daniel  here  made,  it  is  full  and 
 explicit.  Trace  at  your  leisure  every  clause  in  this 
 litany,  and  you  will  see  how  full,  how  explicit,  is  the 
 confession  that  Daniel  makes  of  every  sin  of  which  he 
 had  been  guilty.  The  unconverted  Avho  confess  their 
 sins,  not  because  they  hate  them  and  feel  their  burden, 
 but  because  they  would  be  rid  of  them  in  order  to  avoid 
 the  consequences  that  they  apprehend,  and  in  order  to 
 escape  the  judgments  that  they  fear,  make  but  a  half 
 confession.  AVhen  they  begin  to  conh^ss,  they  say,  so 
 much  Avas  owing  to  circumstances ;  so  much  to  things 
 over  which  we  had  no  control ;  so  much  to  constitutional 
 temperament;  so  much  to  somebody  else:  just  as  did 
 our  lirst  parents,  whose  succession  we  have  truly  inhe- 
 rited. When  Adam  was  questioned  by  God,  he  cast  the 
 blame  on  Eve  :  when  Eve  was  threatened,  she  cast  the 
 blame  on  the  serpent :  and  only  when  Christ  was 
 preached  in  Paradise,  as  the  woman's  seed  who  should 
 bruise  the  serpent's  head,  did  Adam  and  Eve  kneel  at  the 
 family  altar,  and  make  such  confession  as  Daniel  made, 
 free  and  full,  laying  all  the  blame  upon  themselves,  none 
 upon  God. 
 
 And,  in  the  next  place,  Daniel's  confession  was  spe- 
 cific. AYherever  there  is  genuine  confession,  it  will  alwaj's 
 be  jjersonal  and  specific.  In  public  prayer,  whether  it 
 be  the  praj'er  that  the  minister  breathes  as  the  mouth- 
 piece of  the  people,  or  the  written  prayer  and  printed 
 
SIN,.    CONFKf^SlOX,     AND    ABSOLUTION.  317 
 
 which  lie  reads,  and  prays  as  the  mouth-piece  of  the 
 people, — ill  either  case,  the  coufession  cannot  he  personal 
 and  specitic.  It  must  he  a  general  confession  for  all 
 who  arc  there  present.  But  wlien  you  are  in  your  closet 
 — when  you  lift  your  hearts  to  God, — are  there  no  per- 
 sonal, specilic  sins,  of  which  you  are  conscious,  and  for 
 which  your  own  heart  condemns  you  ? — and  "  God  is 
 greater  than  your  hearts,  and  knoweth  all  things" — 
 those  sins  you  ought,  and,  if  you  are  Christians,  you  will, 
 specially  unfold  and  acknowledge  before  Him  who  alone, 
 for  Christ's  sake,  has  promised  to  forgive  them.  Thus  wo 
 find  the  Apostle  Paul,  when  he  acknowledged  his  sins 
 before  others,  instead  of  trying  to  explain  them  away, 
 rather,  if  possible,  exaggerated  them.  In  Acts  xxvi.  9, 
 he  says,  "  I  trulj^  thouglit  with  myself,  that  I  ought  to 
 do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  IS'aza- 
 reth.  \Vhich  thing  I  also  did  in  Jerusalem  :  and  many 
 of  the  saints  did  I  shut  up  in  prison,  having  received  au- 
 thority from  the  chief  priests ;  and  when  they  ^xcve  ])ut 
 to  death,"  he  says  substantially,  ''when  I  could  not  kill 
 them,  I  was  wicked  enough  to  give  my  voice  against 
 them  ;  and,  more  than  this,  I  banished  them  ;  and,  more 
 than  this,  I  persecuted  them  even  unto  strange  cities ; 
 and,  more  than  this,  I  punished  them  often  in  every 
 synagogue ;  and,  worse  than  this,  I  compelled  them  to 
 blaspheme."  What  a  dark  catalogue  of  grievous  crimes  ! 
 and  what  an  honest  acknowledgment  of  them — specific, 
 minute,  not  diluted,  the  responsibility  not  shifted,  not 
 confessing  them  to  glory  in  them,  or  as  if  he  did  not  feel 
 their  weight  and  their  heinousness,  but  humbling  himself, 
 and  yet,  in  the  intimation  that  they  were  forgiven,  de- 
 siring to  show  us  that  God  had  mercy  upon  him,  the 
 chiefest  of  all  sinners,  in  order  that  he  might  be  a  pattern 
 of  all  long  suffering  and  mercy  to  those  that  should  here- 
 after believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 !N^ot  only  will  the  believer  be  specific  in  his  confession 
 of  sin,  but  he  will  also  confess  with  deep  sorrow  and 
 humility.  He  will  regret  that  he  has  sinned,  not  because 
 of  sin's  fruits,  but  because  of  sin  itself;  and  one  of  the 
 greatest  evidences  of  your  soul  being  in  a  state  of  grace, 
 
318  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 is  when  you  can  confess  to  God,  and  ask  forgiveness  from 
 God,  for  sins  that  the  Morld  knows  not,  but  for  secret 
 sins — sins  that  nobody  suspected  you  of^ — of  thought,  of 
 ntfection,  of  feeling,  of  heart, — when,  in  short,  before 
 God  you  confess  secret  sin,  and  seek  forgiveness  through 
 the  blood  of  Jesus,  I  know  not  a  more  distinct  or  con- 
 clusive evidence  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  changed  your 
 heart,  and  that  you  are  a  child  of  God,  and  an  heir  of  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven.  And  yet  all  this  deep  confession  of 
 sin  before  God,  as  in  the  case  of  Daniel,  is  not,  let  it  ever 
 be  recollected,  the  confession  of  a  criminal  in  the  presence 
 of  a  judge,  deprecating  his  wrath,  but  the  confession  of  a 
 son  returning  to  a  father,  and  ])rostrate  at  the  feet  of  his 
 father  asking  his  paternal  blessing  and  forgiveness.  We 
 do  not  draw  near  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ  as  criminals,  de- 
 precating his  Avrath  and  beseeching  his  forgiveness  ;  but 
 as  children — it  may  be,  prodigal  children — it  may  be, 
 sinful,  stray,  and  apostate, — but  yet  returning  children. 
 !Never  did  the  prodigal  feel  Avhat  true  repentance  was 
 till  he  was  able  to  say,  ''I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
 father."  That  sentence  was  the  evidence  and  the  ex- 
 pression of  that  tilial  feeling  with  which  he  confessed  to 
 him  his  sins;  ''^Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven 
 and  before  thee."  The  tear  in  the  e5'e  must  not  dim  your 
 view  of  the  countenance  of  your  Father.  The  soitow 
 in  your  heart,  however  bitter,  must  not  drive  you  from 
 God,  but  draw  you  nearer  to  God.  The  most  awful 
 aspect  of  sin  is  its  centrifugal  force,  when  it  drives  the 
 sinner  from  God.  Sin  is  then  about  to  be  forgiven,  when 
 you  are  led  to  lay  it  before  God.  Judas  confessed  his  sin, 
 that  he  had  betrayed  innocent  blood, — and  he  went  out 
 and  hanged  himself.  Cain  confessed  his  sin — "  Mine 
 iniquitj'  is  greater  than  I  can  bear ;"  and  he  ran  out  from 
 the  presence  of  God.  The  prodigal  confessed  his  sin,  but 
 ran  to  his  father's  bosom,  and  to  the  threshold  of  his 
 father's  house  ;  and  he  was  accepted,  while  the  two  first 
 perished  in  their  sins,  unforgiven  and  without  hope. 
 
 This  confession  of  sins,  my  dear  friends,  must  be  to 
 God  himself.  No  priest  upon  earth  has  a  right  to  exact 
 it.     No  Church  upon  earth  has  power  to  command  it 
 
SINj    CONFESSION,    AND    ABSOLUTION.  319 
 
 to  be  made  to  any  other  than.  God.  Show  me  one  text 
 in  the  Bible  that  indicates,  however  remotely,  that  we 
 ought  to  confess  our  sins  to  a  priest.  ''  Confess  your 
 sins  one  to  another,"  is  the  only  text  I  ever  have  heard 
 quoted  in  supjDort  of  it.  But  this  is  mutual,  or  recipro- 
 cal confession  ;  not  the  confession  of  the  people  to  the 
 priest,  but  of  the  people  one  to  another.  But  I  object 
 to  all  such  priestly  confession,  on  this  ground, — that  sin 
 is  committed  against  God,  and  against  God  only;  and 
 he  against  whom  it  is  committed  alone  can  forgive  it. 
 For  instance,  if  I  were  to  steal,  I  should  do  two  things  ; 
 I  should  commit  injury  on  my  neighbour,  and  sin 
 against  God.  What  man  does  to  man,  man  can  forgive  ; 
 and  therefore  I  ask  my  neighbour  to  forgive  the  injury 
 I  have  done  him.  But  sin,  which  is  in  the  act  and  rises 
 higher,  and  strikes  against  God,  that  God  alone  can 
 forgive;  and  thorefore,  when  David  said,  "Against  thee 
 — thee  only  have  I  sinned,"  he  did  not  mean  by  that, 
 **  Against  tliee  chiefly  have  I  sinned,"  but  truly  and 
 exactly.  The  injury  or  wrong  was  done  to  Uriah  :  his 
 sin  was  against  God.  And  thus,  then,  if  sin  be  com- 
 mitted against  God  only,  for  a  priest  to  assume  to  for- 
 give it,  is  for  that  priest  to  plaj^  the  apostate,  and  place 
 himselt  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  as  if  he 
 were  God.  Besides,  to  look  at  it  in  a  lower  light,  what 
 man  would  degrade  himself,  fallen  as  man  is,  to  kneel 
 before  a  fellow-man.  and  d.isclose  to  him  the  inmost 
 thoughts  and  feeling:^  of  his  heart  ?  But  the  secret  of 
 the  upholding  of  that  terrible  tribunal  at  which  I  have 
 only  glanced,  as  I  have  passed  along,  is  the  frightful 
 power  which  is  comprised  in  it.  I  have  often  heard 
 persons  say,  that  they  wonder  that,  when  Roman  Catho- 
 lics hear  the  Gospel,  they  do  not  leave  their  Church.  So 
 should  I  too,  did  I  not  remember,  that  the  moment  5-ou 
 become  a  Roman  Catholic  you  must  go  to  the  priest — 
 tell  him  e^-ery  fact  in  your  biography  that  you  think  to 
 be  sin,  every  thought,  every  relationship,  every  con- 
 nexion ;  the  priest  learns  to  know  you,  3'our  history, 
 your  friends,  your  prospects,  and  he  transmits  all  to  the 
 great  central  source  where  all  is  known.     The  man  who 
 
320  PHOPJiETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 kno^u-s  me  as  well  as  I  know  myself,  is  my  master  for 
 life,  and  I  am  his  slave.  His  look  can  awe  me,  his 
 word  can  silence  me.  So  that  the  wonder  to  me  is,  not 
 that  so  few  leave  the  Church  of  Home,  when  once  tliey 
 are  involved  in  its  meshes,  but  that  they  ever  leave  it  at 
 all.  Kotliing  but  the  grace  of  God  can  enable  them  so 
 to  count  all  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
 of  Christ  Jesus.  To  God,  then,  let  us  confess  our  sins, 
 not  to  man.  For  "  To  the  Lord  our  God,"  not  to  the 
 priest  or  to  the  Pope,  '*  belong  mercies  and  forgiveness, 
 though  we  have  rebelled  against  him." 
 
 And  this  leads  me,  therefore,  to  the  third  thought 
 which  is  suggested  in  Daniel's  prayer, — namely,  for- 
 giveness of  sin.  Sin,  then,  may  be  forgiven.  **  To  the 
 Lord  our  God  belong  forgivenesses,"  multiplied  acts  of 
 forgiveness  for  multiplied  acts  of  sin,  or,  as  the  Psalmist 
 says,  ''There  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  mayest 
 be  feared;"  for,  as  he  proclaimed  himself  to  Moses, 
 "  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin."  When 
 God  forgives  sin,  sin  is  not  annihilated :  a  fact  cannot 
 be  annihilated :  a  fact  remains  in  our  memories,  sure  as 
 its  occurrence  in  the  world.  When,  therefore,  God  for- 
 gives L.in,  he  does  not  annihilate  it.  As  far  as  we  can 
 gather  from  the  Scriptures,  or  from  our  experience,  this 
 is  impossible.  He  forgives  it,  while  perhaps  we  cannot 
 forget  it :  perhaps,  in  heaven,  the  sad  recollection  of 
 wliat  we  were  will  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  what  we 
 are,  and  swell  with  richer  harmony  the  Divine  thanks- 
 giving "unto  him  that  loved  us,"  so  guilty,  "washed 
 us,"  even  ns,  so  polhited,  "  in  his  oAvn  blood,  and  hath 
 made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  even  his  Father  : 
 to  liim  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever."  The 
 forgiveness  of  sin  is  the  exclusive  prerogative  of  God. 
 I  have  said  that  sin  is  against  God  alone  ;  and  therefore 
 God  alone  forgives  it.  For  any  priest  to  assume  to 
 forgive  the  sins  of  men,  is  to  try  to  snatch  a  jeAvel  which 
 belongs  to  the  diadem  of  Deity  :  it  is  the  foolish  attempt 
 to  clothe  ourselves  with  a  portion  of  his  lofty  attributes, 
 and  so  to  realise  the  awful  fact,  that  he  who  attempts 
 to  steal  a  ray  from  the  glory  of  God,  takes  a  consuming 
 
SIX,  coxFP:ssrox,  and  absolution.  321 
 
 curse  into  his  bosom.  The  forgiveness  of  sin,  I  say,  is  the 
 inalienable  prerogative  of  God.  He  only  has  the  key 
 that  ojjens,  and  no  man  can  shut ;  and — blessed  be  his 
 name  that  it  is  so — he  only  shuts,  and  no  man  can  open. 
 Were  all  tiie  voices  of  the  dead  we  have  injured  to  rise 
 from  their  graves,  exclaiming,  "  I  forgive,  I  forgive,  I 
 f')rgive,"  all  the  voices  of  all  the  dead  we  have  injured 
 together,  never  could  extend  forgiveness  to  us.  That 
 one  still,  small  voice,  sounding  from  the  cross,  or  echoed 
 unspent  from  the  throne,  ''  My  son — my  daughter, — 
 thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,"  is  the  word  that  aione  lias 
 power,  the  absolution  that  alone  finds  a  responsive  echo 
 in  the  glad  and  grateful  heart  of  the  forgiven  sinner. 
 But  when  God  forgives, — I  notice  in  the  next  place, — 
 he  forgives  only  in  one  way  ;  that  is,  through  a  Media- 
 tor. God's  concern  for  the  fundamental  principles  of  his 
 government,  is  the  highest  concern  in  his  Divine  nature. 
 God  cannot  forgive  sin  at  the  expense  of  his  justice,  his 
 holiness,  or  his  truth.  He  tells  you  that  there  is  no  sin 
 that  lie  will  not  forgive  in  one  specific  way  ;  but  if  you 
 ask  forgiveness  from  the  absolute  God,  that  is,  in  another 
 way,  or  if  you  ask  it  because  )'ou  deserve  it,  or  if  you 
 ask  it  in  any  other  name,  or  through  any  other  media- 
 tor, or  without  a  mediator  at  all, — in  short,  in  any 
 way  save  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  cannot 
 give  it. 
 
 There  is  but  one  channel,  and  that  channel  is  ever 
 accessible,  and  through  that  channel  a  rich  flood  of  for- 
 giveness will  pour  down,  that  will  cleanse  the  darkest 
 sin,  and  forgive  the  greatest  criminal.  The  Jews  were 
 taught  this  great  and  interesting  lesson  for  four  thousand 
 years.  What  was  the  end  of  all  the  teaching  of  the 
 Jews  ?  Just  to  rivet  and  work  into  their  hearts  this  great 
 truth  :  ''  Without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission 
 of  sins."  Men  say  they  wonder  why  God  desired  so 
 many  sacrifices,  and  appointed  so  many  bleeding  victims, 
 among  that  people.  It  was  just  to  teach  this  one  lesson, 
 which  was  embodied  in  every  sacrifice,  impressed  in 
 ev(!ry  ceremony,  preached  by  their  priests,  inculcated  by 
 God  himself;  which,  notwithstanding  they  forgot  and 
 
322  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 renounced    again   and   again.       This    great  truth,  that 
 through  the  Llood  of  Christ  alone  there  is  forgiveness,  is 
 still  the  truth  preached  from  so  many  pulpits,  reiterated 
 so  often  in  your  hearing  ;  and  yet,  how  little  do  you  feel 
 its  force  !  liow  little  do  you  act  upon  it  as  a  reality  ! 
 how   little  in  your  consciences  are  you  convinced  that 
 only  through  the  hlood  of  the  Lamb  there  is  forgiveness 
 for  the  least  sin  that  clings  to  our  humanity  !     Elessed 
 he   God  that  Christ  suffered  !     Justice    asked   for  the 
 sufferings  of  a  man — Christ  rendered  the  sufferings  of  a 
 God.     He  needed  no   sufferings  to   atone   for  himself. 
 All   his  suffering  was  for  us,  and  is   accessible   to  us. 
 His  susceptibility  of  suffering  was  just  in  the  ratio  of 
 his  spotless  jiurity.     His  was  a  depth  of  agony  proj^or- 
 tionate  to  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  his  person  ;  and 
 never  sliall  we  be  able  to  see  how  great  were  the   suf- 
 ferings of  that  suffering  one,  till  we  feel  perfectly  how 
 deep  is  tlie  least  sin  of  Avhich  humanity  is  guilty.     But 
 now,  in  Christ  Jesus,  God  is  faithful  in  his  promise  to 
 forgive  us,  just  to  his  own  law  to  forgive  us  ;  his  mercy 
 having  provided  to  the  utmost  fulness  the  victim  which 
 his  justice  needed  and  demanded.     Thus  God  forgives 
 us.     What  a  precious  truth  !     Do  we  rise  to  an  appre- 
 hension of  the   magnificence  of  this  truth,  that   God 
 forgives  us— forgives  us  the  moment  that  we  ask  it — 
 deliglits  in   mercy  ?      Glorious   truth  !      God  waits  to 
 forgive  us.     Glorious  truth  !     There  is  forgiveness  Avith 
 thee  that  thou  mayest  be  feared.     Well  may  the  prophet 
 exclaim,  ''  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that  pardoneth 
 iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  transgression  of  the  remnant 
 of  his  heritage  ?     He  rctaiucth  not  his  anger  for  ever, 
 because  he  delighteth  in  mercy." 
 
 Did  you  ever  notice,  my  dear  friends,  that  the  prophet 
 seems  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  exhaust  all  the 
 resources  of  human  speech,  in  order  to  show  us  what 
 free  forgiveness  is  offered  in  the  Gospel  ?  It  would  be 
 an  interesting  investigation  for  you  to  pursue  at  your 
 leisure,  to  count  the  expressions  applied  in  Scripture  to 
 the  forgiveness  of  sins.  It  is  called  "  the  remission  of 
 Bins."     God  releases  the  prisoner  kept  in  the  prison  of 
 
SIN,    CONFESSIOX,    AXD    ABSOLUTION.  323 
 
 condemnation  by  his  sins.  God  says,  in  Hebrews,  "  I 
 will  remember  tlieir  sins  no  more."  Among  the  Jews 
 there  was  remembrance  made  of  sin  every  year ;  they 
 felt  that  sin  ever  needed  a  fresh  sacrifice,  but  sin  for- 
 given in  Christ  is  remembered  no  more.  It  is  so  com- 
 plete, that  (jod  finds  this  expression  only  adequate  to 
 embody  the  extinction  of  it, — "  I  will  remember  their 
 sins  no  more."  He  calls  it  in  another  passage  '*'  not 
 imputing  to  them  tlieir  trespasses."  He  treats  our  sin 
 as  a  nonentity,  and  accepts  us  through  Jesus  Christ  just 
 as  if  we  were  innocent  as  to  the  untainted  and  unfallcn 
 angels  about  the  throne.  Another  expression  that  he 
 employs  is,  '^covered;"  just  as  the  waters  of  the  lied 
 Sea  covered  the  drowned  Egyptians — ^just  as  the  mightj^ 
 ocean  covers  the  pebble  that  is  dropped  into  its  silent 
 bosom,  so  God's  mercy  covers  our  sin.  It  is  called  again, 
 *'  taking  away  ; "  just  as  the  goat  let  into  the  wilderness 
 bearing  the  sins  of  Israel  was  represented  as  taking  them 
 away  into  a  land  not  inhabited  :  so  Christ,  as  the  Lamb 
 of  God,  ttikes  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  It  is  called, 
 again,  "  blotting  out :  "  ^'  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth 
 out  thy  transgressions,  and  as  a  cloud  tin*  sins :"  just  as 
 a  writing  is  expunged — ^just  as  a  stain  is  extinguished 
 by  a  chemical  solution.  Xo  language  is  more  fitted  to 
 express  the  fulness  of  his  forgiveness  than,  "  The  blood 
 of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  It  is  called, 
 again,  in  another  place,  *'  casting  them  behind  his  back." 
 The  most  awful  passage  in  Scripture  is,  "  Thou  hast  set 
 my  secret  sins  in  the  light  of  thy  countenance."  AYe  . 
 ourselves  cannot  see  our  secret  sins,  because  our  heart  is 
 so  deadened  by  the  hardening  influence  of  sin  ;  for  the 
 greater  a  sinner  is,  the  less  he  sees  his  sins ;  hence,  if 
 you  heard  the  holiest  saint  in  the  act  of  confessing  his 
 sins,  you  would  suppose  he  was  the  greatest  sinner  on 
 earth  ;  and  if  you  heard  the  greatest  sinner  confessing 
 feis  sins,  you  M'ould  probably  imagine  him  the  most  ex- 
 cellent of  mankind.  It  is  when  our  vision  is  purged  hj 
 the  unction  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  we  are  enabled 
 plainly  to  see,  that  sins  which  in  the  world's  eye  are 
 microscopic,  are  in  his  eye  deep  as  crimson,  or  as  purple 
 
 Y  2 
 
324  TEOrHETIC    STIJDTES. 
 
 in  their  colour.  Our  secret  sins  are  thus  set  in  "  the 
 light  of  his  countenance  ;"  but  Avhen  God  forgives  them, 
 **  he  casts  tliem  behind  his  back."  Another  passage 
 speaks  of  removing  them  from  us  :  **  As  far  as  the  east  is 
 from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed  our  sins  from  us." 
 He  whom  we  have  crucified,  forgives  us.  He  who  is 
 the  offended  one,  forgives  the  offenders.  It  is  a  royal 
 and  entire  forgiveness,  not  one  charge  is  left  behind,  not 
 one  sin  is  unpardoned.  He  will  remember  our  sins  and 
 our  transgressions  no  more.  It  is  an  irrevocable  forgive- 
 ness. When  God  forgives  us,  he  forgives  us  completely 
 and  irrevocably.  God's  thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts. 
 He  does  not  repeal  his  acts  of  forgiveness.  He  never 
 recals,  he  never  revokes  them.  He  forgives  us  fully, 
 freely,  and  for  ever.  And  it  is  instant  forgiveness.  The 
 instant  that  an  humble  heart  asks  for  forgiveness  in  the 
 name  of  Jesus,  that  instant  it  is  forgiven:  tlie  Saviour 
 says,  ''Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  It  is  a  cordial  forgive- 
 ness. It  is  not  a  legal  forgiveness  ;  so  that  we  are  not 
 merely  lawfully  forgiven,  as  if  by  justice ;  but  it  is  a 
 paternal  forgiveness.  If  only  legally  forgiven  by  justice, 
 we  should  be  admitted  into  heaven,  as  forgiven  culprits, 
 and  shunned  as  criminals  returned  from  a  penal  settle- 
 ment. We  should  be  as  men  lawfully  forgiven,  and 
 tolerated  as  deeply  guilty.  But  this  is  not  the  forgive- 
 ness of  the  Bible.  It  is  forgiveness  in  justice,  and  there- 
 fore it  is  legal ;  but  it  is  also  forgiveness  from  a  Father's 
 heart,  and  is  therefore  a  cordial  forgiveness.  And  there- 
 fore the  sinner  admitted  into  heaven  is  not  only  admitted 
 there  as  lawfully  forgiven,  but  cordially  welcomed : 
 'Tor  this  my  sen  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again;  was 
 lost,  and  is  found."  This  forgiveness  is  an  echo  on  earth 
 to  the  absolution  that  is  pronounced  from  the  throne. 
 The  echo  is  an  evidence  of  the  original.  If  you  are  for- 
 given, do  you  recollect  the  day,  the  hour,  and  the  place, 
 when  you  bowed  the  knee  and  sovight  forgiveness  truly, 
 confessing  your  sins  fully,  and  relying  for  an  answer  to 
 your  prayer  only  on  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  cove- 
 nant ?  If  you  can  say  that  from  the  very  heart  you 
 sought  it,  and  that  you  sought  it  by  Jesus  as  the  only 
 
SIX,    CONFESSION,    AND    ABSOLUTION.  325 
 
 "vray,  then  you  are  indeed  forgiven,  and  it  is  sin,  it  is 
 misery  to  doubt  it.  Go  forth  at  once,  putting  away  all 
 suspicion,  and  henceforth  rejoice  in  the  blessedness  of 
 him  Avhose  sins  are  forgiven,  being  confident  in  God, 
 relying  on  the  riches  of  his  mercy  in  Christ ;  and  hira 
 that  thus  honours  him,  He  will  abundantly  honour. 
 
LECTUEE  XXIL 
 
 DAXIEL  S   LITAXT. 
 
 *'  0  Lord,  hear ;  0  Lord,  forgive ;  0  Lord,  hearken 
 and  do ;  defer  not,  for  thine  own  sake,  0  my  God : 
 for  thy  city  and  thy  'people  are  called  hy  thy  name.''' — 
 Daniel  ix.  19. 
 
 I  CLOSE  my  remarks  on  the  extremely  precious  prayer, 
 Trhich  lias  been  the  subject  of  my  exposition  during  the 
 last  three  lectures.  I  am  sure  we  do  not  greatly  need 
 any  liturgy  formed  by  man,  if  we  have  access  to  so  beau- 
 tiful a  litany  as  this  is,  inspired  by  God.  At  all  events, 
 however  beautitul  may  be  the  litanies  of  man,  in  true 
 beaut)-  they  cannot  excel,  and  in  comprehensiveness  they 
 cannot  exceed,  the  praj-er  which  the  Spirit  of  God 
 breathed  into  the  heart  of  Daniel,  and  of  which  this 
 chapter  is  the  eloquent  and  striking  expression.  How 
 earnest — how  intensely  earnest, — are  such  petitions  as 
 these  :  ''0  Lord,  hear  ;  0  Lord,  forgive;  0  Lord,  hearken 
 and  do  ;  defer  not,  for  thine  own  sake  ;  for  thy  city  and 
 thy  people  are  called  by  thy  name."  And  again,  how 
 striking  these  words :  ''  Thou  therefore,  0  our  God, 
 hear  the  prayer  of  thy  servant,  that  the  time,  the  set 
 time,  to  favour  her,  0  Lord,  draw  near."  At  this  day 
 this  is  the  prayer  of  the  Jew.  I  can  concei\'e  no  spec- 
 tacle more  touching  than  the  weary-footed  wanderer  of 
 Salem  coming  back  to  that  city,  in  Avhich  was  the  ark 
 of  the  covenant,  and  the  cherubim  of  glory,  that  shone 
 upon  the  mercy-seat ;  and  beholding,  with  deep  anguish, 
 the  barefooted  monk  desecrating  it  in  one  place,  by  a 
 Christianity  more  superstitious  than  the  Judaism  of  the 
 
DANIEL'S    LITANY.  327 
 
 modern  Jew,  and  the  Moslem  profaning  it  in  another 
 place  by  the  personation  of  a  cruel  and  sanguinary  im- 
 posture ;  and  his  beloved  city,  which  was  once  the  joy 
 of  the  whole  earth,  the  focus  of  all  light,  and  tlie 
 central  object  of  enthusiastic  love,  despoiled,  degraded, 
 desecrated.  Yet,  in  its  deep  desecration,  its  long-con- 
 tinued degradation,  God  has  left  inextinguishable  yearn- 
 ings after  restoration  in  the  hearts  of  that  striking  race, 
 — these  living  national  phenomena,  that  exceed  in  gran- 
 deur all  material  phenomena, — these  living  witnesses  of 
 the  truth  of  God's  threats,  and  I  believe  not  less  so 
 witnesses  of  the  truth  of  God's  promises.  Nothing  is 
 more  remarkable  than  to  see  the  Jews  crowding  from  all 
 lands,  now  that  the  restoration  of  Zion  and  the  rebuild- 
 ing of  Jerusalem  draws  nigh,  kissing  the  very  stones, 
 wetting  them  with  their  tears,  and  praj'ing,  it  may  be, 
 a  prayer  truly  heard, — for  it  is  possible, — shall  we  say 
 it  is  not  improbable — that  the  Jew  Avho  rejected  Jesus 
 of  Kazareth  as  pourtrayed  by  John  the  evangelist,  may 
 unconsciously  accept  Jesus  of  iS^azareth  as  pourtrayed  by 
 Isaiah  the  prophet,  and  in  the  name  of  the  true  Messiah, 
 though  that  name  is  to  him  no  music,  he  may  lift  up 
 Daniel's  prayer  to  Daniel's  God, — in  groups  of  grey- 
 haired  pilgrims  amid  the  debris  and  wreck  of  Jerusalem, 
 that  God  would  arise  and  have  mercy  upon  Zion,  and 
 lift  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  her,  and  hasten 
 the  advent  of  the  set  time  to  favour  her. 
 
 In  reading  the  whole  of  Daniel's  prayer  for  Jerusalem, 
 M^e  cannot  fail  to  see  that  it  is  as  iippropriate  in  the 
 jjresent  day  as  it  was  before.  I  am  anxious  to  notice 
 certain  features  in  it,  which  must  strike  the  Christian, 
 whether  he  peruse  it  or  pray  it.  I  have  already  sliown 
 in  what  respects  fasting  and  sackcloth  are  connected  with 
 prayer,  I  have  shown,  in  my  next  exposition,  sin  the 
 thing  confessed,  forgiveness  the  blessing  sought  for,  and 
 confession  a  practice  in  which  Daniel  persevered.  I  now 
 proceed  to  develop  some  of  the  features  of  this  prayer ; 
 next,  the  time  at  which  it  was  offered ;  and,  in  the 
 third  place,  the  answer  vouchsafed  to  it.  The  first 
 feature  that  strikes  me,  as  kindling  every  clause  with 
 
828  PROPHETIC    BXrDIES. 
 
 brightness  and  the  warmth  of  heavenly  fire,  is  the 
 intensity  of  the  feelings  and  the  expressions  of  Daniel. 
 Clearly  the  prophet  felt  deeply,  and  therefore  lie  asked 
 so  fervently.  An  instant  token,  as  all  are  aware,  of  an 
 accepted  sacrifice  in  the  elder  times,  was  the  descent  of 
 fire  from  heaven  to  consume  the  sacrifice.  Even  so 
 the  first  intimation  to  you  that  your  prayer  will  be 
 answered,  is  the  intensity  with  which  you  pray  that 
 prayer.  When  a  man  earnestly  and  intensely  breathes 
 a  prayer  to  God,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  he  has  in  that 
 intensity  and  earnestnt  ss  a  fore-pledge  from  God  that  ho 
 is  about  to  answer  it  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
 that  he  can  either  ask  or  think.  Those  eloquent  prayers 
 which  are  beautifully  worded  by  some,  never  rise  above 
 the  lips  by  which  they  are  uttered ;  but  those  broken 
 sentences,  those  simple  petitions,  when  the  full  heart 
 feels  so  deeply  and  prays  so  earnestly,  when  it  cannot 
 wait  for  unloading  itself,  in  order  to  seek  for  fine  words 
 or  beautifully- formed  sentences, — these  are  the  expres- 
 sions of  an  inner  celestial  fire  that  burns  before  the 
 Lord,  and  brings  responses  from  the  skies,  laden  with 
 everlasting  benedictions.  The  intensity  of  Daniel's 
 prayer  is  one  of  its  most  striking  characteristics;  the 
 incense  Avhich  was  used  of  old  was  already  kindled  in 
 the  censer,  before  the  smoke  of  it  rose  to  the  dome 
 of  the  temple ;  and  in  the  same  way,  prayers,  to  be 
 accepted  by  God,  must  not  only  be  presented  in  the  name 
 of  Jesus, — which  does  not  mean  merely  mentioning  that 
 name,  but  feeling  that  only  by  one  channel  can  prayer 
 ascend  to  God — that  only  througfi  one  name  can  they 
 be  heard,  that  is,  in  the  name  of  Jesus, — but  prior  to, 
 and  in  addition  to  this,  the  prayer  itself,  as  conceived 
 and  cherished  in  the  heart,  must  be  kindled  from  above. 
 In  the  old  sacrifices,  there  must  not  only  be  no  strange 
 altar,  but  also  tliere  must  be  no  strange  fire  used  for 
 consuming  the  victims  on  that  altar.  There  must  be 
 the  right  fire  as  well  as  the  right  altar.  So  we  must  not 
 only  pray  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  but  by  the  inspiration 
 and  kindling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  will  explain 
 what  is  meant  when  it  is  said  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
 
329 
 
 within  us  "  raaketh  intercession  for  us,  with  groanings 
 which  cannot  be  uttered."  Thus,  if  jour  petitions  to 
 the  throne  of  grace  have  no  intensity  spontaneously 
 arising  from  inward  earnest  feeling,  created  by  a  deep 
 sense  of  your  wants  and  a  keen  perception  of  the  excel- 
 lence of  what  you  require,  and  these  twain  inspired  and 
 elevated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  will  die  ere  they 
 reach  the  mercy-seat.  Let  a  coal,  not  from  the  grate, 
 but  from  the  altar,  kindle  them.  Let  the  affections  not 
 be  earthly,  from  and  of  the  earth,  but  spiritual  and 
 heavenlj^ ;  and  such  prayer  so  kindled  and  so  presented, 
 it  is  as  certain  that  God  will  liear  and  answer,  not  only 
 for  ourselves  but  for  others  also,  as  that  the  sun  rises, 
 and  stars  twinkle,  and  streams  find  a  pathway  onward 
 to  the  unsounded  main.  If  we  look  at  some  of  the  ex- 
 pressions scattered  throughout  the  Bible,  in  order  to 
 describe  this  peculiarity  of  real  prayer,  we  shall  find 
 they  all  denote  intensity.  In  one  place  it  is  described 
 as  importunity :  that  is,  not  soon  going  away  without 
 an  answer, — unweariedly  persisting  in  asking.  God 
 does  not  say,  "Pray  once,  and  I  will  answer  J'ou;" 
 but  he  says,  '^  Pray,  and  I  will  ansAvcr  you."  Pray 
 nine  times,  and  he  may  not  ansAver ;  pray  a  hundred 
 times,  and  he  may  not  answer ;  but  praj^  the  hundred 
 and  first  time,  and  he  may  answer.  All  that  he  has 
 said  is,  that  he  will  answer;  but  how  long,  or  how 
 often  you  may  pray,  that  is  not  for  you  to  know  :  it 
 remains  with  God  alone,  who  knows  what  is  really  best 
 for  you,  and  most  for  his  glorj-.  I  do  not  believe,  my 
 dear  friends,  that  we  have  that  confidence  in  the  success 
 and  efficacy  of  prayer  which  we  ought  to  have.  I  do 
 not  mean  by  prayer,  artificial  prayer ;  that  is,  artificially 
 worded  and  constructed ;  I  do  not  mean  reading  or  say- 
 ing a  prayer,  however  scriptural  and  beautiful;  but  I 
 mean  the  uplifting  of  the  heart,  the  breathing  forth  of 
 desire,  the  elevation  of  the  soul  when  no  eye  can  sc^e, 
 and  no  ear  can  hear,  but  God's.  "  I  will  not  let  thee  go, 
 unless  thou  bless  me."  I  doubt  not  that  some  of  the 
 most  successful  prayers  are  uttered  on  the  stones  of  the 
 Royal  Exchange.     Some  of  the  most  fervent  prayers 
 
330  PKOPHETTC    STUDIES. 
 
 may  be  uttered  behind  a  counter ;  and  the  House  of 
 Lords  and  the  House  of  Commons  are  not  without  men 
 that  pray,  not  only  that  they  may  devise  right  measures, 
 but  that  those  measures  may  contriljute  to  the  stability 
 of  their  country  and  to  the  giory  of  God,  and  the  ex- 
 tension of  true  religion.  It  is  not  the  place  that  God 
 examines;  nor  is  it  the  Avords  that  God  primarily  re- 
 gards ;  it  is  not  the  form  in  any  sense  that  avails — 
 it  is  the  intense  and  ardent  desire  breathed  from  the 
 depths  of  the  heart  into  the  ear  of  God,  which  God 
 answers  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask 
 or  think. 
 
 Shame,  sorrow  for  sin,  perfect  abasement,  arc  elements 
 of  Christian  prayer.  jS'ot  one  merit  does  Daniel  plead  ; 
 not  one  good  deed  does  he  commemorate  :  he  lays  his 
 hand  upon  his  mouth,  and  his  mouth  in  the  dust,  and 
 cries,  "Unclean,  unclean."  It  is  the  bowed  heart,  not 
 the  bowed  knee,  that  honours  Jesus.  It  is  the  prostra- 
 tion of  the  soul,  not  the  prostration  of  the  body,  that 
 constitutes  prayer.  The  outward  man  is  merely  for 
 communication  with  man ;  it  is  the  inward  soul  that 
 communicates  with  God,  and  God  regards  it  and  deals 
 with  it  alone.  The  body  is  not  the  man.  AVhat  the 
 body  does  is  not  always  what  the  soul  thinks.  Man's 
 body  is  often  guilty  of  hypocrisy,  but  the  soul  never,  at 
 least  in  the  sight  of  God.  To  man  it  is  the  same 
 same  whether  you  bow  the  knee,  or  stand,  or  fall  flat  on 
 the  face ;  for  all  these  are  Scriptural  attitudes  of  praj'er ; 
 the  only  unseriptural  practice  being  that  which  prevails 
 very  much  in  SL-otland,  when  the  people  sit  while  wor- 
 s'.iipping  God,  and  singing  his  praises,  for  which  there 
 is  no  precedent  whatever.  The  form  is  not  what  God 
 looks  at ;  he  looks  how  the  heart  beats,  how  the  spirit 
 feels,  what  the  soul  desires,  what  is  the  intensify  of 
 the  feeling,  what  is  the  earnestness  or  apathy  of  the 
 man ;  and  by  what  the  man  thinks,  desires,  prays  with 
 his  soul,  God  estimates  what  the  prayer  is.  It  is  not, 
 therefore,  sprinkling  ashes  on  the  head,  or  clothing 
 the  body  Avith  sackcloth,  which  are  appreciated  on  high. 
 But  if  we  see  ourselves  as  we  ought,  and  as  Daniel  saw 
 
DANIELS   LrXANY.  661 
 
 himself,  we  shall  soon  feel  that  inward  and  deep  abase- 
 ment and  humility  which  Daniel  felt,  and  which  urged 
 no  plea  save  what  it  drew  from  God.  It  is  ignorance 
 of  ourselves,  and  distance  from  God,  which  is  the  cause 
 of  that  ignorance,  that  makes  any  man  proud  or  self- 
 righteous.  The  moment  that  a  man  sees  God  as  he  is, 
 he  sees  in  the  reflected  light  himself,  just  as  he  himself 
 is  also :  but  as  long  as  he  does  not  know  God,  so  long 
 he  will  think  himself  very  great  and  very  good.  In 
 God's  light  we  see  our  darkness ;  in  God's  fulness  our 
 wants  ;  in  God's  majesty  our  insignificance  ;  our  shame 
 in  his  glory  ;  our  sin  in  his  holiness :  and  thus,  when 
 Job  saw  God,  he  exclaimed,  "  iSTow  mine  eye  seeth  him ; 
 therefore  I  ablior  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 
 And  when  Isaiah  saw  the  glory  of  God,  beholding  him 
 seated  ujDon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  his  first 
 emotion  was  to  cry,  ''  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  a  man  of 
 unclean  lips,  and  I  live  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of 
 unclean  lips,  for  mine  ejes  have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord 
 of  Hosts."  Elijah  covered  his  face  with  his  mantle 
 when  the  glory  of  the  Lord  swept  by,  and  the  apocalyptic 
 elders  fell  down  and  covered  their  faces  whilst  they 
 oriel,  "  II0I5-,  Holy,  Holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts." 
 Pride  in  man  is  invariably  associated  with  ignorance  of 
 God.  But  when  Ave  see  what  God  is,  as  he  is  revealed 
 in  grace — pourtraycd  in  the  Bible — unveiled  all  that  he 
 has  done,  we  then  see  as  we  never  saw,  AA-hat  we  our- 
 selves are,  and  how  deep  is  the  depth  of  our  fall ;  and 
 thus  it  comes  to  pass,  that  we  shall  pray  under  a  sense 
 of  abasement,  not  the  less  intensely,  but  the  more 
 humbly,  because  our  eyes  have  seen  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 
 
 It  is  worth}^  of  notice,  too,  in  this  beautiful  prayer, 
 that  all  the  pleas  urged  by  Daniel  are  pleas  drawn  from 
 God  ;  not  from  anything  in  himself,  or  any  excellence 
 in  his  people.  Thus  he  says,  in  one  verse,  ''  All  Israel 
 have  transgressed  thy  law,  even  by  departing,  that  tliey 
 might  not  obey  thj'  voice  ;  therefore  the  curse  is  poured 
 upon  us,  and  the  oath  that  is  written  in  the  laAV  of  Closes 
 the  servant  of  God,  because  Ave  have  sinned  against  him." 
 ''  0   Lord,   according  to  thy  righteousness,  I   beseech 
 
332  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 thee,  let  thine  anger  and  thy  fury  be  turned  away  from 
 thy  city  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  mountain :  because  for  our 
 sins,  and  for  the  iniquities  of  our  fathers,  Jerusalem  and 
 thy  people  are  become  a  reproach  to  all  that  are  round 
 about  us.  Now,  therefore,  0  our  God,  hear  the  prayer 
 of  thy  servant,  and  his  supplications,  and  cause  thy  face 
 to  shine  upon  thy  sanctuary  that  is  desolate,  for  the 
 Lord's  sake."  Every  plea  he  presents  is  drawn  from 
 God ;  the  foundation  of  his  hopes  is  in  Deitj' ;  our 
 expectation,  also,  and  our  merit,  are  there;  the  good  of 
 man  is  inseparable  from  the  glory  of  God.  God  cannot 
 — reverently  be  it  spoken — bless  a  man  except  that 
 blessing  shall  reflect  his  own  glory.  To  unfold  himself 
 is  the  great  end  of  all  God's  creation,  Pro\*idence,  and 
 grace ;  and  to  promote  his  own  glory  by  making  himself 
 known  to  us,  is  the  reason  why  he  answers  prayer  and 
 makes  his  people  happy ;  and  blessed  be  his  name,  his 
 glory  is  best  promoted  when  his  goodness  and  his  mercy 
 are  most  realised  by  his  people.  Who  does  not  recollect 
 the  petition  of  Moses,  ''  Show  me  thy  glory .'"  and  the 
 Lord's  answer,  *'I  will  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before 
 thee?"  God's  goodness  was  pronounced  by  God  to  be 
 his  glory.  And  what  was  God's  glory?  Here  it  is: 
 ''  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long- 
 suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping 
 covenant  and  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity, 
 transgression,  and  sin."  What  a  blessed  fact  is  this, 
 that  God  is  arrayed  in  richer  glory  when  he  stoops  to 
 forgive  a  sinner,  than  when  he  stoops  to  create  a  world ! 
 Jesus,  when  he  said  upon  the  cross,  to  the  thief  who 
 hung  in  agonj^  at  his  side,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
 me  in  paradise,"  spoke  more  majestic  words  than  when, 
 standing  on  the  confines  of  the  universe.  He  said,  '''  Let 
 there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  We  ask  God  to 
 forgive  us  our  sins,  and  express  his  love  ;  we  ask  him 
 also  to  mianifest  his  justice,  fur  he  is  "  faithful  and  just ;" 
 but  we  may  also  say,  "  0  God,  glorify  thy  name  in 
 forgiving  the  sins  of  me  a  sinner." 
 
 We  cannot  but  notice,  in  this  prayer  of  Daniel,  in  the 
 next  place,  the  complete  unselfishness,  if  I  may  use  that 
 
daxiel's  litany.  333 
 
 expression,  that  runs  through  the  wliolc  of  it.  Ho  did 
 not  ask  mercies  for  himself;  he  did  not  pray  thus  in- 
 tenseh',  thus  humbly,  that  he  alone  might  have  all  the 
 good,  though  God  might  have  all  the  glory  ;  but  he 
 implored  mercies  for  ''  thy  peoj)le  Israel," — "  thine 
 ancient  city  Jerusalem,  because  it  was  desolate."  A 
 man  never  pram's  aright  who  praj's  only  for  himself. 
 That  prayer  is  not  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God  that 
 ends  "with  the  salvation  or  the  sanctification  of  self. 
 Hence  our  Lord,  in  giving  us  a  model  of  prayer,  has 
 made  it  impossible  to  pray  for  a  blessing  on  ourselves 
 without  praying  for  a  blessing  on  others  also,  as  if  in  our 
 very  prayers  our  blessed  Lord  would  make  us  pray  as  he 
 makes  us  love,  embracing  in  both  our  neiglibour  as  well 
 as  ourselves.  He  says,  "After  this  manner  pray  ye;" 
 not,  "  My  Father,  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy 
 name,  &c.,  give  me  this  day  wy  daily  bread."  Sueli  is 
 the  cry  of  rmsanctified  humanity ;  but,  '*0;^r  Father  .  .  . 
 give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  &c.  And  so  Daniel 
 here  pra5's ;  and  so  will  every  true  Christian  pray.  He 
 will  praA'  for  his  children — his  relations — his  congrega- 
 tion— his  church — his  country ;  and  more  comprehen- 
 sively still,  he  Avill  pray  for  all  mankind.  There  is  a 
 petition  which  occurs  in  the  Litany  of  the  Church  of 
 England,  at  tlie  conclusion  of  prayers  for  many  distinct 
 classes  of  people,  "  That  it  may  please  thee  to  have 
 mercy  upon  all  men!"  which  is  to  my  mind  singuhniy 
 beautiful.  Let  us  not  rest  in  our  petitions  for  class  after 
 class  till  our  prayers  spread  in  their  catholicity  to  the 
 very  circumference  of  the  globe,  and  we  praj^  God, 
 ''that  it  may  please  him  to  have  mercy  upon  all  men." 
 ]n  the  next  place  we  may  notice,  in  this  prayer,  what 
 runs  through  it  no  less  evidently,  the  thorough  patriotism 
 of  it.  Because  Daniel  was  a  Christian,  he  did  not  cease 
 to  be  a  Jew  ;  because  he  loved  the  temple  of  his  God  he 
 did  not  the  less  love  the  country  of  his  fathers ;  Daniel 
 sympathised  with  and  was  ready  to  make  every  patriotic 
 sacrifice,  in  order  to  benefit  and  bless  his  country ;  but 
 he  felt  at  the  same  time  that  it  never  could  be  prosperous 
 as  a  country  until  its  Great  Restorer  should  have  mercy 
 
334  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 upon  it,  and  forgive  the  sins  of  his  people,  and,  to  use 
 the  language  of  the  prayer,  cause  "  his  face  to  shine  upon 
 it."  Not  the  greatest  patriots  are  those  that  make  the 
 loudest  profession  ;  not  the  least  patriots  are  those  who 
 only  pray  because  prayer  is  all  they  can  present.  Our 
 armies  may  strike  a  successful  blow,  our  legislature  may 
 pass  an  excellent  measure,  but  the  bkssing  of  God,  for 
 which  Christians  pray,  is  that  which  will  make  the  blow 
 of  the  one  permanent,  and  the  measure  of  the  other 
 practical  and  extensively  useful.  And  hence  it  has  been 
 well  said — 
 
 "  Our  country  owes 
 Her  sunshine  and  her  rains,  lier  blooming  springs, 
 And  plenteous  harvests,  to  the  pi'ayer  lie  makes, 
 Where  Enoch,  like  the  solitary  saint. 
 Walks  forth  to  meditate  at  eventide. 
 And  think  on  her  who  thinks  not  on  herself.'' 
 
 'J'hus  there  may  be  patriots  in  cellars,  whose  name  the 
 newspaper  does  not  trumpet  forth ;  there  may  be  men 
 who  contributed  to  the  victor}^  of  Waterloo,  or  to  the 
 decisive  blow  of  Trafalgar,  and  who  still  contribute  to 
 the  loj'alty  of  our  people,  the  stabilitj^  of  our  commerce, 
 and  to  the  riches  and  increasing  prosperity  of  our  agricul- 
 ture, who  never  used  a  pen,  or  "wielded  a  sword,  or 
 marched  to  victory  beneath  our  banners,  but  who  pray 
 that  old  England's  God  would  cause  His  face  to  shine 
 upon  England's  throne,  and  altars,  and  people,  and 
 magistrates,  and  rulers;  and  the}',  it  will  be  found, 
 when  this  world  is  all  laid  bare,  and  its  history  made 
 patent,  contributed  more  than  all  to  our  national  stability 
 and  social  prosperity,  and  Avere  the  conductors  of  bless- 
 ings from  the  skies  to  her  cities.  Thus  the  prophet 
 prayed  for  his  countr}-,  and  thereby  showed  himself  no 
 less  the  patriot  because  he  was  the  Christian. 
 
 But  Daniel  strikingly  combined  with  his  prayer  deep 
 research  and  personal  labour.  Eor  you  observe  that  he 
 states  in  verse  2,  *'In  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  I 
 Daniel  understood  by  books  the  number  of  the  3'ears, 
 whereof  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jeremiah  the 
 prophet,  that  he  would  accomplish  seventy  years  in  the 
 
Daniel's  litaxy.  335 
 
 desolations  of  Jerusalem."  He  had  therefore  been  a 
 hard  student,  as  well  as  a  spiritually-minded  and  pray- 
 ing man.  He  combined,  what  some  of  our  lleformers 
 said  it  was  so  vitally  important  to  combine, — ''prayer 
 and  pains-taking." 
 
 AVe  too  are  to  engage  in  any  great  Christian  work, 
 the  support  of  our  schools,  for  instance,  or  of  our  mis- 
 sions, the  Bible  Society,  the  extension  of  the  Gospel,  in 
 the  exercise  of  all  the  liberality,  zeal,  and  fervour, 
 which  we  possess,  or  can  command,  just  as  if  all  de- 
 pended on  what  we  each  do ;  and  yet  we  are  to  implore 
 the  blessing  of  God,  with  that  deep  sense  of  dependence, 
 tluit  consciousness  of  insufficiency  on  our  part^  wliich 
 prompts  the  persuasion  that  God  must  do  all,  or  nothing 
 will  be  well  done.  It  seems  a  paradox  to  unenlightened 
 minds,  and  a  contradiction  to  the  wise  of  this  world, 
 but  it  is  not  so:  the  farmer  feels  justly  in  his  matters 
 what  the  Christian  should  feel  here :  he  knows  quite 
 ^A'ell  that,  unless  God  give  sunbeams  and  dewdrops, 
 and  fertility  to  the  soil,  it  will  be  no  use  for  him  to  sow  ; 
 and  he  knows  just  as  well,  that  in  vain  God  gives  sun- 
 beams and  dewdrops,  fresh  air,  and  a  fertile  soil,  unless 
 he  sows.  I'herefore,  he  does  sow  ;  and  thus,  what  with 
 some,  in  the  exercise  of  a  perverse  mind,  at  first  seems 
 a  reason  why  he  should  not  sow,  is  with  him  the 
 greatest  inducement  to  do  so,  because  he  knows  that 
 God  will  send  "  the  former  and  the  latter  rain  in  his 
 season,"  and  that  He  has  promised,  since  the  deluge, 
 "  that  seed-time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and  heat^  and 
 summer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night,  shall  not  cease." 
 
 13 ut  Daniel's  study  was  not  only  the  study  of  the 
 Bible  and  books,  as  the  grand  depository-  of  truth,  but 
 it  was  also  special  study  of  the  prophetic  scriptures. 
 He  thus  presents  a  complete  reply  to  those  Christians 
 who  say  that  we  are  not  called  upon,  or  even  authorised, 
 to  study  unfulfilled  prophecy.  Dimiel  did  not  think  so; 
 he  studied  predictions  of  the  future,  and  found  out  by 
 books  tliut  God  woidd  accomplish  seventy  years  in  the 
 desolation  of  Jerusalem.  He  not  only  discovered  that 
 God  would  terminate  this  desolation,  but  he  found  out 
 
33 G  PROPHETIC    STUDIES 
 
 the  Tciy  period  of  time  that  this  desolation  Tvould  last ; 
 and  yet  if  a  Christian  minister  professes,  not  dogmati- 
 cally to  pronounce,  where  confessedly  tliere  are  many 
 difticulties,  but  to  express  his  belief  from  this  book  and 
 the  apocalyptic  records,  that  the  time  draws  near — that 
 the    dispensation  is  in  its  eve — it   will  be  told   him, 
 "  You  have  no  right  to  study  this  book,  you  have  no 
 right  to   read    the  apocalypse   at  all :   you  had  better 
 shut  it  np  :  let  it  alone,  or  you  will  get  into  difficulties." 
 AVhy  did  God  give  it  ?  I  ask  those  who  say  so.     Why 
 did  God  write  it  ?     You  say  it  was  that  infidels  may  be 
 afterwards  converted  by  Avitnessing  in  liistory  tlie  fultil- 
 ment  of  prophecy  :  but  half  of  that  will  not  be  fullilled 
 till  the  millennium,  when  there  will  be  no  infidels  to 
 be  converted.     This  is  not  its  only  use.     It  is  for  us  to 
 study,  and  to  try  to  expound  it.     But  God  Himself  lias 
 said  what  terminates  the  dispute,  ''Elessed  is  he  that 
 readeth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book;"  and 
 in  my  ovrn  case  I  may  saj'  that  I  have  found  as  rich  a 
 blessing  from  reading  and  studying  the  Apocalypse,  as 
 in  studying  any  other  portion  of  the  Bible.    Ponder  and 
 pray  over  all  that  God  has  written.     The  Protestant's 
 rule  of  faith  is  not  tlie  Bible  without  the  Apocalypse, 
 but  it  is  the  Bible  and  the  Apocalypse,  the  whole  word 
 of  God.    Here  you  have  the  example  of  Daniel  studj'ing 
 numbers  before  those  numbers  had  temiinated  in  actual 
 accomplishment ;  and  what  Daniel  did  with  acceptance 
 then,  I  do  not  see  why  we  may  not  try  to  do,  with 
 humble  prayer  for  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
 with  his  blessing  now. 
 
 Let  us  notice,  in  the  next  place,  the  time  at  which 
 Daniel  prayed.  It  was  the  time  of  the  evening  obla- 
 tion. The  answer  came  at  that  hour,  and  the  presump- 
 tion is  that  the  prayer  was  then  being  offered  up.  But 
 why  did  Daniel  select  this  season  for  prayer  ?  Because 
 Daniel  felt  just  what  you  well  know, — that,  dissociated 
 from  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus,  and  detached  from  liis  name, 
 no  prayer  can  be  accepted  of  God.  This  great  truth  is 
 the  very  substance  of  the  Gospel.  Your  prayers  should 
 be  offered  in  the  name  of  Chiist ;  in  him  they  should 
 
Daniel's  litany.  337 
 
 begin,  in  Christ  they  should  continue  and  close.     By 
 him  alone  is  the  way  to  rise  to  God.     By  him  alone,  as 
 the  way,  can  an   answer   come   down  from   God.     It 
 matters  not  where  you  pray,  if  you  pruy  in  the  name  of 
 Jesus.     The   Christian  economy  has   abolished  all  the 
 distinctions  of  time  and  place.     What  is  decent,  what 
 is  orderly,  what  is  convenient,  these,  and  the  conside- 
 ration of  all  these,  are  most  right ;  but  if  you  say  that 
 an  oratory  in  your  house  is  better  for  family  worship 
 than  your  drawing  or  your  dining-room,  because  it  has 
 been  consecrated  by  a  presbyter  or  a  bishop ;  or  if  you 
 say  that  God  will  hear  a  praj'cr  in  Latin  that  he  will 
 not  hear  in  Hindostanee  or  in  English,  or  tliat  he  will 
 hear  in  a  chapel  what  he  will  not  hear  in  a  private 
 house ;  if  these  be  your  sentiments,  you  are  far  gone  in 
 Bomanism ;  or,  rather,  your  creed  is  more  ancient  than 
 that  of  Bomanism,  it  is  that  of  Levi,  a  reflex  to  Judaism  : 
 prayers  under  that  dispensation  must  have  been  made 
 in  one  place  in  order  to  be  accepted ;  sacrifice  must  then 
 have  been  offered  on  one  particular  altar;   but  now, 
 wheresover,  on  mountain  crag,  in  valley,  on  the  sea,  on 
 the  shore,  in  the  dungeon,  or  in  the  palace ;  in  cathe- 
 dral, church,  or  chapel ;  in  chancel  or  in  cellar ;  with 
 bowed  knee,  or  standing,  or  jDrostrate,  or  with  none  of 
 them — if  there  be  praj'cr  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
 intensely  felt,  and  addressed  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and 
 lifted  up  to  our  Father,  there  God  hears,  and  there  God 
 will  answer. 
 
 But  there  may  have  been  another  reason  for  Daniel's 
 praying  at  evenings.  The  Psalmist  says,  ''At  morning, 
 and  at  evening,  and  at  noon  will  I  praise  thee."  Even- 
 ing seems  the  most  solemn  hour  of  the  day,  and  so  far  a 
 suitable  time,  for  individual  retrospection  and  com- 
 munion Avith  God.  Then  the  noise  of  the  world  grows 
 fainter  ;  the  air  becomes  still ;  the  excitement  of  life  has 
 passed  over ;  the  fever  of  human  strife  is  laid.  Our 
 heart  can  rise,  in  the  stillness  of  evening,  to  intercourse 
 and  fellowship  with  God.  The  dews  that  then  fall  to 
 saturate  the  earth  should  remind  us  that  our  hearts  need 
 the  softening,  fertilising  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 z 
 
338  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES, 
 
 The  stars  that  come  forth  to  beautify  the  sky,  and  send 
 down  their  pale  sheen  upon  us,  ought  to  remind  us  of 
 that  bright  and  morning  star,  the  rising  of  that  sun  that 
 shall  never  set.  And  if  there  be  an  evening  each  day, 
 forget  not  that  there  is  also  an  evening  of  life,  Avhen 
 specially  we  should  pray ;  Avhen  all  the  tints  and  the 
 lights  of  youth  are  gone,  when  the  noontide  passions  of 
 manhood  are  quelled,  and  there  comes  the  solemnity,  if 
 I  may  so  call  it,  of  grey  hairs,  and  tottering  limbs,  and 
 an  enfeebled  body;  when  the  curfew-bell,  that  announces 
 as  it  were  the  extinction  of  all  earthly  fires,  is  heard  in 
 every  heart;  tlicn  should  we  pray,  as  Daniel  prayed, 
 that  the  twilight  of  the  evening  Avhich  is  now  falling 
 may,  in  our  case,  mingle  in  the  twilight  of  that  bright 
 day  which  is  fast  approaching,  when  tlie  sun  shall  rise, 
 ascend  his  meridian,  and  set  no  more.  It  was  at  this 
 season  that  Daniel  prayed.  He  was  an  aged  man  at  this 
 period,  of  about  ninety  years  of  age. 
 
 At  other  times  too  should  we  pray.  When  our  com- 
 munion season  comes  round  we  should  pray  as  we  ap- 
 proach the  table  of  our  Lord,  that  Ave  may  go  there  in  a 
 right  spirit.  I  know  not  a  more  beautiful  festival  than 
 the  communion ;  I  wish  only  it  were  of  more  frequent 
 recurrence.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  there  should  be 
 at  that  time  a  special  preparation,  and,  when  it  is  passed 
 by,  a  more  thorough  participation  in  tlie  cares,  the 
 anxieties,  and  the  follies  of  the  world.  Our  hearts  should 
 always  be  ready  for  it.  I  believe  in  the  early  Church 
 they  received  the  Lord's  Supper  every  time  they  met  for 
 public  worship.  I  fear  the  inlrequency  of  the  celebra- 
 tion of  the  communion  has  generated  a  feeling,  especially 
 in  the  north,  that  there  is  something  awful  in  it.  I  have 
 noticed  in  some  parts  of  Scotland,  that  on  tliis  occasion 
 men  put  on  their  gloomiest  apparel,  and  feel  as  if  they 
 Avere  about  to  undergo  some  heavj^  calamity,  or  as  if  they 
 were  coming  to  some  dread  sacritice,  some  awful  expia- 
 tion that  the)'  are  about  to  make.  I  do  not  say  that 
 enlightened  men  thus  feel,  but  I  know  that  many  regard 
 it  Avith  such  feelings.  And  I  know  that  in  speaking 
 with  my  OAvn  countrymen  about  coming  to  the  Lord's 
 
Daniel's  litant.  339 
 
 table,  many  of  them  have  received  in  the  north  in 
 their  early  years  such  impressions  of  the  terrible  and 
 the  awful,  in  connexion  with  the  Lord's  Supper,  as 
 they  cannot  cast  off  in  maturer  and  more  enlightened 
 
 My  dear  friends,  there  is  nothing  awful  in  that  com- 
 munion :  Jesus  took  all  the  awful  to  himself,  and  has 
 lefL  to  us  all  the  pleasant.  He  made  the  sacrifice  ;  we 
 taste  the  feast  that  succeeds  the  sacrifice.  He  took  all 
 the  agony ;  we  receive  all  the  blessing.  And  if  there 
 be  any  festival  to  w^hich  we  should  come  with  glad  hearts, 
 it  is  to  the  Communion-table  ;  our  Jubilee,  our  congre- 
 gational festival ;  that  Easter-day  when  we  specially 
 commemorate  the  fact  "  the  Lord  is  risen  ;"  that  bright 
 and  happy  day  when  we  look  forward  to  the  other  truth, 
 that  He  that  rose  and  reigns  will  come  again  ;  that 
 glad  festival  in  which  we  sit  down  at  the  table  of  our 
 blessed  Lord,  and  thus  actualise  the  words  of  the  Creed, 
 "  the  communion  of  saints."  We  think  too  of  those 
 that  were  here  before  ;  who  are  now  surrounding  a  better 
 table,  enjoying  a  brighter  fellowship  ;  and  we  give  God 
 thanks  for  what  he  has  made  us,  and  for  what  he  made 
 them  ;  and  w^e  look  forward  to  that  happy  day  when  we 
 shall  join  their  loftier  communion,  and  seat  ourselves  at 
 a  table  that  never  shall  be  drawn.  I  have  noticed  my- 
 self, during  the  sixteen  j-ears  I  have  ministered  in  this 
 pulpit,  that  the  communion-table  every  quarter  presents 
 a  new  aspect ;  I  miss  grey  hairs,  and  venerable  ones  I 
 have  often  beheld.  I  miss  too  once  young,  and  bound- 
 ing, and  hopeful  hearts  that  were  once  there  also.  I  see 
 new  faces  taking  the  place  of  old  ones  ;  and  nothing  so 
 vividly  reminds  me  within  these  walls  that  this  is  not 
 our  home,  and  that  we  are  pilgrims  and  strangers,  look- 
 ing for  a  better  city,  than  our  recurring  communion- 
 table. When  I  say  ow^  communion-table,  it  is  not 
 mine,  it  is  the  Lord's ;  and  if  there  is  any  one  spot 
 where  I  rejoice  to  see  all  true  Christians,  whatever  be 
 the  party  to  which  they  belong,  it  is  there.  It  is  not 
 the  monopoly  of  a  sect;  on  it  is  written,  ^'Do  this  in 
 remembrance  of  me ;  for  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread 
 
 z2 
 
340  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 and  di-ink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth  the  Lord's  death 
 till  he  come." 
 
 While  I  thus  show  my  Catholic  feeling  in  this  respect, 
 yet  at  the  same  time  I  must  say  that  I  prefer  our  own 
 Scottish  form:  it  is  so  simple,  so  beautiful,  that  the 
 longer  I  see  it  the  more  am  I  impressed  with  its  simple 
 grandeur,  its  severe,  and,  as  some  would  call  it,  its 
 stern  simplicity.  But  it  matters  little  whether  Ave 
 kneel,  or  sit,  or  stand,  if  it  is  at  a  table  surrounded  by 
 glad  and  thankful  hearts,  who  eat  this  bread  and  drink 
 this  cup  because  Jesus  has  suffered  that  we  miglit  suffer 
 no  more. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  I  wish  to  observe,  in  closing  my 
 remarks  upon  this  prayer  of  Daniel,  that  the  answer 
 was  immediate.  **  Whilst  I  was  speaking,"  he  says, 
 ''  Gabriel  came  and  touched  me."  What  a  striking  inci- 
 dent is  this !  There  is  a  text  in  the  Bible  that  seems  to 
 me  expressive  of  a  greater  marvel  than  even  the  electric 
 telegraph.  You  know  that  a  question  asked  at  one  end 
 may  be  answered  almost  instantly  two  hundred  miles 
 away.  But  there  is  a  text  that  anticipates  the  marvel : 
 '*  It  shall  come  to  pass,  saith  the  Lord,  that  before  they 
 call,  I  Avill  answer,  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking,  I 
 Avill  hear."  A  quicker  communion  with  God  have  we 
 than  even  that  suggested  by  the  wondrous  electric  tele- 
 graph ;  for  God  hears  us  while  we  speak,  answers  us 
 before  we  ask,  and  in  every  case  "exceeding  abundantly 
 above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think." 
 
 My  impression  is,  that  this  Gabriel  who  was  sent  to 
 Daniel  was  not  an  angel,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
 This  conclusion,  to  which  bishop  Hcber  came,  is  founded 
 on  the  derivation  of  the  word,  and  also  upon  a  passage 
 that  occurs  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke.  The  word  Gabriel 
 means  simplj^  ''the  power  of  God."  Compare  Luke  i. 
 19  :  '*'  lam  Gabriel,  that  stand  in  the  presence  of  God;" 
 and  ver.  26, — "  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  to  a  virgin 
 espoused  to  a  man  Avhose  name  Avas  Joseph;"  and  A-er. 
 35, — ''  The  angel  ausAvered  and  said  unto  her.  The  Holy 
 Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  poAver  of  the 
 Highest   shall   overshadoAv  thee;"  which   if  literally 
 
DiJS'IEL's    LITAXT.  341 
 
 translated  into  Hebrew,  will  be,  ''  and  Gabriel  shall 
 overshadow  thee."  It  may  mean  therefore  in  this  place 
 also,  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  who  takes  of  the  things  of 
 Christ  and  shows  them,  to  us.  And  it  seems  the  more 
 likely,  because  it  was  this  Gabriel  who  came  and  in- 
 structed Daniel  on  a  subject  on  which  the  Spirit  teaches ; 
 for  what  was  the  nature  of  his  instruction?  About 
 Messiah,  the  Prince.  And  what  is  the  great  office  of 
 the  Holy  Spirit?  "He  shall  take  of  the  things  of 
 Christ,  and  shall  show  them  unto  you."  It  may,  how- 
 ever, have  been  an  angel,  for  as  the  Apostle  teaches  us, 
 ''  angels  are  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  to 
 them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation."  And  if  Gabriel 
 was  a  mere  angel,  he  was  sent  not  to  claim  for  himself 
 our  adoration,  but  to  execute  God's  message,  and  to 
 minister  to  Daniel.  The  message  was  made  to  Daniel  as 
 ''Daniel  greatly  beloved."  The  acceptance  of  the  per- 
 son takes  place  before  the  answer  to  the  prayer  is  given, 
 ^^e  must  first  be  accepted  as  Christians  before  we  can 
 pray  as  Christians.  God  accepts  us  first,  and  then  our 
 prayers,  to  which  he  sends  down  an  answer. 
 
LECTTJEE  XXIII. 
 
 Messiah's    death. 
 
 "  Atid  after  threescore  and  two  iceehs  shall  Messiah  he  cut 
 ojf]  hut  not  for  himself :  and  the  jyeople  of  the  prince  that 
 shall  come  and  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary  ;  and 
 the  end  thereof  shall  he  xoitli  a  flood,  and  unto  the  end 
 of  the  war  desolations  are  determined.''^ — Daniel  ix.  26. 
 
 I  DEFER  in  this  lecture  all  chronological  discussion 
 respecting  the  epoch  which  the  prophecy  plainly  in- 
 timates. I  assume  the  fact,  which  cannot  be  denied, 
 because  it  has  been  irresistibly  proved,  that  this  relates 
 to  the  death — I  add,  the  sacrificial  death — of  the  Lord 
 Jesus  Christ.  A\Tiether  we  take  the  grounds  of  chro- 
 nology, or  the  descriptive  language  of  the  passage,  it  is 
 impossible  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  any  other  is 
 pointed  at  here  than  the  Redeemer.  I  assume,  there- 
 fore, that  this  is  a  prophecy  of  Christ,  as  well  as  the 
 statement  of  his  death,  and,  by  implication,  the  nature 
 and  direction  of  that  death.  It  was  his  shame  that  he 
 was  ''cutoif;"  it  was  his  glory  that  it  was  ''not  for 
 himself."  It  was  the  evidence  that  he  was  man  that  he 
 died ;  it  was  the  demonstration  that  he  was  more  than 
 man,  and  so  his  death,  very  different  from  ours,  that  he 
 died  not  for  himself.  The  death  of  Christ  is  the  sub- 
 ject of  extended  prophecy.  Isaiah  liii.  is  an  exposition 
 of  Daniel  ix.  26.  That  wonderful  chapter  of  the  evan- 
 gelical prophet  may  be  called  the  true  crucifix.  It 
 describes  his  death,  the  nature  of  his  death,  the  results 
 of  his  death.  It  is  expressly  applied  by  an  inspired 
 Apostle  to  the  death  of  Christ ;  and  therefore,  about  its 
 application,  in  a  Christian's  mind,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
 whatever.   When  Peter  says  :  "  Who  did  no  sin,  neither 
 
Messiah's  death.  343 
 
 was  guile  found  in  his  mouth :  who,  when  he  was 
 reviled,  reviled  not  again ;  when  he  suffered,  he  threat- 
 ened not;  but  committed  himself  to  him  that  judgeth 
 righteously  :  who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own 
 body  on  the  tree,  that  we,  being  dead  to  sins,  should  live 
 unto  righteousness :  by  whose  stripes  j'c  were  healed. 
 For  ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray ;  but  are  now  returned 
 unto  the  shepherd  and  bishop  of  jonr  souls," — all  this 
 is  just  the  echo  of  the  language  of  Isaiah,  and  therefore 
 evidence  that  Peter  clearlj^  understood  the  53rd  of  Isaiah 
 to  refer  to  our  blessed  Lord. 
 
 Now,  the  important  truth  I  am  anxious  to  establish 
 as  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  is — the  sacrificial,  or  the 
 atoning  nature  of  the  death  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
 Jesus  Christ ;  and  in  order  to  do  so,  I  will  bring  forward 
 less  the  argument  of  man,  and  more  the  simple,  but 
 conclusive  testimony  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 Let  me  notice,  however,  preliminary  to  the  introduc- 
 tion of  the  passages  tliat  clearly  indicate  the  expiatory, 
 or  atoning,  or  sacrificial,  or  vicarious  nature  of  the  death 
 of  Christ, — for  all  these  words  have  one  leading  idea 
 running  through  them, — that  in  the  Kew  Testament, 
 whether  in  the  Gospels  or  in  the  Epistles,  there  is  a  1 
 constant  reference  made  to  the  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  i 
 and  flir  more  frecjuently  than  to  his  birth,  his  life,  his  i^ 
 example,  or  to  his  aboriginal  dignity.  When  he  speaks 
 of  himself  he  says  :  "  The  Son  of  man  goeth,  as  it  is 
 written  of  him;"  that  is,  he  is  about  to  die,  as  it  has 
 been  predicted  of  him  in  the  prophets.  And  he  alludes 
 again  and  again  in  the  minutest  particulars  to  this 
 event,  as  the  fulfilment  of  ancient  prophecy.  "  A  bone 
 of  him  shall  not  be  broken."  ''  They  pierced  my  hands 
 and  mj'  feet."  "  They  parted  my  raiment,  and  cast 
 lots  for  my  vesture."  All  of  these  are  references  to  his 
 death,  the  peculiar  accompaniments  of  that  death,  and 
 to  that  death  as  the  burden  of  ancient  prophecy,  the 
 gi*eat  central  point  to  whicli  and  about  which  all  ancient 
 predictions  converge.  The  death  of  Jesus,  so  singularly 
 painful,  is  represented  throughout  Scripture,  as  that  of 
 a  perfectly  innocent  being.     His  own  crucifiers  could 
 
344  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 prove  nothing  against  him.  A  voice  from  neaven  said, 
 with  unearthly  majesty,  ''  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
 whom  I  have  been,  am,  and  shall  be,  well  pleased." 
 Judus  himself  said,  '•'  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood." 
 Pilate  said,  "  I  find  no  fault  in  him."  Satan  was  equally 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 If  the  objectors  to  the  atonement  say,  "It  is  not 
 reasonable  that  the  just  should  die  for  the  unjust,"  they 
 might  say,  with  still  greater  force,  it  is  not  reasonable, 
 on  the  same  grounds,  that  the  just  should  die  at  all. 
 Here  then,  is  the  phenomenon,  the  strange  phenomenon 
 — that  a  being,  pronounced  by  God  to  be  innocent, 
 proved  from  the  silence  of  his  enemies,  the  contradic- 
 tions of  his  accusers,  and  the  personal  and  protracted 
 experience  of  his  friends  and  followers,  to  be  an  innocent 
 being,  is  found  to  have  been  the  greatest  sufferer  of  the 
 greatest  agony  of  any  that  ever  bore  a  cross,  or  perished 
 from  the  earth. 
 
 It  was  a  perfectly  voluntarj'  death ;  it  was  not  forced 
 upon  him  contrary  to  his  will ;  it  did  not  overtake  him 
 by  surprise.  He  pointed  it  out  as  the  ultimate  stage  of 
 his  journey ;  he  predicted  it  as  a  fact  that  must  of 
 necessity  be.  He  said  of  himself, — *'  I  lay  down  my 
 life  ;  no  man  taketh  it  from  me."  He  chose  to  die,  and 
 chose  to  die  not  because  he  loved  death,  but  because  he 
 loved  us.  It  was  for  the  joy  set  before  him — that  joy, 
 the  restoration  of  sinners — that  he  endured  the  cross, 
 and  despised  the  shame.  If  Christ's  death  be  not 
 atoning,  the  fact  that  he,  the  innocent,  thus  died  volun- 
 tarily, and  by  choice  and  preference,  is  an  inscrutable 
 mj'stery,  an  inexplicable  fact. 
 
 Again  :  while  his  death  was  voluntary  in  this  respect, 
 it  was,  in  another  respect,  the  result  of  Divine  prede- 
 termination and  decree.  The  Father  is  said  to  have 
 ''sent"  him,  and  to  have  "given"  him.  In  the  Acts 
 of  the  Apostles,  it  is  said  that  "  he  was  delivered  by  the 
 determinate  council  and  foreknowledge  of  God."  And 
 again  :  "  Against  thy  holy  child  Jesus,  Avhom  thou  hast 
 anointed,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the 
 Gentiles,  and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  to- 
 
Messiah's  death.  345 
 
 gether,  for  to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel 
 determined  before  to  be  done."  It  is  worthy  of  notice, 
 that  what  God  predetermined  is  not  said  to  have  been 
 the  teaching-  of  Jesus,  the  mission  of  Jesus,  or  the 
 example  of  Jesus, — but  the  death  of  Jesus.  Unless, 
 therefore,  there  be  something  emphatic,  peculiar,  dis- 
 tinctive in  that  death,  we  cannot  understand  how  it 
 should  be  that  of  an  innocent  being,  perfectly  volun- 
 tary on  his  part,  and  yet  predetermined  by  God  the 
 Father. 
 
 Jesus  was  put  to  death,  charged  with  the  blasphemy 
 of  assuming  to  be  God,  while  his  enemies  protested  he 
 was  not  God.  He  claimed  equalitj'  with  God — of  this 
 there  is  no  doubt — and  when  told  that  he  had  clone  so, 
 he  admitted  and  justified  the  claim.  !N'ow,  if  those  who 
 deny  the  atoning  nature  of  the  death  of  Christ  believe 
 that  he  was  a  Divine  teacher  sent  from  God,  ever  speak- 
 ing truth,  and  incapable  of  assuming  wliat  was  not  his 
 right,  thej'  must  feel  that  Avhen  he  claimed  to  be  God, 
 he  stated  what  was  true,  and  assumed  what  Avas  perfectly 
 due  to  him ;  and  that,  therefore,  he  was  God.  Here, 
 also,  the  mystery  of  his  death  accumulates.  We  have 
 not  only  the  strange  mysteiy  of  an  innoceyit  being 
 suffering  death,  a  voluntarily-chosen  death, — a  death 
 predetermined  and  decreed  by  God  ;  but  a  Divine  Being 
 in  our  nature  suffering  that  death.  Must  there  not 
 have  been  something  peculiar,  significant,  emphatic,  in 
 the  death  of  Jesus,  such  as  is  not  in  the  death  of  the 
 most  sainted  martyr  that  ever  lived  and  died  ? 
 
 What  accompanied  the  Saviour's  death  is  also  very 
 peculiar  ;  so  much  so  as  to  have  been  the  accompaniment 
 of  no  other  death.  That  awful  and  mysterious  agony  in 
 the  garden  of  Gethsemane  ;  that  still  more  mysterious 
 cry  upon  the  cross,  *'  My  God,  my  God,  M'hy  has  thou 
 forsaken  me?"  and  in  the  midst  of  that  terrible  for- 
 sakenness to  which  he  gave  so  poignant  an  expression, 
 the  putting  fortli  of  the  sublime  power  of  saying  to  the 
 thief  upon  the  cross, — ''  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me 
 in  paradise  ;" — surely,  surely  this  was  not  the  death  of 
 an  ordinary  missionary,  nor  of  even  the  holiest  martyr. 
 
346  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES, 
 
 All  this  stamps  the  death  of  Jesus  as  something  unique, 
 totally  different  from  the  death  of  any  other  recorded  in 
 the  annals  of  the  sufferers  of  mankind. 
 
 Then  mark  the  other  fact.  Jesus  suffered,  as  he  in- 
 dicated himself,  what  no  holy  martyr  ever  suffered.  He 
 cried,  ''Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  Iso  Christian 
 was  ever  forsaken  at  his  death  by  God.  Is  it  not  God's 
 own  promise? — ''I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake 
 thee."  This  is  promised  to  every  believer.  Kever  yet 
 was  a  true  Christian  forsaken  of  God  in  the  agony  of 
 death.  Yet  Jesus  was.  "  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?" 
 Docs  not  this  indicate  somctliing  in  this  death  more 
 than  in  the  death  of  a  good  man  setting  an  example  of 
 patience  ?  Is  it  not  a  death  in  its  nature  clearly  dis- 
 tinguished from  all  other  deaths,  and  indicating  an  end 
 which  is  not  exhausted  b)'  what  the  Socinian,  or  the 
 Unitarian,  or  the  mere  moralist,  pronounces  concerning 
 Jesus  ? 
 
 The  death  of  Jesus  was  also  accompanied  with 
 miracles, — and  these  ver}-  remarkable  ones.  We  are 
 told,  that  from  the  sixth  hour  there  was  darkness  over 
 all  the  land  until  the  ninth^hour.  This  never  accom- 
 panied any  other  death.  AYe  are  told,  again,  that  "  the 
 veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the 
 bottom  :  significative,  as  explained  by  the  Apostle  in 
 his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  of  access  to  the  holiest  of 
 all.  We  are  told  that  ''the  earth  did  quake,  and  the 
 rocks  rent,  and  the  graves  were  opened,  and  many 
 bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose,  and  came  out  of 
 the  graves  after  his  resurrection,  and  went  into  the  holy 
 city,  and  appeared  unto  many."  We  read,  also,  that 
 "  when  the  centurion,  and  they  that  were  with  him, 
 watching  Jesus,  saw  the  earthquake,  and  those  things 
 that  were  done,  they  feared  greatly,  saj'ing  [from  the 
 overwhelming  demonstration  nature  was  rendering  to 
 the  significance  of  this  death],  Truly  this  was  the  Son 
 of  God." 
 
 Lastly,  what  is  equally  peculiar  and  distinctive,  Jesus 
 instituted  a  memorial,  celebrated  in  every  sanctuary, 
 every  day  of  the  year  somewhere,  called  the  Supper  of 
 
Messiah's  death.  347 
 
 tlie  Lord,    or  the   Eucharist ;    having   a  retrospective 
 reference  to  the  fact  that  he  died  upon  the  cross. 
 
 ^o\Y  I  ask,  Why  did  not  Jesus  select  his  baptism  to 
 be  commemorated  ?  Why  not  his  birth,  wlicn  angels 
 broke  the  silence  of  the  night,  and  proclaimed  peace  on 
 earth,  glory  to  God,  and  goodwill  among  mankind  ? 
 AVliy  did  he  take  that  very  fact  in  his  history  which  is 
 still  the  most  offensive  to  the  Jew,  the  most  incredible 
 to  the  Gentile,  the  greatest  evidence  of  his  humiliation, 
 his  degradation,  and  his  shame  ?  Why  did  he  take  that 
 one  fact  in  preference  to  the  more  majestic  facts  of  his 
 biography,  to  be  the  subject  of  a  ceaseless  memorial  in 
 every  congregation  throughout  the  world,  and  to  the 
 end  of  time :  Do  not,  I  ask,  all  these  things  indicate, 
 nay,  demonstrate,  that  there  was  in  the  death  of  Jesus 
 that  which  was  not  in  the  death  of  Paul,  Peter,  or 
 Polycarp,  or  Ignatius,  or  of  sainted  sufferers  or  devoted 
 martyrs,  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  hour  ? 
 
 Having  indicated  these  facts,  I  now  proceed  to  trans- 
 fer from  the  pages  of  the  iSTew  Testament  the  leading 
 descriptions  of  the  death  of  Christ,  in  order  that  j'ou 
 may  have,  not  my  reasoning,  or  my  inferential  conclu- 
 sion, but  God's  own  testimony  respecting  the  signifi- 
 cance, the  nature,  the  issues,  and  the  effects  of  the  death 
 of  Jesus.  For  this  purpose  I  have  taken  from  the 
 **  Biblical  Repository "  for  April,  1850,  a  collection  of 
 texts  which  strike  me  as  extremely  conclusive,  in  their 
 combined  bearing,  on  the  nature  of  the  death  of  Christ. 
 I  present,  first  of  all — 
 
 iilSTOEICAL    APPELLATIVES    OF    THE    BEATH    OF    CHRIST. 
 1.  QavaroQ — Death. 
 
 Rom.  V.  10.  ...  We  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his 
 
 Son. 
 1  Cor.  xi,  26.  .  .  Ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come. 
 Philip,  ii.  8.  .  .  .  And  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
 
 of  the  cross. 
 Col.  i   21,  22.  .  .  Yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  in  the  body  of  his 
 
 flesh  throujih  death. 
 
348  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  9 Made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suf- 
 fering of  death. 
 
 ii.  9 Should  taste  death  for  every  man. 
 
 ii.  14 That  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that 
 
 had  the  power  of  death. 
 
 ix.  15.  .  .  .  He  is  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament,  that 
 by  means  of  death  for  the  redemption  of  the 
 transgressions. 
 
 2.  'A7ro9vtj(Tic(t) — Die. 
 
 Rom.  V.  6 In  due  time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly. 
 
 V.  8 While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us. 
 
 vi.  10.  .  .  .  For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once, 
 xiv.  15.    .  .  Destroy  not  him  .  .  .  for  whom  Christ  died. 
 
 1  Cor.  viii  .11.  .  .  The  weak  brother  perish,  for  whom  Christ  died. 
 
 XV.  3. .  .  .  How  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins. 
 
 2  Cor.  V.  14.  .  .  .  That  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead. 
 
 V.  15.  .  .  .  But  unto  him  which  died  for  them. 
 1  Thess.  V.  9, 10.  To  obtain    salvation    through   our  Lord  Jesus 
 Clu'ist,  who  died  for  us. 
 
 3.  "Eravpuc; — Cross 
 
 1  Cor.  i.  17.  ...  Lest  the  cross  of  Christ  should  be  made  of  none 
 
 effect, 
 i.  18.    ...  For  the  preaching  of  the  cross  is  to  them  that 
 
 perish. 
 
 Gal.  V.  11 Then  is  the  offence  of  the  cross  ceased. 
 
 vi.  12 Persecution  for  the  cross  of  Christ 
 
 vi.  14 Glory   save   in   the   cross   of  our    Lord    Jesus 
 
 Christ. 
 Eph.  ii.  IG Reconcile  both  unto  God  in  one  body  by  the 
 
 cross. 
 Philip,  ii.  8.  .  .  .  Became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
 
 the  cross. 
 
 Col.  i.  20 IVIade  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross. 
 
 Heb.  xii.  2 For  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the 
 
 cross. 
 
 4.   "Eravpouj — Crucify. 
 
 1  Cor.  i.  1 3.  ...  Was  Paul  crucified  for  you  ? 
 1  Cor.  i.  23.  .  .  .  But  we  preach  C!irist  crucified. 
 
 ii.  2.   ...  Save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified. 
 Gal.  iii.  1 Evidently  set  forth,  crucified  among  you. 
 
 5.  '2(*)aT-u) — Slay. 
 
 Rev.  V.  6 Stood  a  Lamb,  as  it  had  been  slain. 
 
 V.  9 For  thou  toast  slain,  and  has  rede*»raed  us  to 
 
 God  by  thy  blood. 
 
MESSIAH  S   DEATH. 
 
 349 
 
 Rev.  V.  12.  .  . 
 xiii.  8.  . . 
 
 Mark  viii.  31. 
 
 Luke  xxii.  15, 
 
 Luke  xxiv.  26. 
 
 xxiv.  46. 
 
 Acts  iii.  18.  .  , 
 
 xvii.  3.  . 
 Heb.  ix.  20.  . 
 1  Pet.  ii.  21.  . 
 
 iii.  18. 
 
 iv.  1. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  9. 
 
 ii.  10. 
 
 1  Pet.  i.  11. 
 
 v.l. 
 
 ,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain. 
 The  Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation  of  the 
 world. 
 
 6.  Ilao-xw — Suffer. 
 
 The  Son  of  Man  must  suffer  many  things,  and 
 be  rejected.     Matt.  xvi.  21 ;  Luke  ix.  'I'l. 
 
 I  have  desired  to  eat  this  passover  witli  you 
 before  I  suffer. 
 
 Ought  not  Chi-ist  to  have  suffered  these  things  ? 
 
 It  behoved  Christ  to  suffer. 
 
 God  before  had  showed  .  .  .  that  Christ  should 
 
 siffer. 
 .  Christ  must  needs  have  suffered. 
 
 For  then  must  he  often  have  suffered. 
 
 Christ  also  siff'ered  for  us. 
 
 Christ  also  luith  once  suffered  for  sins. 
 
 Forasmuch,  then,  as  Christ  Aafl^  suffered  for  us. 
 
 7.  116.97]  fia — Suffering. 
 
 A  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering 
 of  death. 
 ,  Perfect  through  siffeniigs. 
 
 Testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 
 ,  A  witness  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 
 
 :Matt.  xxvi.  28. 
 
 Acts  XX.  28. 
 Rom.  iii.  25. 
 
 V.  9. 
 
 1  Cor.  ii.  25. 
 
 Eph.  i.  7.  .  . 
 
 ii.  ]  3.  . 
 
 Col.  i.  20.  .  . 
 
 Heb.  ix.  14. 
 X.  19. 
 X.  29. 
 
 xiii.  12. 
 
 xiii.  20. 
 
 1  Pet.  i.  2.  . 
 
 i.  9.  . 
 
 8.    Alfia — Blood. 
 
 This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
 
 is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
 
 Mark  xiv   24  ;  Luke  xxii.  20. 
 Which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood. 
 Through  faith  in  his  blood. 
 Being  now  justified  by  his  blood. 
 This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood. 
 In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. 
 Are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 
 Having  made   peace  through   the  blood  of  his 
 
 cross. 
 .  How  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ  .  .  . 
 
 purge  your  conscience. 
 Boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  of  all  by  the 
 
 blood  uf  Jesus. 
 Hath   counted   the  blood  of  the   covenant  an 
 
 luiholy  thing. 
 Sanctify  the  people  with  his  own  blood. 
 ,  Through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant. 
 Sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 (redeemed)  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ. 
 
350  rEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 1  John  i.  7.    ...  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
 
 from  all  sin. 
 Rev.  i.  5 Washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood. 
 
 V.  9 Hath  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood. 
 
 vii.  14.   ...  Made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
 
 1.  "^vxv — -^'/s. 
 Matt.  XX.  2!5.  .  .  To  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many. 
 John  X.  io.    ...  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep. 
 1  John  iii.  10".  .  .  Because  he  laid  down  his  life  for  us. 
 
 10.  Karapd — Curse. 
 Gal.  iii.  13 Being  made  a  curse  for  us. 
 
 I^OTV  take  all  the  passages,  bearing  on  and  descriptive 
 cf  the  death  of  Christ,  and  what  must  be  the  inference  ? 
 Is  this  the  death  of  an  ordinary  martyr  ?  Why  is  the 
 death  of  Jesus  thus  selected,  thus  dwelt  upon, — the 
 whole  stress  of  the  Gospel,  as  it  were,  being  laid  upon 
 it  ?  Why  does  the  Apostle  pronounce  "  Christ  crucified," 
 and  not  "  Christ  baptised,"  as  the  epitome  of  the  Gospel? 
 Why  does  he  say,  "God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save 
 in  the  cross  of  Christ,"  and  not  rather,  "  God  forbid  that 
 I  should  glory,  save  in  the  croAvn,  or  in  the  manger,  or 
 in  the  examph^  or  in  the  life  of  Christ  ?"  Why  is  it  in 
 the  whole  apocalyptic  song  not,  the  Lamb  that  was 
 baptised,  that  was  born,  that  lived  so  holy,  that  died  so 
 meekly,  but  '*  the  Lamb  that  was  slain:"  Why  is  so 
 much  said  about  the  blood  of  Christ — that  which  cannot 
 be  said  about  any  other  shed  blood  upon  earth  r  The 
 answer  must  be,  that  there  is  something  in  the  death  of 
 Christ  so  peculiar,  so  singular,  so  unlike,  in  its  meaning 
 and  its  application,  to  the  death  of  any  other,  that  we  must 
 conclude  that  we  do  not  exhaust  its  meaning  when  we  say 
 it  was  an  atonement  made  by  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that 
 sin  may  be  forgiven  and  sinners  may  be  saved. 
 
 The  next  class  of  phrases  may  be  called — 
 
 COMilEllCIAL    APPELLAXrVES. 
 
 1.  AvTpoio — Redeem. 
 
 Tim.  ii.  14 That  he  xn\f!^ht  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity. 
 
 1  Pet.  i.  18,  19.  .  Ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  thing-, 
 .  .  .  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ. 
 
MESSIAH  S   DEATH. 
 
 351 
 
 2.  Avrpov — Ransom. 
 
 Mai.  XX.  ^8  ...  Tlie  Son  of  Man  came  ...  to  give  his  life  a 
 ransom  for  many.     jMark  x.  45. 
 
 3.  AvTiXvTpov — Hansom. 
 1  Tim.  ii.  6.  ...  Who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all. 
 
 4.  AvrpuxTig — Redemption. 
 
 Heb.  ix.  12.  ...  By  his  own  blood  he  entered  in  once  into  the 
 holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemp- 
 tion for  us. 
 
 5.  'ATToXwrpoxTif — Redemption. 
 
 Rom.  iii.  24.  .  .  .  Justified  freely  by  his  gi'i  ce,  through  the  re- 
 demption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 1  Cor.  i    30.  .  .  .  Who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  .  .  .  redemption. 
 
 Eph.  i.  17 In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. 
 
 Heb.  ix.  15.  .  .  .  That  by  means  of  death  for  the  redemption  of 
 the  transgressions. 
 
 6.  Ayopd^ii) — Tifiij — Buy — Price. 
 
 1  Cor.  vi.  20.    .  .  For  ye  are  hovrjht  with  a  price. 
 
 2  Pet.  ii.  1 Denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them. 
 
 Rev.  v.  9 Has   redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood. 
 
 xiv.  3.    .  .  .  Which  v:e7'e  redcemeel  from  the  earth, 
 xiv.  4.    .  .  .  These  were  redeemed  from  among  men. 
 
 7.  'E^ayopa^w — Redeem  from. 
 
 Gal.  iii.  13 CIirist//!a//irec?eeOTC(i  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law. 
 
 iv.    5 2'o  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law. 
 
 8.  UepiTToiiOfiai — Purchase,  or  acqiiire. 
 
 Acts  XX.  28.  .  .  .  Which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood. 
 
 9.  HepnTohjCfig — Purchased  possession. 
 
 Eph.  i.  14 Until    the  redemption   of  the   p)Xirchased  p^os- 
 
 session. 
 1  Pet.  ii.  9 A  peculiar  people  (literally,  of  acquirement  to 
 
 himself) 
 
 Hero  is  another  class  of  exprelsions  which  again  show 
 that  the  death  of  Christ  must  have  something  very 
 peculiar  and  significant  in  it.  They  tell  us  what  we  are 
 purchased  from — from  ''all  iniquity,"  from  "the  curse 
 of  the  law,"  from  ''  condemnation."  We  are  told,  too, 
 what  we  are  purchased  with — with  his  life,  his  blood, 
 
352  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 himself;  not  by  his  example,  not  by  his  teaching,  not 
 by  his  miracles,  not  by  his  walk  :  we  arc  purchased,  re- 
 deemed, washed,  justified,  accepted,  through  his  death. 
 Again  I  say,  there  must  be  something  'very  peculiar 
 about  the  death  of  Christ  to  warrant  the  application  of 
 such  phraseology  to  it. 
 
 The  third  class  of  expression  may  be  called — 
 
 SACEIFICIAL    APPELLATIVES. 
 1.  'Apyifpft'C — Hirjli  Priest. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  17 That  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  Hiyh 
 
 Priest. 
 
 iii.  1 nifjh  Priest  of  our  profession,  Clirist  Jesus. 
 
 iv.  14.  ...  We  have  a  great  IIi[/h  Pried  that  is  passed 
 unto  tlie  heavens.  Jesus  the  son  of  God. 
 
 V.  1 For  every  Jlifjh  Pried  taken  from  among  men, 
 
 is  ordained  for  men  in  things  pertaining  to 
 God,  that  he  may  offer  both  gifts  and  sacri- 
 fices for  sins. 
 
 V,  10 Called  of  God  a  High  Priest  after  the  oj-der  of 
 
 Melchisedec. 
 
 vii.  26.  .  .  .  For  such  an  High  Pried  became  us. 
 
 viii.  1.  ...  We  have  such  an  High  Pried,  who  is  set  on 
 the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  majesty  in 
 the  heavens. 
 
 2.  'Icpavg — PHest. 
 
 Heb.  V.  6 Thou  art  a  -priest  for  ever. 
 
 vii.  11-  ...  Another  2^''i^d  should  rise  after  the   order  of 
 
 Melchisedec. 
 X.  21 An  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God. 
 
 3.  'Itpoj(jvi'i]  -  Priesthood. 
 Heb.  vii.  4.    .  .  .  Hath  an  unchangeable  priesthood. 
 
 4.  'lXa<TKo/.tot — Reconcile  hg  expiation. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  17 A   merciful  and  faithful   high   priest  in   things 
 
 pertainijig  to  God,  to  make  reconcilialion  for 
 the  sins  of  the  people. 
 
 5.  'WaapvQ — Propitiation. 
 
 1  John  ii.  2.  .  .  .  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 
 
 iv.  10.  .  .  .  Sent  his  son  to  be  the  piropiiiation  for  our  sins. 
 
 6,  'iXacrrrjpiov — Propitiation. 
 
 Kom.  iii.  25   .  .  .  Whom  God  has  sent  forth  to  be  a, propitiation 
 through  faith  in  his  blood. 
 
Messiah's  death.  853 
 
 7.  'Afivbg—Lamb. 
 
 John  i.  29.  .     .  .  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh   away 
 
 the  sin  of  the  world. 
 1  Pet.  i.  19.  ...  Blood  of  Ciirist,  as  of  a  lainb  without  blemish 
 
 and  without  spot. 
 
 8.  ^Apviov — Lamb. 
 
 Rev.  V.  12 Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  plan. 
 
 vii.  14.  ...  White  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
 xiii.  18.  .  .  .  The   Lamb   slain   froni  the   foundation  of  the 
 world. 
 
 9.  0uct> — 7rdc7Y« — To  Sacnjice — Passover. 
 1  Cor.  V.  7.    ...  For  even  Christ  our passorer  is  sacrificed  for  us. 
 
 10.  Qvaia — A  Sacrifice. 
 
 Eph.  V.  2 Hath  given  himself  for   us  an   offering  and  a 
 
 sacrifice  to  God. 
 Ileb.  ix.  26.   .  .  .  Hath  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice 
 of  himself. 
 X.  12.  ...  .  After  he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins. 
 
 11.  Ylpo(j(popa — An  Offering. 
 
 Eph.  V.2 Hath  jiiven  himself  an  q^emi^r  and  a  sacrifice  to 
 
 to  God. 
 Heb.  X.  10.    ...  Through  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  once. 
 X.  14 For  by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected. 
 
 12.  npo(f(psp(o — Offtr. 
 
 Heb.  ix.  14.   ...  Who  throuvh  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself 
 
 without  spot  to  God. 
 ix.  35.  .    .  .  Nor  yet  that  he  should  o^er  himself  often, 
 ix.  28.    ...  So  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of 
 
 many. 
 X.  12 After  he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins. 
 
 13.  'Ava(pep<jj — Beat'. 
 
 Heb.  ix.  28.  ...  So  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of 
 many, 
 vii.  27.  .  .  .  For  this  he  did  once  when  he  offered  up  himself. 
 
 14.  ^EvTvyxavu) — To  malx  intercession. 
 
 Heb.  vii.  25.  .  .  .  Seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
 them.     Isa.  liii.  12. 
 ix.  24.  .  .  .  But  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the 
 presence  of  God  for  us. 
 
 15.  TiapaKkriTOQ — An  Advocate. 
 1  John  ii.  1.  ...  We  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
 Christ  the  righteous. 
 
 A  A 
 
354  rKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 jS"ow  wliat  do  all  these  passages  show  ?  That  the 
 idea  of  atonement  or  sacrifice  is  inseparable  from  the 
 death  of  tlie  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  These  are  phrases  bor- 
 rowed from  the  ancient  Jewish  economy.  "Was  that 
 economy  distinguished  by  sacrifices  :  Was  the  idea  of 
 an  atonement  at  all  impressed  and  inculcated  upon  that 
 people?  Let  us  look  at  their  sacrifices.  In  every 
 sacrifice  of  an  expiatory  kind  offered  by  the  Jew,  there 
 was  first  a  transgressor,  somebody  who  was  morally  or 
 ceremonially  unclean.  There  was,  secondly,  a  victim, — 
 a  goat,  a  lamb,  or  a  bullock,  the  blood  of  which  was  shed 
 and  sprinkled  on  the  altar.  There  was  next  a  priest 
 who  slew  the  victim,  shed  its  blood,  and  sprinkled  it  on 
 the  altar.  And  there  was,  lastly,  the  imposition  of 
 hands  upon  the  head  of  the  victim.  The  idea  inculcated 
 was  that  the  guilt  of  him  vrho  laid  on  his  hands  was 
 transferred  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  victim  that  was 
 slain,  or  the  goat  that  was  dismissed  and  sent  away  into 
 the  wilderness.  ]N^o  one,  therefore,  can  deny  that  the 
 whole  Jewish  economy  was  pervaded  by  the  idea  of  ex- 
 piation— that  the  great  lesson  inculcated  in  every  act 
 was,  without  shedding  of  bluod  there  was  no  remission 
 of  sins.  jS'ow  ever}'  one  of  these  expressions  is  applied 
 to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  our  propitiation,  our 
 priest,  our  sacrifice,  our  altar,  our  atonement.  He  sub- 
 stituted himself,  the  just  in  the  room  of  the  unjust ;  and 
 pardon,  forgiveness,  and  acceptance  arc  associated  with 
 his  so  substituting  himself,  and  so  being  a  sacrifice  for 
 our  sin.  The  idea,  then,  accumulates  in  evidence  that 
 Jesus  died,  not  an  example  how  the  good  should  meekly 
 suff'er,  but  an  atonement  by  which  the  sins  of  the  guilty 
 might  be  forgiven. 
 
 The  next  class  of  expressions  are — 
 
 TERMS    OF    OBJECTIVE,    OCCASIOXAL,    AXD    PERSONAL 
 RELATION. 
 
 1,  'Afiapria — Sin. 
 Matt.  xxvi.  28.  .  Which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sin. 
 John  i.  29    ....  The  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
 the  world. 
 
Messiah's  death.  355 
 
 Acts  xiii.  38.  .  .  .  Tlir  jugli  this  man  is  preached  unlo  you  the 
 forgiveness  of  sins. 
 
 Rom.  vi.  10,  ...  In  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once. 
 
 viii.  o.   ...  In  the  Hkeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  con- 
 demned sin  in  tlie  flesh 
 
 1  Cor.  XV.  3.  .  .  .  That  Christ  died  for  our  sins. 
 
 2  Cor.  V.  21.  .  .  .  Hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no 
 
 sin. 
 Col.  114 Redemption  thr  ugh  his  blood,  even  the  for- 
 giveness of  sills. 
 Heb.  i  3 Had  by  himself  purged  our  sins. 
 
 ii.  17 To  make  leconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 
 
 ix.  26.    .  .  .  To  put  away  sin  by  the  saei'ifice  of  himself. 
 
 ix.  28.    .  .  .  Once  offered  to  beax'  the  sins  of  many. 
 
 x.'12 After  he  had  off"ered  one  sacrifice  for  sins. 
 
 1  Pet.  ii.  24.  .  .  .  Bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 
 
 iii.  18 Hath  once  suffered  for  siiis. 
 
 1  John  i.  7 Tiie  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
 
 from  all  sin. 
 
 ii.  2 He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 
 
 iii.  5 Manifested  to  take  away  our  sins. 
 
 iv.  X bent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 
 
 2.  'Af.idpT7]iJ.a — Sin. 
 
 Rom.  iii.  25.  .  .  .  Set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in 
 his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the 
 remission  of  sins  tnat  are  passed. 
 
 3.  UapdTTTojfia — Offence,  Trespass,  Sin. 
 
 Rom.  iv.  25.  .  .  .  Who  was  delivered  for  our  offences. 
 
 Eph.  i.  7 Redemption  through  his  blood,  forgiveness  of 
 
 sins. 
 
 4.  'n.apdj3a(nQ — Transgression. 
 
 Heb.  ix.  15.  ...  That  by  means  of  death  for  the  redemption  of 
 the  transgi-essions  that  were  under  the  first 
 testament. 
 
 5.  'Avoi-iia — Iniquity. 
 Tit.  ii.  14 That  he  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity. 
 
 6.  'AjxaprojXbg — Sinnei'. 
 
 Rom.  V.  8 While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us. 
 
 1  Tim.  i.  15.  ...  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  s&ve  sinyiers. 
 
 7.  "Acre(5riQ — Ungodly. 
 
 Rom.  V.  6 In  due  time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly. 
 
 A  A   2 
 
356  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 8.  "Aclkoq — Unjust. 
 
 1  Pet.  iii.  18.   .  .  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the 
 just  for  the  tinjust. 
 
 9.  'ExOpog — Enemy. 
 
 Rom.  V.  10 When  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to 
 
 God  by  the  death  of  his  Son. 
 
 10.  Tore;  vtto  vofiov — Those  tinder  the  laio. 
 Gal.  iv.  5 To  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law. 
 
 11.  IIp6i3aT07' — Sheep. 
 John  X.  15.    ...  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep. 
 
 12.  *EKK\i]<Tia — Church. 
 
 Acts  XX.  28.  .  .  .  The  church  of  God,  which  he  hath   purchased 
 
 with  his  own  blood. 
 Eph.  V.  25 Christ  also  loved  the  church.,  and  gave  himself 
 
 for  it. 
 
 13.  AaoQ — People. 
 
 Heb.  ii.  17 To  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  pcopZg. 
 
 xiii.  12.  .  .  .  Wherefore  Jesus  also  that  he  mi<;ht  sanctify  the 
 pieople  with  his  own  blood,  suffered  without 
 the  gate. 
 
 14.  IloXXot — Many. 
 
 ]\Iatt.  xxvi.  28.  .  Which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
 
 XX.  28.  ...  To  give  his  life  a  ransom  (or  many. 
 Heb.  ix.  28.  ...  So  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of 
 many. 
 
 15.  Jlag — TTcivTeg Every  one  all. 
 
 2  Cor.  V.  14.  ...  If  one  died  for  all. 
 
 V.  15.  ...  And  that  he  died  for  all. 
 1  Tim.  ii.  6.  .  . .  Gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all. 
 Heb   ii.  9    ....  That  he,  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death 
 for  erery  man. 
 
 16.  KocTfiog — World. 
 
 John  i.  29 The  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
 
 the  world. 
 vi.  51.  ...  And  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh, 
 
 which  I  will  give  for  the  life  oi  the  world. 
 1  John  ii.  2.  .  .  ,  And  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not 
 
 for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
 
 world. 
 
Messiah's  death.  357 
 
 Is  not  the  thought  still  more  clearly  impressed  that 
 the  atonement  of  Jesus  was  of  an  expiatory  nature,  when 
 all  the  phraseology  and  usages  of  the  ancient  Levitical 
 economy  are  applied  to  that  death  ;  and  when  Christ  is 
 said  to  have  died  rjTrlp  for  avn  instead  of,  and  irfpi  in 
 behalf  of,  or  concerning  us  ?  Does  it  not  prove  that 
 sin  is  in  some  way  removed  by  his  death,  and  that 
 sinners  are  in  some  way  benefited,  as  the  blessed  and 
 glorious  issue  ? 
 
 TEEilS    OF   HEMOTE    HELATION,    OR   FIXAL    DECISTOX. 
 
 1.  Stu^w — Save. 
 Matt,  xviii.  11.  .  For  the  Son  of  man  came  to  save  that  which 
 
 was  lost 
 John  iii.  17.  .  .  .  That  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved 
 
 xii.  47.  ...  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to  save  the 
 world. 
 1  Tim.  i.  15.  .  .  .  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  sare  sinners. 
 
 2.  2wr))p — Saviour. 
 1  John  iv.  14.  .  .  The  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of 
 the  world. 
 
 3.  'AipeffiQ — Remission,  Forgiveness. 
 Matt.  xxvi.  28.  .  Wh'ch  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
 
 Acts  V.  31 Him  hath  God  exalted  ...  to  give  repentance 
 
 to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins. 
 xiii.  38.  ...  Through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you   the 
 foi'giveness  of  sins. 
 
 Eph.  i.  7 In   whom   we    have   redemption   through    his 
 
 blood,  the  foi'giveness  of  sins.     Col.  i.  14. 
 
 4,  Udptmg — Prefennission. 
 Rom.  iii.  25.  ,  .  .  For  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past. 
 
 5.  AiKaiu) — Justify. 
 
 Acts  xiii.  39.    .  .  By  him  all  that  believe  are  justified. 
 Kom.  iii.  24.  .  .  .  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the 
 redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 V.  9 Being  now  justified  by  his  blood. 
 
 Gal.  ii.  17 But  if,  while  we  seek  to  be  justified  by  Christ. 
 
 6.  AiKaioavvr] — Righteousness. 
 Rom.  iii.  25.  .  .  .  Set  forth  to    be   a    propitiation  ...  to    declare 
 his  rigldeousness,  that  lie  might  be  just,  and 
 the  justifier  of  him  which  believefh  in  Jesus. 
 
358  PEOrHETTC    STUDIES. 
 
 Rom.  X.  4 Chi'ist  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  riffhteovsness  to 
 
 every  one  that  believeth. 
 2  Cor.  V.  21.  .  .  .  For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  wlio 
 
 knew  no    sin,   that  we  might  be    made   the 
 
 rifjhteousness  of  God  in  him. 
 
 7.  KaraXXayr) — Reconciliation. 
 Rom.  V.  11.  .  .  .  By  whom  we  have  received  the  atonenievt. 
 8.  KrtraXXao-o-w — Reconcile. 
 
 Rom.  V.  10.  ...  We  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his 
 
 Son. 
 2  Cor.  V.  18.  .  .  .  Who   hath   reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Christ 
 
 Jesus. 
 V.  19 In   Christ,  rcconcilincf  the  world  unto  himself, 
 
 not  imputiui;-  their  trespasses  unto  them. 
 
 9    ^ATTOKaTaWaTTLo — Reconcile. 
 
 Eph.  ii.  1*? That  he  mir/ht  reconcile  both  unto  God  in  one 
 
 body  by  the  cross. 
 Col.  i.  21 Yet  now  hatli  he  reconciled  in  the  body  of  his 
 
 flesh  through  death. 
 
 We  have  thus  the  end  which  Christ  came  to  accom- 
 plish. He  came  to  put  away  sin,  and  to  save  sinners. 
 The  nature  of  that  result  is  described  as  salvation,  for- 
 giveness, remission  of  sins,  justification,  righteousness, 
 reconciliation.  Does  not  this  still  more  strongly  incul- 
 cate the  idea  I  am  now  teaching,  that  Christ's  death  was 
 expiatory,  vicarious,  or  atoning  r 
 
 TEllMS   EXPEESSIVE    OF    DIVINE    ACTIOX. 
 
 1.  Ai^dJfiL — Give. 
 
 John  iii.  16.  ...  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
 only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
 in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
 hfe. 
 
 2.  Tlapaciciojii — Give  up,  deliver. 
 Rom.  iv.  2.5.  .  .  .  Who  was  delivered  for  our  offences. 
 
 viii.  32-  . .  .  lie  that   spared   (tcptiaaro)    r,ot  his   own    Son, 
 but  aelivered  him  uj^  for  us  all. 
 
 3.  'Ekcotoq — Delivered  up. 
 
 Acts  ii.  23 Him,  he'uv^  delirerrd  liy  the  determinate  counsel 
 
 and  foreknowledge  c.f  God,  ye  have  taken,  and 
 bv  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain. 
 
Messiah's  death:.  359 
 
 4.  ITjooo/o/^w — Determine  before. 
 
 Acts  iv.  28 For  to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel 
 
 determined  before  to  be  done. 
 
 5.  'ATTooTgWoi — Send. 
 
 John  iii.  17.  ...  For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to 
 condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through 
 him  niiiiht  be  saved. 
 
 1  John  iv.  9.  .  .  .  Sent  his  only  lej^otten  Son  into  the  world,  that 
 
 we  might  live  through  him. 
 •■v.  10.  .  .  Sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  fur  our  sins. 
 IV.  14.  .  .  The  Father  sent  the  Sou  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
 
 world. 
 
 6.  TIpoTiGrjixi — Set  forth,  ajipoint, 
 Rom.  iii.  25.  .  .  .  Whom  God  ha'h  set  fort  I i  to  be  a  propitiation. 
 
 •  7.  Iloikii)  a/xapriav — Made  sin. 
 
 2  Coi*.  V.  21.  ...  For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who 
 
 knew  no  sin,  that  we    might    be   made    tlie 
 righteousness  of  God  in  him. 
 
 I  liave  given  yon  those  specimens  of  all  the  expres- 
 sions associated  with  the  death  of  Christ  contained  in 
 the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  I  first  ask  yon  to 
 notice  the  enormous  stress  that  is  had  npon  his  deatli ; 
 how  justification,  acceptance,  forgiveness,  are  all  asso- 
 ciated, not  with  his  baptism,  nut  \vith  his  example,  but 
 with  his  death  ;  how  the  great  erid  for  which  God  sent 
 him  into  the  world  was  not,  as  here  declared,  to  set  a 
 beautiful  example,  but  to  die.  I  ask  j-ou  to  notice  lio\r 
 that  death  is  connected  with  all  the  institutions  of  Levi, 
 which  were  intended  confessedly  and  professedly  to  in- 
 culcate the  idea  of  the  atonement;  and  how,  in  tlie  next 
 place,  it  is  associated  with  our  sins  and  their  removal, 
 and  with  sinners  and  their  acceptance  before  God. 
 
 jSTow,  with  regard  to  these  passages,  the  very  eloquent 
 but  dee])ly  deceived  Dr.  Channing,  whose  dying  creed  it 
 is  said  Avas  very  different  from  his  living  creed,  re- 
 nouncing the  Socinianism  wliich  could  not  save,  and 
 accei)ting  the  Christianity  which  alone  proclaims  the 
 atonement  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  states,  in  vol.  iii. 
 of  his  works,  after  referring  to  some  of  these  extracts 
 
S60  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 from  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  and  speaking  of  the 
 hody  of  which  he  was  so  eloquent  and  gifted  an  expo- 
 nent :  *'  Many  of  us  are  dissatisfied  with  this  explana- 
 tion of  the  death  of  Christ  {'  that  it  procures  lorgiveness 
 by  leading  to  that  repentance  and  virtue  which  is  the 
 great  and  only  condition  on  wliich  forgiveness  is 
 bestowed'),  and  think  that  the  Scriptures  ascribe  the 
 remission  of  si?is  to  Chrisfs  death  -with  an  emphasis  so 
 peculiar,  that  ive  ought  to  consider  this  event  as  having  a 
 special  influence  in  removing  punishment T  Here  is  a  ray 
 of  light  entering  into  that  great  man's  mind,  and  show- 
 ing how  dissatisfied  he  was  with  the  popular  theology  of 
 his  body ;  and  thus  inducing  us  to  believe  what  was 
 reported  of  him  was  true, — that  he  died  renouncing  his 
 Unitarianism,  and  accepting  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus 
 as  that  which  cleanse th  from  all  sin. 
 
 Suppose  you  wished  to  convey  the  idea  which 
 Channing  dimly  saw,  but  Avhich  we  rejoice  to  have  the 
 privilege  and  joy  of  fully  accepting, — the  expiatory  and 
 atoning  nature  of  the  death  of  Jesus, — I  defy  you,  or 
 even  the  eloquent  author  whom  I  have  quot«d,  to  select 
 verbs,  nouns,  adjectives,  epithets,  and  appellatives,  that 
 more  emphatically,  directly,  and  fully  declare  that  the 
 death  of  Je;?us  was  expiatory  and  atoning.  If  you  will 
 read  those  extracts  which  I  have  given,  and  will  try  to 
 find  language  more  definite,  more  decided,  more  clearly 
 explanatory  of  your  meaning,  that  Christ  died  as  an 
 atonement,  you  Avill  find  it  impossible  to  do  so.  The 
 Apostles  have  exhausted  language  in  order  to  convey 
 this  idea.  If  they  did  not  understand  that  Christ  died 
 as  an  atonement,  they  have  purposely,  deliberately,  and 
 designedly  deceived  mankind.  It  is  impossible  to  sup- 
 pose that  men  who  understand  the  use  and  the  meaning 
 of  language — that  weapon  of  great  power — could  ever 
 have  used  such  ])hrascology  so  often,  in  such  changes  of 
 circumstances,  in  such  variety  of  construction,  on  so 
 many  occasions,  out  of  so  many  incidents,  except  they 
 had  intended  to  convey  this  great  idea,  that  the  death  of 
 Jesus  was  an  atonement  made  on  behalf  of  sinners,  and 
 for  the  remission  of   the   sins   of  them  that   believe. 
 
Messiah's  death.  361 
 
 Therefore  we  infer  that  the  system  of  TJnitarianism, 
 which  alleges  it  is  not  a  sacrihce,  is  simply  the  creed 
 and  misconception  of  man  ;  that  the  sj'stem  of  supersti- 
 tion, which  says  it  was  not  a  complete  sacrifice,  but 
 needs  to  be  added  to,  is  simply  the  system  of  the  priest ; 
 and  that  that  creed  is  the  true  one,  because  the  Divine 
 one,  Avhich  declares  that  he  died,  the  just  in  our  room,- 
 the  lioly  one  in  the  room  of  the  unholy ;  that  the  spot- 
 less Lamb  wore  our  tainted  fleece,  that  we,  the  fallen 
 and  stray  sheep,  might  be  clothed  with  his  glorious 
 righteousness;  that  he  paid  all  we  owed  to  God,  and 
 secured  from  God  far  more  than  God  owed  to  us ;  that 
 his  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and  that  in  him,  and  by 
 him,  and  through  him, — to  the  exclusion  of  all  repent- 
 ance, all  good  deeds,  all  sufferings,  all  praj'crs  of  saints 
 and  intercessions  of  angels,  everj'thing  in  heaven  or 
 earth,  however  excellent  or  however  bad, — that  in  him 
 and  through  him  alone,  we  have  forgiveness  of  sin  and 
 justification  in  the  sight  of  God.  Elessed  truths  are 
 these  !  Blessed  be  the  God  that  has  revealed  them.  We 
 have  not  to  climb  to  heaven  by  the  penitential  stairs  our 
 imaginations  may  construct,  nor  to  purchase  our  entrance 
 into  heaven  by  a  draft  on  the  funded  merit  or  virt\ies  of 
 any  church  or  corporation  whatever.  We  have  not  to  do 
 something  in  order  to  deserve  heaven :  God  gives  us 
 heaven  as  a  birthright,  and  bids  us,  conscious  of  the  gra- 
 titude we  owe  him,  go  forth  and  show  that  Ave  are  his, 
 and  manifest  our  devotion  to  his  Avill,  by  living  to  his 
 glory  and  his  honour,  in  doing  his  commandments.  It  is 
 not  for  us  to  speculate  whether  God  could  have  saved  us 
 by  any  other  process.  No  speculation,  I  conceive,  can 
 be  more  foolish.  It  is  matter  of  fact,  that  there  is  none 
 other  name  but  One  by  which  we  can  be  saved — that 
 there  is  but  one  process  of  restoration  revealed  unto  us ; 
 and  instead  of  speculating  whether  we  could  have  been 
 saved  by  any  other  process,  it  is  the  safer,  it  is  the  truer 
 way,  it  is  the  only  one,  earnestly  to  study  what  God  has 
 said,  and  to  seek  to  be  saved  in  the  way  of  his  own 
 ajipointment. 
 
 Tills  atonement  was  not  made  to  make  God  love  thos.> 
 whom  he  otherwise  hated.     This  is  not  the  accepted 
 
362  PEOPHETIC    STUDTES. 
 
 view  of  any  enliglitencd  auditory,  nor  is  it  sanctioned 
 in  Scripture.  The  atonement  was  offered  not  to  create 
 in  God  a  love  that  M'as  not,  but  to  be  the  exponent  and 
 evidence  to  us  of  a  love  that  was  and  is  :  and  it  is  not 
 true  that  God  so  hated  us  that  Christ,  to  intercept  his 
 wrath,  interposed  to  save  us  ;  but  he  so  loved  us,  that 
 he  gave,  as  an  expression  of  that  love,  Christ  to  die  fur 
 us.  It  is  not  the  proposition  of  the  Bible  that  God  loves 
 us  because  Christ  died  for  us  :  the  converse  is  its  decla- 
 ration,— that  God  so  loved  us  that  Christ  died  for  us. 
 The  death  of  Christ  was  provided  by  the  mercy  of  him 
 against  whose  justice  we  had  sinned,  that  that  mercy 
 might  reach  us  with  all  its  pardoning  fulness,  in  perfect 
 harmony  with  that  justice  which  we  had  insulted;  so 
 that  God  should  appear  the  most  just  when  he  exercises 
 the  richest  mercy,  and  should  be  arrayed  in  the  brightest 
 glorv  when  he  forgives  the  chiefest  of  sinners  through  the 
 blood  of  Jesus.  If  this  be  so,  how  little  reason  have  we 
 to  be  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  C^hrist.  Well  and  truly 
 did  an  Apostle  say,  "I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel 
 of  Christ."  In  the  death  of  Jesus  was  a  real  and  in- 
 trinsic grandeur.  He  died, — the  evidence  that  he  was 
 man  ;  but  he  atoned  in  that  death, — the  demonstration 
 that  he  was  more  than  man.  He  that  died  for  us  was 
 the  Lord  of  Glory.  That  dead  Christ  Avas  the  Prince  of 
 Life.  That  babe  in  the  mangxjr  was  the  Mighty  God. 
 He  that  said,  ''The  foxes  of  the  earth  have  holes,  and 
 the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man 
 hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head,"  was  he  that  stretched 
 out  the  lirmament  and  scattered  over  it  its  ever-burning 
 stai-s.  And  that  cross,  wliich  to  the  world  was  the 
 symbol  of  sliame,  is  to  us  glorious  as  the  Shckinah 
 between  the  cherubim.  Christ  crucified  is  emphatically 
 tlic  hope,  the  trust,  the  confidence  of  all  believers. 
 
 Tims  we  see  the  nature  of  the  death  which  Christ 
 died  for  us.  Its  vicarious  nature  is  indisputable.  It 
 wa^  not  the  patient  example  of  a'saint's  dying,  but  the 
 atoning  suftering  of  a  Divine  victim.  Have  you  ac- 
 cepted it  as  such  ?  Have  you  closed  with  God's  off'er  of 
 mercy  in  Christ  Jesus  ?  It'  you  have  not,  why  not  .^  I 
 know  not  a  guilt  more  heinous  than  that  of  the  man 
 
MESSIAH  S    DEATH.  363 
 
 ■vrho  hears  of  the  occurrence  of  such  a  fact,  and  retires 
 unconscious  of  its  importance,  unimpressed  by  a  sense 
 of  responsibility,  unattracted  to  God  the  Father  mani- 
 festing his  love  in  the  death  of  Christ  the  Eedeemer. 
 If  you  are  not  justified  and  accepted  through  him,  let 
 me  ask  you,  as  I  have   often  done,  why  ?     Is  God  un- 
 Avilling  to  receive  you  ?     At  this  moment  he  waits  for 
 you  ;  and  it  you  should  wait  a  thousand  years,  you  will 
 not  be  more  willing  to  go  to  God,  and  he  will  not  be 
 more  willing  to  accept  you  in  the  name   of  Jesus,  and 
 the  way  will  not  be  more  easy.     God  waits  to  be  gra- 
 cious ;  he  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but 
 rather  that  he  should  turn  from  his  wickedness,  repent, 
 and  live.      Do  3'ou   answer,    ''the  provision  is  insufT" 
 ticientr"      Is  such  an    objection  consistent  with   the 
 passages  I  have  quoted  ?     I  announce  the   good  news, 
 when  I  proclaim,  as  God's  ambassador,  there  is  not  one 
 sin,  be  it  the  most  heinous,  the  most  offensive  before 
 man,  and  the  most  terrible  and  criminal  in  the  sight  of 
 God,  for  which  tliere  is  not  forgiveness  in  the  blood  of  ^ 
 Christ.     The  efficacy  of  that  blood  is  not   diluted   by  i 
 years,  or  exhausted  of  its  virtue  by  the  number  to  which  ; 
 it  is  applied.    There  is  as  much  forgiveness,  and  as  free, 
 and  as  full,  and  as  complete  and  irreversible,  in  the  year  i 
 I80O,  as  there  was  for  them  who  had  dyed  their  hands  ! 
 in  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  and  shouted,  with  atheistic  1 
 blasphemy,  *'  Crucify  him,  crucify  him ;"  and  who  were,    1 
 in  spite  of  their  sins,  and  through  the  sufficiency  of  the    ' 
 blood  of  Jesus,  afterwards  received  by  faith,  the  very 
 first-fruits  of  his  dciith,  on  the   day  of  Pentecost.     If, 
 therefore,  you  are  not  pardoned,  it  is  plainly  not  because 
 God  is  unwilling,  or  the  provision  insufficient.  Are  there 
 not  motives  strong  enougli  to  influence  you  ?    Is  not  the 
 hope  of  a  glorious  kingdom,  that  never  can  be  moved,  a 
 hope    stimulating   enough  ?     Is  not   the    possibility  of 
 escape  from  condemnation  and  everlasting  ruin  a  reason 
 urgent    and  eloquent  cnougli  r      Look   down   into  the 
 depths  of  the  ruin    which  you  have  not  reached,  but  to 
 which  our  sins  must  drive  us,  if  unfbrgiven  ;  and  then 
 look  to  the  heights  of  that  glory  which   we  have  for- 
 feited, and  so  often  turned  our  backs  on,  and  which  the 
 
364  PEOPHETIC    SXrDIES. 
 
 sufferings,  the  agonj,  and  the  hlood  of  Jesus  alone  have 
 retrieved  for  us ;  and  say,  if  there  are  not  motives 
 enough,  in  the  position  in  which  you  now  stand,  in  the 
 danger  you  may  avert,  in  the  glory  you  may  reach,  why 
 you  should  flee  to  the  refuge  set  before  you,  and  seek 
 now,  once  for  all,  acceptance  and  Ibrgiveness  before  God. 
 
 But  do  you  think,  as  some  most  erroneously  do,  that 
 all  will  be  saved  ?  My  belief  is,  that  the  dogma  enter- 
 tained by  a  few  is  the  feeling  cherished  in  the  hearts  of 
 nine  out  of  every  ten  of  the  unconverted, — that  some- 
 how or  other  they  will  get  an  interest  in  the  mercy  and 
 forgiveness  of  God,  and  that  they  need  not  trouble  them- 
 selves about  it  now.  They  know  not  how,  they  cannot 
 say  when ;  but  they  are  pretty  sure  that  that  mercy  Avill 
 be  shoAvn  them  when  they  stand  in  need  of  it.  This  is 
 not  the  theology  of  the  Eible.  It  tells  you  that  God's 
 mercy  is  to  be  obtained  only  in  one  way, — only  by 
 knocking  at  the  one  door, — only  by  pleading  in  one 
 name, — only  by  asking  through  one  channel.  If  it  be 
 not  asked  through  that  name,  through  that  channel,  and 
 for  the  sake  of  him  who  died  that  it  might  reach  us,  it 
 will  never  be  obtained  at  all. 
 
 Mere  forgiveness  is  not  the  sole  result  of  the  death 
 of  Jesus.  He  died,  not  only  that  sin  may  be  removed, 
 but  that  human  nature  miglit  be  restored,  re-beautitied, 
 reconstructed  from  its  ruins,  and  made  lit  for,  as  well 
 as  entitled  to,  the  presence  of  God.  It  is  as  necessary 
 that  you  should  be  sanctified  as  justified.  Justification 
 and  acceptance  are  but  the  commencement,  not  the 
 close :  they  are  not  (to  use  the  language  of  schoolmen) 
 the  termmus  ad  quod,  but  the  terminus  a  quo ;  not 
 the  end  towards  Avhich  you  move,  but  tlie  starting- 
 place  from  which  you  run  the  race  that  leads  to  honour, 
 glory,  and  immortality.  If  you  were  a  heathen,  and 
 had  never  heard  the  Gospel,  and  if  in  the  agonies  of 
 death  Christ  upon  the  cross  Avere  pointed  out  to  you 
 clearly  and  distinctly,  I  would  not  despair,  but  believe 
 that  then  and  there  there  would  be  forgiveness  for  you. 
 ]3ut  you  occupy  a  difierent  position.  You  have  heard, 
 this  day,  what  lifts  you  out  of  that  position  for  ever. 
 You  have   heard  that   God   waits,   that  God   is  now 
 
Messiah's  death.  365 
 
 willing;  and  that  it  is  your  privilege,  your  duty,  and 
 safety,  to  come  instantly  to  God.  Therefore,  if  you 
 adjourn  your  acceptance  of  the  truth,  it  must  be  amid 
 the  consciousness  of  a  duty  you  wilfullj^  neglect;  it 
 it  is  adjourning  to  a  day  for  which  God  has  given  no 
 promise  ; — in  other  words,  it  is  confessing  your  sins 
 first,  and  then  going  forth  to  do  that  sin;  it  is  admit- 
 ting that  you  know  your  duty,  but,  for  reasons  best 
 known  to  j'ourself,  you  procrastinate  that  duty. 
 
 But  I  believe  the  great  reason  Avhy  so  few  think 
 deeply,  and  so  few  are  interested  in  this  precious  sacri- 
 fice, is,  that  they  do  not  think  at  all  about  the  subject. 
 The  mass  of  mankind  have  their  hearts  so  filled  with 
 thoughts  about  this  world,  that  they  have  not  one  hour 
 for  solemn  thoughts  about  eternity.  The  morning  is 
 for  breakfast,  the  forenoon  for  business,  the  evening  for 
 dinner,  the  night  for  sleep, — not  one  moment  for  the 
 Boul,  for  God,  for  the  Bible,  the  judgment- seat,  eternity! 
 They  hear  the  funeral- bell,  but  they  never  think  it  will 
 one  day  toll  for  them.  They  see  the  funeral  procession, 
 but  they  forget  that  they  will  be  the  main  object  of 
 another  similar  procession  one  day.  They  hear  of  death 
 here,  and  sickness  there ;  but  they  never  think  it  pos- 
 sible for  them  to  die.  Life  is  the  most  precarious  thing, 
 the  most  frail  thing.  The  strongest  and  healthiest  have 
 only  a  lease  for  the  time  that  is  occupied  by  a  single 
 pulse  of  the  heart ;  and  as  soon  as  that  heart  has  beaten, 
 the  lease  is  over :  God  in  his  grace  may  renew  it,  and 
 does  renew  it ;  but  each  beat  is  the  end  of  a  lease.  Soon 
 the  trumpet  will  sound,  and  the  dead  will  rise ;  and  if 
 that  be  not  so  soon,  very  soon  we  shall  lie  down  upon  a 
 death-bed ;  and  if  you  could  only  see  what  I  have  often 
 witnessed,  how  pale  the  splendour  and  grandeur  of  the 
 world  looks  then,  how  poor,  worthless,  and  valueless  its 
 honours,  its  wealth,  its  dignity,  weigh  then, — if  you 
 could  only  realise  now  what  you  then  and  there  feel, 
 you  would  rise  and  go  to  j^our  Father,  and  instantly,  in 
 the  name  and  through  the  merits  of  Jesus,  seek  that 
 forgiveness  which  is  waiting  for  every  sinner  in  this 
 assembly  that  will. 
 
LECTTJEE  XXIY. 
 
 THE    GREAT    SACRIFICE. 
 
 "  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeTcs  shall  Messiah  he  cut 
 off,  hut  not  for  himself:  and  the  people  of  the  prince 
 that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary  ; 
 and  the  end  thereof  shall  he  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the 
 end  of  the  icar  desolations  are  determined^ — Daniel 
 ix.  26. 
 
 Ix  mv  previous  Lecture  I  collected  some — not  some, 
 but  many — of  the  remarkable  texts  of  Scripture,  which 
 describe  or  allude  to  the  death  of  our  Blessed  Lord ; 
 and  I  showed,  that  if  all  these  texts  be  collected  to- 
 gether, and  their  scattered  raj's  made  to  converge,  as  it 
 were,  in  one  focus,  it  is  impossible  to  fail  to  see  that  the 
 death  of  Jesus  was  more  than  that  of  a  mere  patient 
 martyr,  and  that  it  is  neither  unnatural  nor  illogical  to 
 conclude,  that  his  was  the  death  of  an  atoning  Victim, 
 of  one  ''  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself." 
 
 I  proceed  in  this  lecture  to  show,  not  from  the  texts 
 which  I  formerly  collected  and  collated,  but  rather  from 
 certain  principles  indicated  in  Scripture,  and  fairly 
 deducible  by  our  own  minds  from  the  language  of  Scrip- 
 ture, that  the  death  of  Christ,  in  order  to  constitute  the 
 substance,  or  have  a  claim  to  the  character,  of  the 
 *'  good  news," — to  be  of  any  personal,  present,  and 
 everlasting  virtue  to  us,  as  sinners,  must  have  been  an 
 atonement  made,  an  expiation  and  sacrifice  presented, 
 by  the  substitute  for  the  sinner.  I  showed  you — what 
 I  am  sure  you  must  feel  to  be  perfectly  conclusive — 
 that  the  texts  I  quoted  are  inexplicable  (if  those  who 
 wrote  them  understood  the  use  of  language)  except  on 
 the  supposition  that  Christ's  death  was  expiatory,  atoning, 
 or  a  sacrifice  propitiatory  for  the  sins  of  all  that  believe. 
 
 Let  me  now  look  at  three  great  propositions  which 
 
THE    GREAT    SACEIFICE.  3G7 
 
 seem  to  me  to  necessitate  the  description  of  death  which 
 I  have  attributed  to  Jesus,  namely — an  atonement  for 
 our  sins. 
 
 Let  us  look,  first,  at  the  law  of  God.  "What  is  the 
 law  ?  It  is  not  holiness  created,  but  holiness  simply 
 made  known.  '' Holiness  is  perfect-  happiness,  sin  is 
 perfect  misery,"  would,  have  been  true  if  the  sentiment 
 had  never  been  revealed  in  human  speech.  ''Thou 
 shalt  love  the  Lord  tliy  God  with  all  thy  henrt,  and  thy 
 neighbour  as  thyself,"  was  not  made  Avhen  the  law  was 
 given ;  it  was  only  proclaimed.  The  proclamation  of 
 tlie  law  is  mercy,  the  expression  of  goodness  itself, — 
 for  it  lets  the  creature  know  what  the  Creator  ever 
 does,  ever  must,  and  ever  will,  exact  of  that  creature. 
 
 This  law,  thus  clearly  revealed  to  man,  has  been 
 broken  by  us ;  conscience  unequivocally  says  so :  I 
 have  failed  in  obedience  to  it ;  every  thought  in  my 
 mind,  every  affection  in  mj*  heart,  every  record  in  my 
 memory,  every  pulse  in  my  being,  tells  me  I  have 
 broken  that  law,  in  thought,  or  in  word,  or  in  deed. 
 I  have  not  trodden  the  path  that  leads  to  happiness ; 
 I  have  not  paid  the  price  of  which  everlasting  joy  is 
 the  reward  ;  I  have  not  done  the  work  of  which  heaven 
 is  the  wages.  That  law  clearly  and  unequivocally  tells 
 me  :  **  As  far  as  I,  the  law,  am  concerned,  I  can  hold 
 out  no  hope  of  a  passport  to  glory  to  you, — no  prospect 
 of  everlasting  joy, — for  *  cursed  is  qyqyy  one  that  eon- 
 tinueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the  law,  to 
 do  them.'  "  These  words  just  describe  the  condition  of 
 eveiy  one.  Under  the  curse  is  that  state  in  which  we 
 are  born — the  cold  shadow  under  which  we  lie.  AYe 
 do  not  need  to  perpetrate  some  terrible  violation  of 
 God's  law"  in  order  to  be  condemned  :  we  are  born  con- 
 demned ;  we  are  born  in  prison ;  we  are  criminals  by 
 birth — we  need  no  change  in  order  to  be  lost,  the  change 
 must  take  place  in  order  to  our  being  saved,  that  thus 
 may  be  turned  our  terrible  and  downward  procession, 
 and  given  us  an  impulse  that  will  lift  us  from  ruin  to 
 a  state  of  restoration,  from  enmit)^  to  God,  to  a  con- 
 dition of  reconciliation  and  friendship. 
 
368  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 "Where,  I  ask,  is  there  any  disclosure  by  the  law  of 
 the  possibility  of  life  through  our  obedience  to  that  law  ? 
 "\Ye  are  satislied  that  we  have  broken  it ;  we  are  satis- 
 fied, from  its  own  lips,  that  we  are  condemned  by  it. 
 How  shall  we  escape  the  consequences  ?  Is  there  any 
 crevice  in  the  whole  of  Sinai  out  of  which  there  is 
 emitted  one  word  of  the  hope  of  restoration  to  the 
 guilt)^  ?  Is  there  any  reasoning  mind  that  will  show 
 me  that  God  can  be  merciful  to  the  extent  of  forgiving 
 all  my  sins,  and  yet  continue,  what  he  proclaims  him- 
 self to  be,  the  infinitely  holy,  the  infinitely  just,  the 
 infinitely  true  ?  In  other  words,  as  long  as  I  am  deal- 
 ing with  the  law,  and  directed  by  its  light  only,  having 
 no  connexion  with  the  Gospel,  and  without  a  ray  of  its 
 glor}',  I  ask,  how  low  will  the  mercy  of  God  descend  in 
 pardoning? — how  high  will  the  justice  of  God  rise  in 
 punishing  ?  Will  he  be  merciful,  and  save  all :  —or 
 will  he  be  just,  and  condemn  all?  Where  will  his 
 justice  stop  in  condemning?  AVhere  will  his  mercy 
 stop  in  acquitting  and  forgiving  ?  Must  he  not  be,  as 
 far  as  human  light  can  teacli  us,  inconsistently  merciful 
 in  order  to  be  just,  and  inconsistently  just  in  order  to 
 be  merciful — a  God  who  is  a  composite  of  contradictions 
 and  impossibilities,  if  so  be  that  sin  is  to  be  forgiven 
 without  an  atonement,  or  an  expiatoiy  sacrifice  ?  Is 
 there  one  intimation,  however  faint,  of  forgiveness  from 
 law?  Is  there  any  hint,  however  dim,  in  nature? — is 
 there  any  rock  on  the  eartli, — any  star  in  the  sk}-, — any 
 flower  on  the  field, — any  tree,  or  cloud,  or  created  thing, 
 is  there  any  page  in  memor}%  any  pulse  in  conscience, 
 — an}'  intimation  in  the  height  or  in  tlie  depths,  any 
 exquisite  analogy,  any  beautiful  and  fair  revelation,  in 
 the  currents  of  Providence,  that  tells  me  that  there  is 
 forgiveness  with  God  ?  There  is  none.  I  can  read  or 
 hear  none.  Wind,  and  wave,  and  flower,  and  star, 
 earth  and  sea,  memory  and  conscience, — all  are  dumb, 
 hopelessly  dumb ;  they  do  not  give  the  least  hint  of 
 forgiving  mercy  in  that  holy  God  against  whom  we 
 have  sinned. 
 
 Let  me  look  at  another  diyision  of  human  nature,  and 
 
THE    GREAT    SACRIFICE.  '  > 
 
 we  shall  see  from  it  the  necessity  for  that  atonement  of 
 which  I  have  already  treated.  In  every  man's  bosom 
 there  is  what  is  called  a  conscience;  and  that  conscience 
 responds  to  the  moral,  just  as  taste  responds  to  tho 
 beautiful,  and  reason  to  the  true.  Any  one  who  will 
 speak  honestly,  or  express  his  feelings  honestlj',  will  tell 
 you  that  his  conscience,  however  seared,  however  dead- 
 ened, however  it  may  have  been  bribed  and  stupified, 
 still  responds,  more  or  less  distinctly,  to  the  good,  and 
 remonstrates,  in  more  or  less  unequivocal  terms,  against 
 the  evil.  Does  it  not  often  speak  to  jo\i  in  spite  of  you  ? 
 Does  it  not  often,  indeed,  excuse  ?  but  does  it  not  still 
 oftener  accuse  ?  Do  not  its  accusations,  on  the  Avhole, 
 out- number  its  apologies?  Does  it  not  talk  to  you  in 
 3'our  most  silent  and  meditative  moments  of  a  right- 
 eousness that  is  wanting,  of  a  Judge  that  is  waiting, 
 and  of  a  destiny  far  beyond,  that  will  be  for  ever 
 blackened  or  brightened  by  what  you  are — sad  and 
 sorrowful,  or  radiant  with  joy  and  glory  ? 
 
 Does  not  conscience  often  ask,  in  its  calmest  moments, 
 what  was  asked  by  the  prophet  of  old:  ''Wherewith 
 shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the 
 the  High  God  ?  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt- 
 offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the  Lord  be 
 pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  wdth  ten  thousands 
 of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shjdl  I  give  my  first-born  for  my 
 transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my 
 soul :"  And  in  order  to  answer  this  question,  you  have 
 tried  fastings,  austerities,  mortifications  of  the  body ; 
 but  none  of  these  have  satisfied  you.  You  have  fled  to 
 the  cell  of  the  monk,  to  the  solitude  of  the  anchorite, 
 or,  like  Martin  Luther,  you  have  climbed  on  bare  knees 
 the  penitential  stairs  of  St.  Peter's ;  but  conscience, 
 unreached  by  these  external  penances,  has  smitten  j'ou 
 and  accused  you  still.  Or,  perhaps,  priests  have  ab- 
 solved you — popes  have  given  you  indulgences,  councils 
 have  proclaimed  long  and  lasting  jubilees ;  but  you 
 have  found  that  neither  in  priest,  nor  pope,  nor  in 
 council,  nor  in  absolution,  nor  in  jubilee,  nor  in  morti- 
 fications, nor  in  austerities,  has  there  been  any  virtue 
 
 B    B 
 
370  PEOPHETJC    STUDIES, 
 
 fhat  could  penetrate  the  soul,  and  toucli  and  heal  the 
 inner  and  sore  part  of  the  conscience ;  it  cries  aloud — ■ 
 You  are  sinful ! — and  it  concludes,  on  irresistihle  evi- 
 dence, that  there  is  no  remedy  in  law,  or  in  nature,  for 
 its  malady.  Thus,  if  we  look  at  God's  law — uncom- 
 promising and  undiluted  law — we  see  the  necessity  of 
 something  being  done  to  right  us  in  relation  to  that  law. 
 If  we  examine  our  own  consciences,  we  feel  the  neces- 
 sity of  something  being  done  to  give  these  consciences 
 peace. 
 
 If  we  examine,  in  the  next  place,  the  very  nature  of 
 sin,  we  shall  see  the  necessity  of  some  such  stupendous 
 interposition  as  that  of  God  in  our  nature,  our  sacrifice, 
 and  our  atonement.  Sin  is,  in  the  history  of  the  uni- 
 verse, a  new  thing,  a  strange  phrnomenon,  an  aAvful 
 interpolation — hateful,  frightful,  destructive.  AVe  do 
 not  see  or  feel  it  as  it  is.  Our  insc  nsibility  is  propor- 
 tionate to  our  spiritual  deadness.  The  more  sin  con- 
 taminates, the  more  it  blinds  us  to  its  nature,  its  demerit, 
 and  its  effects.  Sin  is  unlike  every  other  thing.  Is^ot 
 its  least  awful  characteristic  is  its  endurance  ;  it  stretches 
 into  eternity,  and  acts  for  ever  as  a  corrosive  and  con- 
 suming curse.  There  is  no  evidence  that  sin  originates 
 its  own  cure.  If  there  were  evidc^nce  from  analog)-,  or 
 from  experience,  or  from  history,  that  sin,  like  a  fever, 
 exhausts  itself,  and  not  only  leaves  no  injurious  effect 
 behind,  but  lets  the  patient  return  to  freedom  and  hap- 
 piness, one  might  conceive  it  possible  to  be  eternally 
 happy  without  an  atonement.  But  tlicre  is  no  evidence 
 in  this  world  that  sin  exhausts  itsell\  or  leaves  its  victim, 
 or  loses  its  virus ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  in  the 
 world  to  come  the  state  of  the  lost  shall  be  mitigated,  or 
 their  sufferings,  the  penal  results  of  sin,  mitigated,  or 
 the  curse  that  wraps  them  like  a  sliroud  ever  put  off. 
 Let  me  illustrate  my  meaning.  Suppose  a  convict  is 
 banished  to  a  penal  colon)^  for  a  term  of  seven  years. 
 If  he  spends  the  seven  years,  he  exhausts  his  punish- 
 ment, and  he  is  let  loose,  and  he  returns  again  to  his 
 native  land.  Eut  suppose  that  convict,  in  the  course 
 of  the  seven  years,  commits  a  new  offence,  that  again 
 
THE    GREAT    SACltlFICE.  371 
 
 he  receives  the  sentence  of  other  seven  years :  and  sup- 
 pose that  in  the  second  term  of  banishment  he  commits 
 a  fresh  offence  still :  you  can  see  a  career  of  ceaseless  sin, 
 and,  theretore  a  course  of  ceaseless  penalty.  It  is  so, 
 my  dear  friends,  with  the  lost.  J3y  the  very  nature  of 
 their  being,  they  are  ever  sinning,  and  ever  suffering. 
 Sin  in  the  realms  of  the  lost  is  an  eternal  evil,  never 
 "working  out  its  ovrn  cure,  but  ever  working  out  its  own 
 perpetuity.  By  their  very  instinct,  by  the  very  laws  of 
 their  nature,  they  go  on  sinning ;  and  by  the  law  of 
 God  they  must  go  on  suffering.  Who  knows  but  that 
 the  awful  characteristic  of  the  sufferings  of  the  lost  may 
 be,  that  their  sins  and  their  sufferings  accumulate  for 
 ever,  and  that  hell,  in  an  arithmetical,  or  a  geometrical, 
 or  some  dread  ratio,  goes  on  increasing  in  its  terrors,  as 
 the  lost  multiply  theu-  transgressions  and  their  blasphe- 
 mies against  God? 
 
 It  is  thus  that  we  see,  whether  we  look  at  God's  holy 
 law,  or  at  man's  own  conscience,  or  at  the  nature  of 
 sin,  that  some  grand  interposition  man  is  incapable  of 
 devising  is  needed,  before  that  law  can  be  magnified, 
 conscience  pacified,  sin  expiated,  extirpated,  and  put 
 away  for  ever.  Only  by  these,  and  not  in  spite  of  these, 
 can  man  be  saved.  At  this  crisis  we  have  the  most 
 glorious  tidings  that  ever  sounded  in  the  ear  of  man  : 
 ''  The  Messiah  was  cut  off," — there  is  the  evidence  he 
 was  man  ; — ''  but  not  for  himself," — there  is  the  proof 
 that  he  was  something  more  than  man.  The  53rd  of 
 Isaiah  is  the  most  brilliant  commentary  on  Daniel  ix.  26  ; 
 a  commentary  that  has  multiplied  its  echoes  in  varied 
 accents  over  all  the  Bible.  ''  God  so  loved  the  world 
 that  he  gave  his  only -begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
 believeth  in  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
 life  :"  "might  not  perish,"  in  spite  of  that  law  which 
 condemns  him,  in  spite  of  that  conscience  which  accuses, 
 in  spite  of  that  sin  which  ever  works  out  its  own  per- 
 petuity. *^  In  him  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
 even  the  forgiveness  of  sin."  ''  By  him  all  are  justified 
 from  all  things  from  which  we  could  not  be  justified  by 
 the  law  of  Moses."     After  you  have  read  the  ten  com- 
 
 BB  2 
 
372  PEOPHETIC    STTJDIES. 
 
 mandmcnts,  and  applied  them  in  all  their  length  and 
 breadth  to  j'our  condition  and  conscience,  what  a  glorious 
 fact  that  the  chiefest  of  sinners  can  write  down  after  the 
 tenth  commandment,  "  Tlie  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
 Son,  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  "  Blessed  are  the  people 
 that  know  the  joyful  sound;"  "blessed  are  the  people 
 that  are  in  such  a  case."  In  the  light  of  this  Divine 
 revelation,  through  the  provisions  of  this  atonement,  I 
 can  clearly  and  rejoicingly  see  how  God  can  pardon  me, 
 whilst  even  I  am  sinning,  and  as  he  pardons  me,  draw 
 my  heart  off  alike  from  the  love,  the  power,  and  the 
 pursuit  of  sin.  I  can  see  through  this  glorious  atone- 
 ment how  God  can  retain  all  his  justice,  and  present  it 
 to  us  with  a  greater  lustre  ;  all  his  holiness,  and  reveal 
 it  to  us  in  more  august  glory,  and  yet  justify  from  all 
 their  sins  the  ungodly  that  believe.  I  can  see  how  this 
 law,  Avhich  God  did  not  create  on  Sinai  but  only  revealed, 
 is  magnified  in  his  eyes,  and  before  the  universe,  whilst 
 the  greatest  sinner  is  forgiven  his  greatest  sins.  Jesus, 
 I  am  told,  thus  cut  off  as  our  representative,  bare  our 
 curse  and  the  consequences  of  our  sin  :  he  obeyed  in 
 our  stead  the  exactions  of  a  holy  law.  In  Christ  I  am 
 as  if  I  had  suffered  and  exhausted  the  penalty  I  have 
 incurred ;  in  Christ  I  am  as  if  I  had  obeyed  and  ren- 
 dered perfect  obedience  to  the  law,  which  I  cannot 
 perfectly  obey.  Our  sins  were  o)i  him,  our  infirmities 
 and  agonies  were  in  him.  He  was  the  spotless  Lamb 
 arrayed  in  our  tainted  fleece  ;  and  we  the  stray  sheep 
 may  now  be  clothed  in  his  glorious  righteousness.  God 
 saw  iniquity  in  Jesus  where  nobody  else  saw  it ;  and, 
 blessed  be  his  name,  at  the  judgment-day  he  will  see 
 righteousness  upon  3'ou  and  me  where  nobody  else  can 
 sec  it.  God  hid  his  eyes  from  the  innocence  of  Jesus, 
 because  our  sins  were  laid  on  him  ;  he  Avill  hide  his 
 eyes  from  the  guilt  of  sinners,  because  of  the  righteoiis- 
 ness  of  Jesus  laid  upon  us.  Jesus  was  condemned  for 
 our  sins,  in  which  he  had  no  share ;  we  shall  be  justified 
 by  his  righteousness,  in  which  we  have  had  no  personal 
 part  whatever.  Our  sins  laid  upon  him,  brought  upon 
 him  the  thunders  and  curses  of  the  law ;  his  righteous- 
 
THE    GKEAT    SACEIFICE.  37J3 
 
 ness  laid  upon  us  will  draw  down  upon  us  the  blessings 
 of  life  everlasting.  Such,  then,  is  that  atonement  ex- 
 pressed in  the  words  of  Daniel :  *'  Cut  off,  but  not  for 
 himself."  He  died,  the  just  in  the  room  of  the  unjust, 
 in  order  to  bring  us  unto  God. 
 
 Eut  all  that  I  have  shown  respecting  the  atonement 
 as  yet  is,  that  it  opens  up  a  possibility  of  forgiveness. 
 It  may  perhaps  be,  as  far  as  I  have  yet  shown,  onlj-  a 
 loop-hole  by  w^hich  the  sinner  can  escape  from  ruin  and 
 and  get  access  to  heaven.  It  may  be,  as  far  as  we  have 
 yet  advanced,  a  mode  by  which  we  can  escape  the 
 penalties  of  a  violated  law,  and  be  introduced  into 
 heaven  and  to  the  presence  of  God,  but  no  evidence  that 
 I  shall  be  welcome  there.  I  have,  therefore,  to  intimate, 
 that  the  atonement  is  not  only  the  provision  of  a  way  of 
 escape,  but  more, — it  is  the  highest,  the  intensest  ex- 
 pression of  the  infinite  and  inexhaustible  love  that  God 
 bare  me  ;  it  is  not  merely  tiiat  I  escape  by  the  atone- 
 ment, that  I  am  simply  forgiven  by  it,  but  that  I  am 
 accepted  by  it.  If  the  atonement  were  a  mere  escape- 
 way  from  the  curse,  I  might  just  be  admitted  into 
 heaven  when  I  die,  exactly  as  the  criminal  to  whom  I 
 have  referred,  when  he  has  finished  his  seven  j-ears  of 
 banishment,  comes  back  to  his  native  place,  and  is 
 admitted  to  citizenship  :  he  is  not  cordially  welcomed ; 
 he  is  looked  on  with  suspicion,  and  his  brand  never 
 leaves  him ;  he  remains  a  marked  character ;  3-ou  tole- 
 rate him,  but  3-0U  do  not  admit  him  to  your  friendship, 
 to  your  family,  or  to  your  bosom.  It  might  be,  if  the 
 atonement  is  a  mere  provision  for  the  escape  of  sinners 
 from  hell,  that  I  should  be  admitted  into  heaven  and 
 tolerated  there,  that  I  should  be  merely  admitted  there, 
 that  I  should  be  borne  and  forborne  with  tliere.  If 
 this  were  all,  it  would  not  satisfy  me.  I  want  not 
 merely  that  God  should  let  me  go,  but  that  he  should 
 take  me  back ;  I  want  not  only  to  be  lifted  from  the 
 curse,  but  to  be  placed  in  the  sunshine  of  God's  counte- 
 nance ;  I  want  not  simply  to  be  admitted  to  heaven,  but 
 to  be  welcomed  to  heaven — not  to  be  tolerated  as  a 
 pardoned  criminal,  but  to  be  welcomed  as  an  accepted 
 
374  PEOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 and  beloved  son.  Blessed  be  God  !  this  atonement,  this 
 ''  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself,"  this  sacrifice  of  Jesus,  is 
 not  only  precious  for  what  it  does,  but  for  what  it  ex- 
 presses :  it  proves  to  me  not  only  that  God  can  save  me 
 because  a  provision  has  been  made,  but  that  he  saves 
 me  because  he  loves  me ;  not  only  that  he  will  forgive 
 me,  but  that  he  will  also  take  me  back ;  that  not  only 
 is  the  Legislator  satisfied  to  admit  me  into  heaven,  but 
 that  the  Father  waits  at  the  threshold  to  welcome  me  to 
 his  bosom.  ''  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
 only  begotten  Son."  Therefore,  the  atonement  is  not 
 merely,  as  many  people  drily  and  coarsely  regard  it,  a 
 legislator  making  provision  for  the  possibility  of  crimi- 
 nals escaping  a  curse,  but  it  is  a  Father  making  a  channel 
 for  the  outflow  of  his  infinite  love,  that  the  prodigal 
 may  again  be  his  restored  son,  that  the  dead  may  live, 
 that  the  lost  may  be  found,  and  all  heaven  rejoice  that 
 it  is  so.  Never,  then,  my  dear  friends,  forget  or  merge 
 this  blessed  and  delightful  view  of  the  atonement, — that 
 it  is  precious  not  only  for  what  it  does,  but  for  what  it 
 expresses ;  not  only  as  the  provision  of  a  way  of  forgive- 
 ness, but  as  the  expression  of  the  infinite  love  that  God 
 bears  to  you  and  to  me,  his  believing  and  accepted 
 family. 
 
 If,  then,  this  atonement,  thus  precious  and  needed  as 
 I  have  shown  it  to  be,  was  made  by  our  blessed  Lord 
 and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  I  think  it  is  impossible  to 
 escape  the  inference  that  he  that  made  it  must  have 
 been  more  than  man;  that  he  is,  as  all  evangelical 
 Christians  believe  him  to  be,  and  rejoice  that  he  is, 
 ''the  brightness  of  the  Fathers  glory,  and  the  express 
 image  of  his  person."  If  Jesus  were  simply  man,  no 
 atonement  has  been  made  for  us.  Judging  by  the 
 revelation  God  has  given  us,  I  hold  that  it  would  have 
 been  inconsistent  with  the  eternal  laws  of  God's  moral 
 universe,  so  far  as  these  are  embodied  in  the  Scrip- 
 tures, to  condemn  an  innocent  man  to  die  for  even  a 
 guilty  world.  For  what  is  the  law  of  God's  universe  ? 
 That  perfect  holiness  is  perfect  happiness.  But  if  an 
 angel,  or  an  archangel,  the  most  exalted  and  glorious 
 
THE    GEE  AT    SACRIFICE.  375 
 
 of  seraphim,  or  cherubim,  had  been  doomed  by  God  to 
 suffer,  such  a  doom  would  have  been  reversing  his  own 
 h  \v, — in  short,  as  great  a  violation  of  that  law  as  if  he 
 h  id  admitted  a  guiltj"  creature  to  be  happy.  There 
 ^^ould  have  been  as  great  an  inversion  of  God's  moral 
 gDvernment  in  condemning  an  innocent  creature  to 
 suffer  as  in  admitting  a  guilty  creature  to  be  happy. 
 Jesus,  therefore,  while  he  became  man,  was,  rnd  is, 
 God.  He  that  suffered  was  he  that  slew  ;  he  alone 
 could  say  (which  is  the  very  hmguage  of  Godhead)  : 
 **I  lay  down  my  life."  I  need  no  express  texts,  though 
 there  are  many,  to  teach  m.e  that  Christ  is  God,  while  I 
 hear  him  saying,  "  I  lay  down  my  life."  Man  he  is,  for 
 he  has  life  which  can  be  laid  down  ;  more  than  man  he 
 must  be,  for  no  creature  could  say  as  he  did.  If  a  crea- 
 ture were  to  volunteer  to  lay  down  his  life,  he  would  be 
 a  suicide.  My  life  is  not  my  own  ;  it  is  not  at  my  own 
 disposal ;  I  have  no  more  right  to  lay  it  down  than  I 
 have  power  to  take  it  up.  Therefore,  he  who  could  say, 
 "I  lay  down  my  life,"  who  chose  to  die,  who  volun- 
 tarily sacrificed  himself,  must  be  man  indeed,  otherwise 
 he  could  not  suffer,  but  more  than  man,  the  Lord  of  life, 
 or  he  could  not  laj^  down  his  life.  If  Christ  be  not  God, 
 I  have  said,  there  could  be  no  atonement ;  to  renounce 
 his  deity  is  to  part  with  the  atonement ;  and  if  thei^e  be 
 no  atonement,  what  is  the  Kew  Testament? — only  a 
 clearer  law,  a  brigliter  and  more  intensely  glowing 
 8inai,  an  improved  edition  of  the  Old.  Eut  how  could 
 it  be  worthy  of  the  name  of  ''  good  news"  to  let  me  see 
 duty  more  vividly,  to  let  me  hear  the  curse  upon  diso- 
 bedience more  distinctly,  and  the  promises  of  obedience 
 more  fully  ?  Such  a  revelation  Avould  not  be  comfort. 
 1  cannot  obey  the  elder  law,  wrote  in  Sinai,  or  on  my 
 own  conscience ;  I  want  not  direction  only,  but  remedy. 
 The  wounded  traveller  needs  first  to  be  healed,  then  to 
 have  the  road  pointed  out  to  him.  The  dead  need  first 
 to  be  quickened,  then  to  be  taught  the  direction  in 
 which  they  are  to  move.  But  there  is  an  atonement,  and 
 he  that  made  it  is  God  over  all.  Jesus  is  our  Sacrifice, 
 our  Saviour,  our  God.     In  the  tears  that  trickled  down 
 
376  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 that  countenance,  -which  was  more  marred  than  any 
 man's,  I  can  see  sparkling  the  very  beams  of  the  glory 
 that  dwelt  between  the  cherubim.  His  pangs  and  his 
 sorrows  were  not  those  of  a  patient  martyr  only,  but 
 those,  in  addition,  of  an  atoning  victim.  I  can  see 
 immensity  in  every  act,  infinity  in  every  pang  ;  atone- 
 ment, reparation,  restoration,  in  all.  The  law  sought 
 the  suffering  of  a  man,  and  Jesus  gave  it  the  suffering 
 of  a  God.  He  was  David's  son,  and  because  he  was  so, 
 he  suffered ;  he  was  David's  Lord,  and  because  he  was 
 so,  he  satisfied  whilst  he  suffered.  Christ  was  God,  God 
 in  our  nature,  and  his  death  was  atoning  :  *'  He  was  cut 
 off,  but  not  for  himself." 
 
 What  joyful  news  are  these  !  One  would  think  if 
 people  heard  these  things  for  the  first  time,  they  would 
 almost  electrify  every  heart  with  joy  unutterable  and 
 full  of  glory.  And  yet  these  are  the  very  good  news. 
 If  these  facts  be  as  I  have  stated — and  I  have  under- 
 stated rather  than  over-stated  the  truth — what,  then, 
 may  I  infer  ?  If  Christ  be  ray  Sacrifice,  my  Saviour, 
 my  Atonement,  my  all,  then  I  shall  never  perish.  It 
 is  as  impossible  that  a  sinner  believing  upon  Jesus  for 
 the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  can  perisli,  as  that  a  guilty 
 being,  without  faith  in  Christ,  can  be  happy  for  ever. 
 There  is  no  more  guarantee  that  the  lost  out  of  Christ 
 shall  perish,  than  there  is  that  the  saved  in  Clirist  shall 
 be  happy.  Believing  on  him,  I  have  life  for  ever. 
 Toward  the  procurement  of  the  pardon  of  my  sins  I 
 have  nothing  to  suffer,  for  Christ  has  suffered  all ; 
 toward  the  purchase  of  my  heaven,  I  have  nothing  to 
 do,  for  Christ  has  done  all.  AYhatever  I  suffer  cannot 
 be  penal,  for  Christ  has  exhausted  the  penaltj- ;  what- 
 ever I  do  cannot  be  meritorious,  for  Christ,  the  Lord, 
 is  all  my  righteousness, — I  am  complete  in  Christ, 
 wanting  nothing.  Justice  cannot  punish  twice  :  the 
 law  cannot  exact  twice  :  ''he  was  cut  off," — there  was 
 justice  meted  out  to  the  Son  of  God, — "  but  not  for 
 himself,"  —  there  is  mercy  to  the  sons  of  men.  To 
 them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus  there  is  no  condemnation 
 in  the  height  or  the  depth,  in  conscience,  in  law,  any- 
 
THE    GKEAT    SACEIFICE.  377 
 
 "where,  in  the  past,  the  present,  the  future — there  is  a 
 perfect  and  glorious  acquittal. 
 
 Do  you  believe  in  this  blessed  Saviour  ?  I  do  not 
 mean  that  sham  belief  which  can  repeat  the  creed  ;  nor 
 that  belief  which  thinks  all  is  right  because  we  have 
 been  baptised ;  I  mean  that  earnest,  living,  leaning 
 trust,  which  feels,  as  its  verj'  life,  that  there  is  nothing 
 in  the  whole  universe  on  which  and  by  which  one  can 
 be  saved  but  in  Christ  Jesus;  that  faith  that  flees  from 
 a  law  that  curses  you,  to  a  Savionr  that  blesses  you  : 
 that  faith  that  flees  from  self,  with  all  its  excuses,  its 
 accusations,  its  apologies,  and  sinfulness,  and  seeks 
 peace  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant. 
 
 Oh  !  happy  and  safe  is  that  mother's  son  who  has 
 this  faith  ;  for  to  him  there  is  no  condemnation,  and 
 nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate  him  from  the  love  of 
 God  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus !  Act  upon  this  faith ; 
 regard  its  objects  as  realities  :  go  forth  into  the  woiid, 
 acting  upon  it,  and  honouring  God,  accepting  all  he  is 
 and  says  as  substance  :  "  Them  that  honour  me,  I  will 
 honour."  Confidence  in  Jesus  is  happiness  to  man  and 
 protection  from  God.  Suspicion  of  God  is  misery  to 
 the  creature,  and  displeasing  to  his  Maker. 
 
 If  the  atonement  be  thus  complete,  we  have  in  this 
 a  right  and  scriptural  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  What 
 is  the  Lord's  Supper?  It  is  a  feast  that  follows  the 
 sacrifice.  Let  us  revert  to  the  Passover  of  old.  There 
 was  first  the  slaughter  of  the  lamb,  which  was  the  pain- 
 ful and  the  sacrificial  part;  there  was  the  eating  the 
 prepared  flesh  of  the  lamb,  which  was  the  jo^'ful  or  the 
 festival  part.  In  the  ancient  Passover  both  had  of 
 necessity  to  be  combined ;  the  same  parties  who  enjoyed 
 the  pleasure  of  the  feast  had  to  go  through  the'^pain, 
 year  after  year,  of  sacrificing  the  victim ;  but  in  our 
 case  these  two  have  been  divided  :  our  blessed  Lord  has 
 monopolised  the  painful,  and  bequeathed  the  pleasing 
 only  to  us.  The  sacrifice  is  finished,  the  festival  is  con- 
 tinued daily;  and  we  come  this  day  to  the  Lord's  table, 
 not  as  to  a  painful  tragedy,  in  which  we  are  to  sympa- 
 thise with  the  weeping  and  agonised  sufl'erer,  but  to  the 
 
378  PROPHETIC    STUDTES. 
 
 glad  festival  that  succeeds  the  sacrifice,  in  which  we  are 
 to  participate  with  joyful  and  grateful  recollections 
 that  Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us.  The 
 Eucharist  is  not  a  fast,  but  a  feast;  not  a  sad  and 
 sorrowful  sacrifice,  but  a  IVstival  after  the  sacrifice,  for 
 which,  and  in  Avhich,  glad  hearts  and  grateful  and 
 happy  songs,  and  bright  hopes,  become  us ;  not  sadness, 
 not  gloom,  not  painful  sympathies.  Humbled  we  may 
 be,  because  of  our  sins  ;  but  glad  we  must  be  that  these 
 sins  are  all  forgiven  and  blotted  out  through  him  that 
 died  for  us  and  rose  again.  By  appearing  at  the  feast 
 after  the  sacrifice,  we  profess  our  trust  in  the  efiicacy  ot 
 that  sacrifice — our  not  being  ashamed  of  him  that 
 offered  it — our  gratitude  to  God  that  such  a  sacrifice 
 was  provided  in  his  infinite  mere}' ;  and  we  say,  every 
 time  we  communicate,  that  dumb,  but  eloquent  and 
 significant  act,  '^AVhoever  may  be  ashamed  of  the  cruci- 
 fied, I  am  not;  whoever  may  be  ashamed  of  the  cross, 
 1  gloiy  in  it :  it  is  all  my  salvation,  and  all  my  desire." 
 Those  sins  that  rise  in  ^[lainful  reminiscences  even  after 
 you  have  renounced  them — that  past  life  over  which 
 you  have  mourned  and  grieved,  and  the  errors  and  sins 
 which,  by  grace,  you  have  repudiated  and  abjured  for 
 ever,  may  indeed  humble  you,  but  should  not  make 
 you  feel  unsafe,  llccollect  the  passovcr.  "When  the 
 Israelite  father  had  sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
 upon  the  threshold  of  his  door,  he  retired  into  the  inner- 
 room,  and,  in  that  memorable  night,  gathered  his  family 
 around  him.  ISTo  doubt,  many  an  Israelite  father,  when 
 he  heard  the  rush  of  the  angel's  wing,  as  lie  swept  with 
 the  speed  of  the  lightning  through  every  street,  and 
 alley,  and  court  of  Eahab,  felt  his  heart  throb  rapidly 
 within  him,  and  feared  that  the  next  stroke  of  the  angel 
 might  be  upon  his  ovrn  fairest  and  first-born  one.  Ihit 
 ills  trembling  did  not  make  the  angel  enter ;  not  all  his 
 doubts,  his  fears,  his  suspicions,  made  the  angel  pause. 
 The  sprinkled  blood  was  there :  he  minded  not  that 
 there  was  a  fainting,  failing  heart  Avithin ;  and  on  he 
 swept  till  he  found  a  threshold  where  no  blood  was 
 gprinkled.     It  is  nut  tlie  weakness  of  j'our  faith  that 
 
THE    GEE  AT    SACRIFICE.  379 
 
 weakens  your  interest  in  Jesus  ;  it  is  not  doubts,  fears, 
 suspicions,  painful,  sinful,  unworthy  as  they  are ;  your 
 only  safety  in  the  whole  universe  is  this, — that  the 
 blood  of  sprinkling  is  on  your  hearts  ;  if  it  be  there — 
 faith  in  the  atonement  of  Jesus — all  is  well,  all  is  safe, 
 safe  as  tlie  very  throne  and  bein^  of  God  himself. 
 
 You  say,  '"How  do  I  appropriate  this. blood?  I 
 cannot  take  literal  blood  and  sprinkle  it  on  a  literal 
 threshold."  You  are  not  asked  to  do  so.  Moral  things 
 are  not  less  true  than  material,  j^fany  philosophers  say 
 that  the  material  is  unreal,  and  that  the  moral  alone  is 
 the  real.  What  you  are  asked  to  do  is  this, — to  have 
 faith  in  Jesus.  But  even  that  faith  is  not  yorr  Saviour. 
 There  is,  I  fear,  a  prevalent  and  very  erroneous  notion 
 in  this  matter.  The  old  formula  was,  "Do  and  live;" 
 the  new  formula  many  imagine  in  some  degree  the  con- 
 verse, "Believe  and  live."  Tliey  think  that  as  the  old 
 formula  was  doing  God's  will,  and  thus  obtaining  lil'e, 
 so  tlie  new  one  is  faith,  or  believing  God's  word,  and 
 thus  gaining  eternal  life.  It  is  not  so.  If  it  were,  it 
 would  be  substituting  rightness  of  creed  for  rightness  of 
 life ;  and  in  both  cases  it  would  be  something  of  the 
 creature's  own.  The  fact  is,  God  requires  at  this  mo- 
 ment just  what  he  required  of  Adam  in  Paradise  before 
 he  fell, — a  perfect  obedience,  or  righteousness  without 
 flaw,  or  blemish,  or  short- coming  in  his  sight,  I  say, 
 the  requirement  that  God  makes  in  grace  is  just  the 
 requirement  that  God  made  in  Paradise — perfect  obedi- 
 ence to  the  law.  Do  not  think  that  the  Gospel  is  simply 
 diluted  law,  and  that  the  Xew  Testament  is  sim])ly  a 
 lower  Old  Testament ;  that  God  will  be  satisfied  with  a 
 sincere,  though  imperfect  obedience,  in  the  room  of  a 
 perfect  obedience.  He  demands  now,  as  he  ever 
 demanded,  and  as  he  will  never  cease  to  demand,  a  per- 
 fect righteousness  as  the  <jnly  title  to  heaven.  You  ask, 
 Where  then  is  the  difference  between  our  state  and 
 Adam's?  In  Adam's  case  it  was  his  woi'k ;  in  our  case 
 it  is  our  acceptance.  Adam  had  to  do  it ;  we  have  to 
 accept  it  as  already  done,  already  achieved,  already 
 perfected.     It    is    faith's    ])rovince    simply    to    accept, 
 
380  PEOPHETIC    STUDIKS. 
 
 Adam  had  to  do,  to  be  righteous,  and  be  entitled  to 
 heaven ;  "\ve  have  to  accept  the  righteousness  Clirist 
 has  provided,  and  thus  be  saved.  Hence  faith  is  not 
 tlie  ground  of  salvation  :  it  is  the  eye  that  sees,  the  vav 
 that  hears,  the  feet  that  run,  the  hand  that  grasps ;  it 
 is  the  means,  not  the  end.  It  believes  that  Christ  was 
 cut  off,  ''  but  not  for  himself."  And  if  he  died  for 
 sinners,  why  not  for  me?  Not,  "  Why  for  me?"  but, 
 *'  Why  not  for  me  ?"  Thus  resting  and  believing,  it  has 
 peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Cluist. 
 
LECTUllE  XXV. 
 
 THE   HUSSION   OF   THE   MESSIAH. 
 
 "  Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon  thy  people  and  upo7i 
 thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  transgression^  and  to  make 
 an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity^ 
 and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  and  to  seal  up 
 the  vision  and  p>rophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  most  Uohjy 
 — Daniel  ix.  24. 
 
 I  DO  not  discuss  the  chronology  of  this  prophecj'  in 
 my  present  Lecture ;  this  I  reserve  for  the  next,  in 
 which  I  hope  to  demonstrate,  with  irresistible  conclu- 
 sion, that  Jesus  Christ  if«  the  Messiah  pointed  out  by 
 the  prophet,  and  that  in  him  the  prediction  I  have  read 
 is  gloriouslj'  fulfilled. 
 
 I  have  already  shown  that  the  prediction,  "  The 
 Messiah  shall  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself,"  was 
 realised  in  Christ.  I  have  now  to  prove  that  the  pro- 
 phecy, that  he  shall  '*  finish  the  transgression,  make  an 
 end  of  sin,  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  bring  in 
 everlasting  righteousness,  seal  up  the  vision  and  the 
 prophecy,  and  anoint  the  most  Holy,"  has  been  ful- 
 filled in  the  mission  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
 therein  alone.  And  when  I  have  shown  that  the  moral 
 import  of  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled  in  him,  and  after- 
 wards that  the  chronology  of  the  prophecy  finds  its 
 termination  also  in  him,  I  shall  have  given  you  the 
 clearest  possible  demonstration,  if  any  additional  be 
 required,  first,  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah  promised  to 
 the  fathers,  and,  next,  that  Daniel  spake  as  he  was 
 moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 The  first  work  which  Christ  is  here  predicted  to 
 
382  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 accomplish  is  to  '^  finish  the  transgression.*'  Ey  look- 
 ing at  the  margins  of  your  Bibles,  you  "will  see  that  the 
 stricter  and  more  accurate  translation  (for  such  the 
 marginal  translation  always  is)  is,  "  to  rsstrain  trans- 
 gression." We  are  taught  therefore,  in  this  clause,  that 
 one  great  effect  of  the  mission  of  the  Messiah  will  be  to 
 *'  restrain  transgression."  Its  next  result  Avill  be  to  make 
 an  end  of  sin  ;  next,  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity; 
 next,  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  to  seal  up 
 the  vision  and  the  prophecy  ;  and  lastly,  to  anoint  the 
 most  Holy. 
 
 Let  us  contemplate  the  first — to  restrain  transgres- 
 sion. I  restrict  myself  here  to  the  one  view  of  his 
 mission  here  specified — viz.  its  sin-restraining  influence. 
 It  is  not  here  said  it  shall  be  the  result  of  his  work 
 to  create  holiness  in  the  hearts  of  his  own ;  this,  it  is 
 true,  is  otherwise,  and  clearly  stated  ;  but  it  is  declared 
 that  the  effect  of  the  mission  of  Jesus,  of  the  word  that 
 he  should  preach  to  the  people,  and  the  work  he  should 
 do  for  them,  will  be  to  restrain  or  curb  transgression. 
 Has  not  this  been  the  historical  result  of  Christianity', 
 wherever  it  has  been  effectually  proclaimed  ?  On 
 those  who  have  not  embraced  its  truths  with  saving 
 faith,  it  has  yet  exercised  a  restrictive  moral  power 
 that  has  made  them,  even  in  its  twilight,  different  from 
 what  they  would  have  been  if  Christianity  had  never 
 been  preached  ; — in  other  words,  there  is  an  indirect 
 influence  of  the  Gospel,  where  its  direct  power  is  not 
 felt,  which  has  restrained  and  still  restrains  the  gross 
 and  palpable  transgressions  that  degraded  and  defiled 
 mankind  previous  to  its  announcement,  and  still  degrade 
 those  that  are  ignorant  of  it.  It  requires  but  the  most 
 supei-ficial  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  Avorld 
 to  prove  that  it  is  so.  Before  the  introduction  of 
 Christianity,  weak  and  deformed  children  were  in- 
 variably cast  out  to  perish  in  the  streets  ,•  and  this  not 
 in  barbarous,  but  in  civilised  and  cultivated  lands. 
 What  has  arrested  this  ?  Not  civilisation ;  for  the 
 lloman  code  is  so  civilised  that  it  has  been  more  or 
 less  widely  adopted  by  numerous  modern  nations.     It 
 
THE    MISSION    OF    THE    MESSIAH.  383 
 
 was  the  restraints,  or  the  indirect  influence  of  Christi- 
 anity alone.  In  heathen  and  in  ancient  times,  fathers 
 had  absolute  power  over  their  sons,  and,  if  possible,  still 
 more  over  their  daughters  ;  the}^  might  sell  them,  or 
 dismiss  them,  as  they  might  their  slaves.  In  ancient 
 and  heathen  times,  a  husband's  power  over  his  Tvife  was 
 despotic ;  he  might  dismiss  her  for  the  least  offence  ;  he 
 might  have  put  her  to  death,  and  it  would  not  have 
 been  murder.  In  ancient  times  the  marriage  contract 
 had  not  half  its  sacredness,  nor  a  tithe  of  the  force  it 
 has  now.  Woman  was  degraded ;  her  position  in 
 society  was  lower  than  it  is  easy  to  conceive.  What 
 has  raised  her  to  her  proper  and  natural  position  r 
 Christianity.  What  has  saved  the  son  from  the  tyranny 
 of  a  cruel  parent,  the  wite  from  expulsion  or  cruelty  by 
 a  barbarous  husband,  and  woman  from  degradation 
 everywhere  ?  The  restraints,  the  indirect  restrictions 
 and  influence,  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  Where,  let  me 
 ask,  is  the  greatest  mental,  civil,  and  religious  freedom  ? 
 Where  do  nations  attain  their  greatest  splendour,  and 
 communities  their  highest  social  power  ?  Where,  also, 
 let  me  ask,  are  their  hospitals  for  the  sick — asylums  for 
 the  wretched — charities  for  the  needy  ?  These  were 
 not  known  in  heathen  lands,  or  in  ancient  times.  Where 
 is  life  safest  in  our  streets  by  day,  and  property  most 
 secure  by  night  ?  AVhere  are  revolutions  least  feared  or 
 least  likely?  Where  can  jou  leave  your  children  with 
 the  greatest  confidence  and  hope,  and  with  the  least 
 risk  of  contamination,  behind  joii  ?  AVhere  are  the 
 laws  least  sanguinary,  rulers  least  unjust,  magistrates 
 least  tyrannical,  judges  most  impartial,  the  people  most 
 obedient,  the  press  most  pure  ?  Just  where  there  is  the 
 greatest  number  of  Christians,  and  the  indirect  lights 
 and  influences  of  Christianity  are  most  widely  diffused 
 and  most  thoroughly  felt. 
 
 It  has  been  one  effect  of  the  Gospel  to  "  restrain 
 transgression."  The  very  twilight  of  Christianity  is 
 glorious  ;  and  if  its  twilight  be  so,  how  glorious  will  be 
 its  noon  !  how  desirable  its  approaching  meridian  s])len- 
 dour !    Those  men  who  refuse  the  Gospel  are  themselves 
 
384  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 monuments  of  its  indirect  influence.  Families  in  which 
 the  Bible  is  not  read,  in  Avhich  God  is  not  worsliipped, 
 are  enjoying  that  protection  under  the  overshadowing 
 v/ings  of  tliat  public  peace  which  the  spread  of  the 
 Gospel  has  created  in  the  minds,  and  left  on  the  habits 
 of  mankind ;  and  if  it  be  not  savirg  in  such  cases,  it  is 
 beyond  all  expression  sweetening  and  cementing.  So- 
 ciety at  this  moment,  except  where  the  Gospel  is  its 
 csment,  is  a  rope  of  sand,  ready  to  fly  asunder  the 
 moment  that  the  coercive,  mechanical  restraints  of 
 rulers  and  of  laws  are  withdrawn.  The  secret  of  our 
 country's  safety  is  in  our  liible ;  the  spring  of  our 
 country's  peace,  when  all  Europe  Avas  an  Aceldama, 
 was  in  the  Eible.  The  indirect  influence  of  Christianity 
 has  made  our  laws  so  mild — our  people  so  attached 
 to  peace — our  rulers  just,  and  our  exactors  righteous. 
 Its  first  predicted  effect,  then,  is  to  '*'  restrain  trans- 
 gression." 
 
 The  second  predicted  effect  of  the  Gospel  is  ''  to  mahe 
 an  end  of  sin.''  Literally  translated,  the  clause  reads, 
 "to  seal  up  sin;"  and  hence  some  commentators  tliink 
 it  means  to  consummate  the  iniquity  of  the  Jews,  and 
 so  to  spare  them  no  longer  ;  that  the  crucifixion  of  the 
 Messiah  should  be  the  last  drop  in  their  cup,  which  was 
 previously  almost  full, — the  last  weight  in  the  scale, 
 which  alread}'  was  so  heavy, — the  climax,  as  it  were,  of 
 their  crimes;  and  thus,  after  having  murdered  the 
 prophets,  they  were  destined  to  complete  their  depravity 
 by  murdering  the  prophets'  Lord.  Then  God's  long- 
 suffering  would  be  exhausted — his  forbearance  spent, 
 and  to  that  people  the  menaced  curse  should  cleave, 
 consuming  to  the  time  of  the  end,  and  only  be  lifted 
 away  when  they  shall  ''  look  upon  him  whom  they 
 have  pierced,  and  mourn  every  family  apart."  But  this 
 seems  to  me  not  the  natural  interpretation.  It  appears 
 much  more  natural  to  understand  it  as  the  mission 
 w^hich  should  make  an  end  ot  sin  in  the  case  of  all 
 believers  ;  that  is,  put  it  away,  finish,  or  destroy  it.  Is 
 not  this  the  direct  eftect  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ? 
 "  There  ls  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
 
•JHE  irissiON  or  ihe  ivrEssiAH.  385 
 
 Jesus."  Christ  exhausted  the  curse  in  the  case  of  every 
 believer,  and  shed  down  the  blessing  in  its  stead ;  the 
 sting  of  the  curse  is  extracted — its  havoc  is  arrested; 
 and  from  living  beneath  the  curse  that  oppresses  and 
 irritates,  the  believer  lives  beneath  the  outspread 
 wings  of  perfect  peace  and  everlasting  happiness.  Thi« 
 makes  a  vast  difference  between  the  saint  and  the 
 sinner. 
 
 Let  me  suppose  two  men,  placed  in  equal  outward 
 calamity,  si  believer  and  an  unbeliever,  or  to  use  plainer 
 phraseology,  a  man  who  is  a  Christian,  and  one  who  is 
 not.  Let  the  outward  eye  look  at  them  :  they  both 
 weer) :  both  feel  pain — they  both  declare  that  they  f^-l 
 it ;  they  both  desire  to  be  delivered  :  yet  between  t'.icst-- 
 two  Gud's  eye  sees,  and  there  actually  is,  a  very  great 
 difference.  In  the  case  cf  tlie  one,  all  the  suffering  is 
 paternal  chastisement;  every  drop  of  the  bitter  cup  liiat 
 he  drinks  is  instinct  with  the  sweetneiss  of  the  ever- 
 lasting covenant;  his  outward  suffering,  even  when  it 
 is  bitterest,  is  merely  the  chalice  of  an  inward  benedic- 
 tion, and  the  heaviest  blow  that  smites  him  only  helps 
 him  more  rapidly  to  his  everlasting  and  his  blessed 
 home ;  all  things  work  for  good  to  him,  because  in  his 
 case  Christ  has  made  an  end  of  sin,  by  bearing  in  his 
 own  body  its  curse,  and  bequeathing  to  his  peoj)le  his 
 peace.  But  in  the  case  of  the  other  sufferer — in  the 
 case  of  him  who  is  not  a  Christian,  all  is  penal :  he 
 suffers  just  because  he  has  sinned  ;  every  billow  that 
 rolls  over  him  has  received  its  impulse  and  its  tone 
 from  Mount  Sinai ;  every  pang  in  his  heart  is  the 
 rebound  of  a  bi'oken  law ;  ever}'  stroke  that  falls  upon 
 him  is  the  infliction  of  God  the  Legislator,  jealous  of 
 his  glory  and  upholding  the  sanctions  of  his  law.  In 
 the  one  case  Christ  has  made  an  end  of  sin,  and,  there- 
 fore, al]  suffering  is  paternal ;  in  the  other  case  there  is 
 no  obstruction  to  the  full  influence  of  the  curse — 
 nothing  to  neutralise  its  virus,  or  mitigate  its  effects. 
 To  tlie  outward  eye,  they  weep  and  sutler  alike  ;  but  in 
 the  sight  of  God  the  difference  is  between  the  com- 
 mencement  of  the    enjoyment   of   everlasting   heaven 
 
 c  c 
 
SSG  PKOPRETIC    STL'DUKS. 
 
 and  the  commencement  of  the  endurance  of  everlasting 
 hell. 
 
 If  Christ,  then,  has  made  an  end  of  sin — that  is,  of 
 its  curse — by  being  the  sacrifice  and  atonement  for  it, 
 does  not  this  teacli  us  that  we  need  no  other  atonement, 
 or  expiation,  or  sacrifice,  in  order  to  be  delivered  thereby 
 from  the  curse  of  sin?  If  Christ,  by  his  death,  has 
 made  an  end  of  sin  by  exhausting  its  curse,  we  do  not 
 need  any  other  expiation,  or  atonement,  or  sacrifice 
 whatever.  ^o  ecclesiastical  liquidation  of  liabilities 
 incunt-u  is  possible  any  more  :  no  mortiiieaticn  of  the 
 liesh  can  be  an  expiation  for  the  indulgence  of  its  lusts  ; 
 no  atonement  can  be  made  for  being  late  at  the  opera 
 oj!  ^^aturday  night  by  being  eorlyat  the  mass  on  Sunday 
 morning  :  a  Christian  has  no  taste  for  the  one,  and  he 
 lias  no  contiaence  in  the  efficacy  of  the  other.  In  tears 
 there  is  no  expiation,  in  sufferings  there  is  no  atonement, 
 in  a  martyr's  blood  there  is  no  expiatory  virtue.  Christ 
 has'made  an  end  of  sin;  and  we  need  no  priests  to  offer 
 for  wliat  does  not  exist,  w^hat  is,  when  materially 
 precious,  morally  worthless,  nor  sacrifices  to  be  made 
 for  what  is  not.  Christ  has  finished  the  work,  and 
 made  an  end  of  sin  for  ever.  "It  is  finished,"  was  the 
 death-knell  of  Levi — the  joyous  sound  of  salvation. 
 
 The  believer,  therefore,  receives  in  the  Gospel  the 
 tidings  of  a  work  that  is  done  for  him,  not  the  wither- 
 ing demand  of  a  work  that  is  to  be  done  hy  him. 
 The  call  to  a  Christian  is  not  to  make  his  peace  with 
 God,  as  ignorant  persons  often  foolishly  say,  but  to 
 accept  Christ  as  his  peace  with  God ;  and  thus  they 
 twain  that  were  severed  are  made  one  for  ever.  There 
 is  no  more  offering  for  sin.  But  this  expression  of  the 
 prophet,  thus  descriptive  of  the  work  of  Christ,  may 
 not  only  implj"  that  Christ  made  an  end  of  sin  by  being 
 the  atonement  for  it,  and  taking  away  its  curse  ;  but 
 also  tha^,  in  the  case  of  every  believer,  he  makes  an 
 end  of  the  domination  and  power  of  sin  in  his  heart, 
 his  life,  and  his  conduct.  This  he  does  by  giving  the 
 Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him.  I  need  not  tell  you 
 that  it  is  just  as  necessary  that  we  should  be  delivered 
 
THE    MISSION    OF    THE    MESSIAH.  387 
 
 from  the  domination  and  pollution  of  sin  as  that  we 
 should  be  delivered  from  its  curse  and  condemnation. 
 AVe  must  be  fitted  for  heaven  by  the  Spirit's  ^vork  in 
 us,  as  truly  as  entitled  to  heaven  by  Christ's  work 
 without  us,  and  his  righteousness  upon  us.  If  there 
 be  announced  the  performance  of  an  oratorio,  and  you 
 receive  a  ticket  of  admission  to  it,  in  that  ticket  you 
 have  your  ri(jht  to  be  admitted;  but  if  you  have  no 
 chamber  in  your  ear  susceptible  of  the  influence  of 
 sweet  sounds,  that  oratorio  would  be  a  Babel  to  you, 
 and  thus  in  your  case  there  would  be  no  fitness  for  it. 
 You  need  not  only  the  ticl<et  that  admits,  but  the  sus- 
 cept'hiliti/  that  qualifies  jou.  for  the  enjoyment.  It  is 
 so  with  heaven  :  you  need  not  only  Christ's  righteous- 
 ness, or  his  making  an  end  of  the  curse,  to  be  j'our  title 
 of  admission,  but  you  need  also  the  Spirit's  influence  in 
 transforming  your  nature  and  elevating  your  taste,  to 
 be  your  fitness.  In  other  words,  we  believe  in  a 
 Trinity,  in  God  the  Father,  who  elects  us ;  in  God  the 
 Son,  who  redeems  us ;  in  God  the  Spirit,  who  sanctifies 
 and  fits  us  for  heaven. 
 
 Eut  apart  from  this,  I  see  in  Christ's  work  not  only 
 the  promised  gift  of  the  Spirit,  but  also,  in  the  very 
 nature  of  his  intervention,  that  Avhich  will  create  in  my 
 heart  love  for  his  holy  law.  I  see  in  Christ  the  embodi- 
 ment of  infinite  and  disinterested  love ;  I  see  in  him  the 
 spectacle  of  love  suffering,  dying  for  me  ;  and  this  sight 
 of  pardoning  love  in  Christ  Jesus  jDroduces  thankful  love 
 in  me  for  whom  that  pardon  is  procured.  It  comes  to 
 pass  that  I  love  him,  just  because  I  feel  that  he  loved 
 me  ;  and  "  love,"  Ave  are  told,  ''is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
 law,"  ''Thou  shalt  love,"  is  the  guarantee  that  the 
 whole  law  shall  be  fulfilled.  I  love  Christ's  person,  his 
 precepts,  his  promises,  his  example ;  and  thus  progres- 
 sive holiness  in  my  life,  or  love  Avith  its  glorious  fruit- 
 age, grows  and  develops  itself  upon  the  basis  of  perfect 
 pardon  secured  through  Christ.  There  is  planted  in  my 
 heart  an  offshoot  from  the  cross,  a  living  and  expansive 
 principle  that,  under  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
 carries  me  on  from  grace  to  grace,  and  from  one  dcgreo 
 
 c  c  2 
 
388  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 of  conformity  to  his  image  to  another,  till  I  reach  the 
 fulness  of  the  stature  of  a  perfect  man.  Thus  Christ, 
 by  his  atonement,  makes  an  end  of  the  curse  of  sin,  and 
 sets  me  free  from  its  action  and  its  effects  ;  and  hy  the 
 embodiment  of  disinterested  love,  manifested  in  his 
 mission,  he  creates  responsive  love  in  my  heart,  and  so 
 makes  an  end  in  me  of  the  j^ower  of  sin.  What  Jesus 
 does  in  the  case  of  the  individual,  he  shall  one  day 
 accomplish  over  the  whole  world.  The  earth  shall 
 emerge  from  its  last  baptismal  fire,  beautiful  as  at  first. 
 Sin,  the  fever  that  racks  and  convulses  the  air,  the  sea, 
 and  all  that  is  around  us,  shall  be  laid  for  ever,  and 
 sorrowing  nature  cease  to  weep,  and  begin  to  rejoice. 
 She  shall  exchange  her  ashen  garments  for  her  corona- 
 tion robes,  passing  under  another  and  more  glorious 
 Genesis,  and  presenting  a  dwelling-place  for  the  glorified 
 spirits  and  the  resurrection  bodies  of  them  that  have 
 washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
 of  the  Lamb.  Even  now,  as  the  Gospel  spreads,  sin 
 loses  its  footing  and  its  dominant  power  upon  the  earth  ; 
 like  a  wounded  snake,  its  life  is  protracted  but  in  torment. 
 But  not  only  is  he  foretold  to  make  an  end  of  sin,  but 
 also,  to  make  "reconciliation  for  iniquity."  AVhat  is 
 implied  in  this  ?  The  Apostle  tells  us  in  the  Epistle  to 
 the  Hebrews,  that  ''in  all  things  it  behoved  Christ  to 
 be  made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a 
 merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to 
 God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people." 
 So  also,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Eomans, — *'By  Avhom  we 
 have  received  the  atonement  (/caroAAay^v — the  recon- 
 ciliation)." Eut  it  may  be  justly  asked,  In  what  sense 
 did  Christ  make  reconciliation  ?  There  is  no  allusion 
 here  to  the  reconciliation  of  man  to  God ;  there  is,  there- 
 fore, some  sense  in  which  God  may  be  said  to  be  recon- 
 ciled to  us.  In  what  sense  can  this  truly  be  said  ?  for, 
 at  first,  it  seems  unnatui'al.  It  does  not  imply  that 
 God's  hate  is  changed  into  love,  or  that  his  anger  is 
 changed  into  afiection,  in  consequence  of  what  Christ 
 has  done ;  much  less  is  it  implied  that  his  purpose  to 
 destroy  is  dislodged  by  a  purpose  to  save,  through  the 
 
THE    MISSION    OF    THE    MESSIAH.  389 
 
 atonement,  in  the  case  of  those  who  are  interested  in 
 Christ,  and  plead  the  sacrifice  made  on  the  cross.  This 
 would  be  to  pronounce  the  unchangeable  God  subject  to 
 change. 
 
 In  what  sense,  then,  can  it  be  said  that  God  is  recon- 
 ciled to  us  ?  Plainly,  it  means  that  every  obstruction  is 
 removed  to  the  egress  of  God's  pardoning  love  to  man- 
 kind ;  that  is,  the  law,  which  is  the  written  exponent 
 of  his  holy  and  eternal  will,  is  magnified,  and  honoured, 
 and  glorified,  in  Christ,  our  head;  and,  by  reason  of 
 what  Christ  has  done,  God  can  now  as  reasonably  acquit 
 the  sinner  that  believes  in  Christ,  as  he  can  condemn 
 the  sinner  that  does  not.  God  is,  in  Christ,  just  to 
 pardon.  He  can  consistently  save  sinners.  The  justice, 
 holiness,  and  truth  of  Christ,  stereotyped  in  law,  not 
 only  do  not  obstruct  the  descent  of  God's  mercy  to  for- 
 give me,  but,  on  the  contrary,  form  themselves  into  a 
 glorious  channel  for  its  egress ;  so  much  so,  that  there 
 is  no  more  reason  why  God  should  condemn  a  sinner,  in 
 the  first  Adam,  than  there  is  why  he  should  justify  and 
 save  a  sinner,  in  the  second  Adam.  There  is  no  more 
 reason,  no  more  justice,  in  assigning  everlasting  misery 
 to  any  of  those  that  fell  and  sinned  in  Adam,  than  there 
 is  in  assigning  everlasting  heaven  to  those  who  are  jus- 
 tified and  accepted  in  Christ.  God  justly  condemns  all 
 that  are  out  of  Christ;  and  he  no  less  justly  pardonsj 
 and  saves  all  that  are  found  in  Christ.  Hence  the 
 words,  ''He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us"  (not 
 simply  merciful,  but  faitliful  and  just  to  forgive  us) 
 *'our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness." 
 Through  that  reconciliation  made  for  sin,  I  can  feel 
 toward  God,  and  toward  his  hol}^  law,  and  toward  his 
 justice  and  his  truth,  just  as  if  I  had  never  sinned;  I 
 can  think  of  God,  of  the  denunciation  of  sin,  and  of  the 
 glories  of  heaven  and  of  the  judgment-seat  and  its  end- 
 It  ss  retributions,  just  as  if  I  were  perfectly  innocent 
 and  had  never  sinned — with  this  additional  peculiarity, 
 that  I  cherish  a  responsive  love  and  gratitude  such  as 
 I  had  never  cherished  if  I  had  never  fallen.  Chris* 
 thus  died  to  make  reconciliation  for  sin. 
 
390  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  is  prophesied  that  he  should 
 bring  in  everlasting  righteousness.  Making  reconciliation 
 b)^  his  death,  is' Christ's  passive  work;  bringing  in 
 everlasting  righteousness  by  his  obedience,  is  Christ's 
 active  work.  In  the  one — that  is,  in  his  death,  and 
 sacrifices,  and  making  reconciliation — he  suffered  all 
 that  man  had  incurred  as  a  sinner ;  in  his  active  right- 
 eousness, or  obedience  to  the  law,  he  did  all  that  man 
 owed  to  God  as  a  creature.  I  feel  that  I  am  a  sinner, 
 and  that  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law  :  I  look  to 
 what  he  suffered,  that  that  sin  may  not  be  my  ruin.  I 
 feel  also  I  owe  obedience  to  a  perfect  law,  which  still 
 says,  'Hhou  shalt:"  I  look  to  Christ,  my  head,  in  whom 
 and  by  whom  that  law  was  obeyed  for  me,  and  I  feel 
 that  I  can  be  justified.  By  his  reconciliation  for  sin,  he 
 puts  away  sin,  so  that  its  curse,  the  curse  of  a  broken 
 law,  shall  never  liglit  upon  me.  By  his  righteousness, 
 or  active  obedience,  he  clothes  me  with  a  righteousness 
 that  answers  all  the  demands  of  a  law  that  exacts  per- 
 fect obedience  of  me.  So  that  I  can  stand  in  God's  sight, 
 and  feel  that  I  not  only  deserve  no  curse,  but  that,  in 
 Christ,  I  deserve  everlasting  joy;  for  the  Messiah,  tlie 
 Prince,  my  Head  and  Substitute,  has  obeyed  the  law  in 
 my  room  and  stead.  AYe  can  never  appreciate  the  Gospel 
 in  all  its  fulness,  or  be  saved  from  the  popular  and  pre- 
 dominant errors  of  the  day,  till  we  feel  this  in  its  com- 
 pleteness, that  by  Christ's  shed  blood  we  are  com.pletely 
 delivered  from  all  the  penal  consequences  of  sin,  and 
 therefore  need  no  other  expiation,  were  it  possible  ;  and 
 by  Christ's  active  obedience,  or  righteousness,  we  are 
 entitled  to  all  the  rewards  that  Adam  would  have  in- 
 herited, and  more,  if  he  had  perfectly  obeyed,  and  there- 
 fore need  no  additional  merits.  AYhat  a  glorious  Saviour 
 is  this  !  "What  a  complete  salvation  is  here  !  He  restrains 
 transgression  in  the  mass  of  mankind  ;  he  puts  an  end 
 to  sin,  by  putting  an  end  to  its  curse ;  he  makes  recon- 
 ciliation for  sin,  by  bearing  our  chastisement  upon  him  ; 
 and  he  brings  in  everlasting  righteousness,  that  makes 
 us  altogether  spotless  before  God :  so  that,  looking  by 
 faith  to  this  greater  than  pasclial  Lamb ;  beholding  this 
 
THE    MISSIOjS-    OF    THE    MESSIAH.  391 
 
 sacriiice,  so  transcending  the  victims  of  Levi ;  washed 
 in  this  blood,  which  has  virtues  the  blood  of  bulls,  and 
 goats,  and  heifers  made  no  claim  to  ;  arrayed  in  this 
 righteousness,  in  which  Omniscience  can  see  no  stain, 
 we  can  lay  aside  all  our  sad  recollections  and  sorrowful 
 forebodings,  and  ask,  in  triumphant  tones,  ''  who  shall 
 lay  anj'thing  to  my  charge  r  It  is  God  that  justilieth. 
 AVho  shall  condemn  me  r  It  is  Christ  that  died — yea, 
 rather,  who  is  risen  again.  For  I  am  persuaded  that 
 neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities  nor 
 powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
 height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able 
 to  separate  me  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ 
 Jesus  my  Lord."  In  Christ  I  am  complete.  In  his 
 righteousness  I  am  perfect  before  God.  I  shall  stand  in 
 heaven,  for  ever  tasting  all  the  blessedness,  and  Christ 
 for  ever  recei\'ing  all  the  glory  of  it.  Not  one  thread  in 
 that  perfect  robe  is  mine  ;  and  yet  not  one  blessing  it 
 entitles  to  shall  be  withheld  from  me.  My  song  shall  be 
 the  expression  of  my  enjoj-ment  of  all  the  results,  and 
 the  giving  of  all  the  glory  unto  him  to  whom  alone  it 
 is  due. 
 
 The  next  end  of  Christ's  mission  is  here  foretold  to  be 
 to  seal  up  the  vision  and  the  prophecy.  This  plainly  means 
 to  illustrate  in  his  person  the  glories  of  ancient  pro- 
 phecies ;  to  be  in  himself  a  perfect  embodiment  of  all 
 those  predictions  contained  in  the  Bible,  from  the  first  in 
 Genesis  to  the  last  in  Malachi,  which  relate  to  the  Messiah, 
 so  that  in  him  shall  meet  and  mingle  Moses,  Isaiah, 
 David,  and  all  the  prophets.  We  lind  him  explaining 
 the  fulfilment  of  this  very  clause,  though  he  does  not 
 allude  to  it  by  name,  when  he  said  to  his  disciples 
 (Luke  xxiv.  26,  27),  ''  Ought  not  Christ  to  have  suf- 
 fered these  things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glor}'  ?  And 
 beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded 
 unto  them  in  all  the  scriptures  the  things  concerning 
 himself."  And  he  again  saj's  to  them  (ver.  44),  "  These 
 are  the  words  which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  Avas  yet 
 with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  fulfillecl,  which  were 
 written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  iu 
 
392  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 the  Psalms,  concerning  me."  Plainly,  therefore,  as  I 
 might  demonstrate  at  length,  all  that  was  predicted 
 respecting  the  person,  work,  sufferings,  trials,  achieve- 
 ments, and  glory,  of  the  Messiah,  were,  and  are,  and 
 will  yet  fully  be,  realised  in  him.  When  Christ  cried 
 upon  the  cross,  "  It  is  finished,"  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
 and  the  Psalms,  gathered  round  him,  and  added  their 
 united  and  their  solemn  Amen.  In  whom  was  the 
 prophecy  fulfilled,  ''  The  woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the 
 serpent's  head?"  In  Christ.  In  whom  was  the  prophecy 
 fulfilled,  "  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah  till 
 Shiloh  come  r"  In  Christ.  In  whom  Avas  the  prophecy 
 fulfilled,  "His  name  sliall  be  called  AVonderful,  the 
 Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the  Father  of  the  age  to 
 come,  the  Prince  of  peace  ?"  •  In  Christ.  Was  not  the 
 biography  of  Christ  the  fifty -third  chapter  of  Isaiah 
 made  actual  ?  Was  not  Christ  the  true  crucifix  of  which 
 it  is  the  description  ?  Who  is  tlie  prophet  whom  Moses 
 said  God  would  raise  up  unto  himself,  and  whom  the 
 people  should  hear  ?  Christ  Jesus,  as  stated  by  the 
 Apostle  in  his  address,  given  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
 His  life,  his  death,  his  birth-place,  the  time  of  his  birth, 
 his  sufferings,  his  joys,  the  nature  and  peculiarities  of 
 his  death,  his  burial,  his  resurrection,  his  coming  glory, 
 were  all  predicted,  and  all  find  their  perfect  embodiment 
 in  him.  He  alone  seals  up  the  vision,  and  terminates 
 in  himself  the  prophecies  that  relate  to  him. 
 
 To  mioint  the  mod  Holy  is  the  last  clause  of  this  pro- 
 phecy. AVho  is  this  most  Holy  ?  The  word  is  in  the 
 masculine  gender,  and  means,  properly,  ''  the  most  Holy 
 One."  But  who  is  this  most  Holy  One?  We  are  told 
 in  the  Gospels  over  and  over  again:  '^I  know  thee," 
 said  the  unclean  spirits,  "  thou  art  the  Holy  One  of 
 God."  The  Apostle  said  to  the  Jews,  "  Ye  denied  the 
 Holy  One."  Paul  said  to  the  Hebrews,  ''  Such  a  high 
 priest  became  us,  who  is  holy."  In  the  epistle  to  the 
 church  at  Philadelphia  v\-e  read:  ''These  things  saith 
 he  tliat  is  holy  "  The  ''  Holy  One,"  therefore,  was 
 Christ  Jesus.  What  is  meant  by  ''anointing"  him? 
 We  have  this  explained  by  referring  to  the  other  pro- 
 
THE   MISSION    OF   THE   MESSIAH.  393 
 
 phecies  relating  to  him.  In  Isaiah  Ixi.  we  read  :  ''  The 
 Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me ;  because  the  Lord 
 hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek; 
 he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  pro- 
 chiim  liberty  to  the  captives."  'We  find  our  Lord  sllo^y- 
 ing  that  he  is  himself  the  Anointed  Holy  One,  when  he 
 takes  the  very  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (Luke  iv.  11)  and 
 applies  it  to  himself:  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
 me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel 
 to  the  poor  :  he  hatli  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 
 to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of 
 sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised, 
 to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  And  he  closed 
 the  book,  and  gave  it  to  the  minister,  and  sat  down.  And 
 tlip  eyes  of  all  them  that  were  in  the  synagogue  were 
 fastened  on  him.  And  he  began  to  say.  This  day  is 
 this  scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears." 
 
 We  have  the  very  same  prediction  in  its  echo  in 
 Heb.  i.  8;  "But  unto  the  Son  he  saith.  Thy  throne, 
 0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever  :  a  sceptre  of  righteous- 
 ness is  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom.  Thou  hast  loved 
 righteousness,  and  hated  iniquity ;  therefore  God,  even 
 thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness 
 above  thy  fellows."  When  we  go  back  to  the  Levitical 
 economy,  we  find  all  the  priests  were  anointed  and 
 consecrated  to  their  sacred  functions  by  a  holy  oil, 
 which  it  was  blasphemy  to  imitate.  The  prediction, 
 therefore,  plainly  refers  to  the  Messiah,  who,  in  the 
 Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  is  said  to  be  a  "great  Hif>h 
 Priest,  who  was  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infir- 
 mities, and  who  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
 us."  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  word  Messiah  means 
 "  the  Anointed  One."  Hence  Andrew  said  to  Peter, 
 "  AYe  have  found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  inter- 
 preted, o  XjOmroc/' — the  Anointed  One.  You  have 
 heard  of  the  Chrism  used  in  Roman  Catholic  churches ; 
 it  means  anointing,  and  is  derived  from  the  same  root  as 
 the  word  Christ,  wliich  means  ''anointed."  When,  then, 
 Andrew  says  to  Peter,  "We  have  found  the  Messias, 
 which  is,  being  interpreted,  the  Christ,"  he  intimated 
 
394  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 that  the  prediction  of  Daniel  is  fulfilled  ;  as  if  he  had 
 said  :  *•  He  who  was  to  come  to  make  an  end  of  sin,  to 
 bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  and  is  the  anointed 
 high  priest  foretold  by  Daniel,  is  now  come,  and  wc 
 have  found  him." 
 
 I  think,  now,  that  this  contrast  between  the  facts  as 
 fulfilled  and  narrated  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
 and  these  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament,  clearlj-  and 
 irrefragably  prove  that  all  these  find  their  embodiment 
 and  perfect  realisation  in  the  "  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
 away  the  sins  of  the  world."  Show  me  any  one,  in  all 
 the  history  of  the  past,  since  five  hundred  years  before 
 Christ,  when  Daniel  wrote  this,  downw^ard  to  the  year 
 in  which  we  now  live,  in  whom  this  prediction  has  been, 
 or  can  be  demonstrated  to  be  completely,  or  even  par- 
 tially, realised.  Has  any  one,  in  all  that  period  of  two 
 thousand  years  and  upwards,  restrained  transgressions 
 thoughout  the  world  by  his  docti-ine  and  his  name?  Has 
 any  one  "  made  an  end  of  sin,"  in  any  sense,  or  as  I 
 have  explained  to  3'ou  ?  Has  any  one  made  a  "recon- 
 ciliation for  sin,"  ''brought  in  everlasting  righteousness," 
 "  sealed  up"  all  the  predictions  relating  to  himself,  and 
 been  anointed  the  "Holy  One  of  God?"  iS^one  but 
 Jesus  of  oS^azareth.  All  the  prophets  point  to  Jesus ; 
 all  the  Psalms  celebrate  him  ;  he  is  the  Key  that  unlocks 
 them  all ;  and  in  him  all  is  found  to  be  harmony,  order, 
 consi?,tenc3",  and  truth.  I  have  no  more  doubt  that 
 Christ  is  the  Messiah,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  our 
 only  Sacrifice,  our  only  Priest,  and  Prophet,  and  Eternal 
 King,  than  I  have  that  there  is  a  sun  in  the  firmament, 
 or  tides  in  the  ocean.  It  is  the  plainest  of  all  facts,  it 
 is  the  clearest  of  all  truths,  it  is  the  deepest  of  all 
 convictions.  We  know  in  whom  we  have  believed,  and 
 that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  we  have  committed  to  him 
 against  that  day. 
 
 I  ask  now,  in  conclusion,  have  3'ou,  my  dear  friends, 
 any  personal  interest  in  this  ?  Is  this  a  theory  demon- 
 strated before  you,  or  good  news  welcome  to  your  hearts? 
 Is  Christianity  anything  to  you  beyond  a  topic  for  the 
 preacher's  sermon,  or  a  source  for  the  supply  of  names 
 
THE   MISSION    01    THE    MESSIAH.  395 
 
 for  5'our  children,  or  a  respectable  profession  in  society  ? 
 Can  you  say  from  those  seats:  *' 0  Lord,  I  bless  and 
 praise  thee,  that  thou  didst  make  reconciliation  for  sin, 
 that  thou  hast  brought  in  everlasting  righteousness,  that 
 thou  art  the  anointed  High  Priest  that  ever  liveth  to 
 make  intercession  for  me  ; — I  bless  thee,  I  praise  thee  ; 
 — my  hopes  of  heaven,  my  prospects  of  joy,  all  cluster 
 about  thy  cross,  centre  in  thy  person,  and  come  from 
 thy  deep  love ; — thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable 
 gift,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ :"  Very  awful  is  that  man's 
 responsibility  who  hears  these  truths  and  despises  them, 
 — who  knows  these  truths  and  neglects  them.  Your 
 greatest  condemnation  will  not  be  a  broken  law,  but  a 
 neglected  Gospel,  a  rejected  Saviour.  There  is  no  reason 
 in  the  height  or  in  the  depth,  in  the  law  or  in  the 
 Gospel,  why  a  single  soul  in  this  assembly  should  perish 
 for  ever.  God  waits  to  welcome  you  ;  Christ  waits  to 
 receive  you  ;  the  Spirit  waits  to  sanctify  you  :  and  it 
 will  be  the  corroding  recollection  of  the  lost  in  misery, 
 "  I  did  it  all  myself,  and  nobody  did  it  for  me  ;"  as  it 
 will  be  the  joyous  impression  and  never-ceasing  song  of 
 the  redeemed  in  glory,  "We  did  none  of  it  j  Christ  did 
 it  all  from  first  to  last." 
 
LECTUBE  XXVI. 
 
 SACEED     APvITHMETIC. 
 
 *'  Serenfy  weeks  are  determined  tipoji  thy  people  and  upon 
 thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  transgression,  and  to  make 
 an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity^ 
 and  to  briny  in  everlasting  righteousness,  and  to  seal  up 
 the  vision  and  prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  most  Holy.'' 
 — Daniel  ix.  24. 
 
 I  HATE  addressed  you  on  the  grand  characteristic  of 
 the  death  of  Jesus.  I  showed  you  in  two  successive 
 discourses,  that  the  death  of  Jesus — his  being  ''  cut  oft, 
 but  not  for  himself" — was  expiatory,  or  atoning.  I 
 showed  that  it  was  the  evidence  of  a  creature  that  he 
 died,  and  the  evidence  of  a  God  that  he  died  a  substi- 
 tute for  us  ;  that  it  was  his  shame  that  he  suffered,  but 
 it  was  his  glory  that  he  satisfied  ;  and  that  because  the 
 Messiah  was  cut  off,  and  cut  off  for  us,  we  have  redemp- 
 tion through  his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  I 
 then  showed  you,  last  Lord's-daj'  evening,  the  meaning 
 of  that  most  beautiful  summary  of  the  great  results 
 of  the  death  of  Jesus  embodied  in  Dan.  ix.  24,  (the 
 epitome  of  which  was  all  that  I  was  able  to  give  3'ou) 
 — namely,  that  Christ  should  ''finish  the  transgression, 
 make  an  end  of  sins,  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity, 
 bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  seal  up  the  vision  and 
 the  prophecy,  and  anoint  the  most  Holy."  "What  re- 
 mains, is  indicated  in  the  passage  I  have  read  this  even- 
 ing. It  is  not  the  most  interesting,  because  it  is  the 
 most  arithmetical ;  yet  it  is  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
 that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  born  in  Bethlehem, 
 died  upon  the  cross,  rose  again  for  our  justification,  lives 
 and  reigns  our  Prince  and  Intercessor,  is  the  Messiah 
 
SACKED    ARITHMETIC.  397 
 
 promised  to  the  fathers,  and  that  Daniel  here  clearly 
 and  demonstrably  predicted  him. 
 
 AYhen  a  prophet  gives  us  dates  and  numbers,  if  his 
 prophecy  be  false,  it  is  the  easiest  possible  of  detection ; 
 if,  on  the  other  hand,  his  prophecy  be  true,  it  is  easil}^ 
 capable  of  proof.  Daniel  has  given  us  numbers ;  he  has 
 not  only  given  us  those  grand  cliaracteristic  features  of 
 the  life  and  death  of  Christ  "svhich  demonstrably  prove 
 that  he  is  the  Messiah  (for  in  none  before  him,  and  in 
 none  since  have  these  characteristic  features  been  actu- 
 alised),  but  he  has  also  given  us  an  exact  calculation  of 
 tlie  time  that  should  intervene  between  a  given  terminus 
 a  quo,  or  commencing  period,  and  a  given  terminus  ad 
 quod,  or  a  closing  period.  The  prophet  says,  tliat  be- 
 tween these  sevent)'  weeks  should  intervene.  His  words 
 are  distinct  and  definite.  Let  us  then  investigate  the 
 proofs  of  this  exact  prophecy,  and  see  if  it  has  been  ful- 
 filled, as  generally  supposed,  in  the  age,  appearance,  life, 
 and  death  of  the  Son  of  God. 
 
 I  admit  that  there  have  been  disputes  whether  the 
 close  of  the  seventy  weeks  refers  to  the  time  of  the  birth 
 of  Christ,  or  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  or  the  death  of 
 Chiist,  or  the  extinction  of  the  Jewish  polity ;  for  all 
 these  are  more  or  less  alluded  to.  Eut  one  fact  will 
 strike  j'ou  as  incontestible — that  if  we  take  the  longest 
 period  to  which  the  seventy  weeks  can  be  extended,  or 
 the  shortest  period  within  wliich  the}'  can  have  expired, 
 it  must  be  equally  certain,  that  if  the  Messiah,  the 
 Prince  Avho  was  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and 
 bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  has  not  come,  the 
 prophec}'  is  null,  and  no  Messiah,  according  to  its  terms, 
 can  be  expected.  Either  the  Jews  are  unbelievers,  or 
 Christians  are  deceived.  The  shorter  period  Avithin 
 which  the  time  can  expire,  minus  the  last  week,  wliich 
 occurs  after  the  appearance  of  Christ,  may  be — nay,  I 
 believe  must  be — the  manifestation  of  Christ  as  a 
 preacher,  as  the  anointed  prophet,  as  I  shall  show  you 
 by-ancl-bye.  The  remotest  moment  at  which  the 
 seventy  weeks  can  possibly  be  said  to  expire,  must  be 
 the  overthrow  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  by  Titus, 
 
398  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 which  I  beiieve  is  not  the  time  referred  to.  If  the 
 Messiah  expected  by  the  Jew,  predicted  by  Daniel, 
 delineated  so  distinstl)'  by  the  sacred  pen,  has  not  come 
 within  these  extreme  periods,  these  ultimate  limits, 
 then  Daniel  predicted  Avhat  was  false,  and  one  of  the 
 most  striking  pillars  of  the  truth  of  the  inspiration  of 
 Daniel,  and  of  the  fact  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  is 
 swept  from  beneath  the  fabric  of  Christianity. 
 
 That  the  Christ  is  actually  come,  and  is  Jesus  of 
 Nazareth,  I  showed  you  might  be  proved  from  the 
 identity  of  his  character  Avith  the  features  here  given. 
 I  have  often  thought  that  when  Andrew  said  to  Peter, 
 *'We  have  found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  inter- 
 preted, the  Christ,"  he  had  this  very  passage  of  Daniel 
 before  him.  "  Here  is  the  Messiah  "  (as  if  he  liad  said), 
 "  the  Prince,  the  Anointed  One.  Here  "  (said  Andrew) 
 *'is  the  fultilment  of  Daniel's  prophecy;  we  have  found 
 the  Messiah,  which  is,  being  interpreted  in  our  Greek 
 tongue,  the  Christ," — in  English,  the  Anointed  One. 
 Therefore  it  was  that  Andrew's  speech  was  the  echo  of 
 Daniel's  prophecy;  and  God  was  showing  in  his  bio- 
 graphy Avhat  he  had  insj)ired  in  Daniel's  prophecy.  I 
 may  add,  too,  as  an  interesting  collateral  fact,  that 
 almost  all  the  Jews  were  in  expectation  that  the  Mes- 
 siah would  appear  about  1850  j-ears  ago;  and  even 
 some  heathen  writers  allude  to  the  prevalence  of  such  a 
 rumour  and  belief  among  the  Jews  ;  and  add,  that  they 
 calculated  that  periods  of  prophecy  expired  about  that 
 time.  We  have  the  remains  of  Jewish  testimonies,  that 
 just  about  the  time  that  Christ  came,  they  were  ex23ect- 
 ing  that  the  Messiah  would  come ;  and  you  Avill  find 
 that,  though  they  rejected  Christ,  they  were  so  full  of 
 the  expectancy  of  the  Messiah,  that  pretended  Messiahs 
 were  constantly  appearing,  professing  to  be  such,  and 
 were  often  followed  by  crowds  of  temporary  adherents. 
 I  mention  this  to  show  the  all  but  universal  belief  that 
 great  chronological  epochs  had  then  expired,  and  that  in 
 consequence  of  this  and  from  the  knowledge  of  it,  the 
 great  heart  of  Judaism  Avas  big  with  expectancy  of  a 
 glorious  and  speedy  deliverer.     Many  pretenders  to  the 
 
r.ACTRED    ARITHMETIC.  399 
 
 Messiahship  were  no  disproof  of  the  olain^s  of  Jesus ; 
 just  as  many  pscudo-g-ospels  are  no  disproof  of  the  truth 
 and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels  of  Mattliew  and  John. 
 The  arithmetical  calculations  on  which  I  must  now 
 enter  may  in  one  sense  be  thought  dry  and  uninterest- 
 ing as  elements  of  a  popular  address,  yet  thej-  are  pos- 
 sessed of  great  importance.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  thought 
 it  was  useful  to  direct  Daniel  thus  to  write,  it  is  un- 
 worthy of  us  to  sa)'  it  is  too  dry  for  the  minister  to 
 preach,  and  too  dull  for  the  hearer  to  investigate.  It  is 
 not  sunshine  but  truth  we  are  to  seek  after.  My  dear 
 friends,  whatever  God  has  written,  man  should  read ; 
 whatever  God  has  thought  proper  to  communicate,  man 
 is  not  only  warranted,  but  commanded  to  investigate, 
 and  authorised  to  expect  to  understand.  But  it  is  very 
 interesting  to  know,  and  truly  exemplar}-  for  us,  that 
 wliilst  Daniel  is  giving  these  dry  technical  numbers — 
 the  seven  weeks,  and  sixty-two  Aveeks,  and  one  week, 
 or  the  seventy  weeks  so  constantly  referred  to,  he  does 
 not  do  so  without  embodying  in  the  very  heart  of  arith- 
 metic what  is  so  precious,  and  to  ministers  so  valuable 
 a  precedent,  one  of  the  clearest  portraits  of  the  atone- 
 ment of  our  Lord  and  its  glorious  effects,  probabl}-,  con- 
 tained in  the  whole  Scriptures  of  truth;  so  clear,  that 
 if  you  did  not  know  that  it  was  written  in  Daniel,  and 
 were  to  hear  me  read  it  for  the  first  time,  that  Christ  as 
 5'our  reconciliation  for  sin,  made  an  end  of  sin,  and 
 brought  in  everlasting  righteousness,  you  would  say, 
 ''These  must  be  the  words  of  Paul,  Peter,  or  John;" 
 not  a  pro]>hecy,  but  a  record,  or  inspired  description  of 
 Jesus  of  IS'azareth. 
 
 The  words  of  the  prophet  are,  ''  Seventy  weeks  are 
 determined."  JNTow,  do  these  weeks  mean  literal  Aveeks, 
 or  are  they  symbolical  weeks  ?  Are  they  strictly  literal, 
 or  Avhat  has  been  called  prophetic  Aveeks  ?  If  the 
 decision  rested  on  mere  conjecture,  the  prophecy  Avouid 
 be  so  far  comparatively  inexplicable  ;  but  you  A\dll  find 
 that  it  was  a  frequent,  almost  a  universal  habit  of  the 
 ancient  penmen  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  in 
 certain  descriptiosn,  to  speak  of  years  under  the  symbol 
 
400  PKOPHETIC    SIUDIES. 
 
 of  days.  For  instance,  so  early  as  in  Genesis  we  "finrl 
 Moses  tlms  describino-  the  ages  of  the  patriarchs:  "  All 
 the  dat/s  that  Adam  lived  were  nine  hundred  and  thirty 
 years.''  In  Leviticus  xxv.  8,  we  read  :  '*  And  thou  shalt 
 number  seven  Sabbaths  of  3-ears  unto  thee,  seven  times 
 seven  years."  The  Jubilee  occurred  at  the  end  of 
 forty-nine  years.  Seven  times  seven  make  forty-nine. 
 Therefore  seven  weeks  in  prophetic  language,  in  Jewish 
 reckoning,  mean,  not  seven  literal,  but  seven  prophetic 
 weeks,  or  seven  times  seven  prophetic  days,  that  is, 
 forty-nine  literal  years,  at  the  end  of  which,  as  we 
 know,  the  jubilee  always  occurred.  So  again,  in  Genesis 
 (chap.  xxix.  27),  as  if  to  confirm  the  justness  of  this 
 interpretation,  we  read  these  words  :  ''  Fulfil  her  week, 
 and  we  will  give  thee  this  also,  for  tlie  service  wliich 
 thou  shalt  serve  with  me  yet  seven  other  years" — the 
 week  here  being  the  symbol,  or  the  equivalent  of  seven 
 years.  Another  very  remarkable  passage  confirmatory 
 of  this  interpretation  is  contained  in  Ezekiel  iv.  6, 
 where  we  have  these  M'ords  :  ''And  when  thou  hast 
 accomplished  them,  lie  again  on  tliy  right  side,  and  thou 
 shalt  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Judah  forty  days  :" 
 - — now  that  is  the  simple  statement ;  then  there  is 
 added,  ''  I  have  appointed  thee  each  day  for  a  year," — 
 that  is,  forty  years  was  the  actual  period  symbolised 
 under  the  prophetic  language  of  forty  days.  It  is  plain, 
 therefore,  that  it  is  not  by  rash  conjecture  that  I  interpret 
 the  seventy  weeks  as  meaning  seventy  Aveeks  of  years, 
 but  it  is  upon  the  basis  of  God's  autliority.  He  gives  us 
 the  precedent  of  accepting  in  prophetic  interpretation 
 the  day  for  the  year.  Eesides,  if  the  period  of  Daniel 
 were  seventy  literal  weeks,  there  would  be  nothing  to 
 correspond  with  its  termination.  I  do  not  say  this  alone 
 is  a  conclusive  argument :  I  merely  state  it  as  confirma- 
 tor}'  of  what  I  have  advanced.  It  may  be  shown  to  be 
 historically  impossible  that  seventy  literal  weeks  from 
 any  one  period  here  indicated  could  end  in  the  advent 
 of  any  one  that  could  by  possibility  be  interpreted  to 
 be  the  Messiah.  I  therefore  conclude,  1  think  justly, 
 that  the  seventy  weeks  of  Daniel  are  seventy  weeks  of 
 
SACllED   ARITHMETIC.  401 
 
 years;  each  day  being  taken  for  a  year,  seven  prophetic  days 
 in  a  prophetic  week  make  seven  literal  years.  Seventy 
 prophetic  weeks,  therefore,  Avill  be  seventy  times  seven 
 prophetic  days,  or  literal  years — i.e.  490  years.  The  pre- 
 diction, therefore,  is  expressed,  that  from  some  given  period, 
 or  as  I  have  called  it,  a  terminus  a  ^u6,  to  another  fixed 
 period,  the  terminus  ad  quod,  or  to  the  Messiah's  manifesta- 
 tion and  confirming  of  the  covenant,  will  be  490  years. 
 
 But  you  will  notice  in  proceeding,  that  the  seventy 
 weeks,  or  490  years  are  divided  by  the  prophet  into 
 three  periods,  in  each  period  of  Avhich  some  one  great 
 tnmsaction  is  to  take  place.  In  verse  25,  we  read, 
 ''  Know,  therefore,  and  understand,  that  from  the  going 
 forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jeru- 
 snlem  unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince  shall  be  seven  weeks," 
 [then]  **  and  three  score  and  two  weeks:"  [these 
 being  sections  of  one  period  of  seventy  Aveeks,  and 
 forming  together  sixty-nine  weeks.]  ''And  the  street 
 shall  be  built  again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troublous 
 times."  Then,  "And  after  three  score  and  two  weeks" 
 [starting  from  the  termination  of  the  first  seven  weeks] 
 ''  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off."  Then,  for  one  week  addi- 
 tional to  the  sixty-nine  he  shall  confirm  the  covenant. 
 The  whole  period,  then,  is  divided  into  three  great 
 sections;  that  is,  the  whole  seventy  weeks  is  divided 
 into  seven  weeks,  sixty -two  weeks,  and  one  w^eek, 
 which  three  numbers  amount  to  seventy  weeks.  In  the 
 first  seven  weeks,  the  citj  was  to  be  built ;  at  the  end 
 of  the  next  division,  or  sixty-two  weeks,  the  Messiah 
 was  to  be  manifested,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  last  week 
 he  was  to  be  cut  off,  and  during  the  remainder  of  it  to 
 confirm  the  covenant,  while  in  the  midst  of  the  same 
 week  he  was  to  cause  the  sacrifice  to  cease.  In  the 
 first  seven  weeks  the  city  was  to  be  built,  in  the  sixty- 
 two  weeks  the  Messiah  was  to  be  manifested,  in  the 
 middle  of  the  remaining  week  the  Messiali  was  to  be  cut 
 off.  The  seven  weeks  are  equal  to  49  years,  the  sixty- 
 two  weeks  are  equal  to  434  years,  and  the  one  Aveek  is 
 equal  to  seven  j-ears,  making  a  total  of  490  years,  which 
 I  have  already  specified.     We  have  thus  then,  all  the 
 
 D  D 
 
402  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 details  of  this  question  before  us.  'J'lie  first  difficulty 
 which  occurs,  if  it  be  a  difficulty,  which  I  scarcely 
 think,  though  there  has  been  dispute  about  it,  is,  what 
 is  the  commencing  epoch  of  the  seventy  weeks  ?  The 
 words  employed  are,  ''  Know  therefore,  and  understand, 
 that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore 
 and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince 
 shall  be  seven  weeks,  and  three  score  and  two  weeks  :" 
 that  is,  the  two  put  together,  forty-nine  years  and  434 
 years  ;  these  two  periods  having  elapsed,  then  the  Messiah 
 the  Prince  should  be  manifested.  I  pass  by  much,  after 
 which,  as  we  shall  subsequently  see,  was  to  occur  in 
 Jerusalem,  the  overspreading  of  the  abomination,  the 
 city  and  the  sanctuary  with  a  flood. 
 
 Let  me  then  look  at  the  first  period  of  seven  weeks, 
 i.e.  forty-nine  years,  of  the  three  into  which  the  seventy 
 weeks  or  490  years  are  divided.  The  commencing  period 
 is  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  build 
 Jerusalem.  AVhen  was  this  commandment  given  ?  There 
 have  been  but  four  great  commands  or  edicts  that  have 
 rcs^iectively  been  supposed  to  be  the  commencing  epoch. 
 There  are  but  four,  I  say,  that  it  is  possible  to  sujjpose, 
 or  that  have  been  supposed  to  have  been  the  commencing 
 epoch.  The  first  was  by  Cyrus,  during  the  first  year  of 
 his  reign  in  13abylon,  at  the  end  of  the  seventy  years' 
 captivity,  as  recorded  in  Ezra  i.  ''  Xow  in  the  first  year 
 of  Cyrus  King  of  Persia,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  by 
 the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  might  be  fulfilled,  the  Lord 
 stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Cyrus  King  of  Persia,  that  he 
 made  a  proclamation  throughout  all  his  kingdom,  and 
 put  it  also  in  writing,  saying.  Thus  saith  Cyrus  King  of 
 Persia,  the  Lord  God  of  heaven  hath  given  me  all  the 
 kingdoms  of  the  earth  ;  and  he  hath  charged  me  to  build 
 liim  an  house  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  in  Judah.  AVho  is 
 there  among  you  of  all  his  people  ?  his  God  be  with  him, 
 and  let  him  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  which  is  in  Judah,  and 
 build  the  house  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  (he  is  tlie 
 God,)  which  is  in  Jerusalem.  And  whosoever  remaineth 
 in  any  place  where  he  sojourneth,  let  the  men  of  his 
 place  help  him  with  silver,  and  with  gold,  and  with 
 
SACKED    ARITHMETIC.  403 
 
 goods,  and  with  beasts,  beside  the  freewill  offering  for 
 the  house  of  God  that  is  in  Jerusalem.  Then  rose  up 
 the  chief  of  the  fathers  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the 
 priests,  and  the  Levites,  M^ith  all  them  whose  spirit  God 
 had  raised,  to  go  up  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord 
 which  is  in  Jerusalem.  And  all  they  that  were  about 
 them  strengthened  their  hands  with  vessels  of  silver, 
 with  gold,  with  goods,  and  with  beasts,  and  with  precious 
 things,  beside  all  that  was  willingly  offered.  Also 
 Cyrus  the  king  brought  forth  the  vessels  of  the  house  of 
 the  Lord,  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  brought  forth  out 
 of  Jerusalem,  and  had  put  them  in  the  house  of  his  gods; 
 even  those  did  Cyrus  King  of  Persia  bring  forth  by  the 
 hand  of  Mithredath  the  treasurer,  and  numbered  them 
 unto  Sheshbazzar,  the  prince  of  Judah.  And  this  is  the 
 number  of  them  :  thirty  chargers  of  gold,  a  thousand 
 chargers  of  silver,  nine  and  twenty  knives,  thirty  basons 
 of  gold,  silver  basons  of  a  second  sort  four  hundred  and 
 ten,  and  other  vessels  a  thousand.  All  the  vessels  of 
 gold,  and  of  silver  were  five  thousand  and  four  hundred. 
 Ail  these  did  Sheshbazzar  bring  up  with  them  of  the 
 capti\'ity  that  were  brought  up  from  Babylon  unto 
 Jerusalem."  On  reading  the  whole  of  this  chapter 
 carefullv,  you  will  perceive  that  this  commission  is  to 
 rebuild  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 The  second  command  is  the  edict  issued  by  Darius, 
 recorded  in  the  6th  chapter  of  Ezra,  which  it  is  impor- 
 tant to  read  : — "  Then  Darius  the  king  made  a  decree, 
 and  search  was  made  in  the  house  of  the  rolls,  where 
 the  treasures  Avere  laid  up  in  Bab^don.  And  there  was 
 found  at  Achmetha,  in  the  palace  that  is  in  the  province 
 of  the  Medes,  a  roll,  and  therein  was  a  record  thus 
 written ;  In  the  first  year  of  Cyrus  the  king,  the  same 
 Cyrus  the  king  made  a  decree  concerning  the  house 
 of  God  at  Jerusalem,  Let  the  house  be  builded,  the 
 place  where  they  offered  sacrifices,  and  let  the  founda- 
 tions thereof  be  strongly  laid  ;  the  height  thereof  three 
 score  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  three  score  cubits  : 
 "with  three  rows  of  great  stones,  and  a  row  of  new 
 timber :  and  let  the  expenses  be  given  out  of  the  king's 
 
 n  D  2 
 
404  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 house  :  and  also  let  the  golden  and  silver  vessels  of  the 
 house  of  God,  which  Xebuchadnczzar  took  forth  out  of 
 the  temple  which  is  at  Jerusalem,  and  brought  into 
 Babylon,  be  restored,  and  brought  again  unto  the  temple 
 which  is  at  Jerusalem,  every  one  to  his  place,  and  place 
 them  in  the  house  of  God.  Xow  therefore,  Tatnai, 
 governor  beyond  the  river,  Shethar-boznai,  and  your 
 companions  the  Apharsachites,  which  are  beyond  the 
 river,  be  ye  far  from  thence  :  let  the  work  of  this  house 
 of  God  alone  ;  let  the  governor  of  the  Jews  and  the 
 elders  of  the  Jews  build  this  house  of  God  in  his  place. 
 Moreover  I  make  a  decree  what  ye  shall  do  to  the  elders 
 of  these  Jews  for  the  building  of  this  house  of  God  :  that 
 of  the  king's  goods,  even  of  the  tribute  beyond  the  river, 
 forth\\'ith  expenses  be  given  unto  these  men,  that  they 
 be  not  hindered.  And  that  which  they  have  need  of, 
 both  young  bullocks,  and  rams,  and  lambs,  for  the  burnt 
 offerings  of  the  God  of  heaven,  wheat,  salt,  wine,  and  oil, 
 according  to  the  appointment  of  the  priests  which  are  at 
 Jerusalem,  let  it  be  given  them  day  by  day  without  fail : 
 that  they  may  offer  sacrifices  of  sweet  savours  unto  the 
 God  of  heaven,  and  pray  for  the  life  of  the  king,  and  of  his 
 sons.  Also  1  have  made  a  decree,  that  whosoever  shall 
 alter  this  word,  let  timber  be  pulled  down  from  his  house, 
 and  being  set  up,  let  him  be  hanged  thereon ;  and  let 
 his  house  be  made  a  dunghill  for  this.  And  the  God  that 
 hath  caused  his  name  to  dwell  there  destroy  all  kings  and 
 people,  that  shall  put  their  hand  to  alter  and  to  destroy 
 this  house  of  God  which  is  at  Jerusalem.  I  Darius  have 
 made  a  decree  ;  let  it  be  done  with  speed.  Then  Tatnai, 
 governor  on  this  side  the  river,  Shethar-boznai,  and  their 
 companions,  according  to  that  which  Darius  tlie  king 
 had  sent,  so  they  did  speedily.  And  the  elders  of  the 
 Jews  builded,  and  theyprospered  through  the  prophesying 
 of  Haggai  the  pro^^het  and  Zeehariah  the  son  of  Iddo. 
 And  they  builded,  and  finished  it,  according  to  the  com- 
 mandment of  the  God  of  Israel,  and  according  to  the 
 commandment  of  Cyrus,  and  Darius,  and  Artaxerxes 
 King  of  Persia.  And  this  house  was  finished  on  the 
 third  day  of  the  month  Adar,  which  was  in  the  sixth 
 
SACEED    AEITH3IETIC.  405 
 
 year  of  the  redgn  of  Darius  the  king,  and  the  children  of 
 Israel,  the  priests,  and  the  Lcvites,  and  the  rest  of  the 
 cliildren  of  the  captivity,  kept  the  dedication  of  this 
 house  of  God  with  joj',  and  offered  at  the  dedication  of 
 this  house  of  God  an  hundred  bullocks,  two  hundred 
 rams,  four  hundred  lambs ;  and  for  a  sin  offering  for  all 
 Israel,  twelve  he-goats,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
 tribes  of  Israel.  And  they  set  the  priests  in  their  divi- 
 sions, and  the  Levites  in  their  courses,  for  the  service  of 
 God,  which  is  at  Jerusalem;  as  it  is  written  in  the  book 
 of  Moses.  And  the  children  of  the  captivity  kept  the 
 passover  upon  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month. 
 For  the  priests  and  the  Levites  were  purified  together, 
 all  of  them  were  pure,  and  killed  the  passover  for  all  the 
 children  of  the  captivity,  and  for  their  brethren  the 
 priests,  and  for  themselves.  And  the  children  of  Israel, 
 which  were  come  again  out  of  captivity,  and  all  such  as 
 had  separated  themselves  unto  tliem  from  the  lilthiness 
 of  the  heathen  of  the  land,  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of 
 Israel,  did  eat,  and  kept  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread 
 seven  days  with  joy :  for  the  Lord  had  made  them  joy- 
 ful, and  turned  the  heart  of  the  King  of  Assyria  unto 
 them,  to  strengthen  their  hands  in  the  work  of  the  house 
 of  God,  the  God  of  Israel."  But  this  plainly  relates, 
 like  the  former,  to  the  temple,  and  it  alone. 
 
 The  third  edict,  which  I  conceive  to  be  the  true  one, 
 is  given  by  Artaxerxes  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign. 
 It  is  contained  in  the  following  chapter,  Ezra  vii : — 
 "  Xow  after  these  things,  in  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes 
 king  of  Persia,  Ezra,  the  son  of  Seraiah,  the  son  of 
 Azariah,  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  the  son  of  Shallum,  the  son 
 of  Zadok,  the  son  of  Ahitub,  the  son  of  Amariah,  the 
 son  of  Azariah,  the  son  of  Meraioth,  the  son  of  Zerahiah, 
 the  son  of  TJzzi,  the  son  of  Eukki,  the  son  of  Abishua, 
 the  son  of  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Elenzar,  the  son  of  Aaron 
 the  chief  priest :  this  Ezra  went  up  from  Babylon ;  and 
 he  vi-as  a  ready  scribe  in  the  law  of  Moses,  which  the 
 Lord  God  of  Israel  had  given :  and  the  king  granted 
 him  all  his  request,  according  to  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
 his  God  upon  him.     And  there  went  up  some  of  the 
 
406  PEOPHETIC   STinHES. 
 
 children  of  Israel,  and  of  the  priests,  and  the  Levites, 
 and  the  singers,  and  the  porters,  and  the  Xethinims, 
 unto  Jerusalem,  in  the  seventh  year  of  Artaxerxes  the 
 king.  And  he  came  to  Jerusalem  in  the  fifth  month, 
 which  was  in  the  seventh  year  of  the  king.  For  upon 
 the  first  day  of  the  first  month  began  he  to  go  up  from 
 Babylon,  and  on  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  month  came 
 he  to  Jerusalem  according  to  the  good  hand  of  his  God 
 upon  him.  For  Ezra  had  prepared  his  heart  to  seek 
 the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  to  do  it,  and  to  teach  in  Israel 
 statutes  and  judgments.  Is'ow  this  is  the  copy  of  the 
 letter  that  the  king  Artaxerxes  gave  unto  Ezra  the 
 priest,  the  scribe,  even  a  scribe  of  the  words  of  the  com  • 
 mandments  of  the  Lord,  and  of  his  statutes  to  Israel. 
 Artaxerxes,  king  of  kings,  unto  Ezra  the  priest,  a  scribe 
 of  the  law  of  the  God  of  heaven,  perfect  peace,  and  at 
 such  a  time.  I  make  a  decree,  that  all  they  of  the 
 people  of  Israel,  and  of  his  priests  and  Levites,  in  my 
 realm,  which  are  minded  of  their  own  freewill  to  go 
 up  to  Jerusalem,  go  with  thee.  Forasmuch  as  thou 
 art  sent  of  the  king,  and  of  his  seven  counsellors,  to 
 inquire  concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  according  to 
 the  law  of  thy  God  which  is  in  thine  hand ;  and  to 
 carry  the  silver  and  gold,  which  the  king  and  his  coun- 
 sellors have  freely  ofiered  unto  the  God  of  Israel,  whose 
 habitation  is  in  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  silver  and  gold 
 that  thou  canst  find  in  all  the  province  of  Babylon,  with 
 the  freewill  ofi'ering  of  the  people,  and  of  the  priests, 
 ofi'ering  willingly  for  the  house  of  their  God  which  is 
 in  Jerusalem  :  that  thou  mayest  buy  speedily  with  this 
 money  bullocks,  rams,  lambs,  with  their  meat  ofierings 
 and  their  drink  off'erings,  and  ofi'er  them  upon  the  altar 
 of  the  house  of  your  God  which  is  in  Jerusalem.  And 
 whatsoever  shall  seem  good  to  thee,  and  to  thy  brethren, 
 to  do  with  the  rest  of  the  silver  and  the  gold,  that  do 
 after  the  will  of  your  God.  The  vessels  also  that  are 
 given  thee  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  thy  God,  those 
 deliver  thou  before  the  God  of  Jerusalem.  And  what- 
 soever more  shall  be  needful  for  the  house  of  thy  God, 
 which  thou  shalt  have  occasion  to  bestow,  bestow  it  out 
 
SACRED    AEITHMETIC.  407 
 
 of  the  king's  treasure-house.  And  I,  even  I  Artaxerxes 
 the  king,  do  make  a  decree  to  all  the  treasurers  which 
 are  beyond  the  river,  that  whatsoever  Ezra  the  priest, 
 the  scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God  of  heaven,  shall  require 
 of  you,  it  be  done  speedily,  unto  an  hundred  talents  of 
 silver,  and  to  an  hundred  measures  of  wheat,  and  to  an 
 hundred  baths  of  wine,  and  to  an  hundred  baths  of  oil, 
 and  salt  without  prescribing  how  much.  Whatsoever 
 is  commanded  by  the  God  of  heaven,  let  it  be  diligently 
 done  for  the  house  of  the  God  of  heaven  :  for  why 
 should  there  be  wrath  against  the  realm  of  the  king 
 and  his  sons?  Also  we  certifj'  you,  that  touching  any 
 of  tlie  priests  and  Levites,  singers,  porters,  Nethinims, 
 or  ministers  of  this  house  of  God,  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
 to  impose  toll,  tribute,  or  custom,  upon  them.  And 
 thou,  Ezra,  after  the  wisdom  of  thy  God,  that  is  in 
 thine  hand,  set  magistrates  and  judges,  which  may 
 judge  all  tlie  people  that  are  beyond  the  river,  all  such 
 as  know  the  laws  of  thy  God,  and  teach  ye  them  that 
 know  them  not.  And  whosoever  will  not  do  the  law 
 of  thy  God,  and  the  law  of  the  king,  let  judgment  be 
 executed  speedily  upon  hiir.,  whether  it  be  unto  death, 
 or  to  banishment,  or  to  confiscation  of  goods,  or  to  im- 
 prisonment. Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  our  fathers, 
 which  hath  put  such  a  thing  as  this  in  the  king's  heart, 
 to  beautify  the  house  of  the  Lord  which  is  in  Jerusalem  : 
 and  hath  extended  mercy  unto  me  before  the  king  and 
 his  counsellors,  and  before  all  the  king's  mighty  princes. 
 And  I  was  strengthened,  as  the  hand  of  the  Lord  my 
 God  was  upon  me,  and  I  gathered  together  out  of  Israel 
 chief  men  to  go  up  with  me." 
 
 A  fourth  one,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some,  was 
 given  to  JN^eheroiah  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Artaxerxes. 
 But  on  comparing  carefully  the  seventh  chapter  of  Ezra, 
 which  it  is  important  to  read,  where  the  commission  is 
 given  to  Ezra,  with  the  second  chapter  of  JS^ehemiah, 
 where  the  commission  is  given  to  jS^ehemiah,  you  will 
 easily  perceive  that  the  proclamation  given  to  Ezra  was 
 a  royal  one,  a  general  and  a  public  one,  and  that  the 
 commission   given   to  Nehemiah  was   a  personal   and 
 
408  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 private  commission  to  an  individual  to  go  and  carry 
 out  with  great  speed  and  vigour  what  Ezra  had  begun ; 
 and  afterwards  we  find  the  two  working  together  and 
 carrj'ing  on  the  rebuilding  and  the  restoration  of  Jeru- 
 ealem,  its  temple,  its  walls,  its  streets,  in  very  troublous 
 times,  the  labourers  having  each  the  trowel  in  one  hand 
 and  the  spear  in  the  other.  I  therefore  argue,  that  the 
 commencing  period  was  the  seventh  year  of  the  reign 
 of  Artaxerxes,  as  recorded  in  the  seventh  chapter  of 
 Ezra.  ,  There  we  begin  the  whole  period  of  seventy 
 weeks,  and  of  course  of  the  first  period  into  which  it  is 
 divided,  viz.,  seven  weeks  or  forty-nine  years.  Wo 
 find  that  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  was  restored,  (you 
 will  find,  in  the  chapters  we  have  read  from  Ezra  and 
 I^ehemiah,  that  I  am  giving  only  a  summary  of  what 
 is  there,)  the  off'ering  was  brought  to  the  house  of  the 
 Lord,  the  genealogies  of  the  people  were  entered,  and 
 the  people  were  separated,  and  made  distinct  and  pecu- 
 liar from  other  nations.  "VYe  find  by  careful  analysis 
 til  at  Ezra  had  laboured  thirteen  years  under  the  com- 
 mission of  Artaxerxes,  given  in  the  seventh  year  of  his 
 reign,  as  recorded  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Ezra ;  and 
 that  Nehemiah  liad  laboured  twelve  years  under  his, 
 the  twelve  and  thirteen  years  together  making  twenty- 
 five  years.  \ie  read  in  Xehemiah,  that  he  returned 
 from  Jerusalem  to  his  royal  master,  after  he  had  laboured 
 twelve  years  in  restoring  the  city,  and  that  after  resid- 
 ing with  his  royal  master  for  some  time,  he  returned  to 
 complete  the  work  which  he  had  left  unfinished.  We 
 have  now  to  ascertain  how  long  he  remained  away,  in 
 order  to  make  up  the  years.  In  the  last  chapter  of 
 Nehemiah,  at  verse  28,  we  read:  *' And  one  of  the  sons 
 of  Jehoiada,  the  son  of  Eliashib  the  high  priest,  was 
 son-in-law  to  Sanballat  the  Horonite."  Then  Eliashib 
 was  high  priest,  and  we  know  this  fact  occurred  41.2 
 years  before  Christ — that  is,  twenty  years  additional  to 
 the  twenty-five  which  I  have  already  specified.  We 
 have  therefore  discovered  twelve  years,  thirteen  years, 
 and  twenty  years,  that  is  in  all  forty-five.  Now  the 
 diflS.culty  is,  how  are  we  to  get  the  other  four  years.    It 
 
SACEED    AETTHMETIC.  409 
 
 rests  Tvith  you  as  reasonable  men  to  judge  whether  what 
 I  shall  advance  makes  out  the  point  we  are  in  search  of. 
 
 Kehemiah  returned  to  linish  the  work  he  had  begun 
 at  the  end  of  forty-five  years.  Well,  the  presumjotion 
 is,  that  if  he  had  sj^ent  so  long  a  time  in  carrying  it  on, 
 and  if  so  much  remained  undone,  that  he  was  under  the 
 necessity  of  returning  to  help  it  to  a  close,  he  took  at 
 least  four  years  to  complete  the  work.  I  have  no 
 element  that  will  give  me  this  four  years  absolutely ;  I 
 can  only  reasonably  conjecture  that  when  he  returned 
 after  forty-five  years,  to  give  the  finishing  strokes  to  this 
 great  work,  his  labours  occupied  not  less,  and  probably 
 not  more  than  four  j-ears,  thus  making  in  all  forty-nine 
 years  on  the  building  of  Jerusalem  in  troublous  times, 
 and  presenting  it,  as  we  know  it  to  have  been,  presented 
 entire  and  complete. 
 
 Malachi  the  prophet  appeared  just  at  this  time,  as  the 
 last  of  the  prophets  ;  the  spirit  of  prophecy  then  departed 
 from  the  Jews.  Tliis  \\as  400  years  before  the  Christian 
 era.  This  cessation  of  prophecy,  the  completion  of  the 
 temple,  and  the  organisation  of  the  Jewish  polity,  took 
 place  exactly  fortj'-nine  years  (this  is  matter  of  fact) 
 after  the  issuing  of  the  command  in  the  seventh  year  of 
 Artaxerxes  to  restore  and  to  rebuild  Jerusalem.  AVe 
 have  thus  then  got  rid  of  the  first  of  the  three  divisions 
 of  the  490  years.  Taking  away  these  seven  prophetic 
 weeks,  or  forty -nine  years,  there  remained  sixty -two 
 weeks  from  the  completion  of  Jerusalam,  that  is,  the 
 termination  of  the  forty-nine  years,  to  the  manifestation 
 of  the  Prince  the  Messiah.  Now,  if  we  date  the  one 
 week  for  his  death  and  confirmation  of  the  covenant  from 
 the  going  forth  of  the  command,  Ave  shall  find  that  the 
 490  years,  minus  seven  years,  that  is,  seventy  weeks 
 minus  the  last  one,  expired  exactly  a.d.  26, — or  in  the 
 j-ear  of  our  Lord  26  the  epoch  expired.  But  how  can 
 it  be  said  that  Jesus  was  manifested  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
 six  ?  It  is  matter  of  fact  that  ho  was  not.  Some  have 
 tried  to  prove  that  there  was  at  this  time,  when  the 
 Eaptist  made  his  appearance,  a  commencing  manifesta- 
 tion, or  what  might  be  broadly  construed  as  such.     But 
 
410  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 a  fact  has  been  introduced  in  this  discussion  which 
 settles  the  matter  at  once, — that  when  the  Christian 
 era  was  settled,  an  error  of  four  years  was  committed. 
 You  will  see  an  evidence  of  this  error  in  the  2nd  chapter 
 of  the  Gospel  of  Luke.  It  is  the  marginal  reading  of 
 Bagster's  large  Bible,  and  you  will  see  it  in  most  of  the 
 marginal  readings  of  otlier  Bibles.  At  Luke  ii.  43,  jou 
 will  lind  these  words — ''And  when  he  was  twelve  years 
 old,  they  went  up  to  Jerusalem  after  the  custom  of  the 
 feast."  jS"ow,  in  Bagster's  Bible,  and  in  Bibles  having 
 the  full  marginal  reference,  you  will  see  a.d.  8.  In 
 liagster's  Bible,  called  the  Treasury  Bible,  and  a 
 very  valuable  one  it  is,  you  will  lind  a.d.  8.  But  if 
 the  A.D.  begins  at  our  Lord's  bu'th,  the  date  would  have 
 been  12.  This  is  explained  b)'  a  blunder  of  four  years 
 having  been  committed  when  the  Christian  Era  was 
 settled.  If  this  be  correct,  Ave  have  to  add  four  years  to 
 twenty-six,  and  twenty-six  and  four  are  thirty,  and  thus 
 the  termination  will  be  a.d.  30.  Xow  we  find,  as  a 
 matter  of  fact,  that  Christ  was  born,  not  at  Christmas, 
 as  is  popularly  supposed,  but  a  considerable  time  before. 
 The  high  probability  is,  that  our  Lord  was  born  in  the 
 autumn,  in  the  beginning  of  October,  or  in  the  spring 
 season.  Another  evidence  of  it  is  this,  that  the  shep- 
 herds were  in  the  fields  watching  their  flocks,  which 
 could  scarcely  be  in  mid- winter  :  all  the  inspired  picture 
 suggests  a  serene  and  beautiful  evening,  when  the 
 angels'  song  pealed  from  the  skies,  "  Glory  to  God  in 
 the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men!" 
 AVell,  if  so,  you  make  the  age  of  our  Lord  twenty-nine 
 and  a  half,  by  taking  the  period  of  the  year,  namely 
 spring,  into  consideration ;  whether  we  suppose  the 
 nativity  to  have  occurred  toward  the  close  of  j.p.  4709, 
 or  the  commencement  of  j.p.  4710,  within  which  limits 
 it  demonstrably  occurred,  the  year  31  of  our  Lord  proves 
 coincident  with  j.p.  4740,  a.d.  27;^-'  and  at  that  age, 
 twenty-nine  and  a  half,  or  thirty  years,  we  have  the 
 expiring  of  the  seventy  weeks,  minus  one  week,  or  the 
 490  years,  being  434  years  from  the  completion  of  Jeru- 
 *  See  Dr.  Nolan's  Warburtonian  Lectures,  p.  474, 
 
SACEED  ARITHMETIC.  411 
 
 salem  and  the  temple.  But  what  took  place  in  the  year 
 A.D.  30  of  our  Lord's  life  ?  He  was  baptised  by  John, 
 and  a  voice  came  from  heaven,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
 in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  He  was  thus  inaugurated 
 into  his  ofEcc.  He  then  commenced  his  ministry,  his  pre- 
 cious ministry  of  love  and  truth ;  he  expired  upon  the  cross 
 three,  or  three  and  a  half  years  after — that  is,  in  the  middle 
 of  the  last  week,  he  was  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself. 
 
 AYe  have  thus,  then,  readied  with  tolerable  clearness, 
 if  I  have  been  able  to  make  myself  understood,  the 
 completion  of  484  j'cars,  or  the  490  j-ears  minus  seven 
 years,  or  the  one  week,  which  yet  remain.  In  other 
 words,  I  have  accounted  for  that  part  of  the  490  years 
 which  embraces  483  years,  i.e.  for  seven  weeks  and 
 sixty -two  weeks.  But  one  period,  a  week  of  seven 
 years,  still  remains  to  complete  the  490  years.  From 
 the  going  forth  of  the  command  to  the  manifestation  of 
 the  Messiah  was  483  years — the  remaining  Aveek  of 
 seven  years  added,  makes  490  years,  that  is  the  sum 
 total.  Let  us  ascertain  then,  what  that  week  was,  and 
 how  far  the  prediction  that  he  should  be  cut  off  in  the 
 midst  of  it,  and  confirm  the  covenant,  have  been  rea- 
 lised. Christ  was  to  confirm  the  covenant  for  one  week. 
 There  is  but  one  covenant,  and  this  is  especially  pre- 
 dicted in  Jeremiah  xxxi.  31  : — "  Behold,  the  days  come, 
 saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with 
 the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah :  not 
 according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their 
 fathers."  Then  I  refer  to  Hebrews  x.  15 — 18, — 
 ''Whereof  the  Holy  Ghost  also  is  a  witness  to  us: 
 for  after  tliat  he  had  said  before.  This  is  the  covenant 
 that  I  will  make  with  them  after  those  days,  saith  the 
 Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  hearts,  and  in  their 
 minds  will  I  write  them  ;  and  their  sins  and  iniquities 
 will  I  remember  no  more.  IS^ow,  where  remission  of 
 these  is,  there  is  no  more  offering  for  sin."  The  cove- 
 nant then  is  plainly  the  l^ew  Testament  dispensation, 
 and  this  covenant  Christ  was  to  confirm  with  many,  or, 
 as  the  Hebrew  words  might  be  literally  translated,  he 
 was  to  confirm  it  ''  with  the  multitude"  for  one  week. 
 
412  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 Kow  let  us  Tvatch  our  Lord's  preaching.  From  the  age 
 of  thirty,  when  he  began  his  ministry,  to  the  moment  of 
 his  condemnation,  his  preaching  was  eminently  popular. 
 It  is  declared  in  one  passage  that  "  the  common  people 
 heard  him  gladly" — the  scribes,  the  priests,  the  Phari- 
 sees were  then,  as  always,  instinct  with  inveterate 
 antipathy,  but  tlie  great  mass  of  the  people  heard  him 
 gladly.  So  enthusiastically  was  he  received  in  some 
 parts  of  his  glorious  embassy,  that  they  strewed  his  very 
 path  with  palms,  and  shouted  as  he  came,  *'  Hosanna 
 to  the  Son  of  David  :  Hosanna  in  the  highest."  With 
 the  multitude,  that  is,  "  with  many,"  he  made  the 
 covenant ;  to  the  people  he  explained  the  covenant,  and 
 they  heard  him  gladlJ^  But  this  he  did  from  thirty  to 
 thirty-three  and  a  half  years  of  age,  or  during  three 
 and  a  half  years.  How  does  it  apply  to  him  after  he 
 was  gone  ?  We  find  that  what  he  did  personally  for 
 three  and  a  half  years  before  his  death  he  did  by  the 
 apostles  mediately  three  and  a  half  5'ears  after  his  death, 
 just  as  he  did  miracles  personally  before  his  death, 
 and  by  the  Apostles  after;  at  the  end  of  this  period 
 the  Apostles  left  the  Jews,  shaking  the  dust  from  their 
 feet :  Peter  gets  his  commission  to  go  to  the  Gentiles, 
 and  the  Jews  are  cast  oif,  and  remain  so  to  this  day. 
 During  seven  years,  or,  three  years  and  a  half  pre- 
 vious, and  three  years  and  a  half  subsequent  to  Christ's 
 death,  the  covenant  was  confirmed  to  the  great  multitude 
 of  that  nation,  after  which  it  was  taken  from  them,  and 
 given  to  another  people.  But  in  the  midst  of  this  last 
 week  Christ  was  to  be  cut  off.  Here  again,  the  per- 
 formance and  the  prophecy  perfectly  tally;  it  was  in  the 
 middle  of  the  week  of  the  remaining  seven  years  that 
 Christ  was  cut  off.  Three  and  a  half  years  from  his 
 manifestation  at  thirty  terminated  his  life,  three  and  a 
 half  years  after  that  terminated  the  direct  misson  of  the 
 Apostles  to  the  Jews  as  a  distinctive  and  peculiar  people. 
 But  the  best  proof  of  it  is,  that  when  he  should  thus  die 
 and  be  cut  off,  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled  that  the  offer- 
 ing and  the  oblation  should  cease.  It  is  said,  '*  And  in 
 the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and 
 
SACRED   ARITHMETIC.  413 
 
 the  oblation  to  cease,"  that  is  plainly  the  morning  and 
 the  evening  sacrifice,  and  the  great  atonement  made  once 
 a  year  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
 
 Most  interestingly  God's  Providence  reveals  to  us  the 
 truth  of  God's  prophetic  word.  The  Talmudists  say  that 
 about  fort}'  years  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
 that  is,  about  the  time  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  the  lots 
 were  not  cast  for  the  victim,  or  passed  into  the  priest's 
 hand;  the  wool  was  not  dipped  in  the  blood  of  the 
 atonement,  nor  were  evening  lamps  lighted,  and  the 
 temple  doors  were  all  left  open.  That  is,  in  the  very 
 year  in  which  Christ  was  cut  off,  or  about  forty  years 
 before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  it  is  admitted  that 
 there  was  a  suspension  of  the  regular  of3Bce  of  the  Jewish 
 priests ;  the  secession  of  the  sanhedrim  had  taken  place, 
 in  consequence  of  which,  the  high  priest  was  incapa- 
 citated to  perfom  the  chief  functions  of  his  office.  AYe 
 find,  moreover,  that  when  the  Jewish  national  indepen- 
 dence had  ceased  to  exist,  Pilate  took  away  the  robes  of 
 the  high  priest,  in  which  robes  alone  he  could  officiate 
 on  the  three  high  festivals.  These  robes  of  the  high 
 priest,  in  which  alone  he  could  officiate,  where  locked 
 up  under  seal  in  the  tower  of  Antonia;  and  for  six 
 months  before,  and  eighteen  months  after  Christ's  death, 
 the  offering  and  the  oblation  ceased,  because  the  priest 
 had  not  the  proper  robes  in  whi(;h  to  perform  the  one  or 
 the  other !  How  striking  is  this  fact !  And  the  very  money 
 collected  to  pay  the  offering  Pilate  took  away  from  the 
 Church,  and  appropriated  to  the  State  ;  and  it  became  a 
 political  tax,  and  not,  as  it  might  be  called,  a  church- 
 rate.  The  very  means  and  elements  of  Jewish  Avorship 
 were  thus  exhausted ;  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation 
 ceased.  But  why  did  they  thus  cease  ?  Not  merely  was 
 prophecy  thus  fulfilled — ^but  the  shadow  disappeared, 
 for  the  sun  had  risen !  the  symbol  evaporated,  for  tlie 
 substance  was  come !  the  type  was  lost,  for  the  antitype 
 had  now  arrived  !  And  round  that  cross,  when  Jesus 
 died,  and  in  mingled  agony  and  triumph  cried ''It  is 
 finished!"  Moses,  Abraham,  and  Levi,  and  Ezekiel, 
 and  Jeremiah  and  Daniel,  and  type,  and  prophecy,  and 
 
414  PEOPHETIC    STrDlES. 
 
 sacrifice,  and  high  priest,  and  Levite  stood,  and  repeated 
 each  and  all  the  cry,  "  It  is  finished,"  *' Amen."  The 
 oblation  and  the  sacrifice  ceased ;  the  great  Sacrifice  was 
 come.  Is  not  this  reasoning,  if  not  mathematically 
 conclusive,  morallj'  so  ?  Is  it  not  the  highest  possible 
 presumption  that  the  epoch  specified  by  Daniel  is  the 
 Messianic,  that  the  Messiah  predicted  by  Daniel  is 
 come*? 
 
 First,  then,  behold  the  great  end  and  purpose  of  the 
 Jewish  nation.  How  happens  it  that  this  people  were 
 preserved  so  peculiar,  singular,  separate  from  the  nations? 
 They  were  j^laced  in  Babylon, — but  not  lost  in  it  :  some 
 of  them  were  promoted  to  high  offices,  and  employed  in 
 lucrative  works;  the}'  were  mingled  with  the  people. 
 All  analogies,  all  laws,  would  go  to  demonstrate  that  a 
 people  seventy  years  in  captivity,  slaves  for  three  gene- 
 rations, would  inevitably  be  lost  in  the  conquering 
 nation,  as  a  tributary  stream  is  lost  in  the  mighty  river 
 into  which  it  flows.  And  yet,  at  the  end  of  three  gene- 
 rations, all  their  yearnings  and  tlieir  instincts  Avere  as 
 strong  and  earnest  as  ever  towards  Jerusalem,  and  the 
 instant  that  the  dt^pression  of  their  condition  was  re- 
 moved, and  their  captivity  expired,  their  hearts  found  a 
 home  only  in  Jerusalem.  AVhy  was  this  people  so  pre- 
 served ?  Because  the  truth  of  a  thousand  promises  rested 
 on  their  being  so.  God  interposed  at  ever}'  period  of  their 
 wondrous  history  to  keep  them  for  the  promised  birth  of 
 Him  who  should  be  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, — a  light  to 
 lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel. 
 And  so  that  people  are  kept  still.  Do  you  think  it  is 
 accident  that  they  are  as  they  are — a  2:)eople  Avithout  a 
 country,  their  country  without  a  people — found  in  all 
 lands,  speal.ing  all  tongues,  amid  the  snows  of  Lapland, 
 on  the  sands  of  Senegal ;  under  tyrants  that  crush  them, 
 in  republics  that  enfranchise  them  ?  Is  it  to  no  purpose 
 tliat  they  are  kept  thus  insulated  from  the  nations  of  the 
 world  ?  Like  globules  of  quicksilver  dashed  upon  the 
 earth  en  masse,  they  are  all  shivered  and  scattered  ;  but 
 the  great  Eestorer  shall  collect  the  bright  drops  from  a 
 thousand  lands,  removing  what  prevents  their  cohesion 
 
SACKED    AKTTHMETIC.  41<!i 
 
 and  they  shall  meet  and  mingle  in  ancient  and  again 
 beautiful  Jerusalem,  and  reflect  the  image  of  him  who 
 is  the  Prince  the  Messiah,  amid  anthems  and  songs, 
 **  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,  hosanna  in  the  highest ! 
 Blessed  is  he  that  is  come  again  in  the  name  of  the 
 Lord!" 
 
 In  the  next  place,  we  have  here  irresistible  evidence, 
 as  I  have  already  indicated,  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah. 
 The  moral  picture  and  the  chronological  data,  both  com- 
 bined, constitute  the  full  demonstration  that  he  is  the 
 Messiah.  We  have  no  less  proof  of  the  striking  fact 
 that  Jesus  died,  and  died,  as  I  have  shown,  an  atoning 
 death.  His  death — never  forget  it — w^as  not  the  death 
 of  a  sainted  martyr,  but  of  an  atoning  victim ;  we  re- 
 gard the  death  of  Jesus  not  as  that  of  an  heroic  saint, 
 but  as  that  of  an  expiatory  and  atoning  sacrifice.  It 
 was  altar-iire  that  consumed  him,  it  was  a  temple  life 
 that  he  led,  it  was  an  atoning  death  that  he  died.  Mes- 
 siah was  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself,  and  made  recon- 
 ciliation for  our  iniquity. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  this  sacrifice  was  and  is  finished, 
 perfect,  complete.  My  dear  friends,  wo  are  justified,  not 
 by  anj'thing  we  contribute,  not  by  anything  we  do,  not 
 by  anything  Ave  suffer,  nor  by  rite  nor  by  ceremony,  but 
 by  this  :  "  He  that  knew  no  sin  Avas  made  sin  for  us, 
 that  Ave  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  by  him." 
 Our  sins  Avere  laid  upon  him,  external  to  his  holy  nature ; 
 the  innocent  lamb  Avore  our  tainted  fleece,  and  in  it  the 
 Saviour  expired  a  sacrifice.  And  as  it  Avas  just  in  God 
 to  pour  out  the  expressions  of  his  AA^rath  upon  the  inno- 
 cent one,  because  he  saAv  him  in  the  robes  of  the  trans- 
 gressor, it  will  be  but  faithful  and  just  in  God  to  poui 
 out  the  expressions  of  his  love  upon  us,  the  strayed 
 sheep,  recoA'ered,  and  clothed  again  in  the  glorious  fleece 
 of  Emmanuel's  righteousness.  God  hid  his  eyes  from 
 the  innocence  of  Jesus  because  of  our  sins  laid  upon 
 him  ;  he  Avill  hide  his  eyes  from  the  transgressions  of 
 his  peo2Dle  because  of  Jesus'  righteousness  laid  upon 
 them.  Because  Jesus  was  cut  oft',  but  not  for  himself, 
 we  shall  live  for  ever.     Every  synagogue  in  London  is 
 
416  PEOPHETIC    STUDDES. 
 
 a  standing  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  of 
 Daniel.  Lambs  and  goats  bleed  for  the  sins  of  the  people 
 no  more.  Where,  my  Jewish  brethi-en,  are  your  great 
 atonement,  ■where  tlie  morning  and  the  evening  lamb, 
 wliere  the  great  sacrifices  for  sm  ?  Have  you  not  read, 
 tliat  Avitliout  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  forgiveness 
 of  sin  r  Where  is  the  sh(.'dding  of  blood  ?  AYliy  is  it 
 not  ?  Rabbi  and  Jew  are  silent.  Why  :  I  can  tell. 
 Because  the  Messiali  in  tlie  midst  of  tlie  Aveek  was  cut 
 oiF  and  made  the  long  prefigured  sacrifice,  and  ended 
 the  oblation  for  sin.  Ever}'  Jew  upon  the  streets  uncon- 
 scioush'  cries,  ''  It  is  finished  ;"  every  synagogue  in  the 
 land  protests,  ''  It  is  finislied  ;"  every  memorial  of  the 
 sulfering  of  that  persecuted  race,  their  insulation  from 
 the  nations  of  the  earth,  their  clinging  to  Levi,  and  to 
 the  land  of  their  fathers,  tdl  proclaim,  "  It  is  finished." 
 May  it  be  our  heartfelt  joy  that  "  It  is  finislied  I"  It 
 is  so.     Thanks  and  glorj-  be  to  (jod. 
 
 '"Tis  finished;  the  Messiah  die3 
 For  sins,  but  not  his  ovvn. 
 The  ^rcat  redemption  is  complete, 
 Aiid  Satan's  power  o'ertiu'ovm.'* 
 
LECTIJIIE  XXYII. 
 
 THE    MESSIAH    THE    PRINCE. 
 
 '*  Knoxo  therefore  and  understand,  that  from  the  going  forth 
 of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem 
 unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince  shall  be  seven  tveeks,  and 
 three  score  and  two  tceehs  :  the  streets  shall  be  built  again, 
 and  the  icall,  even  in  troublous  times.'''' — Daniel  ix.  25. 
 
 After  having  explained  at  some  length  the  priestly 
 office  of  the  Messiah,  as  that  office  is  •unfolded  in  verso 
 24,  viz,  ''  To  finish  tmnsgression,  and  to  make  an  end 
 of  sin,  to  m.ake  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  to  bring  in. 
 everlasting  righteousness,"  I  have  thought  that  I  cannot 
 close  this  first  part  of  the  visions  of  Duniel,  Avhich  \vg 
 have  contemplated  before  on  successive  Sabbath  evenings, 
 without  some  remarks  upon  that  most  important  office  of 
 the  Messiah,  the  kingly  office,  or  Messiah  the  Prince. 
 
 That  Jesus  is  the  High  Priest  of  his  churcli,  all  true 
 churches  fully  admit — that  he  is  the  onh-  Prophet  whose 
 word  is  infallible,  all  true  Christians  equallj'  admit.  His 
 royol  office  is  equally  important.  Scripture  speaks  as 
 often  of  the  kingly  otiice  of  the  Messiah  as  of  his  priestly 
 and  his  prophetic  offices  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his 
 royal  functions  are  just  as  precious  as  his  sacerdotal,  in 
 practical  value  to  us,  or  they  would  not  have  been  so 
 often  and  so  distinctly  unfolded  in  Scripture.  In  nil  his 
 offices  Jesus  is  the  object  of  the  faith  and  hope  of  believers. 
 
 J^et  me  proceed  to  give  some  instances  of  Scriptural 
 allusions  to  the  princely  or  kingly  office  of  the  Messiah. 
 In  prophecy  wc  read — '^A  sceptre  shall  rise  out  of 
 Israel" — that  is,  Christ  the  Messiah  shall  be  king. 
 Again  :   *'  His  name  shall  be  called  [that  is,  in  prophetic 
 
 E  E 
 
418  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 language,  ho  shall  actually  be]  the  Prince  of  peace." 
 Again  :  "I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  branch, 
 and  a  king  shall  reign."  Again,  in  Micah  :  ''  Thou, 
 Beth-lehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the 
 thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth 
 unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel." 
 
 It  was  in  the  belief  of  these  prophecies,  or  from  their 
 having  heard  the  echoes  of  them  sounding  over  all  the 
 earth,  that  the  Magi,  M'hen  they  came  to  Jesus,  guided 
 by  the  prophetic  star,  asked,  "  Where  is  he  who  is  born 
 King  of  tlie  Jews  :  "  Again,  jS'athaniel  said  :  "  Thou 
 art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel."  And 
 Jesus,  speaking  of  himself  on  that  last  day  when  all 
 destiny  shall  be  settled,  and  the  great  drama  of  this 
 world  shall  be  wound  up  for  ever,  says  :  ''  Then  shall 
 the  King  s-dj  to  them  upon  his  right  hand."  Pilate,  ad- 
 dressing Jesus,  asked  him,  ''Art  thou  a  king  ?'^  Jesus 
 answered  in  the  affirmative,  ''Thou  sayest:"  that  is, 
 translated  in  modern  plirase,  "  I  am  a  king."  And  as 
 if  the  rays  of  his  kingl}^  glorj^  could  not  be  repressed — 
 as  if  the  splendour  of  that  diadem  which  the  scorn,  the 
 insult  and  reproach  of  the  world  were  combined  to  tar- 
 nish, could  not  be  hidden,  it  is  declared  that  his  very 
 foes  inscribed,  under  a  mj'sterious  influence  they  could 
 neither  explain  nor  resist,  these  words  upon  his  cross : 
 "  Jesus  of  Xazareth,  the  king  of  the  Jews."  When  the 
 priests,  alive  to  the  force  of  these  words,  said :  "  Say 
 not  the  King  of  the  Jews,  but  write  that  he  said,  I  am 
 the  King  of  the  Jews,"  Pilate,  the  unconscious  minister 
 of  a  sublime  purpose,  was  made  to  authenticate  the  truth 
 of  the  inscription  when  he  said  :  "  What  I  have  Avritten 
 I  have  written  ;"  Jesus  of  Xazareth  is  king  of  the  Jews. 
 In  him,  in  short,  centre  all  the  royalties  of  David,  all 
 the  righteousness  of  Melchizedek,  all  the  peacefulness  of 
 Solomon.  He  is  "  King  of  kings,"  "the  Prince  of  the 
 kings  of  the  earth."  Hidden  he  may  now  be  ;  denied 
 by  the  world  he  is ;  thousands  may  shout,  "  We  will  not 
 have  this  man  to  rule  over  us ;"  but  in  temples  some  of 
 which  the  sun  gilds  with  his  earliest  rays,  and  on  others 
 of  which  linger  his  retiiing  beams,  these  joyful  Avords 
 
THE    MESSIAH    THE    PEIXCE.  *  419 
 
 are    sounding   from    pions    hearts   and   glad   tongues — ■ 
 "  Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory,  0  Christ!" 
 
 In  viewing  this  ro3'al  oihee  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
 and  investigating  the  meaning  of  the  expression  of 
 Daniel,  "  Messiah  the  Prince,"  I  may  state,  first  of  all, 
 that  he  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  true 
 Meichizedek,  the  /cinff  of  righteousness ;  as  that  king,  in 
 short,  wlio,  in  spiritual  things,  alone  has  legislative  and 
 conclusive  prerogatives.  He  alone  can  repeal  a  law ;  he 
 alone  can  create  or  re-enact  a  law.  Paul,  Peter,  John, 
 the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  can  say,  "  A  new  command- 
 ment is  given;''  but  Christ  could  say,  because  he  is 
 Messiah  the  Prince,  '•'  A  new  commandment  I  give  unto 
 you."  On  the  mount,  in  that  sublime  sermon,  unrivalled 
 for  its  beaut}'  and  simplicity — so  grand  that  the  greatest 
 philosophers  cannot  exhaust  its  meaning,  so  sweet  and 
 so  plain  that  the  humblest  jieasant  is  retreshed  and  de- 
 lighted with  its  truth, — in  that  sublime  discourse  again 
 and  again  he  said :  ''  Ye  have  heard.  An  eye  for  an  eye, 
 a  tooth  for  a  tooth  ;  hut  I  say  unto  you  ;"  these  are  the 
 words  of  Messiah  the  Prince.  The  people  felt  it,  the 
 crowd  exclaimed,  ^'  He  speaks  as  one  having  authority." 
 In  short,  in  all  that  Jesus  did,  in  all  that  he  said,  in  all 
 that  he  suffered,  there  are  the  irresistible  signs  of  the 
 presence  of  the  priest,  the  prophet,  and  the  king ;  and 
 the  unsophisticated  multitude  again  and  again  admitted 
 that  it  was  so.  He  alone,  as  Messiah  the  Prince,  repealed 
 the  ceremonial  law,  by  presenting  himself  as  its  end,  its 
 aim,  and  its  object.  He  alone,  as  the  great  Legislator 
 of  the  church,  as  the  Prince  the  Messiah,  finished  all  the 
 functions  of  Aaron,  and  unfolded  in  all  their  grandeur 
 the  lasting  functions  of  Meichizedek.  He  alone  enun- 
 ciated laws  ;  he  alone  unfolded  new  and  glorious  truths; 
 and  every  doctrine  that  he  taught,  every  law^  that  he 
 gave,  are  king's  words  ;  they  bear  the  stamp  and  super- 
 scription of  Messiah  the  Prince  ;  they  constitute  a  royal 
 code  ;  they  are  sublime  pandects  to  last  while  the  world 
 lasts,  the  law  and  testimony  of  his  people  Israel.  For  any 
 one  now  to  add  to  the  perfect  law,  or  to  step  in,  and  say, 
 *' Christ  hath,  said  so-and-so;  but /scry  unto  you,"  would 
 
 E  E  2 
 
420  rEOPnETic  studies. 
 
 be  constructive  treason  ngainst  the  Prince  of  the  kings 
 of  the  earth.  For  any  one  to  add  laws  to  Christ's  law, 
 and  to  inculcate  opinions  or  ecclesiastical  truths,  ho^yever 
 good  the  one  or  the  other  may  be,  in  their  place,  as  if  these 
 were  of  equal  authority  with  the  law  of  Christ,  is  not 
 only  treason,  but  apostasy ;  it  is  to  intrude  into  the 
 king's  place,  to  assume  the  king's  name,  to  stamp  the 
 image  and  the  superscription  of  Mcssiali  the  Prince  upon 
 our  own  vile  brass,  and  give  it  currency  among  mankind. 
 Thus  Christ,  as  King,  gives  us  laws ;  none  else  are  com- 
 petent to  do  so.  His  laws  are  in  all  cases  conclusive.  The 
 law  of  Ca3sar  and  the  law  of  Christ  may  come  into  colli- 
 sion ;  such  collisions  have  occurred,  though  not  in  our 
 time,  such  possibilities  may  occur  again ;  but  when  they 
 do,  as  we  pray  they  may  not,  we  have  no  choice  ;  whether 
 it  be  right  to  obey  God,  or  to  obey  Caesar,  judge  ye. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  is  as  ^lessiah  the  Prince,  or  as 
 the  King,  that  Christ  bestows  ibrgiveness.  It  was  as  a 
 priest  he  made  it  possible  for  God  to  forgive  :  it  is  as  a 
 king  that  he  makes  that  forgiveness  actual  to  us.  It  was 
 upon  his  cross  that  he  purchased  forgiveness  ;  it  is  from 
 his  throne  that  he  bestows  that  forgiveness.  If  Christ  had 
 never  died  for  us,  the  possibility  of  our  forgiveness  had 
 not  been ;  if  Christ  did  not  sit  a  prince  upon  his  throne, 
 the  fact  of  our  forgiveness  could  not  be.  Let  us  praise 
 him  that  he  died  for  us ;  let  us  praise  him  that  he  reigns 
 for  us.  Let  us  rejoice  that  forgiveness  is  possible,  for 
 Jesus  died;  let  us  rejoice  that  forgiveness  is  obtainable, 
 for  Jesus  reigns,  Messiah  the  Prince.  He  alone  could 
 say,  '^  I  died  for  sins;"  he  alone  can  say,  "I  bestow 
 the  forgiveness  of  sins."  It  is,  my  dear  friends,  as  much 
 an  encroachment  on  the  kingly  otfice  of  Christ  to  assume 
 to  forgive  sin,  as  it  is  an  encroachment  on  the  priestly 
 office  of  Christ  to  pretend  to  purchase,  or  to  suffer  for, 
 or  to  deserve,  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  The  hand  that  bled 
 upon  the  cross,  that  was  pierced  by  the  nail,  is  the  only 
 hand  that  can  be  stretched  out  to  bestow  forgiveness 
 upon  me.  Por  any  one  to  pronounce  a  judicial  abso- 
 lution is  an  intrusion  into  the  kingly  office  of  the  Lord 
 Jesus  Christ.     He  who  atoned  alone  can  absolve. 
 
THE   MESSIAH   THE    PEINCE.  421 
 
 It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  during  the  first  four 
 centuries  of  the  Christian  church,  when  the  pretensions 
 of  the  priesthood  began  to  be  stretched  to  an  extra^-a- 
 gant  pitch,  and  manj^  of  the  fathers,  such  as  Chr3'sostom, 
 began  to  speak  of  the  priesthood  as  the  ordo  dtrinus — ■ 
 *'the  divine  order,"  there  is  not  one  instance  recorded 
 of  absolution  being  pronounced,  by  priest  or  prelate,  in 
 the  first  person  singular,  *'I  absolve."  In  all  the  very 
 ancient  offices,  absolution  was  simply  a  prayer,  and  not 
 a  judicial  act.  And  it  is  a  pity  that  in  the  service  of 
 the  Church  of  England,  amid  so  many  services  that  are 
 beautiful,  there  is  one — I  admit,  fallen  very  much  into 
 desuetude — in  which  is  still  a  formula  of  absolution 
 which  is  not  Scriptural,  not  truly  primitive,  '"  I  absolve 
 thee."  I  know  it  is  understood  by  evangelical  ministers 
 to  be  declarative,  but  it  is  made  the  basis  of  pretensions 
 on  the  part  of  ministers  of  another  stamp  on  which  they 
 assume  to  pronounce  a  judicial  absolution.  A  minister 
 has  no  more  power  to  absolve  sins  than  a  layman.  I 
 believe  truly  the  words  which  Martin  Luther  uses  :  ''A 
 pope  or  a  bishop  has  no  more  power  to  remit  sin  than 
 the  humblest  priest ;  nay,  without  any  priest,  every 
 Christian,  even  though  a  woman  or  a  child,  can  do  the 
 same.  If  a  simple  believer,  woman  or  child,  say  to 
 thee,  'God  pardon  thy  sins,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,' 
 and  thou  receive  the  word  with  a  firm  faith,  thou  art 
 absolved  in  God's  sight."  So  completely  did  that  great 
 reformer  sweep  out  of  the  visible  church  all  idea  of  a 
 priesthood  among  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  The  great 
 nucleus  of  the  growing  apostasy  that  is  around  us  is  the 
 idea  of  a  priesthood  being  the  true  character  of  the 
 Christian  ministry.  There  is  no  such  officer,  I  have 
 often  told  j'ou,  as  a  lEptvc,  a  sacrificing  priest,  in  the 
 Church  of  Christ.  It  would  be  more  appropriate  that 
 a  colonel  of  a  regiment  should  stand  by  the  communion- 
 table, because  he  may  be  a  Christian,  than  that  a  sacri- 
 ficing priest  should  pretend  to  do  so  :  we  know  of  no 
 such  officer;  there  is  no  room  for  him.  The  introduc- 
 tion of  the  idea  that  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are 
 sacrificing  priests,  is  the  opening  of  the  door  for  the 
 
422  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES, 
 
 inrush  of  the  full  flood  of  the  Western  apostasy.  Christ 
 alone  absolves  :  as  a  priest  he  purchased  forgiveness, 
 and  he  has  all  the  glory  of  that ;  as  a  king  he  bestows 
 forgiveness,  and  he  claims  all  the  glory  of  that.  It  is 
 the  very  essence  of  Protestant  and  Scriptural  Christianit}', 
 not  to  keep  you  for  a  moment  by  the  priest,  but  to  bring 
 you  to  Christ  for  the  price  of  forgiveness,  to  Christ  for 
 the  bestowal  of  forgiveness  ;  that  Christ  in  tlie  midst  of 
 the  church,  and  in  the  believer's  heart,  as  Prophet, 
 Priest,  and  King,  may  be  all  and  in  all. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  is  as  a  King  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ  appoints  and  sends  forth  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
 Such  appointment  is  the  fruit  of  his  intercession ;  it  is 
 also  the  commission  of  his  kingly  power.  It  matters 
 not,  or  it  may  matter  not,  by  what  ecclesiastical  for- 
 mula or  canon  or  rite  the  minister  may  be  appointed ; 
 if  he  be  a  true  minister,  he  is  sent  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ ;  for  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  ' '  he  gave 
 some,  apostles  ;  and  some,  prophets ;  and  some,  evan- 
 gelists; and  some,  pastors  and  teachers."  No  human 
 commission  can  be  a  substitute  for  the  divine  one;  the 
 true  presentation  is  from  the  upper  throne ;  the  real 
 ordination  is  under  the  hand  of  Jesus,  The  appoint- 
 ment of  a  minister  is  a  royal  one,  but  it  is  from  a  royalty 
 that  lives  and  lasts  beyond  the  stars — the  royalty  of 
 Messiah  the  Prince.  Perhaps,  if  we  quarrelled  less 
 about  ecclesiastical  formula?,  and  honoured  more  the 
 kingship  of  Christ,  by  asking  oftener  of  Messiah  the 
 Prince  to  send  forth  labourers  into  the  vineyard,  it 
 would  be  better  for  the  Church  of  Christ.  A  patron 
 may  present  one  Avho  has  everj-  ecclesiastical  fitness, 
 but  yet  he  ma}^  not  be  a  minister  of  Christ.  The  people 
 may  elect  one  who  has  every  element  of  eloquence,  and 
 yet  he  may  not  be  a  minister  of  Christ.  I  do  not  be- 
 lieve in  the  infallibilitj'  of  the  people  any  more  than  in 
 the  infallibility  of  the  patron.  Christ  alone  can  create, 
 Christ  alone  can  commission  a  minister,  and  it  is  an 
 invasion  of  his  royal  prerogative  to  think  that  any  one 
 form  is  infallibly  successful,  or  that  it  alone  may  be  used 
 for  the  appointment  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
 
TKE   MESSIAH    THE    PEEN^CE.  423 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  is  as  Messiah  the  Prince,  it  is  as 
 Christ  the  King,  that  he  gives  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
 that  ask  him.  As  a  Priest  he  opened  up  the  way  lor  the 
 descent  of  that  Spirit ;  as  a  King  he  commissions  and 
 sends  forth  that  Holy  Spirit  unto  them  that  ask  him. 
 Pentecost  is  the  evidence  of  the  kingly  office  of  the 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  regeneration  in  the  individual  heart 
 is  the  impress  struck  by  the  King  of  Glory,  Messiah  the 
 Prince.  Every  true  Christian  is  a  current  coin  of  that 
 royal  realm,  on  which  Christ  has  struck  the  imnge  and 
 superscription  of  himself.  AVherever  jou  see  a  Chris- 
 tian, you  have  there  the  evidence  that  Christ  reigns ; 
 wherever  a  regenerated  heart  beats,  there  you  have  a 
 proof  that  Messiah  the  Prince  lives,  and  sits  uj^on  his 
 throne  a  Prince  and  an  Intercessor. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  it  is  in  his  kingly  capacity  that 
 Christ  will  decide  at  the  judgment  day.  You  recollect 
 the  very  words  that  he  uses :  "  Then  shall  the  JTrnt/ 
 say  to  them  on  his  right  hand.  Come,  je  blessed;" 
 "  Then  shall  the  Ju>i(/  answer  and  saj'-  unto  them, 
 Verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 
 unto  one  of  these  little  ones,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 
 It  is  in  liis  royal  capacity — it  is  as  Messiah  the  Prince, 
 that  Christ  pronounces  the  everlasting  doom  of  the  lost, 
 and  declares  the  everlasting  and  irreversible  destiny  of 
 the  saved.  It  is  the  King  that  says,  and  it  is  therefore 
 a  royal  word,  ''Come  j-e  blessed;"  it  is  the  King  that 
 says,  and  therefore  it  is  a  royal  decree,  ''Depart,  ye 
 cursed."  At  that  royal  sound  all  tliat  sleep  in  tlieir 
 graves  shall  instantl}"  awake  :  the  particles  of  dust  that 
 float  upon  the  wind  shall  become  consolidated  into 
 organised  frames ;  the  very  gases  that  mingle  with  tlie 
 atmosphere,  and  are  absorbed  by  the  streams  of  tlie 
 earth,  shall  come  out  distinguished  and  eliminated  at 
 that  royal  bidding,  and  form  the  bodies  of  the  risen 
 saints  of  the  Most  High.  That  royal  sound  shall  pierce 
 the  pyramids  where  the  Ptolemys  sleep ;  it  shall  enter 
 the  grave  where  the  dust  of  the  beggar  rests  ;  it  shall 
 come  with  its  reverberation  into  the  ancient  urn,  and 
 stir  the  ashes  of  the  long  silent  dead ;  and  all — the 
 
424  PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 beggar  under  the  green  turf,  the  prince  in  his  mauso- 
 leum of  marble  or  of  brass,  shall  come  forth  with  er^ual 
 readiness  to  answer  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  to 
 Messiah  the  Prince,  to  Christ  the  King.  He  then  shall 
 pronounce  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  the  List  day ; 
 and  he  alone  can  do  it.  Man,  as  a  king,  a  legislator,  or 
 a  judge,  can  punish  for  outward  acts  that  outwardly 
 contravene  the  laws  of  the  land  ;  but  Christ  alone  has 
 power,  and  he  claims  it  as  his  exclusive  prerogative,  to 
 punish  for  inward  sentiments,  emotions,  convictions,  pas- 
 sions, desires.  Man,  the  legislator  or  judge,  may  and 
 will  punish  the  subject  that  breaks  the  laws ;  but  no  king 
 upon  tlie  earth  may  put  his  royal  hand  into  that  holy 
 place  called  the  conscience,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the 
 poorest  beggar  ;  it  is  too  sacred  for  kings  to  touch  ;  its 
 solemn  nature  is  too  awful  for  legislators  to  intermeddle 
 with:  and  the  prince  or  magistrate  that  persecut(>s  a 
 person  for  the  opinions  that  he  holds,  however  erroneous 
 these  opinions  may  be,  not  only  intrudes  on  the  prero- 
 gative of  Messiah"^  the  Prince,  but  he  consecrates  the 
 error  in  the  eyes  of  thousands,  and  elevates  the  sufferer 
 into  the  dignity  of  a  martyr  for  the  rights,  the  liberties, 
 and  the  privileges  of  mankind.  Persecution  never  put 
 down  an  error,  and  it  never  promoted  a  truth;  vre  have 
 far  better  weapons ;  we  want  it  not ;  if  we  dare  use  it, 
 we  will  not,  it  is  too  weak;  "The  weapons  of  our 
 warfare  are  not  carnal,  hut  mighty,  through  God,  to  the 
 pulling  down  of  strongholds." 
 
 This  leads  me  to  remark,  in  the  next  place,  that  this 
 kingly  office  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  just  as  intrans- 
 ferable  as  his  priestly  othce.  What  is  not  the  least  sin 
 of  the  Church  of  Kome  :  and  in  its  degree  of  the  Tract- 
 tarian  parly  ?  Just  this — that  they  claim  for  the  Church, 
 as  a  visibly  organised  body,  the  functions  of  prophet, 
 priest,  and"  king ;  they  speak  of  the  Church—meaning 
 by  the  Church  practiJally  the  hierarchy — as  if  it  were 
 the  prophet,  priest,  and  king  of  the  people  ;  while  the 
 Pope  with  greater  consistency,  but  with  intenser  blas- 
 phem)',  calls  himself  the  prophet  of  the  Church,  the 
 high  priest  of  the  Church,  and  the  king  of  the  Church, 
 
THE   MESSIAH   THE    PEINCE.  425 
 
 and  wears,  as  the  demonstration  that  he  is  so,  the  tiara, 
 or  the  three-fold  crown,  that  stamps  him  in  his  own 
 Tiow  to  have  the  three-fold  functions — tliat  proclaims 
 him  in  our  view  to  be  the  antichrist,  "  sitting  in  the 
 tenjple  of  God,  and  showing  himself  as  if  he  were  God." 
 No  pastor  in  the  church  may  lawfully  assume  to  be  a 
 king  in  it,  any  more  than  he  may  assume  to  be  a  priest 
 in  it.  The  function  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  purely 
 pastoral ;  it  is  not  in  the  least  degree  regal.  You,  my 
 dear  friends,  the  communicants  and  worshippers  in  this 
 church,  are  not  mi/  subjects,  and  I  am  not  i/our  lord ; 
 you  are  vn.j  friends  and  brethren,  and  I  am  your  servant 
 for  Christ's  sake.  I  am  not  appointed  by  the  Great 
 King  to  lord  it  over  the  heritage  of  God  ;  but  I  am 
 appointed  and  commissioned  by  him  to  feed  the  flock  of 
 Christ  which  he  has  entrusted  unto  me.  My  function 
 is  pastoral,  not  regal ;  it  is  the  shepherd's  crook,  not 
 the  monarch's  sceptre.  In  the  next  place,  the  Lord 
 Jesus,  as  the  Messiah  the  Prince,  is  spoken  of  in  Scrip- 
 ture as  the  "  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth."  All 
 kings  are,  or  ought  to  be,  his  subjects,  responsible  to 
 him  for  the  dutifulness  witli  Avhicli  they  serve  and  obey 
 him  ;  and  as  his  subjects,  and  ministers,  and  servants, 
 their  mighty  influence  should  be  consecrated  to  his 
 glorj',  and  to  the  advancement  of  his  truth. 
 
 He  is  also  called  in  Scripture  the  "Prince  of  life." 
 "What  an  epithet  is  that ;  Christ  is  the  Prince  of  life. 
 The  kings  of  this  world  cannot  perpetuate  life  ;  the 
 mightiest  sovereign  of  the  mightiest  empire  must  lie 
 down,  and  turn  his  face  to  the  wall,  and  die  as  one  of 
 the  meanest  of  the  people.  The  bones  and  the  ashes  of 
 royalty  are  scattered  through  every  land ;  death  enters 
 as  unceremoniously  royal  palaces  as  poor  men's  hovels, 
 and  beats  with  equal  foot'-'  at  the  doors  of  both.  But 
 Jesus  can  say  :  *'  I  live,  and  was  dead,  and  behold  I  am 
 alive  for  evermore  ; "  Jesus  can  say:  '*  I  am  the  resur- 
 rection and  the  life ;  ho  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
 
 • .-^^quo  pede  pulsat 
 
 Pauperum  tabernas  reguraque  inrres."—  Horace. 
 
426  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES . 
 
 were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  Christ  gives  life  ;  he 
 assumes  to  do  so  ;  he  proclaims  himself  the  Prince  of 
 life  :  he  that  does  so  is  either  God,  or  is  a  hlasphemer ; 
 but  "  we  know  in  whom  we  have  believed,"  and  that 
 when  he  called  himself  the  Prince  of  life,  he  claimed 
 the  glory  that  is  justly  due  to  him,  and  is  exclusively 
 his  own. 
 
 The  Lord  Jesus  is  proclaimed  in  Scripture  not  only 
 the  Prince  of  life,  but  he  is  also  the  Prince  of  peace. 
 There  was  a  controversy  between  God  and  man  ;  not 
 that  God  had  clianged,  but  that  man  had  become  guilty; 
 conscience  felt  its  sin,  foresaw  and  foreboded  the  advent 
 of  its  Judge,  and  it  trembled.  Put  Christ,  having  come, 
 has  made  peace  by  the  blood  of  liis  covenant,  and  con- 
 stituted himself  the  Prince  of  peace.  And  now  it  comes 
 to  pass  that  that  which  satisfies  the  justice  of  God  is 
 also  able  to  satisfy  the  conscience  of  man.  Nothing, 
 my  dear  friends,  can  satisfy  n:iy  conscience  except  that 
 blood  that  gave  satisfaction  to  the  justice  and  the  holi- 
 ness of  God.  If  we  wish  national  peace,  social  peace, 
 domestic  peace,  universal  peace,  we  never  can  secure  it 
 by  conventionalism,  by  organisation,  by  eloquent  culogia 
 on  peace,  by  animated  pictures  of  its  glories  and  its 
 beauties  :  the  only  basis  on  which  peace  can  grow  is  the 
 basis  of  righteousness  and  truth ;  there  can  no  more 
 be  peace  without  the  Prince  of  peace  than  there  can  be 
 light  without  the  sun,  or  the  beating  heart  without  the 
 life-blood  circulating  through  it.  The  true  way,  then, 
 to  have  universal  peace,  is  to  have  universal  Christianity. 
 The  right  way  to  render  soldiers,  which  some  so  declaim 
 against,  (though  I  doubt  if  it  is  more  sinful  to  be  a 
 soldier  than  to  be  a  lawyer;  I  question  if  a  lawyer's 
 weapons  are  not  often  as  unchristian  as  a  soldier's,) 
 altogether  and  in  all  concerns  UTinecessary,  and  to  turn 
 the  bayonet  into  the  pruning-hook,  to  hang  the  clarion 
 in  the  hall,  and  let  nations  hear  the  roll  of  war's  con- 
 quering drum  no  more,  is,  not  to  dismiss  the  army,  but 
 to  preach  and  promote  among  civilians  the  knowledge 
 of  him  who  is  the  Prince  of  peace,  and  under  whose 
 shadow  and  sceptre  alone  there  can  be  permanent  and 
 
THE    MESSIAH    THE    PETXCE.  427 
 
 blessed  peace.  "There  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked;" 
 preach  it  as  you  like,  individuals  and  nations  must 
 become  Christians  before  they  can  enjoy  or  maintain 
 peace.  Spread  Christianity,  and  there  will  be  peace  ; 
 recognise  Christ  as  the  true  Melchizedck,  the  King  of 
 rig-iiteousness,  and  you  will  soon  have  Jesus  as  the  true 
 Melchisalera,  the  Prince  of  peace.  Bow  before  the 
 sceptre  of  Christ  the  King,  and  you  will  soon  live  under 
 the  olive  branch  of  the  Prince  of  peace. 
 
 As  Christ  the  King  has  a  kingdom,  we  may  inquire 
 what  it  is  ?  It  is  not,  as  some  seem  to  misapprehend, 
 meat  and  drink.  The  Apostle  says,  "  The  kingdom  of 
 God  is  not  meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness,  peace,  and 
 jov'  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  is,  therefore,  neither  fasting 
 nor  feasting,  neither  rubric  nor  rite,  nor  ceremony ; 
 these  things  may  be  too  few  or  they  may  be  too  manj-, 
 they  may  be  too  severe  or  they  may  be  too  gorgeous ; 
 they  are  but  the  shells,  the  husks ;  they  are  not  the 
 substantial  elements  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  IS^or  is 
 that  kingdom  Episcopacy,  nor  is  it  Presbytery,  nor  is  it 
 Congregationalism  ;  nor  is  it  immersion,  nor  is  it  sprink- 
 ling, nor  is  it  baptism  in  infancy,  nor  in  maturer  years  : 
 these  things  may  be,  or  they  may  not  be ;  they  may  be 
 good  or  they  may  be  bad,  or  they  may  be  indifferent ; 
 but  they  are  not  the  substantial  elements  of  the  kingdom 
 of  Christ :  it  flourishes  and  spreads  without  them,  often 
 in  spite  of  them,  for  it  is  something  stronger  and  higher 
 than  them  all — it  is  righteousness  :  righteousness  with- 
 out us,  which  is  Christ's ;  righteousness  within  us, 
 which  is  the  Spirit's ;  the  righteousness  which  is  im- 
 puted and  perfect,  and  by  wliich  we  are  justified  ;  the 
 righteousness  which  is  imparted  and  imperfect,  and  by 
 which  we  are  san(;tified — the  one  our  title,  the  other  our 
 fitness  for  heaven.  And  it  is  ''peace;"  peace  with 
 conscience,  peace  with  our  brethren,  peace  with  God 
 and  with  all  the  universe  besides.  And  it  is  "joy."  It 
 begins  in  righteousness,  it  grows  in  power,  it  spreads  in 
 peace,  it  culminates  in  beauty,  in  glory,  and  in  joy  :  it 
 is  pLanted  as  a  seed  in  the  individual  heart ;  it  germi- 
 nates and  grows,  till  upon  the  mountain-tops  it  waves 
 with  fruit  like  Lebanon,  and  the  whole  earth  is  covered 
 
428  PROrHETIC    SirDTES. 
 
 with  the  harvest  of  its  glory.  The  existence  of  this 
 kingdom  upon  earth,  the  elements  of  which  I  have  tried 
 to  define,  is  evidence  of  the  presence  of  a  Divine  royalty 
 in  the  midst  of  it.  It  is  a  kingdom  that  derives  no 
 nutriment  from  the  earth  ;  it  is  not  of  the  world,  though 
 it  is  in  it.  Left  to  itself,  Christianity,  with  all  its  excel- 
 lence, would  have  expired  long  ago.  It  is  as  necessary 
 that  the  King  should  be  upon  his  throne  in  the  midst  of 
 his  Church,  as  it  is  that  the  High  Priest  should  be  by 
 his  altar  in  the  midst  of  it ;  it  is  as  necessary  that 
 Christ's  sceptre  should  be  over  the  towers  of  Zion,  as 
 that  Christ's  cross  should  be  set  forth  in  its  creeds,  and 
 sermons,  and  prayers,  and  services.  i\o  professions,  no 
 rites,  no  ceremonies,  no  polity  could  save  a  living  church 
 from  destruction,  if  Christ  were  to  cease  to  be  true  to 
 that  j3romise,  ^'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the 
 end  of  the  world."  But  because  the  king  has  been  in 
 it,  no  weapon  formed  against  it  has  prospered.  Heresy 
 has  tried  to  corrupt  it ;  power  has  sought  to  extirpate 
 it.  Like  a  tender  flower  amidst  the  Alpine  snows, — 
 like  a  tiny  spark  amid  the  billows  of  the  sea, — like  the 
 ark  with  Moses  in  it  amid  the  waters  of  the  aS'ile,  with 
 mighty  forces  gathered  round  ready  to  overwhelm  it, 
 has  the  Church  of  Christ  been  in  tho  history  of  the 
 world,  and  in  the  experience  of  mankind.  His  com- 
 mission, ''Go  and  preach,"  was  a  royal  one ;  his  pro- 
 mise, '*'  Lo,  I  am  with  j'ou  always,"  is  equally  a  royal 
 one.  This  kingdom,  it  is  true,  is  not  outward  and 
 visible  :  the  soul  is  the  seat  of  its  power  ;  its  ^'ictories, 
 its  glories,  its  achievements  are  all  there.  And,  blessed 
 be  God,  this  kingdom,  invisible  to  sight,  but  real  to 
 faith,  and  hope,  and  joy,  and  to  every  Christian  heart,  is 
 a  broad  and  comprehensive  one  ;  it  is  not  restricted  to  a 
 sect,  but  comprehends  many  of  every  name  ;  it  is  not 
 liinited  to  the  world,  but  stretches  beyond  the  stars. 
 Europe  is  not  all  Christendom ;  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
 and  America  are  not  the  whole  of  Christendom  ;  Chris- 
 tendom stretches  into  eternity ;  we  have  brethren  beside 
 the  throne  wlio  drink  of  the  stream  as  it  bursts  from  the 
 fountain,  while  we  drink  of  the  same  stream  as  it  flows 
 by  the  footstool.     Christendom  comprehends  saints  in 
 
THE    MESSIAH    THE    TKIXCE.  429 
 
 triumph  and  saints  that  are  militant — heaven  and  earth, 
 in  short,  all  God's  people. 
 
 The  entrance  into  this  kingdom — what  is  it?  A 
 Tvay  so  broad  that  there  is  no  criminal  in  this  audience 
 (if  such  there  be  here)  that  may  not  enter  ;  and  yet  a 
 wa)'  so  holy  that  he  must  lay  down  his  criminality  the 
 instant  that  he  takes  a  single  step  upon  it.  The  way 
 into  this  kingdom  is  not  by  gold,  nor  frankincense,  nor 
 myrrh — these  cannot  buy  it ;  politicians  cannot  create 
 it ;  it  is  Christ  alone  its  title,  regeneration  hj  the  Spirit 
 alone  the  fitness  for  it. 
 
 The  law  of  this  realm,  the  true  Christendom — what 
 is  it  ?  It  is  not  law,  it  is  love  ;  its  subjects,  we  are 
 told,  love  one  another.  Jesus  governs  by  love;  it  is  the 
 pavilion  of  his  power,  it  is  the  throne  of  his  glory,  it  is 
 the  badge  of  his  subjects,  it  is  the  cohesion  of  his  own 
 grand  and  mighty  kingdom.  One  law  governs  the 
 clouds  in  the  air,  and  binds  the  worlds  to  the  sun ; 
 one  instinct  guides  the  emigrant  birds  from  home, 
 and  back  to  home  again  :  so  one  passion — love — guides 
 and  governs  all  the  subjects  of  Christ,  and  his  kingdom 
 Coheres  and  moves  in  harmony,  because  they  have  learned 
 to  love  Christ  and  to  love  one  another. 
 
 And  this  kingdom  comes  quietl)'.  Jesus,  when  he 
 walked  in  Palestine,  was  surrounded  by  no  pomp  or 
 parade  ;  he  shot  forth  no  blazing  and  sensuous  splendour 
 on  those  that  were  around  him  ;  he  came  as  his  king- 
 dom comes — like  the  rain  upon  the  mown  grass,  as  the 
 showers  that  water  the  earth.  This  kingdom,  made  up 
 of  righteousness,  joy,  and  peace,  comes  like  the  sweet  of 
 spring — gentle,  soft,  yet  persistent.  The  seed  sown  in 
 tears,  watered  with  blood,  grows  up  quietly  while  men 
 sleep,  and  while  men  Avake.  Satan  falls  from  lieaven  like 
 a  flash  of  lightning,  or  the  thunderbolt ;  but  the  Holy 
 Spirit  comes  from  heaven  descending  like  a  gentle 
 dove.  The  kingdom  of  sin  passes  away  like  a  fierce 
 whirlwind  :  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  comes  softly  like  the 
 morning  light  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
 perfect  day. 
 
 Brethren,  are  you  the  subjects  of  Me3siah  the  Prince  ? 
 Are  you  members  of  this  Divine  kingdom,  this  holy 
 
430 
 
 PROPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 company,  this  happy  fellowship  ?  All  members  of  all 
 visible  churches  are  not  so  ;  all  baptised  men,  however 
 baptised,  are  not  so.  There;  are  good  fishes  and  bad  in 
 the  net ;  there  are  tares  and  wheat  in  the  visible  (ihurch. 
 Salvation  is  not  union  to  a  cliurch,  but  union  to  Christ. 
 To  belong  to  this  kingdom  is  to  be  renewed  in  heart, 
 and  not  merely  to  be  baptised  by  man.  And  they  who 
 are  the  subjects  of  it  are  those  Thessalonians  of  whom 
 we  read  that  they  have  '*'  the  work  of  faith,  the  labour 
 of  love,  the  patience  of  hope,"  who  are  chosen  in  Christ, 
 who  are  missionaries  to  all  that  are  around  them,  who 
 arc  patiently  Avaiting  for  the  son  of  God  from  heaven. 
 Are  you  subjects  of  this  King  ?  Do  you  love  his  law  ? 
 Do  ^-ou  feel  in  your  heart  that  law  which  is  love  ? 
 "  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  it  matters 
 not  whether  he  be  a  churchman  or  a  dissenter,  ''  he  is 
 none  of  his."  If  we  love  him,  and  love  the  brethren  as 
 he  hath  given  us  commandment,  we  are  his.  And  what 
 a  glorious  King  !  Hannibal  conquered,  and  is  gone  ; 
 his  existence  is  a  fact,  a  dead  fact,  and  no  more.  Caesar 
 reigned,  and  is  gone  ;  his  reign  is  a  fact,  a  dead  fact, 
 and  no  more.  IJut  Jesus  lived,  and  lives;  his  reign  is  a 
 living  and  ever  governing  fact ;  he  reigned,  and  reigns ; 
 fresh  and  actual  is  his  sceptre  to-daj'  as  when  first  he 
 proclaimed  his  kingdom.  His  kingdom  sinks  not  into 
 sands  of  oblivion,  it  is  obstructed  by  no  power,  it  grows 
 in  beaut)',  it  spreads  in  influence ;  and  very  soon  we 
 shall  behold  the  King  in  his  beauty,  and  the  land  that 
 is  afar  ofi" ;  and  he  shall  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea, 
 and  all  shall  bless  him,  and  shall  be  blessed  in  him  ; 
 and  the  prayers  of  his  people,  like  the  prayers  of  David 
 the  son  of  Jesse,  will  then  be  ended. 
 
 "  With  anthems  of  devotion 
 
 Ships  from  the  isles  shall  meet, 
 And  pom*  the  wealth  of  ocean 
 In  tribute  at  his  feet. 
 
 '*  For  he  sljall  have  dominion 
 O'er  river,  sea,  and  shore  ; 
 Far  as  the  eagle's  pinion 
 Or  dove's  lisrht  wing  can  soar." 
 
LECTUEE  XXYIII. 
 
 JERUSALE.AI    AXD    THE    JEWS. 
 
 '*  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks  shall  Jfessiah  he 
 cut  of,  hut  not  for  himself:  and  the  people  of  the  prince 
 that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary ; 
 and  the  end  thereof  shall  he  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the 
 end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined.  And  he 
 shall  confirm  the  covenant  with  many  for  one  week:  and 
 in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and 
 the  ohlation  to  cease,  and  for  the  overspreading  of 
 ahominations  he  shall  make  it  desolate,  even  until  the 
 consummation,  and  that  determined  shall  he  poured  upon 
 the  desolate. — Daxiel  ix.  26,  27. 
 
 I  have  shown  by  a  previous  comparison  between  the 
 characteristics  of  the  work  of  the  Messiah,  as  predicted 
 in  the  24th  verse  of  this  chapter,  and  the  actual  facts 
 that  are  recorded  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  that  he  is  the 
 Messiah,  and  that  he  alone  has  finished  the  transgres- 
 sion, made  an  end  of  sin,  made  reconciliation  for  ini- 
 quity, brought  in  everlasting  righteousness,  sealed  up 
 the  vision  and  the  prophecy,  and  is  anointed  now  the 
 most  Holy.  I  showed  in  a  previous  discourse  that  not 
 only  did  a  comparison  of  the  moral  characteristics,  as 
 they  are  unfolded  in  the  prophecy,  and  find  a  counter- 
 part in  Jesus,  prove  him  to  be  the  Messiah ;  but  the 
 chronology  of  the  passage  no  less  unequivocally  attests 
 it.  I  showed,  that  from  the  time  when  the  command 
 went  forth  in  the  seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  Arta- 
 xerxes,  as  recorded  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Ezra,  to 
 rebuild  Jerusalem,  to  the  manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ 
 at  the  baptism  of  John  the  Baptist,  there  elapsed  exactly 
 seventy  prophetic  weeks,  or  seventy  times  seven,  or 
 490  years — minus  the  remaining  week  (or  seven  years), 
 
432  TROrHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 in  the  midst  of  "vvhich  lie  v/as  to  be  cut  off.  I  showed 
 thiit  in  the  midst  of  the  hist  week  here  specified  the 
 Messiah  suffered.  I  gave  you  the  clear  and  irresistible 
 evidence  of  it  in  the  sudden  cessation  of  all  the  sacrifices 
 of  Levi ;  in  the  fact  that  Pilate  had  plundered  the  high 
 priest  of  his  robes,  shut  them  up  in  the  tower  of 
 Antonia,  and  made  it  impossible  for  the  liigh  priest  to 
 offer  up  the  great  sacrifice  appointed  by  law ;  in  the 
 fact  that  after  the  death  of  Jesus,  and  the  desolation  of 
 the  temple,  the  Jews  were,  and  are  still,  without  a 
 sacrifice,  without  an  altar,  without  a  high  priest.  In 
 short,  the  evidence  is  irresistible,  that  if  Jesus  be  not 
 the  Messiah,  it  is  in  vain  that  the  Jews  look  for  another. 
 Many  of  them  are  coming  to  this  conclusion.  I  have 
 heard  repeatedly  in  late  years,  that  on  the  continent  of 
 Europe  many  of  the  Jev.'s  are  become  sceptics,  casting 
 off  even  the  hopes  of  Israel,  believing  that  all  has  been 
 false,  because  tlie  disap{)ointment  is  so  bitter.  But  it 
 is  when  their  hopes  shall  be  lowest  that  the  glory  of 
 Israel  shall  rise  upon  them  ;  it  is  at  eventide  that  it 
 shall  be  light;  and  when  Israel's  depression  shall  be 
 the  deepest,  and  its  despair  of  a  coming  Messiah  shall 
 have  reached  its  meridian,  then  shall  he  come,  and 
 '^  shine  before  his  ancients  gloriously,"  ''  a  light  to 
 lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel." 
 In  this  lecture  I  Avish  to  close  this  portion  of  the 
 prophecies  of  Daniel,  on  which  I  have  spent  so  many 
 Sabbath  evenings,  by  referring  to  the  sequel  of  the 
 prediction  contained  in  these  verses — namely,  the 
 destruction,  desolation,  and  sweeping  away  of  Jeru- 
 salem, its  temple,  and  all  its  glory.  It  is  expressly 
 predicted  in  verse  26,  ihat  *'  the  people  of  the  prince 
 that  shall  come"  (that  is,  the  Romans,  the  subjects  of 
 Titus  or  Yespasian,)  "shall  destroj'  the  city."  The 
 words  are  literally,  "  the  people  of  the  leader  who  is  to 
 come."  PoPL'LUs  was  the  distinctive  and  emphatic  title 
 of  the  Romans.  Theu^  rulers  assumed  no  higher  title 
 than  Impeh.vtoe,  or  Ruler.  The  prediction  is  verbally 
 accurate,  and  pi*e-allusive  in  every  respect.  It  was 
 ploughed  up,  according  to  ancient  prophecy :  the  plough- 
 
jeetjsalem:  and  the  jews.  433 
 
 share  literally  tore  up  its  walls;  and  as  to  the  sanc- 
 tuary, not  a  trace  of  that  temple  remains.  Is  it  not 
 remarkable  that  while  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  was  the 
 most  majestic  and  magnificent  erection  in  the  world, 
 surpassing  in  its  splendour  even  the  temple  of  Diana, 
 far  surpassing  all  the  temples  that  remain  in  heathen- 
 dom in  strength,  in  grandeur,  in  fitness  to  bear  the 
 wear  of  weather,  and  to  defy  the  fierce  tempest ;  not 
 one  memorial  of  it  remains  above  ground  ?  The  only 
 possible  remain  is  a  large  stone,  noticed  by  a  deputation 
 that  visited  Jerusalem,  still  kissed  by  the  rabbis  that  go 
 there  for  the  first  time ;  as  if  the  102nd  Fsalm  could  not 
 contain  a  prophecj-  without  its  being  fulfilled — 
 
 "  Thy  saints  [to  use  our  own  Scottish  version,]  take  pleasure  in 
 lier  stones. 
 Her  very  dust  to  them  is  dear." 
 
 "With  that  exception  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  is  gone  ; 
 yet  remains  of  ancient  heathen  temples  are  traceable 
 everywhere.     But  when  I  express  amazement  that  not 
 one  trace  remains,   why  should  I?     The  Lord   of  all 
 truth    had   said,    *'  Kot  one   stone    shall  be  left   upon 
 another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down;"  and  Daniel 
 said,  *'  The  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood," — that  is, 
 the  destruction  of  this  city  and  of  its  temple  shall  not 
 be  a  gradual  thing.    The  Parthenon  at  Athens  has  been 
 gradually-  wasting  by  winds,   rains,   and   storms,   and 
 fragments  of  it  are  in  the  Louvre  in  Paris,  and  in  the 
 British  Museum  in  London ;  the  great  theatres  or  am- 
 phitheatres at  Home  are  still  wasting  and  mouldering : 
 but  it  was  prophesied  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  that 
 '*  the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood," — its  last  trace 
 should  bo  utterly  swept  away;   "and  unto  the  end  of 
 the  war" — that  is  God's  war  against  that  race — "  deso- 
 lations are  determined,"  that  is,  no  one  need  try  to 
 rebuild  it.     It  is  a  very  remarkable  history — whether 
 true  or  not,  I  cannot  say,  but  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt 
 it — that  Julian  the  Apostate,  learning  from  the  Chris- 
 tians that  God  had  predicted  the  final  destruction  of  the 
 temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  should  never  be  ixjbuilt 
 until  the  time  of  his  great  controversy  with  the  Jews 
 
431  rjiOPHETIU    STUDIES. 
 
 should  be  finished,  and  they  sliould  be  recalled,  and 
 restored  in  more  than  their  ancient  grandeur,  said  he 
 ■svould  refute  that  prophecy ;  and  in  order  to  do  so,  he 
 appointed  workmen,  and  supplied  money,  to  rebuild  the 
 temple.  The  record  of  ancient  writers  is,  that  fire-balls 
 burst  in  all  directions  from  the  earth,  which  alarmed 
 the  workmen,  and  made  them  cease.  Whether  the 
 occun'ence  of  a  miraculous  obstruction  be  literally  true 
 or  not,  I  cannot  say ;  but  this  I  believe  is  true — that 
 the  attempt  was  frustrated,  that  the  Avorkmen  gave  it 
 up  in  despair,  and  that  Julian  learned  that  one  word  of 
 the  everlasting  God  was  stronger  than  the  legions  of 
 Ccesar,  and  richer  than  all  the  treasures  of  imperial 
 Rome. 
 
 Then  it  is  added  in  the  27th  verse,  that  after  the 
 sacrifice  and  oblation  should  cease,  "for  the  overspread- 
 ing of  abominations  he  shall  make  it  desolate."  You 
 recollect  what  our  Lord  says  when  predicting  the  de- 
 struction of  Jerusalem  :  "  When  ye  therefore  shall  see 
 the  abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the 
 prophet,  standing  where  it  ought  not."  ]N^ow  this  literally 
 took  place  ;  for  we  read  that  the  standards  of  the  llomans 
 were  placed,  not  only  on  the  battlements  and  walls  of 
 Jerusalem,  but  in  the  very  ''holy  place  "  itself,  where 
 the  altar  was,  and  while  sacrifices  were  being  offered. 
 The  eagles  of  imperial  Rome,  which  ornamented  the 
 standards  of  the  llomans,  bare  in  their  talons  the  so- 
 called  thunderbolts  of  the  heathen  god  Jupiter ;  these 
 standards  contained  also  the  images  of  the  gods  and 
 of  the  emperors,  and  as  such,  divine  honours  were  paid 
 to  them.  To  these  gods  and  images  pourtrayed  upon  the 
 standards  of  Rome,  planted  on  the  altar  where  the 
 cherubim,  and  the  glory,  and  the  mercy-seat  once  were, 
 sacrifices  were  actually  offered  up  by  the  heathen  priests 
 at  the  time  that  Titus  was  hailed  as  the  emperor  of  the 
 Romans,  and  the  soldiers  were  present  witnessing  this 
 desecration  of  the  holy  place,  this  over-spreading  of  the 
 abomination  that  made  desolate,  this  last  blow  that 
 finished  the  polity  and  closed  the  majestic  history  of  the 
 most  wonderful  race  that  sun  ever  shone  upon.     '*  For 
 
JERUSALEM  AND  TUE  JEWS.  435 
 
 the  overspreading  of  abominations  he  shall  make  it  deso- 
 late, even  until  the  consummation" — that  is,  either  the 
 consummation  of  its  existence,  or  the  consummation  of 
 the  period  determined  for  its  overthrow — ''  and  that 
 which  is  determined" — that  amount  of  wrath  is  deter- 
 mined— '^  shall  be  poured  upon  the  desolate  ;  "  and  then 
 after  that  Israel  shall  be  restored. 
 
 jS"ow,  this  prediction  in  Daniel  was  that  which  awed 
 and  irritated  the  Jew.  Every  Jew  regarded  Jerusalem  as 
 the  most  sacred  spot  upon  the  earth  ;  the  very  stones  of 
 the  noble  temple  were  dear  to  the  Jew ;  its  very  dust 
 was  sacred  to  him.  David  said  (what  was  only  the 
 prevailing  sentiment),  ''  If  I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusalem, 
 let  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning  :  if  I  prefer  thee 
 not  above  my  chief  joy,  let  my  tongue  cleave  unto  the 
 roof  of  my  mouth."  It  was  the  city  of  the  great  King  ; 
 it  was  the  place  for  the  presence  of  the  Most  High ;  and 
 to  tell  the  Jew  that  his  temple  should  be  overthrown 
 was  almost  equivalent  to  telling  a  Christian  Gentile  that 
 God  shall  be  dethroned  and  cease  to  reign.  You  can 
 conceive,  therefore,  with  what  exasperation  the  Jews 
 heard  reiterated  by  our  Lord  the  prophecy  of  their  ruin ; 
 and  what  grounds  for  opposition  they  had  to  those  pro- 
 phets that  specially  predicted  the  desolation  of  the  city 
 and  the  sanctuary,  and  the  overspreading  of  abominations 
 which  should  make  it  utterly  desolate. 
 
 This  prophecy,  however,  of  Daniel,  was  not  the  only 
 prophecy  of  this  kind  contained  in  the  Old  Testament 
 Scriptures :  it  is  the  repetition  of  prophecies  that  were 
 uttered  at  least  a  thousand  years  before  Daniel  wrote. 
 Moses,  who  had  viewed  that  glorious  land  from  Mount 
 iN'ebo,  who  believed  the  bright  promises  that  related  to 
 its  future  prosperity  and  grandeur,  was  yet  inspired  by 
 God  himself  to  predict  its  awful  desolation  in  these 
 words  :  "  The  Lord  will  make  thy  plagues  wonderful, 
 and  the  plagues  of  thy  seed.  Moreover  he  will  bring 
 upon  thee  all  the  diseases  of  Egypt,  which  thou  wast 
 afraid  of;  and  they  shall  cleave  unto  thee.  Also  every 
 sickness,  and  every  plague,  which  is  not  written  in  the 
 book  of  this  law,  them  will  the  Lord  bring  upon  thee, 
 
 F  F  2 
 
436  PHOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 until  thou  be  destroyed.  And  yo  shall  be  few  in 
 number,  whereas  ye  were  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
 multitude  ;  because  thou  wouldest  not  obey  the  voice  of 
 the  Lord  thy  God.  And  it  shall  come  to  pas?,  that  as 
 the  Lord  rejoiced  over  you  to  do  you  good ;  so  the  Lord 
 will  rejoice  over  you  to  destroy  you,  and  to  bring  you  to 
 nought ;  and  ye  shall  be  plucked  from  off  the  land 
 whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it.  And  the  Lord  shall 
 scatter  thee  among  all  people,  from  the  one  end  of  the 
 earth  even  unto  the  other ;  and  there  thou  shalt  serve 
 other  gods,  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers  have 
 known,  even  wood  and  stone.  And  among  these  nations 
 shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot 
 have  rest :  but  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  a  trembling 
 heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrows  of  mind  :  and  thy 
 life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee  ;  thou  slialt  fear  day 
 and  night,  and  shalt  have  none  assurance  of  thy  life  :  in 
 the  morning  thou  shalt  say,  Would  God  it  were  even  ! 
 and  at  even  thou  shalt  say,  "Would  God  it  were  morning  ! 
 for  the  fear  of  thine  heart  wherewith  thou  shalt  fear,  and 
 for  the  sight  of  thine  eyes  which  thou  shalt  see.*'  I  need 
 not  quote  from  the  prophecies  of  Malachi,  nor  from  those 
 of  Jeremiah  ;  all  corroborate  the  same  thing.  It  was 
 literally  true  that  the  "mothers  that  gave  suck  in  those 
 days,"  to  use  the  language  of  our  Lord,  felt  the  weiglit 
 of  the  predicted  '*woe."  It  is  literally  true  that  the 
 very  priests  that  were  officiating  at  the  altar  felt  the 
 vibrations  of  the  earthquake  that  was  undermining  its 
 great  foundations  preparatory  to  the  invasion  of  Titus. 
 It  is  perfectly  true,  that  the  high  priests  and  others 
 officiating  at  the  altar,  as  recorded  by  Josephus  (who 
 Avas  anxious  to  cover  the  shame  and  magnify  the  glory 
 of  his  people),  heard  sounding  from  all  the  chambers  of 
 the  holy  place  mysterious  words  they  could  not  compre- 
 hend, and  were  unable  to  suppress,  "  Arise,  let  us  go 
 hence."  It  is  true  that  a  prophet  appeared  upon  the 
 walls  of  Jerusalem,  while  it  was  undergoing  its  last 
 dread  siege,  and  cried  for  a  whole  year,  "  Woe,  woe  to 
 Jerusalem!"  till,  smitten  down  bj^  a  stone,  he  died, 
 crying,  ''Woe  to  myself!"  on  which  Titus  marched  into 
 
JERUSALEIM    AND    THE    JEAVS.  437 
 
 the  midst  of  it,  and  laid  it  uttcii}'  desolate.  When  Titus 
 came  into  the  city,  even  after  it  had  been  sacked,  and 
 its  streets  were  running  with  the  blood  of  its  slain,  and 
 the  Jews  with  infatuated  fury  were  massacreing  each 
 other,  and  women  eating  their  hrstborn,  as  I  have  shown 
 before,  when  referring  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy; 
 he  was  so  struck  with  the  splendour  of  that  glorious 
 fane  that  he  even  quailed  before  its  awful  majesty, — so 
 quailed,  and  was  so  awed,  that  he  called  to  his  soldiers  : 
 "  Whatever  you  destro}-,  spare  this  temple,  and  the  holy 
 place."  But  he  had  scarcely  said  so,  when  an  infuriated 
 soldier,  we  are  told  by  Josephus,  threw  a  fire-brand  into 
 the  midst  of  the  holy  place ;  and  the  overshadoAving 
 cherubim,  and  the  mercy-seat,  and  all  the  glory  of  Israel, 
 perished  in  the  flames.  God  had  said,  ''It  shall  be  de- 
 stroyed ;"  and  even  a  Titus  was  unable  to  avert  by  his 
 power  what  God  had  predicted  in  his  infallible  word. 
 
 The  present  state  of  Palestine  is  proof  of  the  fulfil- 
 ment of  the  prediction  of  the  overspreading  abomina- 
 tion and  its  utter  desolation.  I  need  not  state  what  has 
 been  frequentl)'  recorded  by  historians,  what  is  indicfited 
 in  almost  every  page  of  the  books  of  Moses,  that  Pales- 
 tine was  a  land  of  unparalleled  fertility  and  beauty  in 
 ancient  times.  It  was  called  the  land  that  overflowed 
 with  milk  and  honey  ;  the  milk  indicating  the  number 
 and  the  value  of  its  cattle,  and  the  honey  indicating  the 
 fragrance  and  the  number  of  its  flowers.  Grapes  were 
 so  abundant  in  that  land  that  they  were  used  as  we  use 
 the  commonest  vegetables  ;  the  mountain  sides  were 
 clothed  to  their  top  with  vines ;  it  was  a  land  fitted  to  be 
 the  vineyard  and  the  granary  of  Asia  and  Europe 
 together.  But  after  you  have  read  the  accounts  as  given 
 by  Moses  of  its  wonderful  fertility,  and  also  the  predic- 
 tions of  its  approaching  desolation,  on  visiting  that  land 
 you  will  find  that  God  walks  the  fields  of  Palestine, 
 pointing  with  a  m^'sterious  finger  to  every  nook,  and 
 stone,  and  acre,  and  ruin,  and  asking  the  sceptic  infidel 
 that  goes  there  to  blasplieme,  or  the  infidcd  politician 
 that  doubts  its  coming  restoration,  "Is  not  my  word 
 true  r  and  is  not  all  I  prophesy,  like  all  I  promise,  yea, 
 
4ZS  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 and  amen?"  It  is  literally  true  that  in  this  land  the 
 sun  has  become  like  brass,  and  rent  its  once  fertile,  but 
 now  parched  soil,  into  thousands  of  fissures.  It  is 
 literally  true  that  its  rain  has  become  powder  and  dust. 
 The  plague,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine  start  forth 
 on  their  dread  march  from  the  very  spot  where  the  holy 
 place  and  the  cherubim  were.  Its  cities  are  mouldering 
 in  the  sun ;  its  population  has  become  thinner  every 
 year ;  tombs  are  traceable  on  almost  every  acre  ;  while 
 the  remains,  as  noticed  by  historians,  indicate  that  it 
 was  once  the  city  of  a  vast  and  teeming  population. 
 The  mystic  Euphrates,  which  is  soon  to  be  dried  up,  has 
 overspread  the  whole  land  with  vast  torrents  of  wander- 
 ing Turks  and  plundering  Arabs,  the  followers  and  pro- 
 fessors of  the  religion  of  the  false  prophet.  You  recollect 
 that  under  the  sixth  vial  it  is  said,  that  the  Euphrates 
 should  be  dried  up :  I  showed  this  to  denote  the  waning 
 or  wasting  of  Turkish  power  prior  to  the  restoration  of 
 the  Jews  to  their  own  land.  That  river  has  now  over- 
 spread Palestine.  The  bare-footed  monk  walks  where 
 the  temple  was ;  the  muezzim  cries  every  day  from  his 
 minaret,  ''  There  is  but  one  God,  and  Mahomet  is  his 
 prophet."  That  race,  scattered  throughout  the  whole 
 earth — the  race  of  God's  ancient  people — have  but  to 
 read  their  ancient  prophets,  and  then  visit  Palestine,  or 
 read  the  history  of  its  present  state,  to  learn  how  truly 
 God  has  spoken,  and  how  terribly  they  themselves  have 
 been  punished.  A  traveller,  celebrated  for  his  taste, 
 and  for  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius — I  mean  Chateau- 
 briand— writes  in  the  following  terms  of  the  present 
 state  of  Palestine  (I  quote  his  Avords  because  they  are  a 
 commentary  upon  what  God  predicted)  :  ''  If  I  should 
 •  ive  a  thousand  years,  I  can  never  forget  that  desert 
 which  was  round  about  Jerusalem,  which  seemed  still 
 as  inspired  with  the  majesty  of  Jehovah  and  the  terrors 
 of  death.  We  travelled  laboriously  amid  mournful  re- 
 gions to  attain  the  summit  of  a  hill  at  a  distance  before 
 us.  Arriving  here,  we  rode  for  another  hour  upon  an 
 elevated  naked  plain,  sown,  as  it  were,  with  round 
 masses  of  stone.     Suddenly,  at   the  extremity  of   this 
 
JERUSALEM    AND    THE    JEWS.  431) 
 
 plain  I  perceived  a  line  of  Gothic  walls,  flanked  with 
 square  towers,  enclosing  apparently  the  roofs  of  some 
 buildings.  At  the  foot  of  these  walls  appeared  a  camp 
 of  Turkish  cavalry  [the  ovei'flowing  of  abomination]  in 
 their  Oriental  pomp.  The  guide  instantly  exclaimed, 
 *  Behold  the  holy  city  !  Behold  Jerusalem  ! '  The  most 
 extraordinary  forms  of  objects  declare  it  to  be  on  all 
 sides  a  country  which  has  groaned  under  miracles  :  the 
 burning  sun — the  fierce  eagle — the  barren  fig-tree — all 
 the  poetry  and  all  the  painting  of  the  Scriptures,  are 
 here.  Every  local  name  retains  within  it  some  mystery; 
 every  cavern  speaks  of  futurity ;  each  rocky  height 
 reverberates  the  accents  of  some  prophecy  which  God 
 himself  has  spoken  within  its  walls ;  the  wasting  rivers, 
 the  cloven  rocks,  3^awning  tombs,  attest  the  prodigy. 
 The  desert  seems  still  stricken  dumb  with  terror,  as  if  it 
 had  not  yet  dared  to  break  that  silence  which  was  felt 
 when  the  voice  of  the  Eternal  had  been  heard."  Such 
 is  the  testimony  as  to  its  present  condition  of  one  who 
 visited  it,  and  who  looked  upon  it  with  a  poet's  and  a 
 Christian's  eye.  We  have  merely  to  read  any  history  of 
 its  present  condition  to  see  how  completely  historj^  is  an 
 echo  to  the  proj^hecies  of  God. 
 
 While  speaking  of  Jerusalem's  ruin,  we  cannot  but 
 notice  that  that  ruin  has  a  limit.  It  is  to  be,  says  the 
 prophet,  ''  until  that  determined  shall  be  poured  upon 
 the  desolate,"  and  unto  the  end  of  the  desolations  so 
 determined.  We  gather  from  this  that  God's  anger 
 towards  Jerusalem  has  a  limit — nay,  we  are  certain  it 
 has,  lor  the  prophet  himself,  inspired  by  God,  has  de- 
 clared :  ''Whereas  thou  hast  been  forsaken  and  hated, 
 so  that  no  man  went  through  thee,  I  will  make  thee  an 
 eternal  excellency,  a  joy  of  many  generations.  Thou 
 shalt  also  suck  the  milk  of  the  Gentiles,  and  shalt  suck 
 the  breast  of  kings  :  and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  the 
 Lord  am  thy  Saviour  and  thy  Redeemer,  the  mighty  one 
 of  Jacob.  For  brass  I  will  bring  gold,  and  for  iron  I  will 
 bring  silver,  and  for  wood  brass,  and  for  stones  iron :  I 
 will  also  make  thy  officers  peace,  and  thine  exactors  right- 
 eousness.    Violence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land, 
 
440  PKOPHETIC   STUDIES. 
 
 wasting  nor  destniction  within  thy  borders ;  but  thou 
 shalt  call  thy  walls  Salvation,  and  th}'  gates  Praise. 
 The  sun  shall  be  no  more  thy  liglit  by  day  ;  neither  tor 
 brightness  shall  the  moon  give  light  nnto  thee  :  but  the 
 Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and  thy 
 God  thy  glory.  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down; 
 neither  shall  thy  moon  withdraw  itself :  for  the  Lord 
 shall  be  thine  everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy 
 mourning  shall  be  ended.  Thy  people  also  shall  be  all 
 righteous:  they  shall  inherit  the  land  for  ever,  the 
 branch  of  my  planting,  the  work  of  my  hands,  that  I 
 may  be  glorihed."  Now  it  is  not  fair  to  take  this  pro- 
 phecy from  Jerusalem,  and  apply  it  the  Gentile  :  its 
 truths  are  applicable  to  us  only  as  all  great  moral  and 
 spiritual  trutlis  are ;  it  relates  expressly  to  the  resto- 
 ration of  Jerusalem  ;  it  is  meant  to  console  and  awaken 
 the  Jews  in  the  midst  of  their  ruin ;  and  at  this 
 moment  many  a  Jew  is  sustained  in  his  hopes,  and 
 kept  peculiar  and  insulated  from  the  rest  of  the  nations 
 of  the  earth,  because  in  the  records  of  the  desolation  of 
 his  ancient  and  glorious  capital  he  reads  the  thrilling 
 prophecy  that  Jerusalem  shall  be  rebuilt,  and  that  the 
 Lord  shall  be  to  him  his  everlasting  light,  and  his  God 
 his  glory. 
 
 In  looking  at  the  whole  of  this  prophecy,  I  would 
 notice,  first  of  all,  that  we  have  here  a  strong  evidence 
 of  the  inspiration  of  the  prophet  Daniel.  AVhat  he  so 
 minutely  predicted  has  been  most  minutelj'  fulfilled. 
 The  inference  from  that  is,  that  that  man  was  inspired 
 by  God  who  could  look  along  the  vista  of  500  years, 
 who  could  specify  the  time  that  should  elapse  till  a 
 given  event,  who  should  declare  what  was  done  by  and 
 in  that  event,  who  should  proclaim  what  should  be  the 
 consequence  of  that  event.  The  ceasing  of  the  daily 
 s.icritice  ;  the  departure  of  all  the  remains  of  ancient 
 glory  from  the  temple  ;  the  blasting,  Avithcring,  and 
 fading  of  the  fig- tree,  that  great  and  ancient  memorial  of 
 Judah ;  Titus  smiting  it  with  the  sword  ;  his  soldiers 
 consuming  it  with  the  fire-brands;  the  modern  syna- 
 gogue standing  up  in  the  midst  of  every  capital — an 
 
JERirSALEM    AND    THE    JEWS.  441 
 
 artificial  copy  of  the  ancient  temple,  but  destitute  of  the 
 altar,  the  sacrifice,  the  oblation,  the  priesthood,  are  all 
 standing  and  eloquent  proofs,  not  only  that  God  is  the 
 God  of  truth,  but  that  Daniel  spake,  as  other  holy  men 
 spake  of  old,  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 We  learn,  too,  that  the  great  cause  of  the  desolation 
 of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  menaces  of 
 God  upon  it,  was  not  the  decree  of  God,  but  their  own 
 sins.  God  had  predicted  its  ruin,  but  his  prediction  did 
 not  bring  that  ruin  down  ;  it  was  the  sins  of  the  people 
 that  paved  the  way  for  the  march  of  the  legions  of  Titus ; 
 it  was  their  murdering  of  the  Lord  of  glory  that  was 
 the  deed  which  consummated  their  crimes,  which  awoke 
 the  sleeping  earthquakes,  and  made  the  sky  above 
 Palestine  to  be  as  brass,  its  rains  to  be  as  dust,  its  cities 
 to  be  as  sepulchres,  and  the  only  memorials  of  its  faded 
 magnificence  to  be  tombs,  wrecks,  and  ruin.  It  was 
 sin,  not  God's  prediction,  that  laid  Jerusalem  low.  Our 
 Saviour  only  echoed  the  ancient  prophecj^  when  he  said : 
 "  0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets, 
 and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often 
 would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a 
 lien  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
 would  not!"  And  over  that  great  city,  as  over  the 
 grave  of  Lazarus — the  scenes  of  the  two  great  incidents 
 in  the  history  of  Jesus — it  is  said  *'  Jesus  Avept" — wept 
 when  he  saw  its  hopeless  ruin,  its  fading  glory,  its 
 perishing  people,  their  rejection  of  the  GosjdcI,  their 
 departure  and  apostasy  from  the  living  God. 
 
 We  learn  from  this,  too,  that  great  privileges  abused 
 ever  bring  down  great  judgments  on  the  people  that 
 abuse  them.  Privileges  do  not  commend  us  to  God; 
 they  commend  God  to  us.  No  people  are  saved  because 
 they  have  privileges  ;  thej^  are  only  made  thereby  I'e- 
 sponsible.  The  greater  the  privileges  that  God  has  given 
 you,  not  therefore  the  greater  the  safc;t)'  you  shall  luive, 
 but  the  greater  the  responsibility  that  rests  upon  you. 
 Chorazim,  Bethsaida,  Tyre,  and  Sidon,  perished  by  their 
 sins ;  but  when  Jerusalem  fell,  it  fell  from  a  height  of 
 responsibility  and  privilege  to  which  Tyre  had  never 
 
442  PEOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 reached,  and  therefore  its  fall  was  all  hut  final.  Wl  en 
 an  angel  falls  he  becomes  a  liend.  The  depth  of  our 
 ruin  is  in  the  ratio  of  the  height  to  which  God's  good- 
 ness and  our  privileges  have  elevated  us.  If  God  spared 
 not  Jerusalem,  tlie  city  that  he  loved,  when  Jerusalem 
 forsook  him,  God  will  not  spare  London,  the  city  he  has 
 privileged,  Avhen  London  proves  untrue  to  him.  It  is 
 as  applicable  to  the  19th  centuiy  as  to  the  age  in  vrhich 
 it  was  first  uttered,  "  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation, 
 but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people."  Sin  is  disor- 
 ganisation ;  and  wherever  it  is  introduced,  there  society 
 loses  all  its  cohesive  properties,  becomes  a  rope  of  sand, 
 ready  to  fall  asunder  when  the  external  repressive 
 power  that  keeps  it  together  is  for  a  moment  withdrawn. 
 But  let  a  people  be  leavened  with  real  religion ;  let  our 
 lioraes  be  vocal  with  prayer,  with  thanksgiving  and 
 praise ;  let  our  churches  be  pure,  steadfast,  protesting 
 against  apostasy,  and  maintaining  truth  ;  let  our  pulpits 
 resound  with  evangelical  religion  ;  let  our  people  of  all 
 classes,  and  in  all  ranks,  and  of  all  degrees,  from  the 
 highest  to  the  lowest,  fear  God,  honour  his  ordinances, 
 and  walk  before  him  :  then  the  nation  will  have  in  its 
 bosom,  if  any  nation  can  have  it,  the  element  of  immor- 
 talit}'.  God  never  forsakes  a  people  till  that  people 
 forsake  him.  jS'ations  rarely  fall  by  external  assault ; 
 it  is  generally  by  internal  corruption.  We  need  never 
 tremble  about  our  safety  :  though  France  should  send 
 afloat  yet  a  mightier  fleet  than  she  has  at  Cherbourg, 
 though  Napoleon's  militar}-  avalanches  should  again 
 rush  down  from  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Alps,  though 
 popes  should  send  ship-loads  of  cardinals,  our  island 
 may  rest  upon  the  waters,  and  smile,  in  conscious 
 security,  whilst  our  country  cleaves  to  our  country's 
 God.  But  let  irreligion,  pantheism,  poper}',  and  infi- 
 delity, and  drunkenness,  and  Sabbath-breaking,  and  all 
 the  sins  that  do  abound — and,  I  fear  in  many  quarters, 
 increasingly  abound — gain  the  master}';  and  let  pro- 
 testing voices,  and  pleading  cries,  and  praying  hearts  be 
 still ;  then  our  palladium  is  gone,  the  shields  of  the 
 Lord  are  i-emoyed.     The  lenst  aggression  will  ruin  the 
 
JEEUSALEM    AND    THE    JEWS.  443 
 
 country  that  has  lost  God;  the  mightiest  armament 
 shall  fail  to  scathe  it  when  God  is  recognised  as  its 
 strength,  its  glor5^  its  portion.  Righteousness,  I  repeat, 
 exalteth  a  nation,  and  sin  is  the  ruin  of  any  people. 
 
 We  learn,  too,  that  when  sin  thus  runs  along  the 
 streets,  degrades  and  defiles  the  people  universally, 
 nothing  it  can  attempt  can  save  it.  All  the  policy  of 
 imperial  Rome ;  all  the  manoeuvring  and  compromises 
 of  the  priests,  the  scribes,  and  the  Sadducees ;  all  the 
 coalitions  into  which  the  people  of  Jerusalem  entered, 
 were  utterly  unable  to  avert  their  ruin;  they  rather 
 contributed  to  hasten  its  sure  and  certain  doom,  just 
 because  sin  was  there.  So,  to  apply  it  to  other  nations ; 
 the  arms  and  squadrons  of  Xerxes,  the  legions  of  Caesar, 
 the  armies  of  JS^apoleon,  did  not  save  them ;  and  the 
 wooden  walls  of  England  will  not  guard  us,  or  any 
 other  nation,  from  utter  ruin,  if  we  do  not  keep  our- 
 selves in  the  faith,  the  fear,  and  the  hope  of  the  Gospel. 
 When  I  speak  of  national  religion,  I  do  not  mean  some 
 transcendental  view  of  it :  one  way  for  us  to  have 
 national  religion  for  all  practical  purposes  is  for  each 
 man  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  not  by  struggling  to  carry 
 some  measure  in  the  House  of  Commons,  however 
 valuable  it  may  be,  that  we  shall  make  our  nation 
 Christian ;  it  is  by  each  man  being  so.  One  brick  laid 
 upon  the  ground  does  more  to  complete  a  building  than 
 a  thousand  castles  built  in  the  air.  One  family  becom- 
 ing truly  and  decidedly  Christian  is  a  greater  contri- 
 bution to  the  Christianity  of  our  land  than  the  most 
 brilliant  act  of  Parliament :  I  do  not  undervalue  the 
 latter ;  yet  the  days  for  getting  such  acts  are  ceasing, 
 whereas  the  days  for  being  Christians  are  multiplying. 
 Never  were  men  more  called  upon  than  in  the  present 
 day  to  "be  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding  in 
 the  work  of  the  Lord." 
 
 AVe  learn  from  all  these  predictions — to  leave  for  a 
 moment  the  immediate  topic  under  review,  and  to  revert 
 to  all  we  have  been  contemplating  in  the  nine  chapters 
 of  Daniel,  over  which  I  have  so  rapidly  passed — what 
 man  is  without  true  religion.     The  magi  of  Chaldea 
 
444  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 shoTved  themselves  to  be  but  fools ;  Xebuchadnozzar, 
 Cyrus,  Belsliazzar,  the  royal  despots  of  the  earth — how 
 poor  are  they,  how  lustreless,  beside  the  quiet  graudcur 
 of  the  prophet  Dauiel,  and  the  three  Hebrew  jouths 
 that  counted  not  their  lives  dear  for  Christ's  sake  !  The 
 Gospel  elevates  the  humblest,  and  ennobles  the  highest ; 
 to  the  grandeur  of  the  man  it  adds  all  the  glory  of  the 
 saint,  and  makes  individuals  and  nations  beautiful  in 
 that  real  and  only  beauty  which  the  king's  daughter 
 alone  has — the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  righteousness, 
 and  truth. 
 
 We  learn,  too,  how  God  rules  and  acts  in  all  the 
 affairs  of  men.  The  great  image  was  the  shadow  of 
 what  all  history  is  :  a  nation's  dignity  was  merely  a 
 higher  or  lower  place  assigned  it  in  the  great  image — 
 being  claj',  or  iron,  or  silver,  or  gold,  as  God  might  ap- 
 point. The  same  God  that  ruled  in  Babylon  is  the 
 God  that  rules  now.  "God  is,"  not  God  ivas ;  or, 
 rather,  **  Jehovah  is  his  name;  God,  who  was,  and  is, 
 and  is  to  come." 
 
 How  important  must  the  Saviour  have  been  felt  to 
 be  by  Daniel ;  and  how  important  Avas  he  known  to  be 
 of  God,  seeing  that  all  prophecy  is  literally  the  testi- 
 mony of  Jesus !  Daniel  cannot  close  a  great  cycle  in 
 his  prophecy  without  closing  it  with  the  exhibition  of 
 the  Prince  the  Messiah ;  Isaiah's  harp  never  rises  to  its 
 noblest  strains  except  when  lie  tunes  it  to  the  Karae, 
 and  sweeps  it  in  the  prospect  of,  a  coming  Messiah ; 
 Malaclii  closes  the  Old  Testament  prophec)',  as  Daniel 
 closes  his  predictions,  by  giving  the  glad  hope  that  the 
 Messiah,  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  was  about  to  rise 
 with  healing  under  his  wings.  Christ  is  the  key-note 
 of  all  the  songs  of  David,  the  burden  of  all  prophecy, 
 the  alpha  and  the  omega  of  the  whole  Bible. 
 
 "VVe  gatlicr  another  lesson  also, — that  the  same  reli- 
 gion we  have,  Dani(,'l  had  :  he  M'as  as  much  a  Christian  as 
 Martin  Luther,  Cecil,  ]S'ewton,  AYhitheld,  or  any  other 
 great  and  distinguished  Christian  or  minister  of  Christ 
 in  modern  times.  There  never  was  sanctioned  by  God 
 but  one   true  religion.     There  are  many  current  reli- 
 
JEEXTSALEM   JLND   THE   JEWS.  445 
 
 gions ;  there  is  and  has  been  but  one  that  bears  the 
 superscription  and  the  stamp  of  God.  There  is  the 
 religion  of  man,  the  religion  of  the  priest ;  but  there  is 
 but  one  that  is  true — that  is,  the  religion  of  God.  This 
 Cliristianity  is  as  truly,  if  not  as  clearly,  in  the  Old 
 Testament  as  in  the  Kew.  Isaiah  was  as  truly  an 
 Ev^angclist  as  John ;  so  much  so,  that  he  has  been  called 
 the  evangelical  prophet,  although  that  phrase  is  objec- 
 tionable, for  Jeremiah,  Malachi,  and  Daniel  were  just 
 as  evangelical  as  Isaiah.  They  all  proclaimed  one 
 Saviour ;  tliey  all  taught  one  sacrifice ;  they  all  built 
 up  our  hopes  of  glory  upon  one  great  foundation,  Christ 
 Jesus.  The  overshadowing  angels  on  the  mercy-seat, 
 like  the  Old  and  jSTew  Testaments,  while  the  tips  of 
 their  wings  touched  each  other,  both  looked  down  upon 
 one  propitiatory  or  mercy-seat.  Like  the  twin  lips  of 
 an  oracle,  the  old  covenant  and  the  new  equally  utter 
 and  announce  Christ  and  him  crucified  as  the  great 
 substance  of  the  hopes  of  men. 
 
 And  what  dignity,  let  me  add,  in  the  next  place, 
 does  this  give  to  God's  word ;  and  what  a  lowly,  though 
 an  important  place  does  prophecy  impart  to  man's 
 history !  There  is  something  wonderfully  striking  in 
 this — that  the  calendars  of  nations  are  the  commentaries 
 on  the  prophecies  of  God's  word.  Whenever  the  his- 
 torian is  wanted,  Josephus  steps  forth  from  his  country, 
 and  Gibbon  emerges  from  the  shadow  of  the  Alps  where 
 he  sojourned,  Alison  comes  from  the  north,  Hume  leaves 
 infidelity,  and  each  sits  down  to  write  facts ;  Christians 
 read  the  facts ;  and  lo !  they  are  the  rebounds  of  pro- 
 phecy, the  echoes  of  God's  ancient  word;  and,  con- 
 sciously or  unconsciously,  the  sceptic  Hume,  the  atheistic 
 Gibbon,  tbe  accomplished  and  Christian  Alison,  the  Jew 
 Josephus,  attest  in  their  histories  that  God's  word  is 
 true,  and  that  ''holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were 
 moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  So,  in  the  same  manner, 
 everything  that  is  now  discovered,  everything  that  daily 
 occurs,  serves  more  and  more  to  show  the  truth  of  God's 
 word.  Daniel  writes,  two  thousand  years  ago,  that 
 towards  the  end  of  our  dispensation  "  many  shall  run 
 
446  PKOPHETIC    STUDIES. 
 
 to  and  fro,  and  kno^Yledge  shall  be  increased;"  and  to 
 prove  Daniel's  prediction,  the  railway  apjDcars,  and  Avith 
 it  the  mysterious  whispering  wire,  that  knits  together 
 isles  and  continents,  so  that  the  mother  in  London  will 
 yet  convey  messages  in  a  few  minutes  to  her  son  at 
 Calcutta,  and  receive  a  message  in  reply  ;  all  spring  up 
 when  the  moment  comes,  to  testify  how  truly  the 
 ancient  prophet  spake,  when  he  said,  ''Many  shall  run 
 to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased." 
 
 In  tlie  next  place,  how  humbling  to  great  men  are 
 the  truths  embodied  in  the  word  of  God !  Hannibal, 
 Caesar,  Napoleon,  all  the  great  generals  and  mighty  cap- 
 tains that  have  successively  stepped  upon  the  stage  to 
 win  splendour  for  their  names,  and  glory  for  the  armies 
 of  their  countrj-,  to  vindicate  injured  rights,  to  deliver 
 oppressed  nations ;  came  forward,  as  they  meant,  to  do 
 their  own  behests,  and  lo  I  they  are  found  to  liave  been 
 doing  God's  word,  filling  up  tlie  great  outline  of  God's 
 predicted  and  pre-written  Providential  government  ; 
 and  so  Hannibal,  Caesar,  Alexander,  and  jS^apoleon  were 
 but  the  pens  tliat  the  ready  writer  used, — but  tlie  chisels 
 in  the  hand  of  the  Great  Statuary,  as  he  carved  out  in 
 history  what  he  had  so  clearh'  predicted  in  ancient  pro- 
 phecy. When  Ave  take  our  stand  on  prophetic  ground, 
 what  composure,  what  quiet  docs  it  give  us  to  see  this, 
 and  be  satisfied  (and  I  am  as  satisfied  of  it  as  I  am  of 
 my  own  existence),  that  all  things  are  going  right,  that 
 everything  is  evolving  its  appropriate  issue,  that  all  oc- 
 currences are  stepping  in  to  fuliil  God's  sure  word,  and 
 to  accomplish  God's  grand  purposes  !  Do  not  be  alarmed, 
 my  dear  brother,  when  a  leaf  shakes  with  the  wind,  as 
 if  the  church  of  Christ  were  about  to  perish.  Do  not 
 suppose,  when  nations  withcb-aw  their  endowments,  and 
 imperial  crowns  their  shields,  from  the  Christian  church 
 — when  ])opcry  enters  here,  and  infidelity  spreads  there, 
 and  divisions  and  exasperation  abound  elsewhere,  that  the 
 church  of  Christ  is  about  to  fall.  It  remains  ;  it  gathers 
 strength  from  the  wreck ;  and  grandeur  from  surround- 
 ing ruin.  The  fracture  of  the  earthen  vessel  is  only  the 
 letting  forth  of  the  inner  perfume  ;  and  the  noise,  and 
 
JEKUSALKM    AM)    THE    JEWS.  447 
 
 quarrels,  and  debates  that  we  hear  are  not  the  overturn- 
 ing of  the  glorious  fabric  ;  they  are  only  the  settling  of 
 its  sure  and  its  everlasting  foundation.  Let  us  then 
 acquaint  ourselves  with  God,  and  with  God  especially 
 as  he  is  revealed  in  his  word,  and  be  at  peace. 
 
 In  conclusion,  let  me  ask,  Have  you,  my  hearer,  my 
 reader,  an  interest  in  Messiah  ?  Do  you  stand  in  him 
 as  the  stand-point  from  which  you  can  review  all  the 
 movements  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  ?  Is  it  well,  first, 
 with  thine  own  soul  ?  and  if  it  be  well  there,  by  its 
 being  washed  in  that  Saviour's  blood,  arrayed  in  his 
 righteousness,  trusting  in  his  name ;  then  be  still,  and 
 know  that  he  is  God;  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  glory, 
 for  He  in  whom  you  trust  has  engraven  you  on  the 
 palms  of  his  hands,  and  holds  you  in  imperishable 
 remembrance. 
 
\  P  P  E  N  D  I  X  * 
 
 DAXIEL. 
 
 *'TnK  predictions  of  thinjjs  to  come  relate  to  the  state  of  the 
 Church  in  all  a:e.s:  and  amons^st  the  old  prophets,  Daniel  is 
 most  distinct  in  order  of  time,  and  easiest  to  l)e  understood  :  and 
 therefore  in  those  thina:s  which  relate  to  the  last  times,  ho  must 
 be  made  the  key  to  the  rest.'' — Sir  Isaac  Newton'is  Observations  on 
 Danitl. 
 
 "  The  Jews  do  not  reckon  him  (Daniel)  to  be  a  prophet  ;  and 
 therefore  place  his  prophecies  only  among  the  Haj^iogvapha  :  and 
 they  serve  the  Psalms  of  David  after  the  same  rate.  The  reason 
 xvhich  they  j^ive  for  it  in  respect  of  both  is,  that  they  lived  not 
 the  prophetic  manner  of  life,  but  the  coui'tly  ;  David,  in  his  own 
 palace,  as  Kinj;  of  Israel,  and  Daniel  in  the  palace  of  the  Kini;  of 
 Balnion  as  one  of  his  chief  counsellors  and  ministers  in  the 
 government  of  that  empire.  And  in  respect  of  Daniel  they  fur- 
 ther add,  that,  although  he  had  divine  revelations  delivered  unto 
 him,  yet  it  was  not  in  the  prophetic  way,  but  by  dreams  and 
 visions  of  the  ni;;ht,  which  they  reckon  to  be  tlie  most  imperfect 
 maimer  of  revelation,  and  below  the  prophetic." — Prideau^v^s 
 Connexion.     Anno  534. 
 
 "  Never  were  any  prophecies  delivered  more  clearly,  or  fulfilled 
 more  exactly,  than  a'l  these  prophecies  of  Daniel  were  I*orj)hyry, 
 who  was  a  great  eiiemv  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  well  of  the  Old 
 Testament  as  of  the  New,  acknowl->dged  this.  And  therefore,  he 
 contends,  that  they  were  historical  narratives  written  after  the 
 facts  were  done,  and  not  prophetical  predictions,  foretelling  them 
 to  come. — This  Porphyry  was  a  learned  heathen,  born  at  Tyre, 
 in  the  year  of  Christ  233,  and  there  ca!led  Malchus  ;  which  name, 
 on  his  going  am<mg  the  Greeks,  he  changed  into  that  of  Porphyry, 
 that  signifying  the  same  in  the  Greek  language  which  Malchus 
 did  ill  the  Pijoenician,  the  language  then  spoken  at  Tyre.     He 
 
 *  See  at  the  end  of  Rev.  Dr.  Nolan's  Warbu'ton  Lectures,  and  Rov.  P. 
 Milas'  Lectures;  lo  both  of  which  I  ain  indebted  for  long  and  useful  notes. 
 
 G   G 
 
450  APPENDIX. 
 
 being  a  bitter  enemy  to  the  Chi'istian  religion,  wrote  a  large 
 volume  against  it.  containing  fifteen  books,  whereof  the  twelfth 
 Avas  wholly  against  the  prophecies  of  Daniel.  Those  concerning 
 the  Persian  kings  and  the  Macedonian  that  reigned  as  well  in 
 Egypt  as  in  Asia,  having  been  all,  according  to  the  best  his- 
 torians, exactly  fulfilled,  he  could  not  dispi'ove  them  by  denying 
 their  completion  ;  and  therefore,  for  the  overthrowing  of  their 
 authority,  he  took  thv?  qniit!  cjmrjry  con  se,  .in'l  laboured  to 
 prove  their  truth  ;  and  from  hence  alleged,  that  being  so  exactly 
 true  in  all  particulars,  they  could  not  therefore  be  written  by 
 Daniel  so  many  years  before  the  facts  were  done,  but  by  some 
 one  else  under  his  name,  who  lived  after  the  time  of  Antiochus 
 
 Epiphanes For  which  purpose,  he  made  use  of  the 
 
 best  Greek  historians  then  extant.  Such  were  Callinicus  Sutorius, 
 Diodorus  Siculus,  Hieronymus,  Polybius,  Posidonius,  Claudius 
 The-jn,  and  Andronicus  Alypius  ;  and  from  them  made  evident 
 proof  that  all  that  is  written  in  tlie  eleventh  chapter  of  Daniel, 
 was  truly,  in  every  particular,  acted  and  done  in  the  order  as 
 there  related  ;  and  from  this  exactness  of  completion,  endea- 
 voured to  infer  the  assertion  mentioned,  that  these  prophecies 
 were  written  after  the  facts  were  done,  and  therefore  are  rather 
 historical  narratives  relating  to  things  past,  than  prophetical  pre- 
 dictions, foreshowing  things  afterwards  to  come.  But  Jerome 
 turns  the  argument  upon  him,  and  with  more  strength  of  reason 
 infers,  that  this  way  of  opposing  these  prophecies  gives  the 
 greatest  evidence  of  their  truth,  in  that  what  the  prophet  foretold 
 is  hereby  allowed  to  be  so  exactly  fulfilled,  that  he  seemed  to  un- 
 believers not  to  foretel  things  to  come,  but  to  relate  things  past. 
 Jerome,  in  his  Comments  on  Daniel,  makes  use  of  the  same 
 authors  that  Porphyry  did  ;  and  what  is  in  these  Comments  are 
 all  the  remains  which  we  now  have  of  this  work  of  that  learned 
 heathen,  or  of  most  of  those  authors  which  he  made  use  of  in  it." 
 Prideaux's  Connexion.     Anno  164. 
 
 PROPHECY   AND    HTSTOKY. 
 
 "  "Whatever  is  now  done,  was  foretold  :  whatever  is  now  seen, 
 was  first  heard.  If  earthquakes  swallow  up  cities  ;  if  islands  are 
 invaded  by  the  sea  ;  if  foreign  and  domestic  wars  distract  states  ; 
 if  kingdom  rises  up  against  kingdom  ;  if  there  are  famine,  and 
 pestilence,  and  slaughters  in  divers  places  ;  if  the  wild  beasts  of 
 the  mountains  lay  waste  many  regions  ;  if  the  humble  are  exalted, 
 and  the  lofty  are  laid  low  ;  if  justice  is  rare,  and  iniquity  abounds  ; 
 if  the  regard  for  every  good  and  wholesome  disciiiline  waxes  cold  ; 
 if  even  the  times  and  seasons  vary  from  their  appointed  order,  all 
 these  have  been  predicted  by  the  Providence  of  God.  While  we 
 suffer  these  calamities  we  read  of  them  :  when  we  recognise  them 
 
APPENDIX.  451 
 
 tis  the  objects  of  prophecy,  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  which  pre- 
 dict them  is  proved.  The  daily  fulfihnent  of  prophecy  is,  surely 
 a  full  proof  of  revelation.  Hence,  then,  we  have  a  well-founded 
 beli;  f  in  many  things  which  are  yet  to  come,  namely,  the  con- 
 fidence arisin;.^  from  our  knowled^^e  of  the  past,  because  some 
 events,  still  future,  were  foretold  at  the  same  time  with  otliers 
 which  are  past.  The  voice  of  prophecy  speaks  alike  of  each  ; 
 the  Scriptures  record  them  equally  ;  the  same  Spirit  taught  the 
 pi'ophets  both.  In  the  predictions,  there  is  no  distinction  of 
 time  ;  if  there  be  any  such  distinction,  it  is  made  by  men  ;  while 
 the  gradual  course  of  time  makes  that  present  which  was  future, 
 aTid  that  past  which  was  present.  How  can  we,  then,  bo  blamed 
 for  believinj^  also  what  is  predicted  res])ecting  the  future,  when 
 our  confidence  is  founded  upon  the  fulfilment  of  prophecies  relating 
 to  the  ])resent  and  the  past  V — The  Apolor/rj  of  Tertidlian,  ch.  xx. 
 Chevallier's  Trans. 
 
 THE    FORCE    OF    PROPHECY. 
 
 "  Suppose  that,  instead  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy  breathing 
 more  or  less  in  every  book  of  Scripture,  predicting  events  relative 
 to  a  great  variety  of  general  topics,  and  delivering,  bes'des, 
 almost  innumerable  characteristics  of  the  JMessiah,  all  nieetin"' 
 in  the  person  of  Jesus,  there  had  been  only  ten  men  in  ancient 
 times  who  pretended  to  be  prophets,  each  of  whom  exhibited  only 
 -five  independent  criteria  as  to  place,  government,  concomitant 
 events,  doctrine  taught,  effects  of  doctrine,  character,  sufferings, 
 or  death  ;  the  meeting  of  all  which,  in  one  person,  should  prove 
 the  reality  of  their  calling  as  prophets,  and  of  his  mission  in  the 
 character  they  have  assigned  him  :  suppose,  moreover,  that  all 
 events  were  left  to  chance  merely,  and  we  were  to  compute,  from 
 the  principle  employed  by  mathematicians  in  the  investigation  of 
 such  subjects,  the  probability  of  these  fifty  independent  circum- 
 stances happening  at  all  Assume  that  there  is,  according  to 
 the  technical  phrase,  an  equal  chance  for  the  happening  or  the 
 failure  of  any  one  of  the  specified  particulars,  then  the  probai)ility 
 arfaiiut  the  occurrence  of  all  the  particulars  in  any  way,  is  that  of 
 the  .50th  power  of  '1  to  unity  ;  that  is,  the  probability  is  <:reater 
 than  I] 2.5,000,000,000,000  to  1,  or  greater  than  eleven  hundred 
 and  twenty-five  millions  of  millions  to  one,  that  all  these  circum- 
 stances do  not  turn  up,  even  at  distinct  periods.  This  com- 
 putation, however,  is  independent  of  the  consideration  of  time. 
 Let  it  then,  be  r<collected  further,  that  if  any  one  of  the  specified 
 circumstances  liappen,  it  may  be  the  day  after  the  delivery  of  the 
 prophecy,  or  at  any  period  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  the 
 world  ;  this  will  so  indefinitely  augment  the  probability  against 
 the  couteniporaneous  occurrence  of  merely  these  fifty  circum- 
 
 Q    G  2 
 
452  APPENDIX. 
 
 stances,  that  it  surpasses  the  power  of  numbers  to  express 
 correctly  the  immense  improbability  of  its  taking  place,  lie  it 
 remembered,  also,  that  in  this  calculation  I  have  assumed  the 
 hypothesis  most  favourable  to  the  adversaries  of  prophecy,  and 
 the  most  unfavourable  possible  to  the  well-bein^  of  the  world, 
 and  the  happiness  of  its  inhabitants  ;  namely,  the  hypothesis 
 that  everythinj^  is  fortuitous  ;  and  it  will  be  seen  how  my  argu- 
 ment is  strengthened  by  restoring  things  to  their  proper  state. 
 If  everything  were  left  to  l)lind  chance,  it  appears  that  the  pro- 
 bability against  the  fulfilment  of  only  fifty  independent  predictions 
 in  the  same  time,  place,  and  individual,  would  be  too  great  to 
 express,  numerically  ;  how  much  greater,  then,  must  it  be,  in 
 fact,  when  all  events  are  under  the  control  of  a  Being  of  matchless 
 wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  who  Iiates  fraud  and  deception, 
 who  must  especially  hate  it  when  attempted  under  his  name  and 
 authority,  who  knows  all  that  occurs  in  all  places,  and  who  can 
 dissipate,  'with  the  breath  of  liis  mouth,'  every  deceivei',  and  all 
 their  delusions  1  The  more  we  know  of  the  prophecies,  and  of 
 liistory,  whether  sacred  or  profane,  the  more  we  are  struck  with 
 the  correspondence  of  predictions  and  events  ;  their  coincidence, 
 in  hundreds  of  instances,  is  so  palpably  notorious,  that  none  can 
 deny  it  :  every  principle  of  reason,  every  result  of  correct  com- 
 putation, instituted  with  a  view  to  this  inquiry,  is  in  favour  of 
 the  positions  maintained  by  Christians  in  all  ages.  Imagine 
 these  to  be  still  doubtful,  and  what  is  there  else  that  is  stable  and 
 certain  ?" — Letters  of  Dr.  Olintkus  Greg  >ry,  Letter  VI.  (See 
 Emerson  on  Chances,  Prop.  3  ;  Wood's  Algebra,  Art.  419,  Chances.) 
 
 THE    rOUR    GREAT    EMPIRES. 
 
 "  It  was  from  Daniel's  prophecy,  too,  that  the  distinction  first 
 arose  of  the  four  great  empires  of  the  world,  which  hath  been  fol- 
 lowed by  most  historians  and  chronologers  in  their  distribution  of 
 times.  These  four  empires,  as  they  are  the  su!  ject  of  this  pro- 
 phecy, are  likewise  the  subject  of  the  most  celebrated  pens,  both 
 in  former  and  in  later  ages.  The  histories  of  these  empires  are 
 the  best  written,  and  the  most  read  of  any  ;  they  are  the  study 
 of  the  learned,  and  the  amusement  of  the  polite  ;  they  are  of  use 
 both  in  schools  and  in  senates  ;  we  learn  them  when  we  are 
 young,  and  we  forget  them  not  when  we  are  old  ;  from  hence 
 examples,  instructions,  laws,  and  pohtics,  are  derived  for  all  ages ; 
 and  very  httle,  in  comparison,  is  known  of  other  times,  or  of  other 
 nations." — Bishop  Neicton  on  the  Projjhedes,  Diss.  13. 
 
APPENDIX.  453 
 
 THE    STOXE. 
 
 "In  an  ancient  book  of  theirs,  written  by  R-  Simeon  Ben 
 Jocliai,  the  author  interpi'ets  this  stone,  cut  out  of  the  mountain 
 withi.ut  hands,  to  be  the  same  with  him  who,  in  Gen.  xUx.  •J4,  is 
 called  tile  Shepherd  and  Stone  of  Israel  ;  as  it  is  by  Saadiah 
 Gaon,  a  later  writer;  and  in  another  of  their  writinji^s,  reckoned 
 by  them  very  ancient,  it  is  said  that  the  ninth  king  (for  tliey 
 speak  often)  shall  be  the  King  Messiah,  who  shall  reign  from  one 
 end  of  the  world  to  the  othei*.  according  to  that  passage,  the  stone 
 u-hich  smote  ike  image,  iSic.  ver.  'do  ;  and  in  one  of  their  ancient 
 IMidrashes,  or  expositions,  it  is  interpreted  of  the  King  Messiah  ; 
 and  so  R.  Abraham  Seba." — Dr.  GUI's  Commentary  on  Jjanid  ii,  34. 
 
 CITY    OF   BACYLOX. 
 
 "  And,  besides  these,  there  were  also  four  half-streets,  which 
 were  built  but  of  one  side,  as  having  the  wall  on  the  other. 
 These  went  round  the  four  sides  of  the  city  next  the  walls,  and 
 Wire  each  of  them  two  hundred  feet  broad,  and  the  rest  wore 
 about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  By  these  streets  thus  crossing  each 
 othei',  the  whole  city  was  cutout  into  six  hundred  and  seventy-six 
 squares,  each  of  which  was  four  furlongs  and  a  half  on  every  side, 
 that  is,  two  miles  and  a  quarter  in  compass.  Round  these 
 squares,  on  every  side  towards  the  streets,  stood  the  houses,  all 
 built  three  or  four  stories  high,  and  beautified  with  all  manner 
 of  adornments  towards  the  streets.  The  space  within,  in  the 
 middle  of  each  square,  was  all  void  groui.d,  employed  for  yards, 
 gardens,  and  other  sucli  uses."- — Prldcaux.     Anno  570. 
 
 "  For  the  further  securing  of  the  country,  Nebuchadnezzar 
 built,  also,  prodigious  banks  of  brick  and  bitumen  on  each  side  of 
 the  river,  to  keep  it  within  its  channel,  which  were  carried  along 
 from  the  head  of  the  said  canals  down  to  the  city,  and  Si)me  way 
 below  it.  But  the  most  wonderful  part  of  the  work  was  within 
 the  city  itself;  for  there,  on  each  side  of  the  river,  he  built  from 
 the  bottom  of  it  a  great  wall,  for  its  banks,  of  brick  and  bitumen, 
 which  was  of  the  same  thickness  with  the  walls  of  the  city  ;  and, 
 over  against  every  street  that  crossed  the  said  river,  he  made,  on 
 each  side,  a  brazen  gate  in  the  said  wall,  and  stairs  h  ading  down 
 from  it  to  the  river,  from  wlience  the  citizens  used  to  pass  by  boat 
 from  one  side  to  the  other,  which  was  the  only  passage  they  had 
 over  the  river,  till  the  bridge  was  built  which  1  liave  above  men- 
 tioned. The  gates  were  oi)en  by  diy,  but  always  shut  by  niglit. 
 And  this  prodigious  woi  k  was  carried  on,  on  both  sides  of  the 
 river,  to  the  length  of  one  liundred  and  sixty  furlongs,  which  ar<» 
 
454  APPENDIX. 
 
 twenty  miles  of  oui'  measure,  and  therefore  must  have  beo;un  two 
 miles  and  a  half  above  the  city,  and  continued  down  two  miles 
 and  a  half  below  it ;  fur  throuo;h  the  city  was  no  more  than  fifteen 
 miles." — Ibid. 
 
 "  Next  t'lis  temple,  on  the  same  east  side  of  the  river,  stood 
 the  old  palace  of  the  kin^s  of  Babylon,  being  two  milts  in  com- 
 pass. E.xactly  over  agaiii.st  it,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
 stood  the  new  palace  ;  and  this  was  that  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
 built.  It  was  four  times  as  big  as  the  former,  as  being  eight 
 miles  in  compass.  It  was  surrouiided  with  three  walls,  one  within 
 another,  and  strongly  fortified,  according  to  the  way  of  those 
 times." — Ibid. 
 
 "  These  eight  towers,  being  as  so  many  stories  one  ahove 
 another,  were  each  of  tliem  seventy-five  feet  high,  ajid  in  tiieni 
 were  many  great  rooms  with  arched  roofs,  supported  by  pillars. 
 ....  The  uppermost  story  of  all  was  that  which  was  most  sacred. 
 ....  Over  tlie  whole,  on  the  top  of  the  tower,  was  an  observatory, 
 by  t!»e  benefit  of  which  it  was  that  the  Babylonians  advanced 
 their  skill  in  astronomy  beyond  all  other  nations  ....  For  when 
 Alexander  took  Babylon,  Calisthenes,  the  philosoplier,  who  accom- 
 panied him  thither,  found  tliey  had  astronomical  observations  for 
 one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  three  years  backwards  fiom  that 
 time  :  which  carrieth  up  the  account  as  high  as  the  one  hundred 
 and  fifteenth  year  after  the  flood,  which  was  within  fifteen  years 
 after  the  tower  of  Babel  "as  built.  This  account  Cali>-thenes.sent 
 from  Babylon  into  Greece  to  his  master  Ari.stotle,  as  Simpliciu.s, 
 from  the  auiiiority  of  Porphyry,  delivers  it  unto  us  in  liis  2nd  Book 
 De  Coelo.'- — Ibid. 
 
 "  This  stood  till  the  time  of  Xerxes  (n.c.  479) :  but  he,  on  his 
 I'eturn  from  his  Grecian  expedition,  demolished  the  whole  of  it, 
 and  laid  it  all  in  rubbish  :  having  first  plundered  it  of  all  its 
 immense  riches,  among  which  were  several  images  or  .statues  of 
 massy  gold  " — Ibid.     See  Jer.  li.  44. 
 
 "  What  was  most  wonderful  in  it  were  the  hanging  gardens, 
 whiih  were  of  so  celebrated  a  name  among  the  Greeks.  'J'hey 
 contained  a  square  of  four  plethra  (that  is.  of  four  hundred  leet) 
 on  every  side,  and  uere  carried  up  aloft  into  the  air,  in  the 
 manner  of  several  large  terraces,  one  above  another,  till  the 
 highest  eq  tailed  the  heiuht  of  the  walls  of  the  city.  The  ascent 
 was  from  terrace  to  terrace,  by  stairs  ten  feet  wide.  Tlie  «  hole 
 pile  uas  sustained  by  vast  arches  built  upon  arches,  one  aljove 
 another,  and  strengthened  by  a  wall,  surrounding  it  on  every 
 side,  of  twenty-two  feet  in  thickness  ...  on  the  top  (if  the  arches 
 were  first  laid  large  fiat  stonc^,  sixteen  feet  long,  and  four  broad, 
 and  over  them  was  a  layer  of  reed,  mixed  with  a  great  quantity 
 
APPENDIX.  455 
 
 of  bitumen,  over  which  were  two  rows  of  bricks,  closely  cemented 
 together  by  plaster,  and  then  over  all  were  laid  thick  sheets  of 
 lead  :  and  all  this  floorage  was  ccmtrived  to  keep  the  moisture  of 
 the  mould  from  running  away  down  throui^h  the  arches.  The 
 mould  or  earth  laid  hereon  was  of  that  depth,  as  to  have  room 
 enough  for  the  ureatest  trees  to  take  rooting  in  it;  and  such  were 
 planted  all  over  it  in  every  terrace,  as  were  also  all  other  trees, 
 plants,  and  flowers,  that  were  pntper  for  a  gr.i'dcn  of  pleasure. 
 In  the  upper  terrace  there  was  an  aqueduct  or  engine,  whereby 
 water  was  drawn  up  out  of  the  I'iver,  which  from  thence  watered 
 the  whole  garden." — Ibid' 
 
 THE    SOX    OF    MAX. 
 
 "  This  Son  of  ]\Ian  the  Jews  themselves  confess  to  be  the  pro- 
 mised Messias,  and  they  take  the  words  to  signify  his  coming, 
 and  so  far  give  testimony  to  the  truth  ;  but  then  they  evacuate 
 the  prediction  by  a  false  interpretation,  saying,  that  if  the  Jews 
 went  on  in  their  sins,  tlien  the  Messias  should  come  in  humility, 
 according  to  the  description  in  Zachary,  loidji.  and  riding  upon 
 an  ass  (ix.  9)  ;  but  if  they  pleased  (Jod,  then  he  should  come  iu 
 glory,  according  to  the  description  in  the  prophet  Daniel,  tcih  the 
 clouds  of  heaven  :  whereas  these  two  descriptions  are  two  several 
 predictions,  and  therefore  must  be  both  fulfilled.  From  whence 
 it  followeth,  that  being  Chrid  is  already  C(mie.  loniii  and  .sitfinrf 
 upon  an  ass,  therefore  he  shall  come  gloriously  with  the  clouds  of 
 heaven.  For  if  both  those  descriptions  cannot  belong  to  one  and 
 the  same  advent,  as  the  Jews  acknowledge,  and  both  of  them 
 must  be  true,  because  equally  pro])lietical :  then  must  there  be  a 
 double  advent  of  the  same  Mesi^ias.'^  '•  Indeed  the  .Jews  do  so 
 generally  interpret  this  place  of  Daniel  of  the  Messias,  that  they 
 made  it  an  argument  to  prove  that  the  Messias  is  not  yet  come, 
 because  no  man  hath  yet  come  with  the  clouds  of  heaven.'* — 
 Bishop  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  Article  VII. 
 
 THE    MILLEXXir:\r. 
 
 "That  the  kingdom  in  Daniel  and  that  of  1000  years  iu  the 
 Aj)ocaIypse  are  one  and  the  same  kingdom,  appears  thus  : 
 
 "  First.  Because  they  begin  ab  eodeni  termino,  namely,  at  the 
 destruction  of  the  Fourtb.  .Roast:  that  in  Daniel,  when  the  beast 
 (then  ruling  in  the  wicked  h(n'n)  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed 
 and  given  to  the  burning  flame,  Dan.  vii.  11,  22,27.  That  in  the 
 Apocalypse,  when  the   beast  and  the  false  prophet  (the  wicked 
 
456 
 
 ATPEXDIX. 
 
 horn  in  Daniel)  were  taken,  and  both  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of 
 fire,  burnin-;  with  brimstone,  Apoc.  xix.  20,  21,  &c. 
 
 "  Secondly  Because  St.  Jolin  be<;ins  the  Rer;num  of  a  thousand 
 years  from  tlie  same  session  of  judgment  described  in  Daniel ;  as 
 appeal's  by  his  parallel  expression  borrowed  from  thence. 
 
 Daniel  says,  chap.  vii. 
 
 Ver.  9.  I  beheld  till  the  t/irones  irere 
 pitched  down  .  .  .  and  the  judg- 
 7ueiit  (i.e.  judges)  .lat. 
 
 22.  A/id  jiid'j'i'ent  tens  given  to  the 
 saints  of  the  .Most  High. 
 And  the  .taints  po.tse.t.sfd  the  king- 
 dom ;  viz.  with  the  Son  of  Man 
 who  came  in  the  clouds. 
 
 St.  John  says,  chap.  xx. 
 
 Ver.  4    I  -luw  thrones,   and   they  sat 
 vpon  them. 
 
 And  judgment  was  given  unto  them. 
 
 And.  the  saints    Vtv^d  ar.d  reigned 
 uith  Christ  a  thousand  years. 
 
 "  Now  if  this  be  sufficiently  proved.  That  the  thousand  years 
 hcffin  with  the  dai/  of  jadiiment,  it  will  appear  further  out  of  the 
 Apocahjp''e  that  the  judf/ment  is  not  consummate  till  they  be 
 ended:  for  Gofj  and  Magog's  desti'uction,  and  the  universal 
 resurrection,  is  not  till  th  -n  :  therefore  the  whole  thousand  yeai's 
 is  included  in  the  dai/  of  juch/ment. 
 
 "  Hence  it  will  follow,  that  whatsoever  Scripture  speaks  of  a 
 l-hif/d(,niof  Cliviat,  to  be  at  his  seccmd  appearing  <  r  at  the  destruc- 
 tion of  antichrist,  it  must  needs  be  tlie  same  which  Daniel  saw 
 should  be  at  that  time,  and  .so  c  iisequently  be  the  hhujdovi  of  a 
 thousand  years,  which  the  Apocalypse  includes  between  the  begin- 
 ning and  consummation  of  the  great  judgment. 
 
 "  Ergo,  tliat  in  Luke  xvii.  from  verse  20  to  the  end. 
 
 "And   that  in  Luke  xix.   from  the   11th   vei'se   to   the    loth 
 
 inclusively. 
 "And  that  in  Luke  xxi.  31.      When  ye  see  these  things  come  to 
 pass,  Icnoic  that  the  kinr/dom  of  God  is  at  hand.     See  what 
 went  before,  viz.  The  Son  of  man's  coming  in  a  cloud  \cith 
 po'ier  and  great  glory  ;  borrowed  from  Daniel. 
 "And  that  in  2  Tim.  iv.  1.     /  cliarge  thee  Ijefore  God,  and  the 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ,  u'ho  ."hall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at 
 his  appearing  and  his  lingdnm. 
 "  By  these   we  may  understand  the  rest ;    taking  this  for  a 
 sure  ground,  that  this  expression  of  [The  son  of  Man'.''  coming  in 
 the  clouds  of  hear  en]  so  often  inculcated  in  the  New  Testament, 
 is  taken  from  and  hath  ref  rence  to  the  Prophecy  of  Daniil,  heing 
 nowhere  else  fmnd  in  the  Old  Testament." — Mede,   Book   IV. 
 F.pist.   15,  page  7()3.     See  likewise  Book  IIL  page   532  ;   also 
 Wintle  c/i  Dan.  vii.  14. 
 
APPENDIX.  457 
 
 The  following  very  important  discussion  I  take  from  Hengsten- 
 berg  : — 
 
 TRACES    OF    THE    BOOK    IN    PRE-MACCABEAN    TIMES. 
 
 "  To  tlie  eternal  arjjuments  of  the  genuineness  belong,  lastly, 
 the  traces  of  the  existence  of  our  book  in  the  pre-Waccabean 
 times.  If  those  traces  are  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  suffice  alone 
 for  a  proof  of  the  genuineness,  and  to  have  equal  weight  witli 
 really  important  counter-arguments,  yet,  since  such  counter- 
 arguments are  nowliere  to  be  found,  they  are,  in  connexion  with 
 all  the  other  pro  fs  of  the  genuineness,  of  no  small  importance. 
 
 "a.  According  to  Josephus, -<4rc/i  xi.  8,  A,  the  Book  of  Daniel 
 was  shown  to  Alexander  the  Great,  and  that  pro[ihecy  was  re- 
 ferred liy  him  to  himself,  in  wliich  a  Greek  was  announced  as  the 
 conqueror  of  the  Pers'an  empire.  Now,  in  order  to  enfeeble  this 
 testiujony,  attacks  have  been  directed,  partly  against  the  wliole 
 narrative,  partly  against  ibis  particular  point  in  it. — To  judge  of 
 the  former,  we  must  previously  place  more  exactly  before  us  the 
 contents  of  the  narrative. 
 
 ""During  the  siege  of  Tyre,  Alexander  commanded  the  Jewish 
 high  priest  to  do  him  homage,  and  send  him  troojis  and  provisiojis. 
 Tlie  high  priest,  true  to  the  oatii  which  he  had  taken  to  the  still 
 living  Dar  us,  liad  refused  this.  Alexander  deferred  Ins  revenue 
 till  the  conclusion  of  the  siege  of  Tyre  and  Gaza.  After  tliat,  he 
 marched  a-ainst  Jerusalem.  The  liigh  priest  is  in  great  con- 
 sternation ;  public  prayers  and  sacrifices  are  commanded  ;  after 
 these  he  is  tranquillised  by  God  in  a  di-eani,  and  commanded  to 
 go  himself,  witli  the  pries' s  in  their  ( llicial  habiliments,  and  with 
 the  rest  of  the  people  in  white  garments,  to  meet  the  conqueror. 
 This  is  done  as  soon  as  Alexandtr  approaches  the  city.  The 
 pi'ocession  meets  him  at  a  place  where  there  was  a  view  of  tlie 
 city  and  temple,  Alexander  goes  immediately  to  the  high  priest, 
 embraces  him,  and  testifies  his  veneration  for  the  name  of  God 
 on  his  mitre  To  the  wondering  question  of  Parmi  nio,  why  he, 
 to  whom  all  others  testified  their  veneration,  honours  the  Jewish 
 high  priest,  Alexander  replies,  that  the  lumiage  is  not  lendered 
 to  the  high  priest,  but  to  his  God  ;  for  that  he  had  seen  him  in 
 a  vision  in  this  very  expedition,  when  he  was  yet  in  ^lacedonia  ; 
 that  He  had  pi-omised  to  undertake  the  leading  of  his  army,  and 
 to  give  him  the  Persian  dominion  ;  that  this  coincidence  <if  the 
 dream  with  the  reality  gave  him  a  firm  hope  of  \  ictt^ry.  lie  tlien, 
 atteniled  liy  the  high  ])riest,  and  surrounded  by  the  priests, 
 marched  into  the  ciiy.  sacrificed  in  the  temple,  according  to  the 
 directi  nscifthe  hiL;h  priest,  and  showed  great  honour  l;oih  to 
 him  and  to  th  •  priests  Tlien  they  showed  him  the  Book  of 
 Daniel.  On  his  demanding  that  he  should  ask  some  favour  for 
 the  people,  the  high  priest  asked  for  exemption  from  tribute  in 
 the  seventh  year,  as  being  the  fallow  year.     Many  Jews  then, 
 
458  APPEXDIX. 
 
 on  the  command  of  Alexander,  determined  to  participate  in  the 
 expedition.  The  Samaritans,  under  the  pretext  that  they  had 
 affinity  witli  the  Jews,  tried  to  obtain  a  sliare  in  the  favours  im- 
 parted to  tliem  ;  but  in  this  they  did  not  succeed. 
 
 "  The  truth  of  this  whole  account  has  been  assailed,  after  the 
 example  of  V.  Dale  {diiseit  sap.  Arideain  de  LXX.  irderprdt. 
 p  (i8  sqq  ),  by  several  moderns,  on  the  following  grounds: — 1. 
 '  The  circumstance  that  Alexander,  after  the  conquest  of  Tyre, 
 marched  to  Gaza,  from  tlience  back  to  Jerusalem,  and  from  thence 
 to  Egypt,  is  chronologically  false.  He  would  then  have  made  a 
 useless  circuit  of  several  days.  All  writers,  too,  ai^ree  that  he 
 went  immediately  from  Gaza  to  Egypt.  Thus  PinDE.iUX,  1. 
 c.  iii.  p.  Ho,  and  after  him,  word  for  word,  Griesixger,  p  .'33. 
 But  there  is  no  difficulty  in  discovering  the  reason  why  Alex- 
 ander marched  first  to  Gaza  anil  then  to  Jerusalem.  Gaza  would 
 seem  to  him  by  far  the  more  important  ;  the  1  rave  Per.sian  satrap 
 Betis  had  hired  .Arabian  mercenaries,  and  laid  up  provisions  in 
 that  strong  city  for  a  long  siege  ;  the  walls  were  very  high,  the 
 siege  extremely  difKcult  (comp.  .\rria.\  exp.  Al.  p.  \o\ ,  ed Blan- 
 curA).  Alexander  might  h'pe  t!  at.  if  he  succeeded  in  taking 
 this  place  the  rest,  including  Jerusalem,  would  submit  to  him 
 without  drawing  his  sword,  and  the  result  showed  that  in  this 
 calculation  lie  was  not  deceived.  Tliis  advantage  was  certainly 
 well  worth  the  circuit  of  a  few  days  - — [Moreover,  t  iis  very  repre- 
 sentation of  the  march  of  Alexander,  so  improbable  at  fir-t  view, 
 sj)eaks  in  favour  of  tlie  trustworthiness  of  Josephus.  Had  he 
 not  confined  himself  strictly  to  his  authorities,  he  would  certainly 
 have  placed  the  coming  of  Alexander  to  Jerusalem  between  the 
 siege  of  Tyre  and  of  Gaza.  The  statement  of  the  other  hi.stotical 
 sources,  that  Alexander  marched  immediately  from  Gaza  to 
 Egypt,  proves  nothing  ;  it  is  a  mere  arrjamentum  a  silenfio, 
 founded  on  the  omi.ssion  of  a  diver.sion  of  some  days,  which  is  tlie 
 less  surprising  consideriiv.:;  the  abundance  of  important  inc'.dents 
 wliich  the  life  of  Alexander  affords.  Besides,  it  affects  the  oppo- 
 nents in  like  manner  ;  fur  Alexander  must  have  been  in  Jeru- 
 salem, as  we  shall  afterwards  see  ;  but  tliC  ancient  writers  make 
 him  pass  just  as  inunediately  from  Tyre  to  G;iza,  as  from  Gaza 
 to  Egypt.  "2.  'It  is  not  n)atter  of  liistorv,  when  dosephus  makes 
 Parmenio  say  to  Alexander,  that  all  men  offered  him  the  Trpocr- 
 Kui'tjaig  (ri  cijirors,  7rpo(Ticvuovi>Tu>v  avrov  a—dvTojv,  avrug 
 TrpofTKVVijffcic  Toi>  ^iovccdiov  dpxi-^p^ci)-  ^ot  till  a  later  period 
 did  Alexander  think  of  e.xalting  himself  into  a  god,  and  demand- 
 ing the  7rpoaKvi>ri<ng  as  an  acknowledjment  of  his  divine  dignity.' 
 But  surely  nothing  was  more  natural  than  for  the  subjects  of  the 
 Persian  empire  to  transfer  to  him  the  customary  mark  of  honour, 
 even  witi.out  his  demanding  it  ;  and  that  he  assumed  it  tc'dUwjly 
 may  be  supposed  from  his  subsequent  conduct.  3.  '  Chaldeans 
 are  mentioned  in  the  retinue  of  the  king  ;  yet  at  that  time  they 
 were  still  subject  to  the  Persian  king.'     Cut  what  hinders  our 
 
APPENDIX.  459 
 
 assumiiifj  that,  even  before  the  takinsfof  Babylon,  Chaldee  rene- 
 gades had  deserted  to  Alexander,  as  Josephus  seems  to  intimate 
 in  express  terms  ?  This  may  the  more  readily  be  imagined,  as  the 
 Baliylonians  afterwards  received  Alexander  with  joy.  as  the 
 restorer  of  their  worship,  to  which  the  Persians  had  borne  an  ill 
 will.  4.  '  1  he  dream  of  the  high  priest  looks  very  like  a  fiction.' 
 Ikit  if  we  set  aside  all  supernatural  opei-ations,  and  suppose  tiiat 
 the  high  priest  only  dreamed  what  had  passed  through  his  waking 
 soul,  or  that  he  only  gave  out  that  he  dreamed  it,  certainly  all  in 
 the  narrative  that  concerns  the  high  priest's  share  in  the  affair 
 lias  the  highest  probability.  The  whole  contrivance  was  admi- 
 rably suited  to  the  character  of  Alexander.  It  could  not  have 
 been  forgotten  by  the  high  priest  that,  on  the  capture  of  Tyre, 
 Alexander  had  spared  all  those  who  had  taken  refuge  in  tlie 
 temple,  that  he  had  sacrificed  to  Hercules,  had  institut  d  a  great 
 festival  in  honour  of  him,  and  dedicated  a  Tyrian  ship  to  him 
 (comp.  UssHER.  z.  J.  367o.)  The  measure  which  he  chose, 
 therefore,  must  have  appeared  to  him  the  most  suitable  for 
 mitigating  the  wrath  of  Alexander. 
 
 "  Let  us  now  pass  on  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  nai'rative  by 
 positive  arguments,  in  which  whatever  else  has  been  advanced 
 against  it  will  find  a  sufficient  reply. 
 
 "  In  several  main  particulars  the  narrative  is  confirmed  by 
 express  histoi'ical  testimonies.  Arrian  says  that  Judea  was 
 not  mastered  by  foi'ce  of  arms,  but  surrendered  of  its  own  accord 
 (1.  ii.  p.  150  :  Koi  i\v  avTu)  to.  fx'eu  dWa  rijg  Ha\ai(7riv>]g  KaXov- 
 fisvijg  "Slvpiag  7rpo(TKex(jjp}]iiora  ijctj.)  The  personal  presence  of 
 Alexander  in  Judea  is  remarked,  apart  from  Josephus,  not  only,  as 
 ScHLossER  asserts  {Weltgesch.  i.  p.  170),  by  the  Aral  ian  writer 
 Makrizi,  but  also  by  Pliny  (hid  nat.  xii.  26),  who  speaks  of  an 
 observation  made  in  natural  history  in  connexion  with  this  event. 
 That  Jews  served  in  the  army  of  Alexander  is  reported  by  the 
 cotemporary  heatlien  writer  Hecat^eus  Abderita.  How  great 
 the  favour  of  Alexander  must  have  been  towards  the  Jews, 
 appears  from  the  statement,  altlmugh  a  false  one,  of  the  .'^ame 
 writer  (in  Jos.  c.  Ap.  ii.  4),  that  Alexander  granted  to  the  Jews 
 the  region  of  Samaria.  The  genuineness  of  his  book  has  indted 
 been  called  in  question  by  an  anonymous  author  in  Eichhorn's 
 Bibl.  f.  hibl.  Liu.  Th.  5,  p.  432,  sqq.,  who  maintaiiis  that  the 
 writing  was  forged  by  some  nameless  Jew.  Hut  the  only  argu- 
 ment advanced  for  this  assertion,  the  predilection  for  the  Jews 
 displayed  in  t!ie  fragments  of  'lec-atteus.  is,  as  Zorn  has  already 
 shown  {Ilccata'i  Aid  frar/oienta.  Allan.  1730,  ann.  p.  .5), certainly 
 not  sufficient  to  e.stablish  it.  It  must  be  well  remembered  that 
 those  who  have  preserved  to  us  the  f  agmcnts  of  Hecat.ecs, 
 Joseph L'.s,  and  Eusebius,  select  only  what  was  favourable  to  the 
 Jews  It  aj)ptars  from  the  fragments  of  Hec.vt.fas  themselves, 
 that  he  was  an  enlightened  heathen, for  whom,  therefore,  Judaism 
 had  some  attractions,  and  who,  as  was  often  the  case  in  those 
 
460  APPENDIX. 
 
 times,  had  a  certain  leaning  towards  it.  How  few  external  reasons 
 there  were  for  suspecting  tlie  book,  is  clear  from  tlie  fact  tl;at 
 even  IIerenmus  Piiilo,  in  Origex  c.  CcLum,  1.  l.uid  not  venture 
 decidedly  to  reject  its  genuineness,  and  that  Joseph  us  could  dare, 
 in  the  face  of  his  heathen  readers,  boldly  to  appeal  to  its  authority. 
 What,  moreover,  is  decisive  against  this  ar^sertion.  is  the  great 
 V  ant  of  acquaintance  with  the  older  history  of  the  Jews,  which  tlie 
 author  clearly  displays.  Neither  a  Jew  nor  a  Jewish  proselyte 
 could  relate  that  the  Persians  (instead  of  the  Chaldeansi  carried 
 away  many  myriads  of  Jev/s  to  Babylon  So  gross  an  eiTor,  also, 
 as  that  Samaria  was  gi'anted  to  the  Jews,  could  hardly  have 
 come  from  a  Jew. — But  the  favour  of  Alexander  towards  the  Jews 
 is  clear  from  another  circumstance.  After  the  founding  of  Alex- 
 andria he  not  only  granted  them  the  free  observance  of  their 
 reli-ion  and  la^^s,  but  guaranteed  them  the  same  ])rivileges  in 
 that  respect  as  the  Macedonians  themselves  (comp.  Pride.alx  1.  c. 
 p.  12(1.)  But  if  tl'iC  favour  of  Alexander  towards  the  J(  ws  is 
 established,  we  may  draw  thence  a  conclusion  for  the  truth  of  tlie 
 whole  narration.  For  it  is  correctly  observed  by  Jah.n  (Air/tdol. 
 II.  i.  p.  30G),  'if  this  principal  point,  the  favour  shown  towards 
 the  Jews,  be  correct,  there  must  have  been  some  groat  c;iuse  for 
 it,  corresponding  to  the  character  of  Alexander  ;  and,  since  that 
 assigned  by  Josepiius  is  of  such  a  nature,  there  is  no  reason  to 
 doubt  of  it.'  We  have  brought  forward  this  pas-age,  also,  that  it 
 m.iy  be  seen  how  correctly  Bleek  has  read,  when  he  maintains, 
 1.  c.  p.  184,  that  even  Jaiin  is  satisfied  to  vindicate  simply  the 
 main  fact,  the  favour  shown  to  the  Jews,  as  historically  true. — 
 Even  the  special  circumstance,  that  the  high  priest  in  full  costume, 
 and  particidarly  with  the  head-dress  jiTri  riig  KS<pa\fi(;  iycvra 
 rf]v  KiCapiv  K.  T.  X.),  went  to  meet  Ale.xander  is  conHnned  hy  a 
 passage  of  Justin,  xi.  10 — tunc  in  Sj/riam  proficiscitar,  vM  obvi.s 
 cum  infidis  mvlios  Orientis  reyes  liahuit.  Ex  Ids  j)ro  m  ritis  sin- 
 gahjrum  aliia  in  societatan  vecepit,  aliis  ref/num  ackmlt,  si'Jfectin  in 
 lura  eorum  aliis  rcrjibiis. — Finally,  the  truth  of  the  narrative  as  a 
 whole  is  confirmed  by  other  ancient  Jewish  writers,  who  auree 
 with  Jo.sephus  in  in  the  essential  circumstances  ;  compare  the 
 passages  in  Hess.  {Gcschichte  der  Regenten  in  d  Exil.  ii.  p.  37), 
 who  well  deserves  to  be  consulted  on  this  incident. 
 
 "  But  that  which  has  no  express  historical  confirmation  is 
 rocnmnieiided  so  strongly  by  its  internal  tiiith,  that  we  cannot 
 tliiiik  of  fiction  in  the  matter.  For  instance,  the  behavi  ur  of 
 Alexander  is  so  very  correspondent  with  his  historical  character, 
 that  pcrnons  have  only  manifested  their  ignorance  of  history  in 
 tryin;;  fi-oin  this  p<;inl  in  j  arcicnlar  to  obtain  arguments  against  tlie 
 truth  of  the  narration.  Alexander  had  a  twofold  reason  for  his 
 kindly  I  ehaviour  T<;wards  the  Jews,  in  the  then  state  of  things 
 (the  Persian  em] lire  was  indeed  weakened,  but  not  for  a  lomr 
 while  after  conquered),  it  would  be  to  him  of  no  little  importance 
 to  lay  under  obligation  to  him  a  people  who  were  not  insignificant, 
 
APPENDIX.  461 
 
 and  in  this  way  to  bind  tliem  firmly  to  him  ;  and  then  the  way  in 
 wliich  the  high  priest  came  to  meet  him  ottered  him  a  welcome  op- 
 portunity oi'doing  it,  according  to  his  custom  <)t'])erverting  religion 
 as  the  means  to  his  ends,  and  representing  himself  as  u  favourite 
 of  Deity.  We  maintain,  against  IIkss,  1.  c.  p.  33,  that  the  dream 
 of  Alexander  in  all  probability  was  fabricated  by  him.  Could 
 anything  else  be  expected  of  a  man  who.  soon  afterwards,  sent 
 forward  persons  to  Iribe  the  priests  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
 Ammon  to  declare  what  he  wished  ? — who,  on  the  expedition 
 against  the  ScythiaJis.  demanded  from  the  seer,  Aristander, 
 when  he  foretold  misfortune,  that  he  should  invent  another  pro- 
 phecy pronu-;ing  success  (AaRiAX,  1,  iv.  p  24())  ?  —  who,  when  the 
 Chaldeaiis  cautioned  him  not  to  go  to  Babylon,  expressed  his 
 decided  disbelief  of  all  prophecy,  by  quoting  the  verse  of 
 Euripides  : — 
 
 MavTig  o'  dpiarog,  oarig  eiKd^si  KaXutg, 
 
 (Arriax,  p  47o),  and  yet  constantly  inquired  of  the  seers  ?  But 
 how  much  the  character  of  Alexander  inclined  him  to  such  a 
 political  use  of  religion,  may  be  shown  by  numy  exam))les  From 
 tins  tendency  of  his,  various  tales  originated  by  which  his  history, 
 even  in  his  own  time,  was  disfigured.  Thus,  the  account  of  the 
 two  ravens,  who,  according  to  the  statement  of  I'tolemy  Lagu.s, 
 led  the  army  on  the  expedition  through  the  wilderness  to  tlie 
 temple  of  Jupiter  and  back  again  ;  or,  according  to  Calisthenes, 
 in  Plutarcii,  even  brought  back  the  several  stragglers  to  the 
 army.  Men  tried  by  such  fables  to  gain  the  favour  of  the  king. — 
 Alexander  desired  nothing  more  than  that,  on  the  ex])edition  to 
 India,  certain  tribes  should  receive  him  as  the  third  son  of 
 Jupiter.  (Prideal'x  iii.  p.  loU)  On  his  return  from  India  he 
 instituted,  in  imitation  of  Bacchus,  a  procession  of  three  days. 
 (Prio.  p.  153.)  in  order  to  attain  this  end,  he  submitted  to 
 exertions  and  sacrifices,  in  comparison  of  which  the  favours  con- 
 ferred on  the  Jews  are  not  deserving  of  mention.  So.  in  order 
 to  procure  for  himself  the  advantages  which  the  Persian  kings 
 derived  from  their  divine  honours,  he  undertook  a  tedious,  diffi- 
 cult, and  dangerous  journey  to  tlie  temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon, 
 on  which  he  and  his  whole  army  nearly  perished  with  thirst.  He 
 submitted  humbly  to  the  demand  of  the  priests,  that  no  one 
 besides  himself  should  enter  the  temple.  At  a  time  when  his 
 power  was  much  more  established,  he  had  the  temple  of  liekis,  at 
 Babylon,  restored  at  immense  cost. —  When  it  is  asserted  tliat 
 Alexander  would  not  have  condescended  to  sacrifice  in  the 
 temple  under  the  direction  of  the  high  priest,  it  set  ras  to  be  for- 
 gotten that  he  did  the  very  same  thing  under  the  direction  of  the 
 Chaldean  priest,  at  Babylon,  in  the  temple  of  Belus  ;  and,  indeed, 
 his  whole  conduct  there  is  very  similar,  in  a  religious  point  of 
 view,  to  tiiat  at  Jerusalem.  Akrian  says.  p.  IDG  :  ti>9a  oi)  icai 
 To7g  XaXcatotg  h'srvxif  nai  oaa  i^oKU  \a\caioig  dii<pi  to,  itptl  tA 
 
462  APPENDIX. 
 
 £1'    BajSvXaii'i  STTpa^e'    to,    ts  iiWa    /cat   rip  B))\(^   Ka6d   tKuroi 
 i^tiyo'vvTO,  tOvaav. 
 
 "  Let  us  now  turn  specially  to  the  statement  of  Josepluis, 
 touchini:^  the  prophecies  of  Daniel.  Here  also  it  may  be  easily 
 shown  how  well  it  was  contrive-l  that  the  prophecies  about  him- 
 self should  be  laid  before  Alex.,  how  extremely  suitable  to 
 Alexander  is  the  behaviour  ascribed  to  him  on  that  occasion. 
 Alexander  knew  too  well  the  influence  which  prophecy  exercised 
 on  the  whole  world  at  that  time,  not  to  avail  himself  of  this 
 means,  among  others,  for  the  establishment  of  his  authority,  and 
 for  the  gratification  of  his  vanity.  He  endeavoured  by  the  voices 
 of  the  seers  of  the  most  diverse  nations  to  get  himself  declared 
 the  favourite  of  rhe  gods,  while  in  .secret  he  laughed  at  super- 
 stition, certainly  at  least  when  the  prophecies  were  not  altogether 
 to  his  mind.  Plutarch  remarks  generally,  as  characteristic  of 
 him,  that  he  always  prided  himself  much  on  having  prophecies  in 
 liis  favour  ((TVfj.<pi\orti.iGVfj.e}-'og  du  tcJq  ^avrtvfiaai).  The  sooth- 
 sayer, Aristander,  was  constantly  in  his  train;  even  an  ordinary 
 Syrian  woman,  who  jjassed  for  a  prophetess,  was  not  considered 
 by  hiin  too  mean  to  be  allowed  access  to  him  day  and  night 
 (compare  Arrian,  p.  2fi9)  ;  the  priests  of  Jupiter  Amnion  must 
 make  him  out  by  an  oracle  to  be  a  son  of  their  god  ;  the 
 Chaldean  sa.;es,  on  his  entrance  into  Babylon,  came  to  meet 
 him  in  solemn  procession,  and  he  found  much  to  transact  with  them. 
 
 "  The  objections  which  have  been  raised  against  the  exhibition 
 of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  to  Alexander  need  to  be  hardly  more 
 than  quoted  to  show  their  weakness.  1.  '  How  could  Alexander 
 read  a  Hebrew  writing  ?  How  could  h  j  make  out  the  symbolical 
 language  ?  Why  did  he  not  feel  himself  offended  at  seeing  himself 
 represented  as  a  he-goat,  and  his  great  empire  as  a  passing  show  V 
 All  these  objections  rest  on  the  false  supposition,  which  has  not 
 the  least  foundation  in  the  text  of  Josephus,  that  Alexander  him- 
 self read  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  i  hey  were  shown  to  him, 
 and  he  was  t  Id  their  contents  ;  and  the  king,  careless  about 
 what  was  really  contained  in  tbe  book,  caught  eagerly  at  it, 
 because  the  alleged  contents  were  quite  according  to  his  wish, 
 just  as  the  Ai::syrians  (compare  Gi:s.  zu  Jes.  i.  p.  946),  without 
 further  inquiry,  made  use  of  the  Helirew  prophecies,  in  which,  as 
 they  might  have  learnt  by  mere  hear.-ay,  an  irruption  on  their 
 side  was  predicted  as  a  divine  judgment  As  regards  the  image 
 of  the  he-goat,  it  is  judging  quite  according  to  our  ideas  in  the 
 present  day,  when  it  is  asserted  that  it  must  have  appeared 
 off'ensive  to  the  king  ;  in  the  symbolism  of  the  Babylonians  and 
 PersiaiKS,  as  we  shall  hereafter  .-ee,  the  he-goat  was  a  very  honour- 
 able symb')l,  and  Alexander  was  surely  familiar  enough  by  this 
 time  with  the  symbolical  spirit  of  the  east  not  to  take  such  a 
 thing  offensively.  And,  besides,  just  that  prophecy  which  of  all 
 pointed  most  distinctly  to  Alexander,  and  the  one  therefore  that 
 was  probably  laid  before  liim,  chap.  xi.  2,  3,  is  quite  destitute  of 
 
APPENDIX.  463 
 
 imagery. — It  is  true,  in  the  propliecies  which  foretel  Alexander's 
 greatness,  tliere  is  at  the  same  time  predicted  the  speedy  disniem- 
 bei'inent  of  his  empire  after  liis  death.  But  who  sliall  say  that 
 they  did  not  content  themselves  with  imparting  to  him  only  just 
 as  much  as  would  dispose  him  fav^ourably  towards  the  nation  ? 
 And,  supposing  any  one  should,  without  reason,  assume  the  con- 
 trary, have  we  not  other  instances  in  which  Alexander,  from 
 among  prophecies  which  announced  both  success  and  misfoi'tune, 
 joyfully  appropriated  the  former,  and  allowed  the  others  to  rest 
 in  peace  (comp.  Aurian,  p.  151)  ? 
 
 "2.  'In  both  prophecies  (viii.  21,  xi.  2,  3)  the  express  com- 
 mand was  laid  on  Daniel  to  close  them  up  or  to  seal  them,  and 
 they  are  thus  declared  to  be  unintelligible.  It  must  therefore  be 
 allowed  that,  in  the  time  of  Alexander,  no  one  as  yet  could 
 understand  the  meaning  of  these  prophecies.'  This  argument 
 again  is  peculiar  to  Bleek.  It  is  suthcient  for  its  refutation  to 
 remark  that  in  the  passages  quoted  it  is  not  an  absolute  obscurity 
 that  is  spoken  of,  but  that  which  is  only  relative  and  partial. 
 This  is  clear,  if  not  sulhciently  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  at 
 least  (juite  so  from  a  comi)arison  of  chapter  x.  I  with  xii.  8.  In 
 the  first  passage,  it  is  said  that  DaJiiel  obtained  an  insiijht  into 
 the  vision,  chap.  x.  12  ;  in  the  second,'  I  heard  it,  but  understood 
 it  not,'  and  Daniel  receives  the  command  to  seal  up  the  vision, 
 because  It  was  destined  for  a  future  period.  If  a  gross  con- 
 tradiction is  not  meant  to  be  set  up  here,  one  is  comoelled  to 
 take  the  understanding  and  the  non- understanding  relatively. — 
 But  if  this  is  the  case,  then  there  could  not  have  been,  at  least 
 as  to  those  prophecies  which  refer  to  Alexander,  especially  at 
 the  time  when  they  had  already  begun  to  be  fulfilled,  a  non- 
 understanding,  since  they  belong  to  the  clearest  in  the  book. 
 That  a  Greek  would  some  day  destroy  the  Persian  empire,  is 
 declared  in  such  explicit  and  direct  terms  that  even  a  child  must 
 understand  it,  and  nothing  further  was  said  to  Alexander  by  the 
 Jews,  even  according  to  Josephus  ;  the  personal  reference  to 
 liimself  was  his  own  work.  But  we  will  not  linger  any  longer  on 
 the  refutation  of  such  an  argum(!nt. 
 
 "Thuswe  think  we  have  sufficiently  justified  the  testimony  of 
 Josephus  to  the  existence  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  in  the  time  of 
 Alexander  the  Great,  and  consequently  to  its  genuineness,  since 
 the  question  can  only  be  whether  Daniel  is  genuine,  or  whether 
 composed  in  the  time  of  Ant.  Epiph.  Of  course,  if  there  existed 
 any  decisive  grounds  against  the  genuineness,  the  statement  of 
 Josephus  alone  would  not  suffice  to  mvalidate  them  ;  but  we  have 
 aire  idy  seen  that  such  is  not  the  case.  And  thus  it  looks  quite 
 gratuitous  for  Bleek,  p.  1 85,  to  suppose  that  the  Jews  might  easily 
 have  appealed  to  prophecies  in  relation  to  Alexander,  and  that  it 
 is  merely  a  fiction  of  Josephus  to  say  they  were  the  prophecies  of 
 Daniel  in  particular. 
 
 '•  We  add  in  conclusion,  further,  on  the  historical  character  of 
 the  whole  relation  of  Josephus,  a  remark  of  a  modern  historian, 
 
464  APPEXDIX. 
 
 whose  hostile  disposition  towards  revealed  religion  and  towards 
 tile  chosen  people,  makes  him  discover  in  their  history  in  other 
 respects  a  tissue  of  lies  and  fables,  and  whose  testimony,  there- 
 fore, as  that  of  an  embittered,  blinded  enemy,  is  of  peculiar 
 weight.  Li".o  says,  in  his  Vorlesunt/en  iibtr  die  Ge^chic/tie  de--<  Jiid. 
 Volkes,  p.  200  :  '  The  entire  tale  has  nothing  improbable  in  itseif ; 
 armed  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  high  pi'iest  wi.uld  have  been 
 folly  ;  he  might  thus  have  peaceably  gone  to  meet  Alexander. 
 And  how  readily  Alexander  allowed  the  .Asiatic  world  to  believe 
 that  he  stood  in  near  coimexion  with  the  gods  of  the  nations 
 which  he  had  subdued,  is  known  from  other  sources.  It  has  been 
 regarded  as  improbable  that  Alexander  should  not  have  hastened 
 inmiediately  from  Gaza  to  Egypt  ;  but  to  march  from  (Jaza  to 
 I'-cypt  by  way  of  Jerusalem,  was  at  the  most  a  circuit  of  only  a 
 few  days,  and  Judea  no  unimportant  point  in  an  expediiion  to 
 Egypt ;  this  mountain  land  must  on  no  account  be  left  iu  the 
 real*,  in  the  hands  of  e.ieinies.' 
 
 "6.  The  dying  Mattathias,  1  Mace.  ii.  59,  60,  exhorts  his  rela- 
 tives, among  other  things,  to  steadfastness,  by  referring  to  the 
 example  of  Daniel  and  his  three  companions  :  '  Ananias,  Azarias, 
 Misael,  by  believing,  were  saved  out  of  the  flame.  Daniel,  for 
 his  inuocency,  was  delivered  from  the  mouth  of  lions.'*  Mow 
 sevenil,  as  Bkrtholdt,  maintain  that  Mattathias  can  have  had 
 before  him  here  only  the  several  tales  in  question,  circu  ating  in- 
 dependently of  each  other.—  which  assumption  rests  on  the 
 demonstraldy  incoi-rcct  hypothesis  of-a  plurality  of  authors  ;  or 
 that  he  may  refer  to  oral  tradition,  which  is  refuted  by  the  fact, 
 that  all  the  other  numerous  examples  af^'duced  by  him  are  bor- 
 rowed, without  exception,  from  the  sacred  writings.  Bleek.  on 
 the  contrary  (p.  UJS),  allows  that  the  passage  is  really  to  be 
 regarded  as  a  testimony  to  our  book  of  Daniel,  but  avers  that  we 
 have  not  here  Mattathias'  own  words,  but  a  discourse  put  into 
 his  mouth  by  the  historian.  This  asserticm,  it  is  true,  cannot  be 
 combated  with  decided  certainty  ;  but  it  could  not  be  rightly  con- 
 sidered as  made  out.  unless  we  could  from  other  soui'ces  prove 
 the  spuriousness  of  Daniel :  and,  since  this  is  not  the  case,  this 
 testimony  deserves  always  to  be  alleged  among  the  arguments  for 
 the  genuineness.  Eveii  supposing  the  correctness  of  Blp.ek's 
 position,  it  is  at  least  so  far  of  imiiortance,  as  it  shows  how  firmly 
 people  were  persuaded  of  the  genuineness  at  a  time  so  near  the 
 assumed  origin  of  the  Book  of  Daniel. — A  reference  to  Daniel  is 
 perhaps  also  found  in  the  words  of  Mattathias,  1  Mace  ii.  49  : 
 *  Now  is  px'ide  established,  and  rebuke,  and  the  time  of  destruc- 
 tion, and   the  wrath   of  indignation.'f     Comp.   Dau.  viii.   19  • 
 
 *  *Avaviag,  'A^apiac,  MrcajyX  TrccrTtvffavnc  imoQriaav  Ik 
 <p\oy6g.  Aavit)\  iv  ry  aTrXorrjri  avrov  tppvaOij  Ik  CT6[xaT0Q 
 \t6vTi.ov. 
 
 f  vvv  iar7;pi\0rj  iiTreprjfavia  Kai  lXe-)/ibg  Kal  Kaipbg  Kara* 
 arpo^ijc;  Kai  bpyt)  Ovfiov. 
 
AxPENDIX.  465 
 
 Toehold  1  will  make  thee  know  what  shall  be  in  the  last  end  of 
 the  indignation;  for  at  the  time  appointed  the  end  shall  be.'* 
 Mat.  aj)pears  to  intimate  that  the  grievous  time  pointed  at  by 
 Daniel  is  now  arrived. 
 
 ''c.  Tlie  Alexandrine  translators  have  introduced  the  doctrii  e 
 of  guardian  angels  of  kin;;d()ms,  which  in  the  whole  of  the  O.  'i'. 
 occurs  only  in  l^aniel,  into  two  passages,  in  whicli  so  small  a  space 
 of  it  is  contained,  that  only  a  previous  acqur.iutance  with  this 
 doctrine  could  liave  led  them  to  give  this  translation.  In  Deut. 
 xxxii.  8,  (God  has  defined  the  boundaries  of  the  people  according 
 to  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel.)  they  translate  the  words 
 ^«Tr"«  >zi  iDrob  "^y*  'according  to  the  number  of  the  angels  of 
 God  ;'f  in  Isa,  xxx.  4,  the  words  v^'ci  vssbo  :^i'2  vrt  •>3  bv,  •  For 
 there  are  in  Tanos,  as  princes,  wicked  angels.':J:  It  has,  on  the 
 other  hand,  been  objected  that  the  LXX.  minht  have  taken  the 
 dogma  thus  introduced  from  the  popular  belief,  which  originated 
 in  their  intercourse  with  heathen  nations,  jmd  independently  of 
 the  Scr'jnure.  But  we  saw  before,  how  unfounded  the  assertion 
 is  that  the  Jews  borrowed  the  doctrine  of  the  tutelary  H])irits  of 
 nations  fr.)m  the  Persians,  among  whom  it  did  not  at  all  exist ; 
 and  it  is  to  be  well  observed  th;it  this  doc:i'ine  is  by  the  Jews 
 c -nsthntly  founded  on  Daniel  (comp.  Ilisenmknger  i.  p  8(16. 
 Jo.  a  Lent.  tkeoli(jia  Jud.,  p.  276.)  It  is  true,  however,  that  this 
 argmnent  can  only  pass  for  a  secondary  argument,  s  nee  it  nmst 
 be  allowed  possible,  although  not  probal)le,  tliat  the  Jews  derived 
 thisdoctrine  from  gross  misundei standing  of  some  passage  of  tiie 
 Bible  besides  Daniel. 
 
 "f/.  .More  inijiortant  than  the  two  precedinir  is  the  proof  now 
 to  be  adduced  of  the  existence  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  previously 
 to  the  times  ef  the  Maccabees.  Here  we  nmst  begin  with  making 
 good,  certain  presumptions,  which  form  the  groundwork  of  it. 
 
 '•1.  It  is  time  at  length  to  examine  the  assertion,  which  is  as 
 generally  as  cor.fidently  made,  of  a  Hebrew  or  Aramaean  original 
 of  the  First  Book  of  the  Maccabees,  now  that  we  have  so  long 
 and  variously  quoted  it  with  its  alleged  arguments  in  our 
 favour.  Tliis  examination  naturally  cannot  be  institut  d  heie 
 comprehensively,  and  so  as  to  exhaust  the  subject  ;  yet  this  much, 
 at  least,  may  be  briefly  shown,  that  the  arguments  hitherto 
 alleged  for  a  non-Greek  original  are  not  tenable — We  are  re- 
 minded that  Origen  quotes  the  title  of  the  book  in  Hebrew  (Oaio. 
 in  Eus.  //.  Jicti  vi.  25  :  'i^io  ce  tovtmv  lari  ra  Mrtf:/ca/3aV/cd, 
 uTTip  tTriYiypaTrrai  'LdpfiqO  '2dpiiavt  "E\.).  which,  it  is  said  sup- 
 poses, of  course,  that  in  his  time  the  whole  book  was  in  existence 
 
 *  l^ov  fcyw  aTTayykWci)  aoi  il  tarai  stt'  Icrxdrov  rTf^  cpyy'ig 
 Tolg  v'tolg  Tov  Xaou  aou'     tri    yap    elg    aipag  Kaipov  cvPTtXtias 
 
 •f*  KUTO.  apiOfiov  dyytXujv  BioD. 
 
 J  OTi  iiffiv  iv  Tdvu  dpxiyo^  iiyytkoi  Trovrjpoi. 
 
 U  H 
 
4G6  AlTJ-JNi'-X 
 
 in  Hebrew  or  Arania;an  ;  that  Jerome  had  even  seen  the  Hebrew 
 original    (Prol.  gal  :    Maccalxeorum  ■prhnvni  libriim    Htbruicnm 
 repcvi.)     But  these  testimonies  show  nothhi;^  more  than  that  in 
 tlie  time  of  Origen  and  Jerome  tlie  book  existed  aho  in  Hebrew 
 or  Arama?an  ;  if  Orijjen  and  Jerome  regarded  this  as  tlie  ori^ii  ;.I 
 w  oi  k,  that  is  not  at  all  to  the  purpose.    The  Hebrew  or  Aramiean 
 copv  might  just  as  well  be  a  translation,  as  we    possess    such 
 translations  of  most  of  such  apocryphal  writings  as  were  written 
 in  Greek.^ — It  is  further  alleged  that  in  the  book  many  expressions 
 occur  which  do  not  receive  their  full  explanation  till  they  iire 
 translated  back  again  into  Hebrew.     But  were  this  argument 
 valid,  a'.l  the  books  of  the  N  T.  might,  with  little  difficulty,  be 
 proved  to  have  had  a  Hebrew  or  Aramaean  original       The  occur- 
 rence of  Hebraisms  in  thi-i  book,  Imwevfr.  assunn'ng  its  Greek 
 ori<nnaI,   is  still    more    conceivable,  if  we   remember   that    the 
 Greek  lan^^uage  was  then  nuich  m.ore  recent  and  strange  to  t!ie 
 Jews       And,  what  is  more,  the  very  Hebraisms  which  have  b  en 
 produced  as  the  most  convincing  (comp   e.//.  Eichhoh.v,  Einl.  in 
 die  Ap'jhr   p.  219,  sqq.)  are  found  in  the  LXX  ,  and,  as  probably 
 taken  by  the  author  fnmi  them,  serve  rather  for  proof  that  Greek 
 was  the  language  of   the  original.     Thus,    eg.,  for  yroincKjOii  >', 
 ftaaiksia  Ivwiriov  'Avrtox^'^'  ^-  ^''-  comp    1  Sam.  xx.  30,  1  Kings 
 ii.  12,  1  Chron.   xvii.   11  ;  for  ~uq  u  kiovtjiaZ,'  fxivci^  tm  i'o/kjj.  ii. 
 24,  comp.  Ezra  ii.  68.  vii.  lo,  &e.  ;  for  aX\i:(pv\c.L  in  the  sense  ui 
 Philistines,  1    Kings  xiii   2. — Of  nun-e  importance  W!  uld  be  the 
 proof  from  errors  in   trannla'ion,  if  the  only  vouchers  that  have 
 been  adduced   for  this   did  not  rest  on   insecure    a  sumptions. 
 Thus  in  chaj).  iv.  Ifi,  in  7r\i]povvTcg  'Ici'ca  raura, '  whilst  Judas 
 was  saying  this,'  7r\r}pi')(jj  is  said  to   be   used    in    a  sen.se    quite 
 unusual,  and  only  to  be  explained  from  the  exchange  of  y-r,  and 
 ^•j^.     But  here  it  may  first  be  asked  wheth.er  TrXrjpcio  hasi'eally 
 the  meaning  ascribed  to  it,  fo  say,  and  not  rather  that  which 
 occurs  not  rarely  in  the  LXX.  and  in  the  N.  T  ,  to  CL,mpIete,  to 
 do      In  chap.  vi.  1,  (iariv  ^EXvuaig  iu  rij  HtprriCi  iraXig),  we  are 
 told,  such  a  sad  <'rror  in  the  geograjjhy  as  the  changing  of  the 
 province  Elymais  into  a  city,  can  only  be  explained  by  suy)po.sing 
 that  the  Greek  translator,  from  ignorance  of  i;eography,  translated 
 the  Hebrew  n:np,  as  .Aquila  diK^s,  Dan.  viii,  2,  by  cifi/,  instead  of 
 jiroiincc.     This  assertion  niight  have  some  plausil)ility,  if  there 
 did  not  occur  in  the  First  Book  of  the  Mace,  in  the  otiier  accounts 
 relating  to  foreign  gei^grapliy  and  history,  nunnrons  and  ahnost 
 as  great  mistakes. — These  are  all  the  argunients  for  a  non  Greek 
 original  of  the  book.      On  the  contrary,  lunong  other  things  may 
 be  noted  the  following.      NVe  have  above  shown  th.at  the  autiior 
 of  the  First  Book  of  the  Maccabees  made  u^e  of  Daniel  ;  and 
 that  he  copied,  not  the  original,  but  the  LXX.,  is  shown  by  the 
 frequent  verbal    agreement  in  the  expre.ssioiss.     That    the    ex- 
 pression jSciXvyfia   r»/{."  ipijfUiJaiLog  is  borrov^^d  from  the  LXX. 
 even  Bleek  (p.  181)  allows      Xow,  it  might  be  objected  that 
 
APPENDIX.  467 
 
 several  of  the  expressions  quoted  (altliough  not  by  any  means  all ; 
 even  for  j3cL  t.  t-p.  Theodgtiom  has,  chap.  xi.  31,  fSciXvyfia 
 ri(pavi(Tns.vov)  are  translated  in  the  same  way  by  Theodotion, 
 and  that  therefoi-e  the  a;4reement  rif  the  First  Book  of  the  ^Nlacc. 
 witli  tlie  Alexaiidrijie  version  can  only  be  accidental.  Bat  this 
 objection  is  rendered  invahd,  if  we  consider  that  Theodotion, 
 not  only  in  general,  as  Jerome  and  Epiphanius  have  already 
 remarked  (comp.  among  the  moderns,  e.g.,  De  Wktte,  p.  HI), 
 but  in  particular  in  dealing  with  Daniel,  as  the  most  cursory 
 comparison  will  prove,  did  not  by  any  means  give  a  new  trans- 
 lation, but  only  retouched  and  im[)roved  the  Alexandrine.  Now, 
 if  the  using  of  the  Alexandrine  version  in  the  First  Book  of  the 
 Maccabees,  as  it  lies  before  us,  is  establislied,  is  it  at  all  likely  that 
 the  alleged  Greek  translator  introduced  this  agreement  ?  Would 
 he  not  have  independently  translated,  not  merely  the  book  as 
 a  whole,  but  these  particular  passages  that  relate  to  the  Book 
 of  Daniel  \ — Moi'eover,  Josephus  has  nowhere  made  use  of  a 
 non-Greek  original  ;  he  rather  follows  constantly  our  Greek  book, 
 and,  indeed,  often  in  its  very  words  The  Syr  an  translator,  too, 
 has  translated  from  the  Greek. — Lastly,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
 that  the  Chaldee  copy  of  the  First  Book  of  the  Maccabees,  still 
 existing,  and  edited  by  Bartolocci,  is  the  same  that  Origen  arid 
 Jerome  meant.  This,  however,  may  be  immediately  seen  to  be  a 
 bad  and  disfigured  copy  of  our  First  Book  of  the  Maccabees, 
 
 "2.  It  has  been  frequently  maintained  that  the  First  liook  of 
 the  Maccabees  could  not  have  been  composed  till  after  the  death 
 of  John  Hyrcanus,  ('06  B.C.),  because,  according  to  chap.  xvi. 
 23,  24,  the  memoir  of  the  life  and  deeds  of  Hyrcanus  already 
 existed  as  a  complete  whole  at  the  time  of  the  composition  (comp. 
 e.g.,  EicHHoR.v,  p.  247,  Bertiioldt,  p.  1048.)  But  this  passage 
 Kcd  Tu  XoLTTLL  Tu)v  Xoyioi^  'Iioc'ti/i'ov — Icou  TauTa  ykypcnrraL  kiri 
 (iif^Xiov  I'ljxspojp  ap\upu}aiun](;  avrov,  a(b  oh  eycPi'jOi]  ap\itpevQ 
 fjLSra  Tov  Tzavina  avrov),  on  the  contrary,  shows  that  the  book 
 was  composed,  although  certainly  a  considerable  time  after  the 
 beginning  of  the  reign  of  Hyrcanus,  yet  before  the  end  of  it, — • 
 otherwise  why  should  the  terminus  a  qw)  be  expressly  assigned,  and 
 not  the  terminus  ad  quern  ?  We  must  make  the  more  use  of  this 
 indication,  because  we  are  compelled  by  the  internal  complexion 
 of  the  book  to  place  the  time  of  its  composition  as  early  as  possible. 
 Ancient  and  modern  scholars  are  agi'eed  that  the  book,  as  far  as 
 regards  the  native  accounts,  possesses  in  a  high  degree  the 
 character  of  trustworthiness  and  historical  fidelity,  that  it  is  dis- 
 tinguished in  particular  by  an  exact  and  coi'rect  chronology. 
 Now,  how  can  these  marks  of  excellence,  which  appear  in  an 
 especially  striking  light  on  comparison  with  the  Second  Book  of 
 the  Maccabees,  be  otherwise  explained  than  on  the  assumption 
 tint  the  book  was  written  at  a  time  comparatively  near  the 
 incidents  depicted  in  it,  so  that  the  author  could  write  the  truth 
 if  he  really  wished  to  I     This  assumption  is  the  more  necesssary, 
 
 H  n  2 
 
468  APPENDIX. 
 
 the  more  numerous  were  the  fictions  andexagcjerations  by  which 
 the  Jewish  national  pride  by  de-rees  disfigured  the  history  oftlie 
 Maccabees.  We  can  avoid  it  only  on  the  hypothesis  that  tliere 
 were  older  written  authorities  ;  but  this  is  very  improbable, 
 because  the  author  nowhere  refers  to  such  sources,  not  even  where, 
 as  in  chap.  i\.  23,  we  might  surely  expect  such  a  reference,  the 
 more  so  as  the  historical  books  of  the  <).  T.,  which  the  author  is 
 perpetually  opying,  are  accustomed  to  quote  their  authorities. 
 Besides,  in  the  closing  verses  of  the  book  that  are  adduced,  there 
 seems  contained  an  intimation  that  beyond  the  period  whosj 
 history  the  author  described,  no  written  records  existed.  For 
 when  the  author  closes  his  work  with  the  death  of  Simon,  and 
 pronounces  the  continuation  of  it  unnecessary  because  the  his- 
 tory of  Hyrcanus  was  to  be  found  written  elsewhere,  it  surely 
 seems  to  follow  that  from  the  same  reason  he  would  not  have 
 written  the  earlier  history,  if  there  had  already  existed  trust- 
 worthy earlier  records  respecting  it. 
 
 "ij.'riie  Alexandrine  version  of  Daniel,  as  appears  fi-om  the 
 foregoing  remarks,  must  have  been  made  before  the  First  Book 
 of  the  Maccabees,  and,  indeed,  probably  a  considerable  time 
 before,  since  the  way  in  which  the  author  makes  use  of  it  seems 
 to  suppose  its  distribution  and  reception  by  the  church  in  Pales- 
 tine. We  have  a  second  testimony  to  its  earlier  composition  in 
 the  prologue  to  Jesus  Sirach,  composed  about  the  year  130  B.C., 
 in  which,  as  De  Wette  also  (1  c.  p.  75)  is  inclined  to  assume, 
 the  Greek  translation  of  the  entire  O.  T.  is  supposed  complete. — 
 Lastly,  an  indication  of  the  time  of  composition  is  perhaps 
 furnished  us  by  the  translation  itself.  In  chap  x.  1,  it  renders 
 the  words  -i^Tl  ni<  r>n  ^y  '^'^'  ^"  7r\/}0oc:  TO  laxvpov  lLavot]9r](nTca 
 TO  irpoaTayfia.  By  to  ttXtJO.  to  iax-  are  probably  intended  the 
 Jews  at  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  as  those  who,  according  to 
 chap.  xii.  9,  10,  will  receive  a  full  insight  into  the  vision  which 
 was  partially  closed  up  at  the  time  it  was  given.  But  a  very 
 exact  definition  like  this,  for  which  there  is  not  the  slightest 
 ground  in  the  text,  can  only  be  explained  by  supposinj^the  author 
 to  have  lived  in  the  Maccabeau  time  itself,  and  observed  the 
 mighty  infiuence  exerted  upon  it  by  the  prophecies  of  Daniel. 
 
 "  Now,  according  to  these  explanations,  the  Alexandrine  version 
 IS  in  any  case  separated  by  only  a  very  small  interval  of  time 
 from  the  composition  of  the  book  itself,  if  we  are  to  regard  it  as 
 spurious.  According  to  Hleek  (p  288),  chaps,  i — vi.  were  com- 
 posed during  the  time  that  the  Jewish  worship  was  abolished  by 
 Antioehus  Epiphanes— very  soon  after  the  consecration  of  the 
 altar  of  burnt-offering  for  heathen  sacrifices  ;  the  proi)hetic 
 sections  probably  somewhat  latei",  after  the  restoration  of  the 
 Jewish  worship  by  Judas  ^Maccalteus,  shortly  before,  or  im- 
 mediately after,  the  death  of  Antioehus  Epi|)hanes  ;  the  whole, 
 therefore,  within  the  years  1G7  — 1G3  B.C.  But  we  should  cer- 
 tainly expect  that  a  book,  whose  author  and  translator  are  quite 
 
APPENDIX.  463 
 
 cotemporary,  or  at  most  separated  by  only  a  very  small  interval 
 of  time,  would  be  more  correctly  translated  than  all  the  other 
 far  older  books  of  the  O.  T.  ;  and  in  like  manner,  too,  that  no 
 traces  of  variation  in  the  translation  would  <,ccur,  which,  indeed, 
 in  a  work  only  just  come  to  lii;lit,  are  scarcely  to  1  e  conceived. 
 But  now.  in  the  present  case,  the  vei'y  contrary  is  found.  The 
 translation  of  Danitl  is  the  very  worst  of  all,  so  bad  that  tho 
 ancient  churcli  rejected  it — a  thing  that,  with  their  hi^h  venera- 
 tion for  the  LXX.,says  much — and  substituted  the  translation  of 
 Theodotion  :  comp.  De  \Yette,  1.  c.  p.  76.  Gross  misunder- 
 standings of  the  oi'iginal  are  so  frequent  on  every  hand,  that  it  is 
 not  worth  while  to  quote  particular  instances,  especially  as 
 MiCHAELis  has  already,  in  his  dissertition  on  this  version  (Or. 
 hibl.  iv.  p.  17,  sqq.)  collected  a  sutKcient  quantity  of  them.  ]\Iany 
 times,  e.if.  x.  8,  the  translator  gives  mere  words  without  any 
 sense.  Perhaps  it  will  be  attempted  to  ciiarge  this  chariicter  of 
 the  translation  on  the  Alexandrine  origin  of  it.  But,  for  one 
 thing,  this  origin  is  very  far  from  proved,  since  it  does  not  lollow 
 from  the  composition  of  most  parts  of  the  LXX.  at  Alexandria, 
 that  they  were  all  composed  there  ;  for  aiK^ther,  it  cannot  be 
 supposed  that,  with  all  the  active  intercourse  between  the  Jews 
 in  Palestine  and  in  Egypt,  a  proof  of  which  would  be  furnished 
 by  the  speedy  transmis.'^ion  and  im.mediate  translation  of  the  book, 
 the  complete  understanding  of  it  which  the  Jews  <»f  Palestine 
 must  have  possessed  in  the  time  of  the  .Maccabees,  should  have 
 been  withholden  so  entirely  from  the  Alexandrines;  and,  finallv, 
 the  fact  that  the  Ale.N.andrine  version  was  in  Palestine  also  the 
 received  one,  as  appears  fx'om  its  being  taken  as  the  basis  in  the 
 First  Book  of  the  Maccabees  and  in  tlie  N.'l\,  shows  that  Daniel 
 was  no  better  understood  there  than  in  Egypt. — Nor  is  it  less 
 true  that  traces  are  found  of  variations,  although  Mjcmaelis 
 (1.  c.  p.  34  sqq  )  has  ascribed  much  to  that  source,  which  can  be 
 ascribed  only  to  a  paraphrastic  freedom,  or  to  ignorance  of  the 
 language,  and  to  mistakes,  on  the  part  of  the  translator.  Comp. 
 e.g.  chap,  v.  21  (Tr\i]pTig  rwv  rifiepCJi',  kcu  'IvCo^gq  iv  yj7p£i) ;  chap, 
 xi.  4  {Kai  IrkpovQ  ^loa^n  ravra,)  &,c." — Hengsfcnberg  on  Daniel, 
 pp.  '224—24:0,  Edinburgh,  1348. 
 
 THE  PAPACY. 
 
 The  strongest  expressions  I  have  used  in  describing  the  Papacy 
 in  the  Lecture  ending  at  page  24.5,  are  justified  by  the  occur- 
 rences of  1850. 
 
 The  licad  of  the  Apostasy  has  taken  ecclesiastical  possession  of 
 England — divided  it  among  his  creatures — appointed  Cardinal 
 Witieman  as  their  head  and  Archbishop  of  Westminster.  Per- 
 haps the  most  expressive  comment  on  this  Lecture  will  be  found 
 in  the  documents  themselves. 
 
470  APPENDIX. 
 
 THE  PAPAL  BULL. 
 
 Apostolic  Letter  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX.,  establishing 
 an  EpiscojKil  Hierardiy  in  Enr/land. 
 
 "  Ad  perpetuam  rei  memoriam." 
 
 "  The  power  of  governing  the  universal  church,  entrusted  by 
 our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Roman  pontiff,  in  the  person  of  St. 
 Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  has  maintained  for  centuries  in 
 the  apostolic  see  the  admirable  solicitude  with  which  it  watches 
 over  the  welfare  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  all  the  earth,  and  pro- 
 vides with  zeal  for  its  progress.  Thus  has  been  accomplished 
 the  design  of  its  Divine  founder,  who,  by  establishing  a  chief,  has 
 in  his  profound  wisdom  ensured  the  safety  of  the  church  unto  the 
 uttermost  time.  The  eftect  of  this  solicitude  has  been  felt  in 
 most  nations,  and  amongst  these  is  the  noble  kingdom  of  Eng- 
 land. History  proves  that  since  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  the 
 Christian  religion  was  cai'ried  into  Great  Britain,  where  it  flou- 
 rished until  towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  After  the 
 invasion  of  the  Angles  and  Saxons  in  that  island,  government,  as 
 well  as  religion,  fell  into  a  most  deplorable  state.  At  once  our 
 most  holy  predecessor,  Gregory  tlie  Great,  sent  the  monk  Augus- 
 tine and  ins  followers  ;  then  he  created  a  gi'eat  number  of 
 bishops,  joined  to  them  a  multitude  of  monks  and  priests,  brought 
 the  Anglo-Saxons  to  religion,  and  succeeded  by  his  influence  in 
 re-establishing  and  extending  the  Catholic  faith  in  all  that 
 country,  which  then  began  to  assume  the  name  of  England. 
 But  to  recall  more  recent  fliets,  nothing  seems  more  evident  to 
 us  in  the  history  of  the  Anglican  schism  of  the  sixteenth  century 
 than  the  solicitude  with  which  the  Roman  pontiffs,  our  pre- 
 decessors, succoured  and  supported,  by  all  the  means  in  their 
 power,  the  Catholic  religion,  then  exposed  in  that  kingdom  to  the 
 greatest  dang-ers,  and  reduced  to  the  last  extremities.  It  is  with 
 this  object,  apart  from  other  means,  that  so  many  efforts  have 
 been  made  by  the  Sovereign  pontiffs,  either  by  their  orders  or 
 with  their  approbation,  to  keep  in  England  men  ready  and 
 devoted  to  the  support  of  Catholicism  ;  and  in  order  that  young 
 Catholics  endowed  by  nature  might  be  enabled  to  come  on  to  the 
 continent,  thei'e  to  receive  an  education,  and  be  formed  with  care 
 in  the  study  of  ecclesiastical  science,  especially  in  order  that, 
 being  in  sacred  orders,  they  may  on  their  return  to  their  country 
 be  able  to  support  their  countrymen  l)y  the  ministry'  of  their  word 
 and  by  the  sacraments,  and  that  they  may  defend  and  propagate 
 true  faith. 
 
 "  But  the  zeal  of  our  predecessors  will  perhaps  be  more  clearly 
 admitted,  as  i-egards  what  they  have  done  to  give  the  Catholics  of 
 England  paetors  clothed  in  an  episcopal  character  at  a  time  when 
 
APPENDIX.  471 
 
 a  furious  and  implacable  tempest  had  deprived  them  of  the  pre- 
 sence of  bishops  and  their  pastoral  cai-e.  First,  the  apostolic 
 letter  of  Gregory  XV.,  conimencinf:^  with  these  words,  '  Ecclesia 
 Romana,'  and  dated  the  23d  of  March,  1 G23,  shows  that  the  Sove- 
 reign pontiff  as  soon  as  possible  deputed  to  the  government  of 
 English  and  Scotch  Catholic  bishops,  William  Bishop,  conse- 
 crated Bishop  of  Chalcis,  with  ample  faculties  and  powers.  After 
 the  death  of  Bishop,  Urban  VI 1 1,  renewed  this  mission  in  his 
 apostolic  letter,  dated  January  4,  1625,  addressed  to  Richard 
 Smith,  and  conferring  on  him  the  bishopric  of  Chalcis,  and  all  the 
 powers  previously  resting  on  Bishop.  It  seemed  subsequently, 
 at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  James  II.,  that  more 
 favourable  days  wi  re  about  to  dawn  upon  the  Catholic  religion. 
 Innocent  XI.  profited  at  once  by  this  circumstance,  and  in  1685 
 he  deputed  John  Leyburn,  Bishop  of  Adrumede,  as  vicar-apos- 
 tolic for  all  the  kiniidom  of  England.  Subsequently,  by  another 
 apostolic  letter,  dated  30th  January,  1688,  and  commencing  as 
 follows — '  Super  cathedram,'  he  joined  with  Leyburn  three  other 
 vicars-apostolic,  bishops  in  paiiibus,  so  that  all  England,  by  the 
 care  of  the  apostolic  nui>eio  in  this  country.  Ferdinand,  Arch- 
 bishop of  Amosia,  was  divided  by  that  pontiff  into  four  districts  ; 
 that  of  London,  the  west,  the  centre,  and  the  north,  which  at  first 
 were  governed  by  apostolic  vicai'S  furnished  with  proper  faculties 
 and  powers.  In  the  accomplishment  of  so  grave  a  charge,  they 
 received  rules  and  succour  either  by  the  decisions  of  Benoit  XIV., 
 in  his  Constitution  of  May  30,  1753,  which  conunences  with  the 
 words,  '  Api'stolicum  ministerium,'  or  by  those  of  other  pontiffs, 
 our  predecessors,  and  our  Congregation  for  the  Propagation  of 
 the  Faith.  This  division  of  all  England  into  four  apostolic  vicar- 
 ages lasted  till  the  time  of  Gregory  XVI.,  who,  in  his  apostolic 
 letter,  '  ^luneris  apostolici,'  dated  July  3,  1840,  con.sidering  the 
 increase  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  England,  and  making  a  new 
 ecclesiastical  division  of  the  country,  doubled  the  number  of 
 vicai'ages,  and  confided  the  spiritual  government  of  England  to 
 the  vicars-apostolic  in  London,  of  the  west,  the  east,  the  centre, 
 of  Lancaster,  York,  and  the  north.  The  little  we  have  just  said, 
 proves  clearly  that  our  predecessors  applied  themselves  strongly 
 to  use  all  the  means  their  authority  gave  them  to  console  the 
 Chui'ch  of  England  for  its  immense  disgraces,  and  to  work  for  its 
 resuiTCction.  Having  before  our  eyes,  therefore,  the  good 
 example  of  our  predecessors,  and  desirous,  by  imitating  them,  of 
 fulfilling  the  dutie.s  of  the  supreme  apostolate ;  pressed,  besides, 
 to  follow  the  movements  of  our  heart  for  that  portion  of  the 
 Lfird's  vineyard,  we  proposed  to  ourselves,  from  the  commence- 
 ment of  our  pontificate,  to  pursue  a  work  that  was  so  well  begun, 
 and  to  apply  ourselves  in  the  most  serious  manner  to  favour 
 every  day  the  development  of  the  Cliurch  in  this  kingd-im.  For 
 this  reason,  considering  as  a  whole  the  state  of  Catholicism  in 
 England,   reflecting  on  the   considerable    number    of   Catholics, 
 
472  APPENDrx. 
 
 which  keep  still  incrpasin<j,  remarking  that  every  day  the  obstacles 
 are  falliiif^  off  which  stood  in  the  way  of  the  cxteiisioji  of  the 
 Catholic  reli^^ion.  we  have  ihou^iht  tliat  the  tin;e  was  e;)nie  when 
 the  form  of  ( cclesiastic;il  government  should  be  resiinitd  in 
 En<>LTnd  such  as  it  exists,  fx-eely  exists,  in  other  nations,  where  no 
 particular  cause  necessitates  the  ministry  of  vicars-apostolic. 
 We  liave  thouaht,  that  by  tlie  progress  of  time  and  things,  it  was 
 no  longer  necessary  to  lave  the  English  Catholics  governed  by 
 vicars-apostolic,  but  on  the  contrary,  that  the  chanj^es  which  had 
 already  been  made  necessitated  the  ordinary  form  of  episcopal 
 government. 
 
 "  We  Iiave  been  confirmed  in  these  thoughts  by  the  desires 
 expressed  to  »is  by  the  vicars-apostolic  in  England,  as  well  as  by 
 numbers  of  the  clergy  and  laity  distinguished  by  virtue  and  rank, 
 and  by  the  wishes  of  the  great  majority  of  English  Catholics. 
 ]n  maturing  this  design  we  have  not  failed  to  implore  the  aid  of 
 the  Almighty  and  Most  Gracious  God,  and  that  he  would  grant 
 us  urace  in  this  weighty  aftair  to  resolve  upon  that  wliicii  should 
 be  most  suitable  to  augment  the  prosperity  of  the  Church.  We 
 have  further  besoutiht  the  assistance  of  the  blessed  Vir:.iu  Mary, 
 j\i other  of  God.  and  of  the  saints  wh  se  virtues  have  made 
 England  illustrious,  that  they  winild  deign  to  obtain  by  th.eir 
 intercession  with  God  the  happy  success  of  this  enterprise.  W'e 
 have  since  commended  the  whole  business  to  the  grave  and 
 serious  consideration  of  our  venerable  brothers  the  cardinals  of 
 the  holy  Roman  Church,  forming  our  Cot)gregation  for  Propa- 
 gating the  Faith.  Their  sentiments  having  been  found  com])]etely 
 conformable  to  our  own,  we  have  resolved  to  sanction  them,  and 
 carry  them  into  execution.  It  is  for  this  reason,  after  having 
 weighed  the  whole  matter  most  scrupulously,  that  of  our  own 
 proper  motion,  in  our  certain  knowledge,  and  in  the  plenitude 
 of  our  apostolic  power,  we  have  resolved,  and  do  hereby  decree 
 the  re- establishment  in  the  kiuudom  of  England,  and  according 
 to  the  comuion  laws  of  t'e  Church,  of  a  hierarchy  of  bishops, 
 deriving  their  titles  from  their  own  sef  s,  which  we  constitute  by 
 the  present  letter  in  the  various  apostolic  districts. 
 
 '"To  commence  with  the  district  of  London,  it  will  form  two 
 sees — to  wit,  that  of  Westminster,  which  we  hereby  elevate  to  be 
 metropolitan,  of  archiepiscopal  dignity,  and  that  of  Souhwark, 
 which  we  assign  to  it  as  suffragan,  together  with  those  which  we 
 proceed  to  indicate.  The  diocese  of  Westminster  will  include 
 that  portion  of  tiie  aforesaid  di-trict  which  extend-^  to  the  banks 
 of  the  TliMmes,  and  comprehends  the  counties  of  Middlesex, 
 E.ssex,  and  Hertford  ;  that  of  South wark.  on  the  south  of  tlie 
 Thames,  will  include  the  counties  of  B-jds,  Southampton,  .*^urrey, 
 Sussex,  and  Kent,  with  the  Islts  of  Wight.  Jersey,  Guernsey,  and 
 others  adjacent.  In  the  northern  district  there  will  be  but  one 
 episcopal  see,  wliich  will  take  its  name  from  the  town  of  Hag- 
 glestown,  and  have  for  its  cix'curascription  that  of  the  existing 
 
APPENDIX.  473 
 
 district.  The  district  of  York  will  also  be  a  diocese,  whose 
 capital  will  be  the  t :)\vn  of  Beverley.  In  the  district  of  Lanca- 
 shire tlK-re  will  be  two  bish  >|)S,  of  whom  one,  the  liioliDp  of 
 Liverpool,  will  have  for  his  diocese  the  Isle  (f  Alona,  the  dist  icts 
 of  Lonsdale,  Ani'^underness.  and  \\  est  Derby  ;  and  the  other, 
 the  Bishop  of  Siilfurd,  w. 11  extend  his  jurisdi' tion  over  Salf.rd, 
 Blacklmrn,  and  Leyland  The  county  of  Cluster,  though  belon"-- 
 ini;  to  this  district,  will  be  united  to  another  diocese.  In  the 
 district  of  Wales  two  episcopal  sees  will  be  established,  that  of 
 Salop  and  that  of  Merioneth  and  Newport  united.  The  diocese 
 of  fcalop  will  contain  the  counties  of  An^lesea,  Carnarvon, 
 Denbijj^h,  Flint.  Mei'ioneth.  and  i\lontj;:oniery,  to  which  we  join 
 the  county  of  Chester,  detached  from  the  district  of  Lancaster, 
 and  that  of  Salop  from  the  centre.  To  tlie  diocese  of  the  Bishop 
 of  .Meiionetli  and  Newport  are  assigned  the  counties  of  Breck- 
 nock, Glaniorizan,  Carmarthen,  Pembroke,  and  Radnor,  also  the 
 £nj;lish  counties  of  Hereford  and  Monmouth.  In  the  western 
 district  we  create  two  sees,  (  lif  on  and  Plymouth  ;  the  first 
 comprehendinj^'  the  counties  of  Gloucester.  Somerset,  and  Wilts  ; 
 the  second  those  of  Devon.  Dorset,  and  Cornwall.  The  central 
 d  strict,  from  which  we  have  detached  the  cour;ty  of  Salop, 
 will  have  two  ep  scopal  sees.  Nottin;;ham  and  Birminj^ham  :  to 
 the  first  we  atsi^n  the  counties  of  Notts,  Derby,  Leicester, 
 Lincoln,  and  Kutland  ;  to  the  second  the  counties  of  Siaiiord, 
 Bucks,  Oxford,  and  Warwick  In  the  eastern  district  there  will 
 be  one  see,  which  will  take  its  name  from  the  town  of  North- 
 ampton, and  retain  the  present  circumscription  of  the  district, 
 e.xcept  the  counties  of  Lincoln  and  Kutiaud,  which  we  have 
 assigned  to  the  diocese  of  Nottingham. 
 
 *•  Thus,  in  the  very  flourishinu  kingdom  of  England  there  will 
 b3  one  single  ecclesiastical  province,  with  one  archbishop  and 
 twelve  suffragans,  whose  zeal  and  jiastoral  labours  will,  we  hope, 
 by  the  grace  of  God,  bring  new  and  daily  incre.'.se  to  the  power 
 of  Catholicism.  For  this  reason  we  reserve  to  ourselves  and  suc- 
 cessors the  right  to  divide  this  province  into  several,  and  to 
 increase  the  number  of  its  bishoprics  as  new  ones  may  be 
 re(iuired,  and  in  gene:al  to  settle  their  boundaries  as  it  may 
 appear  meet  before  the  Lord 
 
 "  iMeanwhile,  we  enjoin  the  archbishop  and  bisln^ps  to  furnish 
 at  stated  seasons  reports  of  the  state  of  their  churches  to  our 
 Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  and  not  to  omit  informing  us  on 
 all  points  concerning  the  spiritual  good  of  their  flocks.  We  shall 
 continue  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  aidof  theCongregationof  the  I'ro- 
 pa^anda  m  all  that  concerns  the  affairs  of  the  Churcii  in  England. 
 But  in  the  sacred  government  of  the  ciergy  and  people,  and  all 
 which  concerns  the  jjastoral  office,  the  arehbisho|)  and  bisliops  of 
 England  will  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  faculties  which  bishops  and 
 archbishops  can  use,  according  to  the  disposition  of  the  sacred 
 canons  and  the  apostolic  constitutions,  and  they  will  liKCwise  be 
 
474  APPExmx. 
 
 equally  bound  by  all  the  obligations  to  which  other  bishops  and 
 archbishops  are  held  by  the  common  discipline  of  the  Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 "  TJieir  rights  and  duties  will  not  be  in  any  case  impaired  by 
 anything  that  is  at  present  in  vigour,  whether  originating  in  the 
 former  iorm  of  the  English  Church,  or  in  the  subsequent  mis- 
 sions instituted  in  virtue  of  special  constitutisms,  privileges,  or 
 customs,  now  that  the  same  state  of  things  no  longer  exists.  And 
 in  order  that  no  doubt  niay  remain,  we  suppress,  in  the  plenitude 
 of  our  apostolic  power,  and  entirely  abrogate  all  the  obligatory 
 and  juridical  force  of  the  said  special  constitutions,  pi-ivileges, 
 and  customs,  however  ancient  their  date.  The  archbishop  and 
 bis.'iops  of  England  will  thus  have  the  integral  power  to  regulate 
 all  that  belongs  to  the  execntiou  of  the  common  law,  or  which  are 
 left  to  the  authority  of  bishops  by  the  general  discipline  of  the 
 Church.  As  for  us,  most  assuredly  they  shall  never  have  to 
 complain  that  we  do  not  sustain  them  by  our  apostolical  autho- 
 rity, and  we  shall  always  be  happy  to  .second  their  demands  in  all 
 which  appears  calculated  to  promote  the  L;lory  of  Cod  and  the 
 good  of  souls.  In  decreeing  this  r«'Storation  of  the  ordinary 
 hierarchy  of  bishops  in  England,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  com- 
 mon law  of  the  Church,  we  have  had  principally  in  view  the 
 prosperity  and  increase  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  the  kingdom  of 
 Eniiland  ;  but  we  have  also  desired  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  so  many 
 of  our  reverend  brethren  governing  in  England,  under  the  ^tyle  of 
 vicars-apostolic,  and  also  of  a  great  number  of  our  dear  children  of 
 the  Catholic  clergy  and  people.  Many  of  their  ancestors  presented 
 the  same  prayer  to  our  predecessors,  who  had  begun  to  send 
 vicars-a[)Ostolic  to  England,  where  no  Catholic  bishop  could  exer- 
 cise the  common  ecclesiastical  law  in  his  own  church,  and  who 
 afterwards  multiplied  the  number  of  vicars-apostolic,  and  of  dis- 
 tricts, not  because  religion  was  submitted  in  this  country  to  one 
 exceptional  rule,  but  rather  because  they  would  prepare  the 
 foundation  for  the  future  rebuilding  of  the  ordinary  hierarchy. 
 
 '•  This  is  why  we,  to  whom  it  has  been  given  by  the  grace  of 
 God  to  accomplish  this  great  work,  declare  here  that  it  is  not  in 
 any  manner  in  our  thoughts  or  intentions  that  the  bishops  of 
 England,  provided  with  the  name  and  rights  of  ordinary  bishops, 
 should  be  destitute  of  any  advantages,  of  whatever  nature  they 
 may  be,  which  they  formerly  enjoyed  under  the  title  of  vicars- 
 apostolic.  It  would  be  contrary  to  reason  to  allow  any  act  of 
 ours  performed  at  the  earnest  prayer  of  the  English  Catholics, 
 and  fur  the  benefit  f.f  religion,  to  turn  to  their  damage,  h'ather  we 
 cherish  the  firm  hope  that  our  dear  children  in  Christ,  whose  alms 
 and  largesses  have  never  been  wanting  to  sustain  in  England  re- 
 ligion, and  the  prelates  who  govern  there  as  vicars,  will  exercise 
 a  still  larger  liberality  to  the  bishops  who  are  now  attached  by 
 permanent  bonds  to  the  English  Church,  in  order  that  they  may 
 not  be  deprived  of  temporal  aid,  which  they  wil)  recjuire  to  orna» 
 
APPENBIX.  475 
 
 munt  their  temples  and  adorn  the  Divine  service,  to  support  tlie 
 clergy  and  the  poor,  and  for  other  ecclesiastical  services.  Finally 
 lifting  the  eyes  to  the  almighty  and  gracious  God,  from  wlioni 
 comes  our  help,  we  supplicate  him  with  all  instance,  obsecration, 
 and  action  of  grace,  to  confirm  by  Divine  grace  all  that  we  have 
 decreed  for  the  gocid  of  the  Church,  and  to  give  of  his  grace  to 
 those  whose  it  is  to  execute  these  decrees,  that  they  may  feed  the 
 flock  of  God  committed  to  their  care,  and  that  their  zeal  mav  be 
 applied  to  spread  the  glory  of  his  name.  And,  in  order  to  obtain 
 the  most  abundant  succour  of  celestial  grace,  we  finally  invoke,  as 
 intercessors  with  God,  the  holy  Mother  of  God,  the  blessed  apos- 
 tles St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  with  the  blessed  patrons  of  England, 
 and  especiallv  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  in  order  that  the  solicitude 
 we  have  displayed,  notwithstanding  the  insufficiency  of  our  merit, 
 to  restore  the  episcopal  sees  of  England,  which  he  founded  in  his 
 days  with  so  much  advantage  to  the  Church,  may  likewise  redound 
 to  the  good  of  the  Catholic  Church.  We  decree  that  this  apostolic 
 letter  shall  never  be  ta.Ked  with  subreptice  or  obreptice.  nor  be 
 be  protested  for  default  either  of  intention  or  any  defect  what- 
 ever, but  alwa\-s  be  made  valid  and  firm,  and  hold  good  to  all 
 intents  and  purposes,  notwithstanding  the  genei'al  apostolic  edicts 
 whicii  have  emanated  from  synodal,  provincial,  or  universal 
 councils,  the  special  sanctions  as  well  as  the  rights  of  former  sees 
 in  Enuland,  missions  apostolic,  vicarages  constituted  in  the  pro- 
 gress of  time — notwithstanding,  in  one  word,  all  things  contrary 
 whatsoever.  We  likewise  decree  that  all  which  may  be  done  to 
 the  contrary  by  any  one,  whoever  he  may  be,  knowing  or  ignorant, 
 in  the  name  of  any  authority  whatever,  shall  be  without  force. 
 We  decree  that  copies  of  this  letter,  signed  by  a  notary-public, 
 and  sealed  "with  the  seal  of  an  ecclesiastic,  shall  be  everywhere 
 received  as  the  expression  of  our  will. 
 
 '•  Given  at  St.  Peter's,  at  Rome,  under  the  seal  of  the  fisher- 
 man, the  24th  of  September,  1850,  and  in  the  fifth  year  of  our 
 pontificate. 
 
 "Cardinal  Lambruschini." 
 
 Cardinal  Wiseman  next  issues  the  following  pastoral  letter, 
 which  was  read  in  all  the  Komish  Churches  : — 
 
 THE    EESTOEATIOX    OF    THE    EOMAN"    CATHOLIC    HIEEAKCHY. 
 
 "  Nicholas,  by  the  Divine  mercy  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church, 
 by  the  title  of  St.  Pudentiana,  Cardinal  Prie.st,  Archbisl'op  of 
 Westminster,  and  Administrator  Apostolic  of  the  diocese  of  South- 
 wark,  to  the  clergy,  secular  and  regular,  and  the  faithful  of  the 
 said  ai'chdiocese  ur.d  dio?ese. 
 
476  ArPEXDix. 
 
 "  The  great  work  (it  says)  is  complete  ;  what  you  have  long 
 desired  and  prayed  for  is  granted.  Your  beloved  country  has 
 received  a  p  ace  among  tiie  fair  churches  which,  normally  cun- 
 slimted,  form  the  splendid  aggregate  of  Catholic  coninmnion  ; 
 Catholic  England  has  ieen  restored  n»  its  orbit  in  the  ecclesias- 
 tical firmament,  from  which  its  light  had  long  vanished,  and 
 begins  now  anew  its  course  of  regularly  adjusted  action  round  the 
 c-iutro  of  unity,  the  source  of  jurisdiction,  of  light,  and  of  vi^rour. 
 How  wonderfully  all  this  has  been  brought  about — how  clearly 
 the  hand  of  God  has  been  shown  in  every  step,  we  have  not  now 
 leisure  to  relate  ;  but  we  may  hope  soon  to  recount  to  you  by  word 
 of  mouth.  In  the  meantime  we  will  content  ourselves  with  assur- 
 ing you  that,  if  the  concordant  voice  of  those  venerable  and  most 
 eminent  counsellors  to  whom  the  Holy  See  commits  the  regu- 
 lation of  ecclesiastical  ati'airs  in  missionary  countries,  if  the 
 overruling  of  every  variety  of  interest  and  designs,  to  the  render- 
 ing of  this  measure  aimo.st  necessary,  if  the  earnest  prayers  of  our 
 Holy  Pontiff  and  his  most  sacred  oblation  of  the  Divine  sacrifice, 
 added  to  his  own  deep  and  earnest  reflection,  can  form  to  the 
 Catholic  heart  an  earnest  of  heavenly  direction,  an  assurance  that 
 the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  guides  the  cluu-ch,  has  here  inspired  its 
 supreme  head,  we  camiot  desire  stronger  or  more  cvjnsoliiig  evi- 
 dence that  this  most  important  measure  is  from  God,  has  his 
 sanction  and  bltssiug,  and  will  consequently  prosper." 
 
 Dr.  Ullathorne,  Bishop  of  l'>irmingham,  was  enthroned  on 
 Sunday  last  :  Father  Newman,  one  of  the  seceders  from  the  Pro- 
 testant Church,  preached  the  seiniou  on  the  occasion,  in  the 
 course  of  which  he  said — "  The  mystery  of  God's  Providence  is 
 now  fulfilled,  and  though  he  did  not  recollect  any  people  on  earth 
 but  t'lose  of  Great  Britain,  who  having  once  rejected  tht  rtllgion  of 
 God,  were  again  restoi-ed  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  God  had 
 done  it  for  them  It  was  wonderful  in  their  eyes.  The  holy 
 liierarchy  had  been  restored.  Tke  grave  wa^  opened,  and  Christ 
 uas  coming  out  f 
 
 The  Bishop  of  London,  whose  sympathy  Avitli  the  Bishop  of 
 Exeter's  views  of  baptism  is  so  much  to  be  regretted  and 
 deplored,  seems  recalled  to  his  earliest  and  best  conviction  by 
 this  invasion,  and  thus  writes  in  reply  to  a  memorial  from  tlie 
 Westminster  Clergy  : — 
 
 "  Fulham,  October.  28,   18-50. 
 "  Reverend  and  dear  Bretliren, — The  sentiments  expressed  in 
 the  address  which  you  have  presented  to  me  are  in  entire  accord- 
 ance with  mine,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  they  will  be  respouded 
 to  by  the  unanimous  feeling  of  Protestant  England. 
 
APPEIfDIX.  477 
 
 "  The  recent  assumption  of  authority  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
 in  preteiiding  to  parcel  out  this  country  into  new  dioceses,  and  to 
 a])point  arclibishops  and  bishops  to  preside  over  them,  without 
 tlie  cuiisent  of  the  Sovereign,  jw  a  sciiisniadcal  act  without  pre- 
 cedent, and  one  which  would  not  be  tolerated  l)y  the  ^overu- 
 nieiit  of  any  Roman  Catholic  kingdom.  1  trust  that  it  w.ll  uut 
 be  quietly  submitted  to  by  our  own. 
 
 "■  Hitherto,  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  the  Pope  has 
 been  contented  with  providing  for  the  spiritual  superintendence 
 of  his  adherents  in  this  country,  by  the  appointment  of  vicars- 
 apostolic — bishops  who  took  their  titles  as  such,  not  from  any 
 real  or  pretended  sees  in  England,  but  from  some  imaginary 
 dioceses  in  j)CLrt'ibus  injiddium.  In  this  there  was  no  assumption 
 of  spiritual  authority  over  any  other  of  t:ie  subjects  of  the 
 English  Crown  than  those  of  his  own  comnmnion.  Lut  the 
 appointment  of  bishops  to  preside  over  new  dioceses  in  England, 
 constituted  by  a  Papal  brief,  is  virtually  a  denial  of  the  legitimate 
 authority  of  the  British  Sovereign  and  the  English  ei)iscopate;  a 
 denial  also  of  the  validity  of  our  orders,  and  an  assertion  of 
 6j)iritual  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  Christian  people  of  the  realm. 
 
 '•  That  it  is  regarded  in  this  light  by  the  Pope's  adherents  in 
 this  country  is  apparent  from  the  language  in  which  they  felicitate 
 themselves  upon  this  arrogant  attempt  to  stretch  his  authority 
 beyond  its  proper  limits.  A  journal  which  is  generally  believed 
 to  express  the  sentiments  of  a  large  portion  of  them  at  least,  (not, 
 I  believe,  of  all.)  points  out,  in  the  tollowing  wcu'ds,  the  difference 
 between  the  vicars-apostolic  and  the  ])retended  diocesan  bishops. 
 Alluding  to  certain  members  of  our  Church,  who  are  accused  of  a 
 leaning  towards  Rome,  it  says  : — •  In  this  act  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 
 they  have  that  open  declaration  for  which  they  have  been  so 
 long  professing  to  look.  Rome,  said  they,  has  never  yet  formally 
 spoken  against  us  Her  bishops,  indeed,  are  sent  hei'e.  not  as 
 having  any  local  authoi'ity,  but  as  pastors  without  Hocks  ;  Bishops 
 of  Tadmor  in  the  Desert,  or  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  intruding 
 into  territories  whicli  they  cannot  formally  claim  as  their  own. 
 This  specious  argument  is  once  for  all  silenced.  Rome  has  more 
 than  spoken — she  has  spoken  and  acted.  She  has  again  divided 
 our  land  into  dioeese.s,  and  has  placed  over  each  a  pastor,  to 
 whom  all  baptized  persons,  without  exception,  within  that  dis- 
 trict, are  openly  commanded  to  submit  themselves  in  all  eccle- 
 siastical matters  under  pain  of  damnation  ;  and  the  Anglican 
 sees,  those  ghosts  of  realities  lorig  passed  away,  are  utti'ly 
 ignored.' 
 
 '•  The  advisers  of  the  Pope  have  skilfully  contrived  so  to  shape 
 this  eiicroachment  upon  the  rights  and  honour  of  the  Crown  and 
 Church  of  England,  that  his  nominees  to  imaginary  dioceses  will 
 not  actually  offend  against  the  letter  of  the  law  by  assuming  the 
 titles  which  he  has  pretended  to  confer  upon  them  ;  but  that  it  is 
 coutrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  law  there  can  be  no  doubt.    As  little 
 
478  Al-i'EIS'DIX. 
 
 doubt  ca-i  there  be  that  it  is  intended  as  an  insult  to  the  Sovereign 
 and  the  Church  of  this  country. 
 
 "•  With  respect  to  tlie  conduct  proper  to  be  pursued  by  you 
 on  this  occasion,  it  ou^ht.  in  my  opinion,  to  be  temperate  and 
 charitable,  hut  firm  and  uncom]»romisin<;-. 
 
 "  You  will  do  well  to  call  the  attention  of  your  people  to  the 
 real  purport  of  tliis  open  assault  upon  our  reformed  church  ;  and 
 to  tak'  measures  for  petitioning  the  Legislature  to  carry  out  the 
 principle  of  the  statute  which  forbids  all  persons,  other  than  the 
 persons  authorized  by  law,  to  assume  or  use  the  name,  stvle,  or 
 title  of  any  archbishop  of  any  j)rovince,  bishop  of  any  bishopric, 
 or  dean  of  any  deanery  in  England  or  Ii'eland,  by  extending 
 the  prohibition  to  any  pretended  diocese  or  deaneries  in  these 
 realms. 
 
 •'It  is  possible  that  .sucli  prohibititms  might  not  have  the  effect 
 of  ])reventing  the  assumption  of  titles  by  the  Pajjal  bishojjs,  when 
 dealing  with  their  own  adherents  :  but  it  would  make  the  assump- 
 tion unlawful,  and  it  would  mark  the  determination  of  the  peojjle 
 of  this  country  not  to  permit  any  ioreign  prelate  to  exercis-.- 
 spiritual  jurisdiction  over  them. 
 
 "•  But  there  are  oi  her  duties  besides  those  of  protesting  and  ])eti- 
 tioniuL;,  the  performance  of  which  seems  to  be  .specially  required 
 of  us  by  the  present  emergency.  Unwilling  as  I  am  to  encourage 
 controversial  ]jreaching,  1  must  say  that  we  are  driven  to  have 
 recourse  to  it  by  this  attempted  usurpation  of  authority  on  the 
 part  of  the  liisliop  of  Rome,  and  l)y  the  activity  and  subtlety  of 
 his  emissaries  in  a'l  parts  of  the  kingdom.  We  are  surely  called 
 upon  for  a  more  than  ordinary  measure  of  watchfulness  and 
 diligence  in  fulfillinu  the  promise  which  we  gave  when  we  were 
 admitted  to  the  priesthood,  'to  banish  and  drive  away  all  erro- 
 neous and  strange  doctrines  contrary  to  God's  word.' 
 
 "  Let  us  be  careful  as  v.ell  in  our  public  niinistrations  as  in  our 
 pi'ivate  monitions  and  exhortatituis,  tcj  refrain  from  doing  or  say- 
 ing anything  which  nuiy  seem  to  indicate  a  wish  to  make  the 
 slightest  api)roaeh  to  a  church  which,  far  from  manifesting  a 
 desire  to  lay  aside  any  of  the  errors  and  superstitions  which  com- 
 pelled us  to  sepirate  from  it,  is  now  reasserting  them  with  a 
 degree  of  boldness  unknown  since  the  lleformation  :  is  adding 
 new  credcnda  to  its  articles  of  faith,  and  is  undisguisedly  teaching 
 its  members  the  duty  of  wor-shipping  the  creature  with  the  wor- 
 ship due  only  to  the  Creator. 
 
 "  After  ail,  1  am  much  inclined  to  believe  that  in  liaving 
 recour.se  to  the  extreme  measure  which  has  called  fortli  your 
 address,  the  Court  of  Rome  lias  been  ill-advised  as  regards  the 
 extension  of  its  influence  in  tliis  country,  and  that.it  has  taken  a 
 false  step.  That  step  will,  I  am  convinced,  tend  to  strengthen 
 the  I'r,  testant  feeling  of  the  people  at  large,  and  will  cause  some 
 ]>er.sons  to  hesitate  and  draw  back  who  are  disposed  to  make 
 concessions  to  liume,  under  a  mistaken  impression  that  she  has 
 
Aprvv^ 
 
 479 
 
 RlDated  somewhat  of  her  ancient  i^retensions,  and  that  a  union  of 
 the  two  churches  might  possiMy  he  effected  without  ihe  sacin- 
 ficinu  of  anv  fundamental  principle.  Hardly  anythinor  could  more 
 efFectnally  dispel  that  illusion  than  the  recent  proceeding  of  the 
 Ivomau  Pontiff.  He  virtually  condemns  and  excommunicates  the 
 whole  English  Cliurch,  Sovereign,  bishops,  clergy,  and  laity,  and 
 shuts  the" door  against  every  scheme  of  comprehenshm  save 
 that  which  sh.ould  take  for  its  basis  an  entire  and  unconditional 
 submission  to  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rimie. 
 
 "  That  it  mav  please  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Chui'ch,  who  is 
 the  true  centre  of  unity  and  the  only  Infallible  Judge,  to  guide 
 and  strengthen  us  in  these  days  of  rebuke  and  trial,  to  open  our 
 eves  to  tli^e  dangei-s  we  are  in  by  our  unhappy  divisions,  and  to 
 unite  us  in  one  holy  bond  of  truth  and  peace,  of  faith  and  charity, 
 is  the  earnest  prayer, 
 
 "  Reverend  and  dear  Brethren, 
 
 "  Of  vour  affectionate  friend  and  Bishop, 
 
 (Signed)         "C.J.LONDON." 
 
 *'  To  the  Rev.  the  Clergy  of  the  City  and 
 Liberties  of  Westminster." 
 
 Without  making  any  remarks  on  the  measure  of  18^:9,  that 
 altered  so  materially  the  position  of  Roman  Catholics  in  England, 
 it  is  not  uninteresting  to  recall  to  recollection  tlie  words  of  Lord 
 Eldon,  addressed  to  the  House  of  Lords  on  xhat  occasion. 
 
 "  1  know  that  sooner  or  later  this  bill  will  overturn  the  aris- 
 tocracv  and  the  monarchy.  What  I  have  stated  is  my  notion  of 
 the  danger  to  the  establishments.  Have  they  not  Roman  Catholic 
 archbishops  for  every  Protestant  archbishop  I  Roman  Catholic 
 deans  for  every  Protestant  dean  I  Did  not  the  Roman  Catholic 
 ecciesiahtics  dispute  against  Henry  VIII.  in  defence  ot  the  poaer 
 of  the  pojie  I  And,  in  Mary's  time,  were  not  the  laws  affecting 
 the  Roman  Cathohcs  repealed,  not  by  the  authority  of  parlia- 
 ment, but  through  the  iuiiuence  of  the  legate  of  the  pope  I  And, 
 even  though  you  suppress  these  Ivoman  Catholics  wio  utter  those 
 .-ediiious,  treasonable,  abominable,  and  detestable  speeches, 
 others  will  arise  who  will  utter  speeches  more  treasonable,  more 
 abominable,  and  more  detestable.  No  sincei^e  Roman  Catholic 
 could,  or  did  look  for  less  than  a  Roman  Catholic  king,  and  a 
 Roman  Catholic  parliament.  Their  lordships  might  flatter  tliem- 
 selves  that  the  dangers  he  had  anticipated  were  visionary,  and 
 God  forbid  that  he  should  say  that  those  who  voted  for  the  third 
 reading  of  the  bill  will  not  have  done  so,  conscientiously  believ- 
 jn2  that  no  danger  exists,  or  can  be  apprehended  from  it.  But, 
 iirsu  votinj?,  they  had  not  that  knowledge  of  the  danger  in  which 
 
480  ArPENDix 
 
 llicy  were  placing;  the  great,  the  paramount  interests  of  this  Pro- 
 ti.ttaiit  otrJe  ;  ihey  liad  not  tliat  knowledge  of  its  true  intei'ests 
 and  sit'iation  which  tliey  onghr.  to  have,  '{'hose  with  wImdi  we 
 are  dealing:  are  too  wary  to  apprise  you,  by  any  iud  screet  con- 
 duct, oftlie  dan;^er  to  which  yo;j  are  expo.sed.  Wiien  (said  the 
 noble  earl,  in  a  tone  pecidiariy  solemn  and  impressive) — when 
 those  dangers  shall  have  arrived,  I  shall  have  been  consigned  to 
 the  urn,  the  sepulchre,  and  n.ortality  ;  but  that  they  will  arrive, 
 1  have  no  more  doubt  than  that  I  yet  continue  to  exist.  You 
 hear  the  words  of  a  man  who  wid  s.)on  be  called  to  his  great 
 account.  God  for'iid  therefore,  that  I  sliould  raise  my  warning 
 voice  did  I  not  deem  this  measure  a  breach  of  evei'v  notion  that  I 
 liave  of  a  civil  contract — a  breach  of  every  article  of  the  consti- 
 tution, and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  those  oaths  which  I  have 
 taken  to  my  King  and  to  timt  constitution.  Paixlon,  my  lords,  a 
 man  far  advanced  in  years,  who  is  willing  to  give  up  his  existence 
 to  avert  the  dangers  with  which  ail  he  loves,  all  he  revei'es,  are 
 threatened.  1  solemn  y  d  clare  tliat  I  had  rather  no*:,  be  living 
 to-nu)rrow  morning,  than,  on  awaking  hnd  tliat  1  had  consented 
 to  this  measure.  IJelieving  it  as  1  do,  alter  ail  tlie  consideration 
 which  I  have  given  it,  to  be  an  a'rogation  of  all  those  ia  \s  which 
 I  deem  to  be  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  Chuivh — a  violation 
 of  those  laws  wliich  I  hold  to  be  as  necessary  to  the  preser\  atiou 
 of  the  Throne  as  of  the  (..'hiirch,  and  as  ind!s[)ensable  to  the  exist- 
 ence of  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  this  realm  as  to  that  of  the 
 King  and  of  our  holy  religion  ; — feeling  all  this.  1  repeat  that  I 
 would  rather  cease  to  exist,  than  upon  awaking  to-morrow  morn- 
 ing, hnd  that  I  had  consented  to  a  measure  frauuht  with  evils  so 
 imminent  and  so  deadiv,  and  of  which,  had  1  not  s  demniy  ex- 
 pressed this  my  humbl  ■  but  firm  conviction,  I  should  have  been 
 acting-  the  part  of  a  traitor  to  my  country,  niv  Sovereign,  and  my 
 God." 
 
 LOED    JOnX    RUSSELL  S    LETTEll. 
 
 One  of  the  i-edeemiiig  signs  of  the  times  is  the  following  noHe 
 letter  from  the  Prime  Minister  of  England.  It  is  as  much  the 
 exponent  of  his  own  feelings,  1  doubt  not,  as  it  is  the  evidence  of 
 the  depth  and  strength  of  the  current  of  indignation  that  has  set 
 in  agaiiist  ihe  during  intrusion  of  the  "  Little  Horn." 
 
 In  all  probability  the  steps  taken  by  Pius  IX.,  so  much  in 
 advance  of  our  expectation.s,  will  hasten  his  approaching  ruin. 
 
 "  (^uem  Deus  vult  perdere  prius  dementat,"  seems  an  axiom 
 singularly  a])plical)le  here. 
 
 Tile  papal  invasion  is  worth  liavinir,  for  the  sake  of  the  hidden 
 Protestantism  it  has  manifested,  and  the  dormant  feeling  which 
 i  t  has  awakened. 
 
APPENDIX.  481 
 
 *'  TO    THE    EIGHT    KEY.    THE    EISHOP    OF    DUEHA3I. 
 
 *•'  My  dear  Lord, — f  agree  with  you  in  considering  *  the  late 
 aggression  of  the  Pope  upon  our  Protestantism'  as  '  insolent  and 
 insidious,'  and  I  therefore  feel  as  indignant  as  you  can  do  upon 
 the  subject. 
 
 "  I  not  only  promoted  to  the  utmost  of  my  power  the  claims  of 
 the  Roman  Catholics  to  all  civil  rights,  but  I  thought  it  right, 
 and  even  desirable,  tliat  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  the  Roman 
 Catholics  should  be  the  means  of  giving  instruction  to  the  nume- 
 rous Irish  immigrants  in  London  and  elsewhere,  who  without 
 such  help  would  have  been  left  in  heathen  ignorance. 
 
 "  This  might  have  been  done,  however,  without  any  such  inno- 
 vation as  that  which  we  have  now  seen. 
 
 "  It  is  impossible  to  confound  the  recent  measures  of  the  Pope 
 with  the  division  of  Scotland  into  dioceses  by  the  Episcopal 
 Church,  or  the  arrangement  of  districts  in  England  by  the 
 Wesleyan  Conference. 
 
 "  There  is  an  assumption  of  power  in  all  the  documents  which 
 have  come  from  Rome — a  pretension  to  supremacy  over  the 
 realm  of  England,  and  a  claim  to  sole  and  undivided  sway,  which 
 is  inconsistent  with  the  Queen's  supremacy,  with  the  rights  of  our 
 bishops  and  clergy,  and  with  the  spiritual  independence  of  the 
 nation,  as  asserted  even  in  Roman  Catholic  times. 
 
 "  I  confess,  however,  that  my  alarm  is  not  equal  to  my 
 indignation. 
 
 "Even  if  it  shall  appear  that  the  ministers  and  .servants  of 
 the  Pope  in  this  country  have  not  transgressed  the  law,  I  feel 
 persuaded  that  we  are  strong  enough  to  I'epel  any  outward 
 attacks.  The  liberty  of  Protestantism  has  been  enjoyed  too  long 
 in  England  to  allow  of  any  successful  attempt  to  impose  a  foreign 
 yoke  upon  our  minds  and  consciences.  No  foreign  prince  or 
 potentate  will  be  permitted  to  fasten  his  fetters  upon  a  nation 
 which  has  so  long  and  so  nobly  vindicated  its  right  to  freedom  of 
 opinion,  civil,  political,  and  religious. 
 
 "  Upon  this  subject,  then,  1  will  only  say  that,  the  present  state 
 of  the  law  shall  be  carefully  examined,  and  the  propriety  of  adopt- 
 ing any  proceedings  with  reference  to  the  present  assumptions  of 
 power  deliberately  considex*ed. 
 
 "  There  is  a  danger,  however,  which  alarms  me  much  more 
 tlian  any  aggression  of  a  foreign  sovereign. 
 
 "  Clergymen  of  our  own  Church,  who  have  subscribed  the  Thirty- 
 nine  Articles,  and  acknowledged  in  explicit  terms  the  Queen's 
 supremacy,  have  been  the  most  forward  in  leading  their  flocks, 
 '  step  by  step,  to  the  very  verge  of  the  precipice.'  The  honour 
 paid  to  saints,  the  claim  of  infallibility  for  the  Church,  the  super- 
 stitious use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,  the  muttering  of  the  Liturgy 
 so  as  to  disguise  the  language  in  which  it  is  written,  the  recom- 
 mendation of  auricular  confession,   and   the  administration  of 
 
 I  I 
 
482 
 
 APrENDIX, 
 
 penance  and  absolution— all  these  things  are  pointed  out  by 
 clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England  as  worthy  of  adoption,  and 
 are  now  openly  reprehended  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  his 
 Charge  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese. 
 
 "  What,  then,  is  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  a  foreign 
 prince  of  no  great  power,  compared  to  the  danger  within  the 
 gates  from  the  unworthy  sons  of  the  Church  of  England  herself  ? 
 
 *'  I  have  little  hope  that  the  propounders  and  framers  of 
 these  innovations  will  desist  from  their  insidious  course.  But  I 
 rely  with  confidence  on  the  people  of  England,  and  I  will  not 
 bate  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope,  so  long  as  the  glorious  principles  and 
 the  immortal  martyrs  of  the  Reformation  shall  be  held  in  reverence 
 by  the  great  mass  of  a  nation  wliich  looks  with  contempt  on  the 
 nmmmeries  of  superstition,  and  with  scorn  at  the  laborious 
 endeavours  which  are  now  making  to  confine  the  intellect  and 
 enslave  the  soul. 
 
 "I  remain,  with  great  respect,  &c. 
 
 "  J.  RCSSELL.** 
 
 **  I>otoning-stre€t,  Nov,  4." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absolution,  in  ancient  offices, 
 simply  a  prayer,  not  a  judicial 
 act.  421 
 
 Accidental,  nothing  is,  69. 
 
 Allusions,  scriptural,  instances  of, 
 417 
 
 Ancient  of  Days,  who  ?  247  ;  de- 
 scribed by  Daniel,  248  ;  described 
 by  John,  248  ;  comes  before  the 
 Millennium,  252  ;  what  follows  re- 
 velation of  252. 
 
 Ancient  propliecy  echoed  by  our 
 Saviour,  441. 
 
 Apostles  refer  to  Book  of  Daniel,  4  ; 
 they  all  believed  the  Book  of 
 Daniel  inspired,  5. 
 
 Artaxerxes,  third  edict  given  by,  in 
 the  seventh  year  of  his  reign,  408. 
 
 Atonement,  objections  to,  344  ;  na- 
 ture of,  361  ;  considered,  371  ;  joy- 
 ful news,  37G  ;  faith  in,  makes 
 happy  and  safe,  377  ;  we  need  none 
 but  Christ's  to  be  delivered  from 
 sin,  386. 
 
 Austria  smitten  second  by  the  stone, 
 95. 
 
 Authenticity  of  Book  of  Daniel,  8. 
 
 Babylon,  apostasy  of  the  earth,  to 
 be  destroyed  by  Christ's  kingdom, 
 107. 
 
 Babylon,  description  Qf,  by  Jere- 
 miah, chap,  xxvii.  5—8,  47;  Bible 
 predictions  against,  48  ;  descrip- 
 tion of  siege  of,  52  ;  modern 
 travellers  describe  complete  ruin 
 of,  54  ;  its  power,  duration  of,  55  ; 
 type  of  destruction  of,  described  in 
 the  Apocalypse,  57. 
 
 Babylon,  the  king  of,  his  likes  and 
 dislikes,  17;  like  the  world,  17: 
 his  wishes,  17  ;  his  reason  for 
 changmg  tVie  names  of  the  He- 
 brew youths,  17  i  his  endeavours 
 to  convert  the  three  Hebi-ew 
 youths,  18. 
 
 Baptism,  not  surely  and  always  re- 
 generation, 105. 
 
 Beast,  wild,  a  symbol   of  a  nation 
 
 without  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  230. 
 Belly     and    thighs     of    brass,    the 
 Graeco- Macedonian,  or  third  uni- 
 versal kingdom,  92. 
 
 Belshazzar,  festival  of,  women  pro- 
 sent  at,  8  ;  feast  of,  1G3 ;  not  neces- 
 sarily sinful,  163  ;  the  sin  that 
 characterised  it,  164  ;  its  accom- 
 paniments, 167. 
 
 Bible,  the  truth  of,  nothing  insigni- 
 ficant which  establishes  it,  9  ; 
 change  in  all,  except,  73;  reasons 
 for  cleaving  to  it,  240  ;  should  be 
 possessed  in  our  heai-ts,  24 1  ;  the 
 secret  of  a  country's  safety,  384. 
 
 Body,  the,  kings  may  conti'ol,  1 16. 
 
 Breast  and  arms  of  silver,  the  Medo- 
 Persian,  or  S3Cond  universal  king- 
 dom, 92. 
 
 Business,  adopt  that  which  requires 
 no  sacrifice  of  principle,  38. 
 
 Ceremonies  and  forms  evanescent, 
 97. 
 
 Channing,  Dr.,  remarks  on  his 
 creed,  359. 
 
 Charlemagne,  42. 
 
 Children,  heai-ts  of,  tender,  14  ;un- 
 dutiful,  one  reason  why  they  are 
 so,  40  ;  should  be  accustomed  to 
 self-stcrifice,220  ;  should  be  taught 
 to  pray,  221  ;  should  have  heart  as 
 well  as  head  education,  222. 
 
 Chrism,  meaning  of,  393. 
 
 Christ,  the  stone  cut  out  without 
 hands,  82  ;  his  kingdom  is  secondly 
 a  kingdom  of  persons,  101 ;  coming 
 of,  description  of,  250  ;  com  s  with 
 the  speed  of  lightning,  251  ;  his 
 death   expiatory,   o43  ;  voluntary, 
 
 344  ;  accompaniments  of,  peculiar, 
 
 345  ;    accompanied    by    miracles, 
 
 346  ;  leading  descriptions  of,  347  ; 
 appellatives  of,  347  ;  commercial 
 appellatives  of,  350  ;  sacrificial  ap- 
 pellatives of,  352  ;  nature  of,  ob- 
 jective and  occasional,  354  ;  nature 
 of,  remote  i-elation  or  final  deci- 
 sion, 357  ;  nature  of,  expressive  of 
 Divine  action,  358  ;  his  mission, 
 one  end  of  it  to  seal  up  the  vision 
 and  prophecy.  391  ;  the  Holy  One 
 of  G"d,  392  ;"  anointing  of,  what  is 
 meant  by,  392  ;  is  the  Key  to  un- 
 lock the  Psalms,  394  ;  cut  off  in 
 the    midst   of  the    last    seventy 
 
484 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 weeks,  411  ;  his  preaching  emi- 
 nently popular,  4  J2  ;  the  true  Mel- 
 chizedec,the  King  of  righteousness, 
 419 ;  every  action  and  word  of, 
 bear  the  stamp  and  superscription 
 of  Messiah  the  Prince,  420 ;  to  add 
 to  his  laws  is  treason,  420 ;  hij,  law, 
 and  law  of  Caesar,  come  sometimes 
 into  collision,  420 ;  as  King,  be- 
 stows forgiveness,  420  ;  can  alone 
 absolve, 420;  as  King,  sends  forth 
 ministers  of  the  Gospel,  422  ;  the 
 King,  gives  the  Holy  Spirit,  423 ; 
 in  his  kingly  office,  will  decide  at 
 thf  judgment-day,  423  ;  his  kingly 
 office  intransierable,  424  ;  Prince 
 of  Peace,  42(3 ;  his  kingdom,  the 
 entrance  into  it,  429  ;  his  kingdom, 
 conies  quietly,  429. 
 Christian,  a,  does  not  live  to  him- 
 self, 210. 
 Christians,  real,  need  not  to  be  con- 
 vinced of  inspiration  of  Daniel,  G  ; 
 manv  like  iSaaman,  27. 
 Christianity,  inward,  the  Church's 
 
 strength,  98. 
 Christmas,  Christ  not  born  on,  but 
 
 before  it,  410. 
 Church  government,  not  the  main 
 
 thing,  37. 
 Church  of  God,  captive  in  Babylon, 
 
 44. 
 Church  of  Rome,«onstructed  on  the 
 ruins  of  the   Roman  empire,  65; 
 what    she    depends    on    lor   her 
 power,  114;  secures  the  homage  of 
 all  the  senses,  115. 
 Church,  the,  Christ  has  been  with 
 from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
 127;  description  of,   127;    Tekel 
 applied  to,  190  ;  a  Christian,  when, 
 203. 
 Coming  of  Christ,  passages  which 
 
 announce  it,  24G. 
 Commands  of  God,  never  hesitate  to 
 
 comply  with,  I2.t 
 Condemnation,  the  greatest,  a  neg- 
 lected Gospel,  a  rejected  Saviour, 
 395. 
 Conduct,  a  Christian's,  estimated  by 
 
 the  world,  193. 
 Confession,  two  sorts,  315;  true,  is 
 full  and  explicit,  316  ;  of  Daniel, 
 specific,  3Uj;  of  sins,  must  be  to 
 God  himself,  318. 
 Congregations,     all     should     have 
 
 schools,  23. 
 Conscience,  sin  in  the,  awful  power 
 
 of,  212. 
 Corruption,  the  greatest  when  it  is 
 the   corruption  of  that  which  is 
 pure,  112. 
 Covenant,  one   only  confinned   by 
 
 Christ,  the  New   Covenant  pre- 
 dicted   in    Jer.    xxxi.     31,   411; 
 Htb.   X.    15-18,    411;   the    New- 
 Testament  dispensation,  411. 
 Crucifix,  the  true,  342. 
 Daniel,  exposition  of,  1 ;  figures  of, 
 2  ;  Jjws'  objections  to  Book  of,  2  : 
 the  author  of  Book  of,  2  ;  the  au- 
 thor, e\  idence  of,  2 ;  contemporary 
 of  Ezekiel,  3 ;   the  Book  of,  re- 
 ceived by  the  Jews  as  authentic, 
 3 ;    the    Book    of,  translated    by 
 Alexandrian  Jews,  3 ;    the  Book 
 of,  in  Sepiuagint,  3  ;  the  Book  of, 
 written  partly  in  Chaldee,3;  New 
 Testament,  allusions  to,  4 ;  allu- 
 sion to,  in  2  Thess.   iii.    5 ;    the 
 Book  of,  alluded  to  in  Heb.  xi.  33, 
 5  ;  Book  of,  its  distinctive  features, 
 9 ;  Book  of,  great  object  of  it  to 
 depress  all  that  is  human  and  exalt 
 all  that  i;<  divine,  9  ;  prophecy  of, 
 partly  fulfilled,  10;  the  Book  of,  a 
 duty    to    study,    1 1  ;    very   young 
 when  made  a  captive,  12  ;  called  a 
 child,  1 2 ;  his  reason  for  refusing 
 to  eat  and  drink  the  kings  meat 
 and  wine,  13;  reason  of  his  firm- 
 ness, 13 ;  had  a  religious  education, 
 13;  education  of,   under  God,  the 
 the  mt  ans  of  his  preservation,  13; 
 of  noble  birth,  15  ;  a  scholar,  15; 
 skilled  in  all  the   learning  of  his 
 times,  15  ;  a  Hebrew,  l(j ;  his  ac- 
 quaintance with  all   branches  of 
 knowledge,   17;     not    like    many 
 modern  Christians,  20  ;  his  adhe- 
 rence to  truth   at  all  times,  20 ; 
 invitation  to  study  him,  20  ;  date 
 of  the  writing  of,  proved.  22  ;  re- 
 mark about,  22;  sought  duty  rather 
 than  smile  of  kiriKs,  25  ;  his  con- 
 duct teaches  a  le-son,  26  ;  faith- 
 fulnes-s  of,  gives  a  tone  to  his  wl.ole 
 lite,  28;  trusted  in  goodness  of  lus 
 cause,    31  ;     his    gentleness    and 
 courtesy,  31  ;  not  a  loser  by  adhe- 
 rence   to  principle,  33  ;    explains 
 the  visi  in  of  the  king,  44  ;  explains 
 what  the  image  represented,  44  ; 
 the  reason  why  he  con-ented  to  be 
 the  head  of  the  astroloners,  173; 
 reason  why  he  prayed  at  an  open 
 window,  203  ;  prayer  sustained  the 
 inner  life  of,  204  ;  his  nearness  to 
 God,   in   private  that  made   him 
 consistent  in  public,  204;  his  life 
 instrumental,  in  God's  hand,    in 
 conversion  of  Darius,  209;  educated 
 in  the  Gospel,  220 ;  self-sacrifice  a 
 result  of   his  education,   220 ;    a 
 sketch  of,  by  an  ancient  writer, 
 225  ;  intensity  of  his  prayer,  330  ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 485 
 
 the  time  he  prayed,  338 ;   his  re- 
 ligion and  ours  the  SHme,  444. 
 
 Darius,  liis  decree,  217;  edict  of, 
 second  period,  recorded  in  Ezra 
 vi.,  403. 
 
 Death  not  a  natural  thing,  208  ;  the 
 Christian  victorious  over,  208 ; 
 only  the  removal  to  life  in  the  case 
 of  a  Christian,  208. 
 
 Deity,  pictures  of,  olyectionable, 
 247. 
 
 Dream  of  Nebuchadneezar,  129. 
 
 Dreams,  conclusions  to  be  come  to 
 respecting  them,  67. 
 
 Duties  of  to-day  best  preparation 
 fur  to-morrow's  trials,  35. 
 
 Duty  not  a  tiling  of  longitude  and 
 latitude,  25  i  the  same  everywhere, 
 25  ;  manner  in  which  Daniel  dis- 
 charged his,  201. 
 
 Eariy  martyrs,  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
 and  Abed-iiego,  110. 
 
 Earthly  g  iindeur  treated  in  Scrip- 
 lure  as  fading  grass,  64  ^  minds, 
 characteristics  of,  lh7. 
 
 E>lict,  foui  th,  given  to  Nehemiah  in 
 the  20tli  yeai-  of  Ar  axerxes,  407. 
 
 Education,  Ciiristiau,  a  blessing,  22. 
 
 Elliot,  Mr.,  his  belief  drawn  from 
 Scripture,  9G. 
 
 Empire  of  head  of  gold,  4S  ;  of  Cy- 
 ru<  de-ciibed  by  Xenophon  and 
 iJerodotiis,  G2  ;  silver,  overthrown 
 by  Ale.xander,  G3  ;  Roman,  much 
 faid  of  it  by  Daniel,  05 ;  fourth 
 univer-al,  further  proved  by  Gib- 
 bo   .  G7  ;  the  iron, 77. 
 
 Empires,  the  foui-,  their  names,  46  ; 
 Medo-Per>ian  an4  Grseco- Macedo- 
 nian, tjO  ;  four  universal  only,  92. 
 
 Eucliarist  not  a  fast  but  a  feast, 
 378. 
 
 Events  oftpn  turning-points  in  one's 
 character,  27. 
 
 Evidence  conclusive  that  Jesus  is 
 the  Messiah,  397. 
 
 Facts  recorded  in  'he  Bible  are  at- 
 tested by  heathen  historians,  114; 
 tending  to  prove  that  the  heavens 
 do  rule,  15H  ;  a  repetition  of,  be- 
 fore stated,  22G. 
 
 Faith  not  our  Saviour,  378 
 
 False  religion  only  a  corruption  of 
 the  true,  1 12. 
 
 Fasting  considered,  280;  true,  the 
 nature  of,  2^4  ;  the  end  of,  285  ; 
 to  be  observed  in  the  spirit  and  not 
 in  the  letter,  287  ;  advocated  by 
 Jerome,  290. 
 
 Fea;5t  of  Heliihazzar,  not  necessarily 
 sinful,  l')3 ;  the  sin  that  charac- 
 terised it,  164. 
 
 France  smitten  by  the  stone,  9-5. 
 
 Gates  frequently  referred  to  in  the 
 
 Bible,  111. 
 Gentile  law  of  God's  worship.  202. 
 Germany  smitten  third  by  the  stone. 
 
 95. 
 Gibbon,  his  description  of  Koran, 
 
 267. 
 God  our  only  refuge  in  trouble,  87  ; 
 he  rules,  and  in  this  fact  he  de- 
 signs good  to  us  ami  glory  to  him- 
 self, 155;  he  reigns,  evioences 
 that,  164  ;  weighs  all  motives  and 
 men,  178 ;  never  forsakes  his  peo- 
 ple till  they  forsake  him,  442 
 
 God's  people,  their  frequent  expe- 
 rience, 45;  word  more  powerful 
 than  princes,  55;  doinys  to  be 
 viewed  in  connexion  with  another 
 world,  157. 
 
 Gold,  fall  of  the  head  of,  52  ;  head  of, 
 the  I 'aby Ionian  or  first  uiiiversdl 
 kingdom.  9"2. 
 
 Good,  all  things  work  for,  219. 
 
 Gospel,  the  char.icter  of,  100. 
 
 Grace,  pray  for,  2U5. 
 
 Giandeur,  earthly,  desciibed  in 
 Scripture  a'*  fading  gra-s,  64. 
 
 Heathens  note  a  purer  life  sooner 
 than  a  pure  creed,  I9(). 
 
 Heaven,  we  must  be  titled  for  it  by 
 the  Holy  Spirit,  3^7. 
 
 Hebrew  youths,  circumstances  of, 
 22;  the  beautiful  answer  of,  to 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  118  ;  felt  duty  to 
 God  greater  than  lo>alty  to  au 
 earthly  king,  123;  their  faith  in 
 God's  promises.  125. 
 
 Herodotus,  Babylon  described  by. 
 48 ;  describes  siege  of  Babylon, 
 63;  describes  empire  of  Cyrus,  62. 
 
 Hesitation  wrong  in  matters  of  re- 
 ligion, I2(). 
 
 High  Prie.'t.  Jesus  is  the,  of  his 
 Chuivh,  417. 
 
 History,  the  echo  of  truth  in  the 
 prophecies  of  God,  42 ;  uncon- 
 scious echo  of  Gods  prophecy  67. 
 
 History  a:  d  historians  attest  the 
 truth  of  God's  word.  445 
 
 Hooker,  a  passHwe  from,  22.'i. 
 
 Horn,  litil,  229;  the  Papal  power 
 now  reiijniug  at  Kome,  '231  ;  pro- 
 phecy of,  fulfilled,  232  ;  another 
 fearure  to  identify  it  with  Papal 
 power,  235 ;  wasting  away  of.  243 : 
 what  meant  by,  262  ;  rise  and  pro- 
 gress of,  2(J5  ;  when  did  it  begin 
 to  fail?  270 
 
 Ilrrns.  three,  the  three  states  of  the 
 Church,  95. 
 
 Houses,  in  taking  them  prefer  those 
 which  are  nearest  to  a  Gospel 
 miiiistrN,i>3. 
 
486 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 nowell's,  Mr  ,  a  saying  of,  99. 
 
 Image,  the  mystic  stone,  smiting  the, 
 7-T  ;  ten  toes  of  ten  kingdoms,  93 
 
 India,  use  of  secular  education  in,  16. 
 
 Isa  ah  and  Daniel,  of  a  royal  tribe, 
 15. 
 
 Islamism  adverse  to  Christianity, 
 270. 
 
 Italy,  smitten  fourth  by  the  stone,  95. 
 
 Jerome  advocated  fasting  and  monk- 
 ery, '290. 
 
 Jerusalem,  Daniel's  prayer  for,  ap- 
 propr  a*e  to  present  times,  327  ; 
 command  to  rebuild  it,  tlie  com- 
 mencing period  of  the  70  weeks, 
 399  ;  Its  destruction,  432  ;  temple 
 of,  only  possible  remai-s,  a  stone, 
 433  ;  what  Christ  says  in  predict- 
 ing its  ruin,  433;  God's  anger  to  it 
 has  a  limit,  4.^9. 
 
 Jesus  Chris',  refers  to  Bookof  Dan'el 
 4  ;  his  greatness  in  minute  affairs 
 of  this  life,  -9  ;  hi-;  faitlifulnes-<  in 
 great  as  well  as  in  little  things.  29  ; 
 works  of,  contra >ted  with  those  of 
 Mahomet.  2(J9  ;  grand  character- 
 istics of  death  of,  39(1  ;  results  of 
 death  of.  embodied  in  Dan.  ix.  24, 
 39tj ;  the  Messiah,  irresistible  evi- 
 dence that  he  is,  415  ;  the  object 
 and  hope  of  all  true  believers,  - 
 417. 
 
 Jews,  their  object'ons  to  Book  of 
 Daniel,  2  ;  the  g.Uhering  to  their 
 own  land,  107  ;  reason  why  they 
 always  looked  to  Jerusalem  when 
 they  prayed,  202 ;  law  of  their 
 -worship,  203 
 
 Josephus  assei-ts  authenticity  of 
 Daniel,  30  ;  his  comments  on  Daniel 
 34  ;  some  account  of,  34  ;  like  our 
 modern  philosophers,  34  ;  a  fact 
 related  by,  214. 
 
 Judgment-day,  description  of,  423. 
 
 Kingiiom,  fourth,  strong  as  iron,Gl. 
 
 Kingdo.m.  Christ's  first,  is  akitigdom 
 of  principles,  97. 
 
 Kingdom  of  God,  main  elements  of, 
 100 
 
 Kingdom  of  Christ,  external  cha- 
 racteristics of,  105;  a  Catholic 
 king  lom,  105;  united  kingdom, 
 100;  a  holy  kingdom,  lOti;  to  de- 
 stroy all  other  kingdonf>s,  and  cover 
 the  earth,  107  ;  com  s  speedily, 
 108  ;  saints  only  will  occupy,  253  ; 
 description  of,  253. 
 
 Kin^jdoms,  universal,  four.  41. 
 
 Kingdoms,  part  of,  now  severed  from 
 the  Pope,  95. 
 
 Kings  should  be  prayed  for,  that 
 they  may  have  grace  not  to  set  up 
 any  idols,  U3. 
 
 Knowledge,  secular,  not  to  be  dis- 
 couraged, 36. 
 
 Koran,  Gibbon's  description  of,  2G7. 
 
 Law,  bv  deeds  of,  none  can  be  justi- 
 fied. "i.s3. 
 
 Layard,  his  disclosures,  46. 
 
 Learning,  man's,  a  Kreat  aid  in  prov- 
 ing the  ins.iiration  of  the  Bible,  9. 
 
 Lessons,  practica  ,  238. 
 
 Living  religion,  the  great  defence 
 against  Puseyism  and  Popery,  241. 
 
 Mahomet,  his  mission.  Gibbon  tes- 
 tifies to,  268  ;  a  finished  hypocrite, 
 270. 
 
 Malachi  prophecies  the  downfal  of 
 the  Jews,  4.'6. 
 
 Man,  prayerless,  is  graceless,  205. 
 
 Marshal  Massena,  anecdote  of,  200. 
 
 Martyi"s,  when  required,  receive 
 from  God  a  martyr's  spirit,  117. 
 
 Men.  all  weighed  by  God,  179;  their 
 affairs  God  mles,  444. 
 
 Messiah,  important  offices  of,  417. 
 
 Messiahship,  pretenders  to,  no  dis- 
 proof of  clain:»s  of  Jesus,  399. 
 
 Millennium,  description  of,  253. 
 
 Milton,  a  passage  fron^,  235. 
 
 Minister,  a,  has  no  power  to  absolve 
 from  sin,  421  ;  none  true  but  those 
 commissioned  by  Je=us,  422. 
 
 Monkery  opposed  by  Vigilantius,  290. 
 
 Moses  pre  licteJ  the  downfal  of  the 
 Jews,  435. 
 
 Mother,  a,  her  lessons,  23. 
 
 Motives,  all  weighed  by  God,  178. 
 
 Music,  Nebuchadnezzar  knew  the 
 charm  of,  1 15. 
 
 NaiTie,  Chr  stian,  a  beautiful  thing, 
 24. 
 
 Napoleon,  42. 
 
 Nation,  a,  its  duties,  18&. 
 
 Nation,  Jewish,  great  end  and  pur- 
 pose of,  414. 
 
 Nations,  Tekel  may  be  applied  to, 
 1&9. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar  tried  an  artful 
 plan  to  convert  the  three  Hebrew 
 youths,  23,  24  ;  his  conduct  quite 
 popish,  HI;  the  image  that  ap- 
 peared to,  113;  his  dream  and  the 
 interpretation,  129  ;  the  epistle  of, 
 pervaded  by  missionary  feeling, 
 132;  his  dream  expatiated  on,  133; 
 his  experience  teaches  the  bless- 
 ings of  affliction,  1 38. 
 
 Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  on  Daniel,  1. 
 
 Newton,  Bishop,  1. 
 
 Newton,  John,  remark  about,  23. 
 
 Nineveh,  its  destruction,  4t). 
 
 Otferin:?  and  oblation  ceased  six 
 munths  before  and  eighteen 
 months  after  Christ's  death,  41S. 
 
 Oratorios,  remarks  on,  166. 
 
liS^DEX. 
 
 487 
 
 Palestine,  present  state  of,  fulfils  the 
 prediction,  437  ;  Chateaubx'iand 
 depicts  present  state  of,  43S. 
 
 Parents  spoken  to,  ;<7. 
 
 Pa«tor,  his  ortice  not  kingly,  425. 
 
 Peace,  the  consequence  of  justifica- 
 tion by  faith,  99  ;  Christianity 
 gives  perfect,  201  ;  confidence  in 
 God  gives  perfect,  201  ;  the  Chris- 
 tian enjoys  even  in  suftering,  208  ; 
 true  way  to  have  it,  426  ;  none  to 
 the  nicked,  427. 
 
 Penteco-t,  the  evidence  of  Christ's 
 kingly  office,  4::i3. 
 
 People  of  God,  characteristics  of 
 1«7;  a  sufiFei-ing  people,  20'<. 
 
 Peter  believed  Book  of  Daniel  in- 
 spired, b. 
 
 Popery  more  corrupt  than  heathen- 
 ism, 112. 
 
 Porphyry,  his  opinion  of  Daniel,  10. 
 
 P  irte,  or  gate,  Turkey  the  only 
 couuti-y  now  using  the  word.  111. 
 
 Prayer,  the  only  resource  in  trial 
 43;  God  anssvers.  43;  necessity 
 of,  9S  ;  with  or  without  a  liturgy, 
 does  not  necessarily  constitute  a 
 person  a  subject  of  the  true  king- 
 dom, 104  ;  a  privilege  as  well  as  a 
 duty,  20-1 ;  efficacy  of,  ji7s;  the 
 a^e  of,  still  lasts,  279  ;  importance 
 of,  cannot  be  overrated,  294  ; 
 hymn  on,  294  ;  the  end  of,  29-3  ; 
 works  no  change  in  God,  29')  ; 
 not  an  atonement  for  sin,  297  ; 
 not  a  penanc ',  ^98  ;  should  be 
 addressed  to  God  as  our  Father, 
 301  ,  should  be  otfered  in  the 
 name  of  Christ.  302  ;  should  be  in 
 the  strength  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
 302 ;  should  be  intense,  earnest, 
 3"4  ;  should  be  m:ide  for  teinporal 
 'jlessings,  30.i  ;  shouM  be  made 
 chiefly  for  spiritual  blessings,  306  ; 
 to  be  made  fur  foes  as  wull  as 
 frien  Is,  308  ;  encouragement  to* 
 309  ;  real  intens.ty  of,  328  ;  Chris- 
 tian elements  of,  33'J  ;  not  to  be 
 for  our.-elves  alone  333 ;  to  be 
 combined  with  paitistak.ng  33)  ; 
 of  Oaniel,  the  answer  to  it  was 
 imm  diate,  340. 
 
 Predi  tii^ns  of  St  Paul,  the  echo  of 
 the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  V44. 
 
 Pride,  Go  J  will  abase,  139  ;  the 
 great  lesson  taught  in  the  dream 
 of  Jsebucha<lnezzar,  139  ;  the  ele- 
 ments of  human,  142  ;  power  ano- 
 ther source  of,  142  ;  various  sources 
 of,  142  ;  the  Gospel  alone  can 
 humble,  144. 
 
 Priests,  no  such  office  in  Christ's 
 church,  421. 
 
 Prime-minister,  Daniel  an  honest, 
 197 
 
 Princes,  God's  Word  more  powerful 
 than,  5.5. 
 
 Principle  the  path  of  the  highest 
 e.xpjdiency,  1::6. 
 
 Promises  to  be  turned  into  prayer, 
 306. 
 
 Prophecies,  evidence  of  the  fulfil- 
 ment of,  .52. 
 
 Prophecy,  history  of  the  echo  of,  48  ; 
 reflected  even  in  newspapers,  73  ; 
 study  of,  u.^eful,  89  ;  what  it  indi- 
 cates by  four  notable  horns  his- 
 tory teache<,  260:  result  of  study 
 of,  20 1  ;  fulfilment  of,  useful  les- 
 sons drawn  from,  272  ;  spirit  of, 
 departed  from  the  Jews  409  yeai"s 
 before  the  Christian  era,  409. 
 
 Prophets,  all  point  to  Jesus,  394;  all 
 proclaim  one  Saviour,  44.5. 
 
 Propositions,  three,  which  neces- 
 sitate the  sort  of  death  Christ 
 suffered,  3'J6. 
 
 Proverb,  a  German,  83. 
 
 Providence   of  God    reveals    to    i 
 the  truth  of  God's  prophetic  "Word, 
 413. 
 
 Psalms  all  celebrate  Jesus,  394. 
 
 Reconciliation,  Christ  shall  bring 
 in,  389. 
 
 Refuge,  cities  of,  an  appeal  to  fly  to, 
 190. 
 
 Regeneration  not  the  consequence 
 of  baptism    10-5  ;  wl;at  it  is,  144. 
 
 Regime,  ecclesi  istioal,  not  essential 
 to  the  e.Kistence  of  the  kmgdom  ol 
 C.irist,  98. 
 
 Religion,  to  some  a  mere  romance, 
 ;i7  ;  rtal,  'o  be  siiowed  in  little 
 things  .  j  well  as  great,  30;  the 
 great  thing,  34  ;  true,  nothing 
 permanent  without,  71  ;  all  na- 
 tions without  it  deteriorate,  71; 
 established  by  law,  not  to  be  fol- 
 lowed unless  it  be  the  true  one, 
 121  ;  evangelical,  the  religiiu  of 
 the  Bible,  239  ;  one  only  true,  44o. 
 
 Riches,  rank,  worthlessness  of,  88. 
 
 Righteousness,  Christ's,  twof  Id,  99. 
 
 Rite,  nor  ceremony,  neither  can  jus- 
 tify, 41.5. 
 
 Roman  Empire,  much  said  of  it  by 
 Daniel,  Go  ;  divided  ino  ten  king- 
 doms, 93. 
 
 Roman,  or  iron  kingdom,  the  fourth 
 universal  kingdom.  92. 
 
 Roman  Catholic,  how  contrasted 
 with  the  Christian,  2 1 3. 
 
 Rome,  the  fourth  empii'e  <>f  Daniel, 
 testimony  to,  by  (iibbon,  66; 
 Church  of,  to  be  8wei)t  away  by 
 the  coming  of  the  Loid,  244. 
 
488 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Romish  Church  constructed  on  the 
 
 ruins  of  I  he  Roman  Empire,  65. 
 Sabbatli,  when  used  for  trade,  a  de- 
 secration of  the  holy  vessels,  167. 
 Sabbaths,  never  to  be  sacri.iced,  39  ; 
 
 the  poor  man's  privilege.  39. 
 Sacrifice  and  oblation  ceased,  reason 
 
 why,  4 1 3. 
 Salvation,  what  it  is,  430. 
 Satan,  his  piesence  in  the  rise  and 
 fall  of  Mahommedanism,  273 ;  his 
 power  limited,  ..'73. 
 Serm.jn,    the    evidence   of   a    good 
 
 one,  9. 
 Sermons  unregarded  become  awful 
 
 judgments,  17.5. 
 Sevimiy  weeks,  disputes  about,  397  ; 
 are  70   weeks    of    years,   or  490 
 years,  400 ;  difHculties  about  when 
 they  commence,  402  ;  a  difficiolty 
 about,  40S. 
 Shadracli,  Meshach.  and  Abed-nego, 
 refeience  to,  5 ;  their  being  fed  at 
 the  royal   table   coroborates   the 
 fact  that  Daniel  lived  at  the  time 
 alleged,  6. 
 Shorter  Catechism,   its  excellence, 
 
 13. 
 Sin,  acknowledgment  of,  311  ;  not 
 made  by  God,  311;  whence  from, 
 Bible  does  not  say,  311;  source  of 
 evil,  311  ;  wrong  done  to  man's 
 conscience,  311;  wrong  done  to 
 the  attections,  313  ;  an  injury  done 
 to  reason,  313  ;  injury  done  to  the 
 s  ml,  313;  injury  done  to  society, 
 314;  hateful  to  God,  314;  for- 
 giveness of,  320  ;  God  alone  for- 
 gives, 320  ;  unlike  everything  else, 
 370 ;  the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  men 
 and  cities  441. 
 S;n.;ularity,  fear  it  not  in  matters  of 
 
 religion.  123. 
 Sojieiy,    ditterence    of    God's    and 
 mill's  plan  for  the  amelioraiiou 
 of.  10?. 
 Soul,  importance  of  its  safety,  36 ; 
 
 the,  kings  cannot  control,  116. 
 Stune,   which  is  Christ,  to  fall  sud- 
 denly on   the  ten   kingdoms,  94  ; 
 France  smitten  by  the,  95. 
 Straho,  Babylon  described  by,  48. 
 Sti-ength  and  vi'tory,  source  of,  30. 
 Suffering  to  a  Christian  is  paternal, 
 3So  ;    to  an  unbeliever  is  penal, 
 3'5. 
 Symbol,  every,  has  its  counterpart 
 in  fact  and  history,  61  ;  the  four 
 kingdoms  depicted  imder  a  new, 
 
 228  ;     first,    image    cf    different 
 metals,  228 ;    second,    four  wild 
 beasts,  228. 
 Tekel  e.xplained,   179  :    how  to  es- 
 cape this  inscription,  K«3. 
 Ten  toes  or  divisions  of  fourth  king- 
 dom, 41. 
 Ten  kingdoms,  4 1  ;   description   of, 
 
 79  ;  startling  fact  respecting,  80. 
 Thanksgiving    to    be    made    when 
 
 prayer  is  answered,  44. 
 Time,  a,  in  proph.  tic  language,  is  a 
 year,  237. 
 
 Transgies>ion,  to  finish,  the  first 
 work  that  Daniel  predicts  Christ 
 is  to  accomplish,  3^2. 
 
 Truth  of  God  lasting,  94. 
 
 Truth  needs  no  apoligy,  138  ;  its 
 triumph,  255  ;  set  forth  by  ancient 
 writers  hieroglyphically,  259. 
 
 Vial,  seventh,  84 
 
 Victory  and  strength,  source  of,  30. 
 
 Vi^ilantius  opposed  fasting  and 
 monkery,  290. 
 
 Visible  Churches,  members  of,  not 
 all  members  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
 430. 
 
 Vision  of  the  king  explained,  44. 
 
 "Warriors  and  statesmen  unwittingly 
 fulfilling  prophecy,  68. 
 
 Ways,  many,  to  prove  that  the  nar- 
 rative Daniel  relates  is  from  his 
 pen, 7. 
 
 Weeks,  seventy,  commencing  period 
 of,  the  seventh  year  of  reign  of 
 Artaxer.\es,  408. 
 
 Weighed  and  found  wanting,  183; 
 who  are.  183. 
 
 Woman,  what  has  raised  her  to  her 
 proper  position,  383. 
 
 Word,  God's,  stronger  than  all  be- 
 sides, 93  ;  truths  of,  humbling, 
 453 
 
 Works,  God's,  in  all,  infinite  detail 
 and  patient  labour,  28. 
 
 ^enophon,  his  authority  to  prove 
 the  fact  that  women  went  to  fes- 
 tivals, 8  ;  description  of  the  last 
 king  of  Babylon  by,  8  ;  his  de- 
 scription of  city  of  Babylon,  47  ; 
 describes  empire  of  Cyrus,  62. 
 
 "Years,  490,  divided  by  the  prophet 
 into  three  periods,  401. 
 
 Young  men  need  every  arg'iment  to 
 convince  them  of  the  iujpiration 
 of  Scripture.  6;  a  lesson  to,  33. 
 
 Youths,  the  Hebrew,  their  firm  ad- 
 herence to  principle,  19 ;  circum- 
 stances of,  22. 
 
 VIETCE   AND   CO.,    CITJ    ROAD,   lO-NDON. 
 
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