***** 
 
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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
 
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 Shelf. 
 
 
 
 
 
SERMONS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE CHURCHES. 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCIS WATLAND 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 SHELDON, BLAKEMAN, & COMPANY, 
 
 BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. 
 
 LONDON : TRUBNER <fc CO. 
 1859. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S58, by 
 
 FRANCIS WAYLAND, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. 
 
 BTEBEOTYPED BY FBXNTKD BY 
 
 T. B. Smith & Son, Ptjdney a Russell, 
 
 82 & 84 Beekman-Bt. 79 John-street. 
 
TO THE 
 
 HON. RICHARD FLETCHER, LL.D., 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PR E FACE. 
 
 The design of the following discourses is, to urge upon^ 
 individual Christians the duty of personal effort for the 
 conversion of men, and a more consistent and uncom- 
 promising profession of religion. Addressed to disciples 
 of every name, I hope I have not erred in denominating 
 them, Sermons to the Churches. They were delivered in 
 different places and on various occasions ; and, all having 
 in view the same object, refer so frequently to the same 
 topics, that I fear they may be liable to the charge of 
 repetition. This fact was more distinctly perceived on 
 reading the proof-sheets, when change had become im- 
 possible. I shall therefore submit without complaint to 
 whatever censure my negligence deserves. 
 
 I had just commenced the preparation of the volume 
 for the press, when the death of a brother in the minis- 
 try, devolved upon me unexpectedly all the responsi- 
 bilities of the pastoral office, and laid claim to all the 
 labor of which I was capable. This service continued 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 much longer than was anticipated, and placed it out of 
 my power until now, to fulfill the promise made to the 
 publishers nearly two years since. For this delay I alone 
 am responsible. 
 
 Imploring the blessing of God upon this attempt to 
 promote the piety and increase the efficiency of his 
 church, I commend these pages to the candid considera- 
 tion of the disciples of Christ. 
 
 Proyidence, August 30, 1868. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Apostolic Ministry 9 
 
 PREACHED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, N. T., AT THE REQUEST OF 
 THE NEW YORK BAPTIST UNION FOR MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 The Church, a Society for the Conversion op the "World . 65 
 
 PREACHED AT THE ORDINATION OF A MINISTER. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 Christian "Worship 101 
 
 PREACHED AT THE OPENING OF A HOUSE OF 'WORSHIP. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 A Consistent Piety, the Demand op the Age .... 144 
 
 PREACHED AT THE CLOSE OF THE COLLEGIATE YEAR IN BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 Slavery to Public Opinion 178 
 
 PREACHED ON A SIMILAR OCCASION. 
 
VLU CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Perils op Riches - . 206 
 
 PEEACnED IN T1IE MEETING HOUSE OF TIIE FIRST BAPTIST CHUBCH, PBOVI- 
 DENOE. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 Prevalent Prater 243 
 
 PEEACnED IN THE MEETING HOUSE OF THE FIEST BAPTIST CHUBCH, PBOVI- 
 DENCE. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Responsibility for the Moral Condition op Others . . .263 
 
 PBEACHED IN THE MEETING HOUSE OF THE FIEST BAPTIST CHUBCH, PBOVI- 
 DENCE. 
 
PEL 
 BOLOQIC 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 Go ye into all the -world and preach the gospel to every creature. — 
 Make:, xvi. 15. 
 
 These words, uttered by the Son of God a few mo- 
 ments before his ascension, contain the last precept 
 which he ever delivered to his disciples. They constitute 
 the commission under which we labor to extend the 
 reign of the Messiah ; and they furnish the assurance on 
 which we rely, that the kingdoms of this world shall be- 
 come the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. A 
 proper understanding of the text must therefore convey 
 important instruction on the nature and duties of the 
 Christian ministry. 
 
 The precept in the text is, Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
 
 I. What is this Gospel which we are here commanded 
 to preach ? The Gospel is good news. What good news 
 are we then commissioned to proclaim ? 
 
 In order to answer this question, let us glance at the 
 moral condition of those to whom the gospel is sent. 
 
 In the beginning, God created man in his own image, 
 with a moral constitution perfectly adapted to a holy life, 
 
10 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 and placed before him every motive which should impel a 
 moral agent to a course of spotless virtue. The law 
 under which we were created was holy and just and good. 
 The probation assigned to us was, however, wholly sub- 
 jected to the principle of law. Its conditions were two : 
 first, the man that doeth these things shall live by them ; 
 and secondly, cursed is every man that continueth not in 
 all things written in the book of the law to do them. 
 Through the abounding grace of God, eternal life was 
 promised as the reward of obedience, and on the other 
 hand, disobedience to the law, or, rebellion against the 
 moral government of the universe, was punishable with 
 eternal death, banishment from the presence of God, 
 misery everlasting. Under our first probation no pro- 
 vision was made for pardon, and therefore no hope was 
 offered to the guilty. Every thing was to be gained by 
 perfect obedience, every thing was to be lost by a single 
 transgression. 
 
 Such were the moral conditions under which we were 
 originally created. But our first parents sinned, and by 
 one man's disobedience the many were made sinners. 
 "Without inquiring here into the manner in which his 
 posterity are affected by the fall of Adam, it is sufficient 
 to state the fact, that, from the date of the first trans- 
 gression there has not been a just man on earth who has 
 not sinned. The moral blight fell upon all born of woman. 
 The whole race became rebels against God. They did 
 not like to retain Him in their knowledge, and preferred 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 11 
 
 to live in open defiance of his authority. The thoughts 
 of their heart became evil, only evil continually. Sin be- 
 came the irrevocable habit of man. Though impelled by 
 the constitution of his nature to worship something, he 
 chose to worship birds and four footed beasts and creep- 
 ing things, nay the work of his own hands, rather than 
 God over all who is blessed forevermore. The earth was 
 filled with violence and steeped in pollution. In every 
 single individual of our race, unrenewed by the Spirit of 
 God, evil tendency assumed the form of fixed and unal- 
 terable habit, and thus every man was making himself 
 meet for eternal banishment from all that is holy ; while 
 at the same time, he was treasuring up unto himself wrath 
 against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous 
 judgment of God. 
 
 The conditions of the probation under which we were 
 created having thus been universally violated, nothing re- 
 mained but for the law to take its course. By the deeds 
 of the law could no man be justified, for we had broken 
 the law during our whole existence. We were thus all 
 under condemnation. The law contained no provision for 
 pardon. Sentence had been passed upon us, and we were 
 awaiting the day of its execution. Earth had become a 
 mere suburb of hell, into which death was commissioned 
 to sweep the myriads of our race, from the first sinner, 
 Adam, to the last of his sin-smitten posterity. 
 
 But though all was lost, the compassions of God were 
 not exhausted, and he did not leave us to perish without 
 
12 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY 
 
 hope. The terms of our first probation having been vio- 
 lated, eternal life on the principles under which we were 
 originally created, w r as impossible. It pleased our Father 
 in Heaven to offer us a second probation on infinitely 
 more favorable conditions, so that although we had 
 sinned and come short of the glory of God, we might be 
 freely justified by his grace through the redemption that 
 is in Christ Jesus. But before this new probation could 
 be offered to us, it was necessary that the law which we 
 had broken should be magnified and made honorable. It 
 must be perfectly and triumphantly obeyed by a being in 
 our nature, and yet one who by his own nature was not 
 under the law of humanity. No other being than the 
 Son of God himself w T as competent to assume the work of 
 our redemption, and our help was laid upon one that was 
 mighty. God so loved the world that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life. In the fullness of 
 time God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made 
 under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
 that we might receive the adoption of sons. The Messiah 
 fulfilled every requirement of the law in our stead, and, 
 as by the disobedience of one the man)- were made sin- 
 ners, so by the obedience of one the many were made 
 righteous. He suffered whatever was necessary to redeem 
 us from the curse of the law. He died for our offenses, 
 and offered himself without spot to God in our stead. 
 His offering was accepted, and, to assure us of its accept- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 13 
 
 ance, he was raised from the dead. Having finished the 
 work that had heen given him to do, he ascended to the 
 glory which he had with the Father before the world was. 
 Having humbled himself, and become obedient to death, 
 the death of the cross, God hath highly exalted him and 
 given him a name above every name, that at the name of 
 Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and of 
 things on earth, and of things under the earth, that every 
 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the 
 glory of God the Father. 
 
 By this interposition of the Son of God on our behalf, 
 the destiny of man was changed. A new probation on 
 more favorable conditions was granted to us. By the 
 conditions of the former probation we were doomed to 
 despair in consequence of a single transgression. Now, 
 through the righteousness of Christ, though guilty of innu- 
 merable sins, we may be accepted through the beloved. 
 God is well pleased for his righteousness* sake, for he hath 
 magnified the law and made it honorable. On the most 
 merciful conditions, repentance for sin and faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, every child of Adam may be pardoned, 
 justified, sanctified and raised to a higher glory than that 
 which he had lost by his own wilful transgression. Hence- 
 forth the gate of heaven stands as wide open for all born 
 of woman as the gate of hell. The change in our condition 
 is such as the imagination of man could never have con- 
 ceived. It is a change from darkness to light, from death 
 to life, from pollution to purity, from a dwelling forever 
 
14 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 in bell with the spirits of the damned, to an inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away, re- 
 served in heaven for those who are kept by the power of 
 God, through faith unto salvation. 
 
 Every one must at once perceive that this is the great 
 event in the history of the world. Compared with it, 
 what are the revolutions of nations, what the deliver- 
 ance of peoples from bondage, what the progress of man 
 from ignorance to knowledge, and from barbarism to 
 civilzation ! Nay, could we combine in one event all 
 the most stupendous social changes which the world has 
 ever seen, they would all be lighter than the dust of the 
 balance, in comparison with the mystery of Christ and 
 him crucified. This is the good news spoken of in the 
 text. 
 
 II. Let us in the next place inquire what is meant by 
 preaching this gospel. 
 
 The word preach, in the New Testament, has a meaning 
 different from that which at present commonly attaches 
 to it. We understand by it the delivery of an oration, 
 or discourse, on a particular theme, connected more or 
 less closely with religion. It may be the discussion of a 
 doctrine, an exegetical essay, a dissertation on social vir- 
 tues or vices, as well as a persuasive unfolding of the 
 teaching of the Holy Ghost. No such general idea was 
 intended by the word as it is used by the writers of the 
 New Testament. The words translated preach in our 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 15 
 
 version are two. The one signifies simply to herald, to 
 announce, to proclaim, to publish ; the other, with this 
 general idea, combines the notion of, good tidings ; and 
 means, to publish, or be the messenger of good news. 
 From what I have already said of the nature of the gos- 
 pel message, it is evident that no other idea would so well 
 have corresponded with the facts of the case. A great 
 and unexpected change had been wrought in the condi- 
 tion of humanity. Our whole race had been, by a most 
 astonishing act of grace, redeemed from inconceivable 
 misery. They, however, remained ignorant both of their 
 danger and of their deliverance. The knowledge of this 
 act of infinite love had been communicated to a few men 
 who had availed themselves of the gracious conditions of 
 the new covenant, and had consecrated their whole being 
 henceforth to their Kedeemer. The rest of the world was 
 wrapt in Egyptian darkness. Mankind still continued 
 under the curse of the law, and were passing by millions 
 to receive in everlasting despair the just demerit of their 
 transgressions. The command was, Go abroad everywhere, 
 proclaim to every creature the news of redemption ; tell 
 them of the love of God in Christ Jesus. All things are 
 now ready, bid them come and welcome to the marriage 
 supper of the Lamb. 
 
 When the Israelites were bitten by the fiery flying ser- 
 pents, and the bite was inevitably fatal, Moses was di- 
 rected to set up a brazen serpent, with the assurance that 
 whosoever that had been bitten, looked upon it, should 
 
16 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 be healed. You can imagine how the first man who had 
 felt its saving efficacy, flew to communicate the news to 
 his brethren, and urge them to avail themselves of the 
 remedy which had delivered him from death. Every man 
 who was healed became immediately a herald of the glad 
 tidings to others. Every one who was saved became a 
 publisher of the salvation, or in other words, a preacher, 
 until in a few minutes the news spread throughout the 
 encampment, and in this sense every tribe was evan- 
 gelized. 
 
 Allow me to illustrate the meaning of this term, as 
 used by our Lord, by an occurrence of which I was an 
 eye-witness. It so chanced, that at the close of the last 
 war with Great Britain, I was temporarily a resident of 
 the city of New York. The prospects of the nation were 
 shrouded in gloom. We had been for two or three years 
 at war with the mightiest nation on earth, and, as she 
 had now concluded a peace with the continent of Europe, 
 we were obliged to cope with her single-handed. Our 
 harbors were blockaded. Communication coast-wise, be- 
 tween our ports, was cut off. Our ships were rotting in 
 every creek and cove where they could find a place of 
 security. Our immense annual products were mouldering 
 in our ware-houses. The sources of profitable labor were 
 dried up. Our currency was reduced to irredeemable 
 paper. The extreme portions of our country were be- 
 coming hostile to each other, and diltVrences of political 
 opinion were embittering the peace of every household. 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 17 
 
 The credit of the government was exhausted. No one 
 could predict when the contest would terminate, or dis- 
 cover the means by which it could much longer be pro- 
 tracted. 
 
 It happened that on a Saturday afternoon in February, 
 a ship was discovered in the offing, which was supposed 
 to be a cartel, bringing home our commissioners at Ghent, 
 from their unsuccessful mission. The sun had set gloomily, 
 before any intelligence from the vessel had reached the 
 city. Expectation became painfully intense, as the hours 
 of darkness drew on. At length a boat reached the wharf, 
 announcing the fact that a treaty of peace had been 
 signed, and was waiting for nothing but the action of our 
 government to become a law. The men on whose ears 
 these words first fell, rushed in breathless haste into the 
 city, to repeat them to their friends, shouting, as they 
 ran through the streets, peace ! peace ! peace ! Every 
 one who heard the sound repeated it. From house to 
 house, from street to street, the news spread with electric 
 rapidity. The whole city was in commoiion. Men bear- 
 ing lighted torches were flying to and fro, shouting like 
 madmen, peace ! peace ! peace ! When the rapture had 
 partially subsided, one idea occupied every mind. But 
 few men slept that night. In groups they were gathered 
 in the streets and by the fire-side, beguiling the hours of 
 midnight by reminding each other that the agony of war 
 was over, and that a worn out and distracted country was 
 about to enter again upon its wonted career of prosperity. 
 
18 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 Thus, every one becoming a herald, the news soon reached 
 every man, woman and child in the city, and in this sense, 
 the city was evangelized. All this you see was leasonable 
 and proper. But when Jehovah has offered to our world 
 a treaty of peace, when men doomed to hell may be 
 raised to seats at the right hand of God, why is not a 
 similar zeal displayed in proclaiming the good news ? 
 Why are men perishing all around us, and no one has 
 ever personally offered to them salvation through a cruci- 
 fied Redeemer ? 
 
 This then is, I think, the generic idea of preaching con- 
 veyed in the New Testament. It is the proclamation to 
 every creature, of the love of God to men through Christ 
 Jesus. This is the main idea. To this our Lord adds, 
 according to the other evangelist, teaching them to ob- 
 serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you. The 
 duty then enjoined in our Lord's last command is two 
 fold : First, to invite men to avail themselves of the offer 
 of salvation ; and, secondly, to teach them to obey the 
 commands of Christ, so that they may become meet for 
 the kingdom of heaven. In so far as we do these, we 
 preach the gospel. When we do anything else, it may, or 
 it may not, be very good ; but in the sense here consid- 
 ered, it is not preaching the gospel. 
 
 Hence we sec that we may deliver discourses on sub- 
 jects associated with religion, without preaching the gos- 
 pel. A discourse is not preaching because it is delivered 
 by a minister, or spoken from the pulpit, or appended to 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 19 
 
 a text. Nothing is, I think, properly preaching, except 
 explaining the teachings, or enforcing the commands 
 of Christ and his apostles. To hold forth our own infer- 
 ences, or the inferences of other men, drawn from the 
 gospel, to construct intellectual discourses which affect 
 not the conscience, to show the importance of religion 
 to the temporal well-being of men, or the tendency of 
 the religion of Christ to uphold republican institutions, 
 and a hundred topics of a similar character, may or may 
 not be well ; but to do either or all of them certainly 
 falls short of the idea of the apostle, when he determined 
 to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified. 
 
 And moreover, the command of Christ supposes our 
 appeal to be made directly to the consciences of men ; 
 relying for success ivholly on the promised aid of the Holy 
 Ghost. Our Saviour gives us no directions concerning any 
 indirect or preparatory labor. The preparation of the 
 heart is a work which the Lord has reserved for himself. 
 We are not to go about making men think well of reli- 
 gion in general, with the intention of afterward directing 
 them to Christ, and urging them to obey God. The Son 
 of God has left us no directions for civilizing the heathen, 
 and then Christianizing them. We are not commanded 
 to teach schools in order to undermine paganism, and 
 then, on its ruins, to build up Christianity. If this is 
 our duty, the command must be found in another gospel ; 
 it is not found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are, at 
 
20 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 once and always, to set before all men their sin and dan- 
 ger, and point them to the Lamb of God who taketh away 
 the sin of the world. And here I would ask, are we not 
 liable to err in these respects ? For instance, when we 
 profess to preach the gospel, is it right to take as a text 
 the words of inspiration, and then discourse on something 
 which inspiration never taught ? It is not enough that 
 what we say is true ; so is geometry, or chemistry, or 
 metaphysics ; but is it the truth which Christ came from 
 heaven to reveal ? Again, is not our object frequently 
 far too low in preaching ? Do we not sometimes preach 
 with the direct design merely of creating in men a respect 
 for religion ; and of inducing them to aid us in promoting 
 the objects of religious benevolence, instead of striving to 
 make them, by means of this very sermon, new creatures 
 in Christ Jesus ? Do we not labor, as it is called, to 
 build up a good society ; that is to collect around us the 
 rich and the well-conditioned, instead of laboring to 
 save souls from perdition ? The Almighty God sends 
 us to make known his offer of salvation to sinful men ; 
 and we, instead of delivering his message, content our- 
 selves with teaching them to pay a decent respect to us, 
 and to our services. In the mean time, we allow their 
 immortal souls to go unwarned to eternal death. On 
 whose conscience will the blood of these souls rest ? 
 
 Such then is the preaching of the gospel ; it is the 
 proclamation of the love of God to men in Christ Jesus. 
 It may be in public or in private, to one or to many, from 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 21 
 
 the pulpit or at the fire-side. Whenever we set before 
 men the message of mercy, and urge them to obey the 
 commands of Christ, then we preach the gospel in obe- 
 dience to the precept in the text. 
 
 III. But who is thus to preach the gospel ? 
 
 What would be the answer to this question, if we lis- 
 tened to the voice of common humanity ? When the 
 brazen serpent was lifted up, who was to carry the good 
 news throughout the camp ? When the glad tidings of 
 peace arrived in the city, who was to proclaim it to his 
 fellow-citizens ? When the news of peace with God, 
 through the blood of the covenant, is proclaimed to us, 
 who shall make it known to those perishing in sin ? The 
 answer in each case is, every one. Were no command 
 given, the common principles of our nature would teach 
 us that nothing but the grossest selfishness would claim 
 to be exempted from the joyful duty of extending to 
 others the blessing which we have received ourselves. 
 
 But, beside this, we have, in the text, the command 
 of Christ. Go ye into all the world and preach the gos- 
 pel to every creature ; and, lo ! I am with you always, 
 even unto the end of the world. The command is as uni- 
 versal as discipleship, and it is to continue obligatory till 
 the Son of man shall come. 
 
 Does any one say that this command was given only to 
 the apostles ? It may or may not have been so ; but 
 were they alone included in the obligation which it im- 
 
22 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 poses ? The address at the last supper was given to 
 them alone, as were many other of the instructions of 
 our Lord ; but were they the only persons to whom the 
 words spoken apply ? Is it affirmed that they and those 
 whom they should appoint are alone to preach the word ? 
 I answer that Jesus Christ never said so, and we have no 
 more right to add to this, than to any other of his com- 
 mandments. 
 
 But let us see how the apostles themselves understood 
 the precept. Their own narrative shall inform us. At 
 that time there was a great persecution against the church 
 that was at Jerusalem, and they were scattered abroad 
 throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except 
 the apostles. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad 
 went every where preaching the word. — Acts viii. 1, 4. 
 Then they that were scattered abroad upon the perse- 
 cution that arose about Stephen, traveled as far as Phe- 
 nice and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none 
 but Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus 
 and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, 
 spake also to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 
 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great 
 number believed and turned to the Lord. These men 
 were not apostles, nor even original disciples of Christ, 
 for they were men of Cyprus and Cyrene. Yet they 
 went everywhere preaching the word, and in so doing 
 they pleased the Master, for the Holy Spirit accompanied 
 their labors with the blessing from on high. The as- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 23 
 
 cended Saviour thus approved of their conduct, and testi- 
 fied that their understanding of his last command was 
 correct. 
 
 If we need any farther confirmation of the interpreta- 
 tion which we have given of the precept in the text, we 
 find it in other portions of our Lord's teaching. The 
 kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman 
 took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole 
 was leavened. The words here indicate the manner in 
 which the kingdom of Christ is to extend itself. Leaven 
 assimilates the whole mass to itself by the contact of 
 particle with particle — each particle, as soon as it is lea- 
 vened, communicating its own virtue to all the particles 
 surrounding it. So, every disciple of Christ is bound, by 
 proclaiming Christ to those near to him, to extend 
 the kingdom of the Eedeemer ; and every one who 
 becomes a disciple is bound to make it his chief business 
 to disciple others. 
 
 Again, our Lord declares that every one who believes in 
 him shall be the means of imparting salvation to others. 
 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood 
 and cried, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and 
 drink. He that believe th on me, as the Scripture hath 
 said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
 This he spake of the Spirit which, not the apostles, but 
 tJiey that believe on Mm should receive. Thus, as our 
 Lord is the living fountain from which every believer 
 drinks ; so every one who has drunk of this fountain be- 
 
24 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 comes, in this secondary sense, a fountain to all who are 
 about him. 
 
 So, in the message to the churches, delivered by the as- 
 cended Saviour to the Apostle John, we find these remark- 
 able words : I am the root and offspring of David, and 
 the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the 
 Bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, 
 and let him that is athirst come, and. whosoever will, let 
 him take the water of life freely. 
 
 You see then, brethren, the nature and duty of the 
 church of Christ. It consists of the whole company of 
 penitent sinners, united to Christ by faith, animated by 
 the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, every one partaking 
 with Christ in that love of souls which moved him to 
 offer up himself, and every one laboring after his example 
 for the salvation of the world. This is the object for 
 which the believer lives, as it was the object for which 
 Christ lived. This consecration of himself to Christ for 
 this purpose, is a matter of personal obligation. It can- 
 not be done by deputy. It must be done by the man 
 himself. He can no more delegate it to another, than 
 he can delegate faith, or repentance, or prayer, or holy 
 living. Every disciple must be a discipler. Every indi- 
 vidual is leaven, and he must assimilate to himself all 
 that comes into contact with him. As he himself drinks 
 of the fountain, he must become a fountain to his fellow 
 men ; otherwise, he has not drunk of the fountain him- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 25 
 
 self. If he bear not fruit, he is cut off as a branch, and 
 is withered. 
 
 This is the first and primary duty of a disciple, and to 
 it his whole life must be conformed. He may enter upon 
 no calling, he may occupy no station, he may indulge in 
 no amusement inconsistent with his elementary duty of 
 discipleship. A revival of religion represents a church in 
 its normal condition, the condition which Christ always 
 intended it to maintain. Then every believer makes it 
 his great concern to call men to repentance, not as a 
 matter of form, but with earnest and moving persuasion. 
 Every convert is inviting his former companions to turn 
 unto the Lord. But, if this manner of life is appropriate 
 to a revival, it is appropriate to all times ; for men are, 
 everywhere and at all times, sinners hastening to the 
 judgment seat, and they must perish unless they are re- 
 deemed by the blood of Christ. 
 
 It would be easy to show that it is by involving this 
 obligation in the very elementary idea of discipleship, 
 that Christ has provided for the universal triumph of his 
 church. On this depends the vitality of personal religion. 
 We can never in earnest call men to repentance, unless 
 we are living holy and penitent lives ourselves. Hence, 
 also arises the separation of the church from the world, 
 and hence the antagonism which Christ declares must 
 always exist between them. Because ye are net of the 
 world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore 
 the world hateth you. It is under these circumstances 
 
26 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 that the church has always gained its most signal victo- 
 ries, and when these principles of duty exercise an abiding 
 influence over the life of every disciple, the kingdoms of 
 this world will soon become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and of his Christ.* 
 
 * There is matter for thought in the following remarks of Neander : 
 " History teaches us to estimate aright the deep significance of this Chris- 
 tian truth, [' the mediation of Christ'] here developed from the words of the 
 Apostle. The entire dependence of all Christians alike upon this one advo- 
 cacy, to the exclusion of every other, being based upon this truth ; we ac- 
 cordingly see that whenever it became obscured in the Christian conscious- 
 ness, that dependence was again, as in the ante-Christian period, transferred 
 to a human priesthood and to a multiplicity of mediations, and again the 
 distinction between priests and laity, between spiritual and secular, found 
 admission. And thus will it ever be, when this reference of the religious 
 consciousness in all believers, to the one mediation through Christ, is cast in 
 the back ground ; is obscured or misunderstood " — Neander on John, trans- 
 lated by Mrs. Conant, p. 57. 
 
 " The word 'anointing' suggests to us the ordinances of the old dispensa- 
 tion, from which it was borrowed. Kings, priests, prophets, received their 
 consecration to the office appointed them by God through an anointing, — the 
 symbol of the power imparted to them by God through his Spirit for the ful- 
 fillment of their calling. By the outward and visible was signified that 
 which in its fullness and completion, was to be wrought inwardly upon the 
 spirit. Now that which was expressed outwardly under the old dispensa- 
 tion, and by a single act, is in the New Testament converted wholly into the 
 inward and spiritual, and working from within embraces the entire life. That 
 which under the old dispensation, was restricted to individuals, intrusted in 
 some manner with the guidance of God's people, — individuals who were 
 thereby separated from the body of the people, — now under the new dis- 
 pensation belongs to the people of God universally. The limitations of the 
 Old Testament are burst asunder by the spirit of the New. First of all, its 
 founder himself, the sovereign in God's kingdom, the Saviour — is called tho 
 Anointed, the Christ, as having been consecrated to his work through the 
 fullness of the indwelling Spirit of God ; as possessing in himself the fullness, 
 the sum of all those divine powers, which were only imparted singly as 
 special gifts to the prophets of the Old Testament. So, by virtue of their fel- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 27 
 
 Such, then, is the privilege, and such the duty of 
 every disciple of Christ. It enters into the elementary 
 idea of discipleship. With this every other subsequent 
 idea must be in harmony. No ecclesiastical system 
 which we form can either liberate a disciple from this 
 obligation, or take away his privilege of thus laboring for 
 Christ. Whatever offices are created in the church, are 
 created for the purpose of enabling the disciple the better 
 to discharge this duty. They are made for the church, 
 the church is not made fur them ; and it becomes us ever 
 to be watchful, lest by any error the church of Christ be 
 deprived of this, the mainspring of all its efficiency. 
 
 I have thus far spoken of the gifts which are common 
 to every man of a sane mind. But almost every man has 
 some peculiar gift, that is, some naturally bestowed means 
 of usefulness. This also he is bound in the same manner 
 
 lowship with him, are all who are redeemed by him made partakers of the 
 Holy Spirit which he imparts. From the fullness of the divine nature, the 
 divine power dwelling in him, he imparts to all. This is the inward anoint- 
 ing, the inward consecration whereby they are inwardly set apart from the 
 world, as those who belong to God through Christ. All are admitted with- 
 out distinction to the same fellowship with him, and receive from him the 
 same inward consecration to their divine mission through the Holy Spirit. 
 Henceforth there exists no more among the people of God any such distinc- 
 tion as under the old Testament between kings, priests, prophets and people ; 
 but all collectively are in like manner consecrated to God, have an equal 
 part in that inward consecration, in the illuminating and sanctifying influence 
 of the Holy Spirit. It is one royal, priestly generation, whose nobility and 
 high office is alike the heritage of all; all are prophets, through that com- 
 mon illumination of the Holy Spirit. Such are the weighty thoughts con- 
 tained in that single word, that honorable designation of believers." — Ibid., 
 pp. 126-8. 
 
28 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 to consecrate to the service of the Master. A brief al- 
 lusion to some of these will sufficiently illustrate my 
 meaning. One man may be endowed with uncommon 
 conversational ability, so that in the ordinary intercourse 
 of society, he readily leads the minds of men in any 
 direction that he chooses. The disciple of Christ is not at 
 liberty to use this talent for the purpose of attaining to 
 social pre-eminence, or for the gratification of personal 
 vanity ; he must use it as a means of winning souls to 
 Christ. Beautiful illustrations of this form of consecra- 
 tion of talent were seen in the lives of the late William 
 Wilberforce and Joseph John Gurney. Another disciple 
 may be endowed with skill in the conduct of mercantile 
 affairs, so that, with ease, he can accumulate a fortune, 
 when other men would merely earn a subsistence. This 
 talent he has no right to employ for the purpose of hoard- 
 ing up wealth for himself, or for his children, or of pro- 
 curing the means of luxurious extravagance, or fashionable 
 display. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and 
 the pride of life are not of the Father, but of the world. 
 He must consecrate this gift to God, and remember that 
 he will be called to account for this, as for every other 
 talent. And while such a man should abound in alms- 
 giving, let him be his own almoner, laboring with his 
 own hands and not with the hands of others, in the work 
 of benevolence. Another may have been gifted with skill 
 in the management of affairs, in arranging and carrying 
 forward plans for the labor of others, and in guiding 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 29 
 
 masses of men to right conclusions in all matters of pub- 
 lic concernment. This talent should be given to the 
 cause of religion and benevolence. Such men, instead of 
 leaving the charge of our benevolent institutions to the 
 ministry, should assume it themselves. They can do it 
 better than we, and the gift was granted to them for this 
 very purpose. It belongs to Christ, and to him must it 
 be cheerfully rendered. 
 
 These gifts to which I have referred, are bestowed upon 
 Christians for the general service of the church of Christ. 
 There are but few men who are not endowed with some 
 one of them, which it is their duty faithfully to improve. 
 I must, however, turn to those gifts which have special 
 reference to the ministry of the word. 
 
 It frequently happens, that a brother engaged in secu- 
 lar business is endowed with a talent for public speaking. 
 On matters of general interest, he is heard by his fellow- 
 citizens with pleasure and profit. This talent is more 
 largely bestowed than we commonly suppose ; and it 
 would be more frequently observed, if we desired to cul- 
 tivate and develop it. Now, a disciple who is able 
 successfully to address men on secular subjects, is surely 
 competent to address them on the subject in which he 
 takes an immeasurably greater interest. This talent 
 should specially be offered up in sacrifice to Christ. The 
 voice of such brethren should be heard in the conference 
 room, and in the prayer meeting. They have no right to 
 lay up this talent, more than any other, in a napkin. 
 
30 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 And still more is it incumbent on the churches, to foster 
 and improve gifts of this kind. Thus we arrive at the 
 order of lay preachers, formerly a most efficient aid in 
 the work of spreading the gospel. I believe that there 
 are but few churches among us, in the ordinary enjoyment 
 of religion, who have not much of this talent undiscovered 
 and unemployed. Let them search out and improve it. 
 Every church would thus be able to maintain out-stations, 
 where small congregations might be gathered, which 
 would shortly grow up into churches, able themselves to 
 become lights to the surrounding neighborhood. I know 
 of but few means by which the efficiency of our denomi- 
 nation could be so much increased as by a return to our 
 former practice in this respect. 
 
 But, besides this, it seems plainly to be the will of 
 Christ that some of his disciples should addict themselves 
 exclusively to the ministry of the gospel. Such men are 
 called elders, presbyters, bishops, ministers of the word, 
 or stewards of the mysteries of God. If it be asked, 
 under what circumstances may a believer undertake this 
 service ? — I answer, the New Testament, as it seems to 
 me, always refers to it as a calling to which a man is 
 moved by the Holy Ghost. No one may therefore enter 
 the ministry, except from the motive of solemn, con- 
 scientious duty. If he choose it as a profession, for the 
 sake of worldly advantage, or that he may enjoy a life of 
 leisure, or be enabled the better to pursue some favorite 
 studies, he has mistaken his calling. No man will ever 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 31 
 
 succeed in any undertaking, who pursues it as a means to 
 the attainment of something else ; least of all, when he 
 makes a convenience of the service of God in the minis- 
 try of reconciliation. 
 
 If it be asked how a man may know that he is called of 
 God to this work, I answer, the evidence seems to me to he 
 two-fold. In the first place, he must be conscious of a love 
 for the work itself, not for what in other respects he may 
 gain by it ; and also, there must be impressed on his soul 
 an abiding conviction, that, unless he devote himself to 
 this service, he can in no wise answer a good conscience 
 towards God. With the Apostle, he must be conscious 
 that a necessity is laid upon him, yea, that a woe rests 
 upon him, if he preach not the gospel. He who is im- 
 pressed by no such convictions, had, I think, better pur- 
 sue some other vocation. 
 
 This is the first indication of the man's duty. In the 
 next place, he must exhibit such evidences of his call to 
 this work as shall secure for him the approbation of his 
 brethren. Of his own feelings he must be the judge ; 
 of his qualifications they must be the judges. When 
 both he and they, after prayerful deliberation, unite in 
 the same opinion, then he may conclude that he is called 
 of God to the ministerial office. Neither of these evi- 
 dences alone is sufficient ; the union of them is alone sat- 
 isfactory. 
 
 The New Testament, I think, recognizes two forms of 
 ministerial labor ; that of evangelists and that of pas- 
 
32 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 tors. Evangelists are specially preachers, or missionaries, 
 Men called to this office are endowed with peculiar gifts 
 for awakening the careless, arousing the secure, directing 
 the attention of men to the subject of religion, and thus 
 planting churches where Christ has not been named. 
 The particular value of such an order of ministers, in 
 such a country as our own, is, I think, apparent. Many 
 of the fathers of the ministry in all this region, the men 
 who laid the foundations of your present prosperity, 
 were, for much of their time, evangelists ; and worthily 
 did they fulfill the ministry which they had received of 
 the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Besides evangelists, the New Testament authorizes the 
 appointment of pastors, that is of ministers of the gospel 
 placed over particular churches. The calling of such a 
 man is not to the cure of souls generally ; but, first of all, 
 of the souls of that particular people. He believes that 
 Christ has placed him over a separate church ; from that 
 church he receives his support ; and, for both reasons, he 
 is bound to devote to them his whole service. It is his 
 duty to warn every man and teach every man, that he 
 may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus : where- 
 unto he is to labor according to the working that worketh 
 in him mightily. It is his duty to make known clearly 
 and explicitly, and with tears, the danger and guilt of 
 the impenitent, to arouse the conscience, to point the in- 
 quiring soul to the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
 sin of the world, to unfold the riches of divine love to 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 33 
 
 the believing, to guard the disciples against conformity 
 to the world, to stimulate them by every holy motive to 
 higher attainments in piety and closer conformity to 
 Christ, to reclaim the backslider, to counsel the tempted, 
 to caution the unwary, to comfort the sick, to speak 
 peace to the dying believer, to suggest to his brethren 
 means of usefulness, to watch over the discipline of the 
 church, in all things showing himself a pattern of good 
 works, and ever doing the same work which he urges upon 
 them. He is to labor publicly, holding up the cross of 
 Christ before his people on the Sabbath, and on all oc- 
 casions when he can collect them to hear his message. 
 Wherever he calls them to assemble he should meet with 
 them. He will accomplish but little by urging them to 
 leave their secular business for a meeting for prayer, 
 while he is too much occupied in miscellaneous business 
 to attend it himself. But, beside this, he must follow 
 them to their homes, and press upon them individually 
 the claims of the Most High. With Paul, he must 
 teach publicly, and from house to house, testifying re- 
 pentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, if he would finish his course with joy, and at the 
 close of his life take his people to witness that he is 
 pure from the blood of all men. My brethren, is not 
 this a work great enough for any man ? Can any duty 
 vie with it in importance ? Doth it not then become 
 us to give ourselves wholly to it, that our profiting may 
 appear unto all ? Can we have any excuse before God, 
 
 2* 
 
34 THR APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 if we fritter away our lives in miscellaneous business, and 
 give to the work of God the mere shreds and clippings 
 of our time ? 
 
 You see, then, the means which the Saviour has pro- 
 vided for the universal triumph of his kingdom upon 
 earth. He requires every disciple, as soon as he becomes 
 a partaker of divine grace, to become a herald of salva- 
 tion to his fellow-men. He is a fountain, from which is 
 to flow a river of living water. The doing of this, is the 
 test of his discipleship. If he is a branch that beareth 
 not fruit, his end is to be cut off. He is the salt of the 
 earth, and if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall 
 it be salted. It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to 
 be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Secondly, 
 every disciple is bound to employ for Christ every pecu- 
 liar gift with which he may have been endowed. Thirdly, 
 every man possessed of the gifts for the ministry, men- 
 tioned in the New Testament, is bound to consecrate 
 them to Christ, either in connection with his secular pur- 
 suits or by devoting his whole time to this particular 
 service. 
 
 If this be so, you see that in the church of Christ 
 there is no ministerial caste ; no class elevated in rank 
 above their brethren, on whom devolves the discharge of 
 the more dignified or more honorable portions of Chris- 
 tian labor, while the rest of the disciples are to do nothing 
 but raise the funds necessary for their support. The 
 minister does the same work that is to be done by every 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 35 
 
 other member of the body of Christ ; but, since he does 
 it exclusively, he may be expected to do it more to edi- 
 fication. Is it his business to labor for the conversion of 
 sinners and the sanctification of the body of Christ ? so 
 is it theirs. In every thing which they do as disciples, 
 he is to be their example. I know that we now restrict 
 to the ministry the administration of the ordinances, and 
 to this rule I think there can be no objection. Bat we 
 all know that for this restriction we have no example in 
 the New Testament. In other respects it is difficult to 
 discover, in principle, the difference between the labors 
 of a minister and those of any other disciple, in conver- 
 sation, or in a Sabbath-school, or a Bible class, or in a 
 conference room. All are laboring to produce the same 
 result, the conversion of men, and by the same means, 
 the inculcation of the teachings of Christ and his apostles. 
 The ministry is made for the church, and not the church 
 for the ministry. We are not Boodhist priests, or Mo- 
 hammedan dervishes, or members of a papal or any other 
 hierarchy, or a class above or aside from our brethren, 
 but simply ambassadors of Christ, your servants for Je- 
 sus' sake. The chiefest of the Apostles desired no higher 
 rank, and with it we are abundantly satisfied. 
 
 You see, then, my brethren, what is the New Testa- 
 ment idea of a church of Christ ; it is a company of be- 
 lievers, each one united to Christ and pervaded by his 
 spirit, and each one devoting every talent, whether ordi- 
 nary or peculiar, to the work of evangelizing the world 
 
36 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 When a company of disciples is collected together in a 
 particular community, they are the leaven hy which 
 Christ intends that whole community to he leavened. 
 By virtue of their discipleship they are called upon to ac- 
 complish this work, and it is their duty, in his strength, 
 to attempt it. He did not light that candle to place it 
 under a bushel. Every individual is to become at once 
 a herald of salvation. Those endowed with aptness to 
 teach are to be sent to destitute and forgotten places in 
 the vicinity, to the highways and hedges, to compel men 
 to come to the gospel supper. The ministry are to devote 
 to this work their whole time, as ensamples and leaders 
 of the flock ; surveying the whole field and suggesting 
 to each brother his appropriate sphere of labor. Let the 
 disciples of Christ thus obey the Master in the most de- 
 praved city among us, and, by the grace of God, its whole 
 population would soon be subdued unto Christ. The 
 moral atmosphere would be purified by the outpouring 
 of the Holy Spirit, the work of righteousness would be 
 peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assur- 
 ance forever. 
 
 And when the disciples of Christ of every name thus 
 obey his last command, making, as he did, the conversion 
 of the world the great object for which they live, the last 
 act in the great drama of man's redemption will have 
 opened. Private believers will feel their obligation to 
 carry the gospel to the destitute as strongly as ministers, 
 They will then be seen by thousands, like Paul, minister- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 37 
 
 ing to themselves with their own hands, while they carry 
 the gospel to regions beyond. Then will ensue the iinal 
 struggle between the powers of light and the powers of 
 darkness, for dominion over this world. Then will the 
 heathen be given to Christ for his inheritance, and the 
 uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Then 
 will the accuser of the brethren be cast out. Then from 
 every people and tongue and nation of a regenerated 
 world will ascend the anthem of salvation to him that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever. 
 
 If now we need any confirmation of the truth of these 
 views, I think we shall find it in observing the manner 
 in which the church of Christ was first planted, under 
 the eye of the Master. It was simply this : One indi- 
 vidual, when called of Christ, brought other individuals 
 to him. John stood, and two of his disciples, and look- 
 ing upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb 
 of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and 
 they followed Jesus. One of the two was Andrew, Simon 
 Peter's brother. He findeth his own brother Simon, and 
 saith unto him, We have found the Messiah. And he 
 brought him to Jesus. The day following Jesus findeth 
 Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Philip findeth 
 Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him of 
 whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus 
 of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael saith unto 
 him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip 
 saith unto him, Come and see. Thus, by contact of soul 
 
38 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 with soul, did the church of Christ increase. And I may 
 add, if any one will read the gospel with this view, he 
 will he surprised to ohserve how much of the recorded 
 teaching; of Christ consists of conversation addressed to 
 individuals, in the ordinary intercourse of life. 
 
 A^ain, ohserve that no sooner had our Lord collected a 
 little band of disciples, than he employed a large portion 
 of them as missionaries to announce the approach of his 
 kingdom. From his small company of followers, he chose 
 first twelve, and then seventy, whom he sent abroad on 
 this errand. If every church among us furnished heralds 
 of the gospel in like proportion, there w^ould be no lack 
 of ministers. 
 
 Observe, again, the circumstances under which, after 
 the ascension of our Lord, the church of Christ com- 
 menced its victorious march over the then known world. 
 Against it were arrayed not only the interests and lusts 
 and pride of man, but the power of every government, and 
 all the influences emanating from a luxurious, refined, 
 and intelligent civilization. On what did Christ rely, as 
 his human instruments, to prostrate this vast fabric of 
 tasteful, venerable, and cultivated idolatry ? He made no 
 attempt to undermine and overthrow paganism in gen- 
 eral. He published no discourses intended to prepare the 
 public mind for the coming revolution. He sent abroad 
 no schoolmasters, to instil the principles of secular truth 
 into the minds of the young. On the contrary, he met 
 the whole power of the adversary face to face, and brought 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 39 
 
 divine truth into immediate collision with long cherished 
 and much loved moral error. He charged every disciple 
 to proclaim the gospel at once to every creature. He se- 
 lected those who were to be the first preachers of the 
 word, the first ministers of his church, from the lower and 
 middle walks of life — men destitute of all the advantages 
 of special intellectual culture, whom their enemies re- 
 proached as unlettered and ignorant. When cultivated 
 talent was required, it was furnished in the person of the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles. As the church commenced, so, 
 to the close of the inspired record, it continued. Ye see 
 your calling, brethren, said the Apostle, how that not 
 many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
 many noble are called, but God hath chosen the weak 
 things of the world to confound the things that are mighty, 
 and base things of the world, and things that are despised, 
 hath God chosen, yea, things that are not, to bring to 
 naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his 
 presence. Under the conviction of these truths, Paul 
 labored in the ministry. Though a well educated man, 
 who had profited above many that were his equals, yet 
 when he proclaimed the gospel in refined and luxurious 
 Corinth, although the preaching of the cross was to the 
 Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, 
 he resolved to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ 
 and him crucified. He did from choice, precisely as his 
 uneducated brethren did from necessity. It is surprising 
 to observe the entire simplicity of those efforts, by which, 
 
40 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 in an incredibly short period, the gospel was planted 
 throughout the whole Koman Empire. We can discover 
 no means employed to accomplish this result, but pro- 
 claiming to all men repentance toward God and faith in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, imposing on every regenerated 
 man the duty, in turn, of proclaiming the good news to 
 others, always relying, and relying wholly, on the power 
 of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It may be said, these times were unlike any that 
 the world has since witnessed. But let us ask, does 
 change in social condition render it necessary to adopt 
 any new principles in conducting our efforts for the con- 
 version of mankind ? Survey our missionary field, and 
 observe the places where the preaching of the gospel has 
 been attended with the most remarkable success. We 
 number among the Karens, for instance, more converts 
 than in all our other missions together. And how was 
 the gospel preached to them ? They live in scattered 
 hamlets along the water courses, in the jungle, whose 
 miasmata are fatal to a foreigner, except for a few months 
 in the year. During this brief interval the missionary 
 traveled among them, preaching Christ to one, or two, or 
 ten, or twenty, as he could collect hearers. The Holy 
 Spirit was poured out, and sinners were converted. Small 
 churches were formed, and, from the necessity of the case, 
 left for the remainder of the year to themselves. With 
 the spirit of primitive Christianity, these rude men 
 pointed their neighbors to the Saviour. Ministerial gifts 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 41 
 
 manifested themselves among them as they were needed, 
 and a large number became ministers of the word. The 
 work of God was thus carried forward with remarkable 
 power. The brother whose labors among them have been 
 so eminently blessed, worn down by incessant toil, was 
 obliged to leave his station for a year or two, for the re- 
 covery of his health. On his return, fearful that his 
 flock had been scattered during his absence, he inquired 
 with trembling solicitude concerning their condition. You 
 may judge of his surprise, when he learned that about 
 fifteen hundred persons were then awaiting baptism. — 
 This blessed result had been accomplished by men hardly 
 elevated at all above their brethren, for they had no 
 knowledge whatever, beyond that contained in the New 
 Testament, and the few books and tracts which, within a 
 few years, had been translated into their language. The 
 contact of soul with soul was thus leavening the lump. 
 Pastors, as they were needed, have been raised up among 
 them ; and these are now, in a large measure, supported 
 by the voluntary effort of their brethren. Thus is the 
 religion of Christ displaying through this whole region its 
 power of self-extension, by the preaching of the gospel 
 attended by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 If the question be asked, could this work have been 
 carried on without the aid of men of more cultivated 
 minds and larger knowledge than the Karens ? — I answer, 
 Certainly not. — But I ask again, could this work have been 
 carried on without the labors of these rude and unlettered 
 
42 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 men, who went everywhere preaching the word ? The 
 answer is the same, Certainly not. Our conclusion, then, 
 is that God requires, and that he employs, in his vineyard, 
 all classes of laborers ; and the union of all is necessary 
 to the accomplishment of his work. In general, I think 
 it will be found that, other things being equal, the 
 preacher of the gospel will be most successful, whose 
 habits of thought are not greatly elevated above those of 
 his hearers. President Edwards was, I think, without 
 dispute, the ablest theologian of his time. His ministry, 
 for many years, was eminently successful in Northampton 
 and its vicinity ; but I have never heard that it was at- 
 tended with any remarkable results during his missionary 
 life among the Stockbridge Indians. 
 
 But it may perhaps be said, that in this case the peo- 
 ple to whom the gospel was preached, were ignorant 
 pagans ; and that we cannot, from such an example, 
 learn the best manner of extending the church of Christ 
 among men of intellectual culture. Let us then turn to 
 Germany, and inquire for the circumstances under which 
 the gospel has wrought so powerfully there. Among no 
 people on earth has education been more widely diffused, 
 and now^here has teaching been conducted with more 
 admirable skill. It is the land of Luther and of the 
 reformation, the preceptress of Europe in science and 
 philology. What, then, have been the facts here ? 
 
 In the year 1835, a Baptist Church of believers was 
 constituted in Hamburgh, consisting of seven members, 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 43 
 
 imbued in a remarkable degree with the spirit of Apostolic 
 Christianity. Of this church, Rev. Mr. Oncken was or- 
 dained pastor. That church of seven members has 
 already multiplied itself into 42 churches, sustaining 356 
 stations, numbering 4,215 communicants,* baptized, on 
 profession of their faith, into the name of the Lord 
 Jesus. Each church is supplied with a pastor. Churches 
 and stations are established in Northern Germany, east- 
 ward from Hamburgh to the borders of Russia ; quite 
 extensively through Southern Germany, and to some ex- 
 tent in Sweden and Denmark. On no other churches in 
 Christendom does the smile of heaven so signally rest. 
 They are, emphatically, a field which the Lord has 
 blessed. 
 
 And how have these results been accomplished ? By 
 following the example left us by Christ and his apostles, 
 the little one has become a thousand, and a small nation 
 a strong people. Every disciple acknowledged the obli- 
 gation laid upon him by the last command of our Lord. 
 The Holy Ghost bestowed upon the churches ministerial 
 gifts adapted to the work before them. These gifts were 
 cherished, and called into exercise. Preaching was com- 
 menced wherever the Lord opened a door. Stations were 
 established, and the men were found to occupy them. 
 These stations grew into churches, by which other stations 
 were sustained. Thus churches were multiplied in every 
 
 * Exclusive of those who have been removed by death and emigration. 
 Many of them are now residing in our "Western States. 
 
44 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 direction ; the Holy Spirit was everywhere poured out, 
 and much people was added to the Lord. Some of these 
 churches now contain two or three hundred members. 
 Almost all of them sustain stations, some of them as 
 many as twenty or thirty ; and, though it may seem in- 
 credible to some of us, all this glorious work has been 
 accomplished in classical Germany, without the aid of a 
 single classically educated laborer. Would it not be 
 possible for us to learn a lesson from our brethren in 
 Germany ? 
 
 But it will perhaps be said, this is an example from a 
 foreign country ; would the same means for extending 
 the reign of Christ avail us equally here at home ? Cast 
 your eyes backward then, and look upon our own condi- 
 tion some fifty or sixty years since. The men are now 
 living, who remember the Baptist denomination when it 
 was the least of the thousands of Israel. We are now 
 among the most numerous, perhaps the most numerous, 
 communion in the United States. By what means has 
 our increase been so astonishing ? How has it come to 
 pass, that believers in such multitudes have, through our 
 instrumentality, been added to the Lord. I think the 
 answer at once suggests itself, if we call to mind the 
 character of the Baptists of the preceding generation. 
 Though plain men, generally of ordinary education, they 
 were men of prayer, full of the Holy Ghost, each one 
 holding himself in a special manner responsible for making 
 known to those that were around him the truth as it is in 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 45 
 
 Jesus. They were men of conference and prayer meet- 
 ings, and revivals of religion ; who, in barns, in school- 
 rooms, and in private houses, wherever they could 
 collect an audience, preached repentance toward God, and 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every talent which a 
 church discovered among its members, was called into the 
 service of Christ. There was scarcely a church amongst 
 us which had not its lay preachers, or as they were termed, 
 licentiates. Of these, many from time to time entered 
 the regular ministry, and thus pastors were supplied in 
 proportion to our need. Our settled ministers labored 
 not only in their own churches, but made frequent mis- 
 sionary tours in the more destitute regions in their vicinity, 
 thus doing the work of evangelists. While we were thus, 
 with singular earnestness, devoting all the means in our 
 power to the service of Christ, the Lord added to us daily 
 of such as should be saved. Aud nowhere could I appeal 
 to the result of these labors with greater pleasure, than 
 in the very spot on which I stand. The numerous and 
 flourishing churches that fill the whole of Western New 
 York, this University, with all its strength in the present, 
 and its boundless hopes for the future, all owe their ex- 
 istence to the self-denials, the preaching, the prayers of 
 these plain, pious, venerable, and never to be forgotten 
 men. They have labored, and you have entered into 
 their labors. Of late years our progress has been much 
 less rapid. Our views in many of these respects have 
 
46 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 changed. May not this change in our views be connected 
 with the change in our prosperity ? 
 
 These instances seem to me to throw some light upon 
 the teachings of the New Testament on this subject. I 
 fear that we are in danger in this matter of forsaking the 
 instructions of Christ and his apostles, and following the 
 traditions of men, not observing the tendencies to which 
 they lead. The Reformers brought with them many of 
 the errors of the church of Rome. May we not have de- 
 rived, through them, some erroneous notions respecting 
 the church and the Christian ministry ? Can any one 
 fail to perceive, that the views of our Hamburgh brethren 
 on this subject are more in accordance with the New Tes- 
 tament, than those of Luther, or Calvin, or Melancthon, 
 or John Knox ? 
 
 The doctrines here presented seem to me to have an 
 important bearing on the subject of Christian and minis- 
 terial education. 
 
 The principles which should govern us in this matter, 
 seem to be something like the following : — ■ 
 
 I have said that every disciple of Christ is under im- 
 perative obligations to become a herald of salvation to 
 his fellow men, and to beseech them, in Christ's stead, to 
 be reconciled to God. This can only be done by the 
 action of mind upon mind. It is a case in which the 
 mind of one man seeks to exert an influence over the 
 mind of another. To accomplish this result, it is obvious 
 that disciplined is more powerful than undisciplined mind. 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 47 
 
 We are taught by Christ, that we are under obligations 
 not only to use, but to improve every talent committed 
 to us, that we may have the more to consecrate to his 
 service. The slothful servant was condemned because he 
 returned his talent just in the condition in which he had 
 received it. This is the universal condition on which we 
 are allowed to hold every gift intrusted to us. But, if 
 this be the universal rule, how emphatic is its application 
 to intellectual gifts, the most valuable of all the talents 
 with which we are intrusted. Hence, every disciple of 
 Christ is under the most imperative obligations to enlarge 
 his knowledge, to cultivate his faculties, to discipline his 
 mental energies ; that he may have the more to devote to 
 the service of the Master. A wilfully ignorant Christian 
 is a contradiction. He is a barren fig tree. He is the 
 indolent servant who returned his talent, which he had 
 kept wrapt up in a napkin. When the Master shall ask 
 what he has gained by trading, what will he reply ? 
 Brethren, the law of the Lord is exceeding broad, and it 
 would be well for us if we more frequently contemplated 
 the universality of its application. 
 
 When I say this, I beg not to be misunderstood. I do 
 not mean to teach that Christ requires you all to qualify 
 yourselves for what are sometimes called the learned pro- 
 fessions, or to pursue any particular course of mental 
 culture. I mean that every man, whatever be is calling, 
 should avail himself of every means of mental cultivation 
 which Providence has placed within his reach ; and that 
 
48 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 lie should strive, with all earnestness, to place such means 
 within the reach of his children. Let our youth, univer- 
 sally, be provided with every opportunity for generous in- 
 tellectual discipline. I can see no reason why a farmer, 
 or a mechanic, or a merchant, or a manufacturer, should 
 not read as good books, and be as well-informed and in- 
 telligent a man, as a lawyer, or a minister, or a physician. 
 I have thought, that our institutions of higher education 
 should be organized upon this principle ; providing edu- 
 cation not for one class, but for all classes, thus enabling 
 all classes to avail themselves of their advantages. To 
 labor for these results seems to me to be our duty as 
 parents, and as citizens, but above all, as disciples of 
 Christ. If we are bound to consecrate our all to Him, we 
 are just as much bound to render that all as valuable as 
 possible, that so we may have the richer gift to lay upon 
 his altar. Looking upon the subject from a Christian 
 point of view, this seems to me to be the principle under- 
 lying every other, which should govern all our efforts to 
 educate ourselves, and to provide the means of education 
 for our children. Were this principle universally recog- 
 nized, is it possible to estimate its effects upon the pro- 
 gress and stability of individual piety, and the enlarge- 
 ment of the kingdom of Christ ? 
 
 But, secondly, Grod sometimes bestows upon individuals 
 particular talents, which may be made the means of spe- 
 cial usefulness. One has a remarkable capacity for man- 
 aging affairs, another for mechanical invention, another 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 49 
 
 for philological research, and another for the pursuit of 
 abstract science. In such a case, it would seem that such 
 talent is to be cultivated with special care. It is a means 
 of usefulness which has not been created in vain, and is 
 not to be recklessly thrown away. On the same principle, 
 if a man has been endowed with a talent for public 
 speaking, though employed in a secular calling, he must 
 embrace every opportunity in his power to render this 
 talent serviceable to Christ. Besides availing himself of 
 every means of general culture, he should devote partic- 
 ular attention to the improvement of this special gift. 
 He should give himself to the study of the word of God, 
 and should labor as much as may be in his power, to ren- 
 der his instructions profitable to his fellow men. 
 
 But, now, suppose it manifest that God has called a 
 man to devote his whole time to the ministry of the 
 word ; it is obvious that the obligation to improve his 
 talent to the utmost, is specially imperative. It is by 
 means of his intellectual faculties that he attempts to 
 influence the minds of his fellow men. This is the service 
 to which they are exclusively devoted. He is laboring 
 in the cause which employed all the faculties of the Son 
 of man while on earth. For the use and the improve- 
 ment of his intellectual powers, he must render a spe- 
 cially solemn account. The means of improvement, which 
 God has placed in the power of those whom he calls to 
 the ministry, may be very dissimilar; inasmuch as they 
 may vary with age, domestic relations, pecuniary ability, 
 
 3 
 
50 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 and degree of talent for acquisition. God assigns these 
 conditions as he pleases ; all that he requires is, that all 
 that he has given should be faithfully improved, and con- 
 secrated to his service. From the views which we enter- 
 tain respecting the ministry, it is evident that a large 
 portion of our candidates for the sacred office must have 
 attained to some maturity of age. It must certainly be 
 difficult to ascertain whether or not a person in mere 
 youth possesses the qualifications which the Apostle Paul 
 teaches us must be required in a candidate. 
 
 If it be then our purpose to provide the means of im- 
 provement for those among us who are called to the min- 
 istry, it has seemed to me that we should bear in mind 
 these elementary ideas of our denomination on this 
 subject. If we are willing to follow, and not to lead, the 
 Spirit of God — that is, if we educate no man for the 
 ministry until we are satisfied, not that he may be, but 
 that he has been called of God to the work of preaching 
 the gospel — we shall always have among our candidates a 
 large number of those who have passed the period of 
 youth, and for whom the studies of youth would be un- 
 suitable, if not useless. Yet these are the very men to 
 whom appropriate culture would be specially valuable. 
 Others, in various degrees, have been more favored with pre- 
 paratory education, and the means for more extended dis- 
 cipline. The means and advantages of our candidates must, 
 therefore, be exceedingly dissimilar. If, then, we would 
 labor to give to the ministry the means of improvement, 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 51 
 
 we must provide those means for them all. A system of 
 ministerial education, adapted to the condition of but one 
 in twenty of our candidates, commences with the avowed 
 intention of doing but one-twentieth part of its work, 
 and of helping those only who have the least need of its 
 assistance. We should therefore provide for all our 
 brethren whom God has called to this service, the best 
 instruction in our power ; adapted, as far as possible, not 
 to any theoretical view, but to the actual condition of the 
 mass of our candidates, leaving each individual, in the 
 exercise of a sound and pious discretion, to determine the 
 extent to which he is able to avail himself of our ser- 
 vices. While means should be fully provided for pursuing 
 an extended course of education, we must never lose 
 sight of the large number of our brethren to whom an 
 extended course would be impossible. 
 
 But in what way soever a candidate pursues his studies, 
 whether by himself, or under the instruction of an elder 
 brother in the ministry, or in a seminary devoted to this 
 purpose, the question remains to be considered, to what 
 points shall his efforts be directed. In attempting to an- 
 swer this question, it is important to determine, in the 
 first place, what object he has in view. His object is to 
 prepare himself to be, not a teacher, or a professor, or an 
 agent, or a philological scholar, or a popular writer, but 
 an evangelist or a pastor.* His calling is to persuade 
 
 * It is not by any means asserted that theso various gifts are not useful, 
 or are not to be cultivate d. What I say is, that they are not particularly 
 
52 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 men to be reconciled to God, and to build up those who 
 are reconciled, in their most holy faith. His studies, 
 then, must all bear directly upon the object, for which it 
 has pleased God to put him into the ministry. The 
 means which he is to use in accomplishing this object are 
 simple. He is to make known the will of God as it has 
 been revealed in the New Testament, and to urge men to 
 obey it. 
 
 It is obvious then, first of all, that the minister of the 
 gospel must be, as thoroughly as possible, acquainted with 
 the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles. These 
 contain the precise truth inspired by the Holy Ghost, 
 . which he is to communicate to others. He is authorized 
 to make known to men, as the commandment of God, 
 the whole of this revelation, and nothing whatever beyond 
 it. It is precisely this truth, and nothing else, that the 
 Spirit of God has promised to accompany with his 
 almighty power. Now, I think that a man may be ma- 
 terially assisted to understand the New Testament by 
 improved mental discipline. He needs to acquire the 
 habit of continuous and abstract thought, the power of 
 concentrating his mind upon a subject, and keeping it 
 steady to its work. He must think through the thoughts 
 of the Bible, that he maybe able to present them clearly 
 to others. But let me say that this is far from being a 
 
 connected with the ministry, and therefore should be cultivated elsewhere. 
 Least of all should a course of education for the Christian ministry be modi- 
 fied for the sake of preparing men for other and different pursuits. 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 53 
 
 merely intellectual process. Simply intellectual power 
 can never attain to it. There is needed, beside this, a 
 devout and holy temper of mind, without which mere 
 mental strength can do but little. These things are hid- 
 den from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes. 
 Of all this you are fully aware from your own experience. 
 When you have been desirous of ascertaining the mean- 
 ing of any particular passage of the Scriptures, in order 
 to impress it more deeply on your fellow-men, in what 
 manner have you been most successful ; by turning over 
 the works of men, or by the earnest thinking of a soul 
 lying in lowly prostration before the Spirit of infinite 
 wisdom ? I do not stand here to disoaraaje either human 
 learning, or logical acuteness, but I say that these, with- 
 out the aid of a holy temper of mind, will enable us but 
 imperfectly to understand the mind of the Spirit. What 
 we need is, to know, not the thoughts of man, but the 
 thoughts of God, and these will be best understood by 
 the soul illumined by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Here I may, however, remark, in passing, that the reve- 
 lation given to us consists of ideas, and not of words. 
 These ideas may be expressed in our own language, or 
 in the languages in which they were written. If a man 
 have the opportunity of reading the Bible in its original 
 languages, let him by all means learn to do it, and do it 
 thoroughly. Let him embrace this and every other op- 
 portunity of generous intellectual culture. No man may 
 innocently reject any means by which he may add to the 
 
54 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 accuracy of his knowledge of the word of God. But if 
 such opportunity as he may desire have not been given 
 him, let him not despair, or think himself set aside as a 
 vessel in whom the Master has no pleasure. Let him 
 study the Scriptures more earnestly, and pray more de- 
 voutly, using every means which God has placed in his 
 power ; and the Spirit will assuredly lead him into all 
 necessary truth. 
 
 But suppose this truth to have been arrived at ; it is 
 then to be presented to the human heart, so as to pro- 
 duce the effect of persuasion. Here is required a knowl- 
 edge of the human mind, its moral condition, its opposi- 
 tion to God, its subjection to earthly affections, and of all 
 the phases which it assumes when its chambers of imagery 
 are illuminated by the light of divine truth. In order to 
 acquire this knowledge, the man must become acquainted, 
 first of all, with his own moral nature, and the modes of 
 its operation. When he tells what he has himself ex- 
 perienced, he may be assured that in general he speaks 
 the language of humanity. Here also he needs to be in 
 the habit of personal conversation with his fellow-men on 
 the subject of religion. Hence it is that no man is ever 
 an effective preacher, who does not visit his people for the 
 sake of urging upon them personally the claims of religion. 
 Have you never observed how pungent the preaching of a 
 minister becomes who has spent a few weeks in the midst 
 of a revival of religion, where his whole time is occupied 
 in intercourse with awakened souls, and how such a min- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 55 
 
 ister carries everywhere with him the spirit of a revival ? 
 It is thus that we learn to apply the truths of the gospel 
 to the minds of men. 
 
 But a minister is ta teach publicly, and from house to 
 house. 
 
 Under the first of these divisions of his duty must be 
 placed the composition of a sermon. He whose weekly 
 business it is to address men publicly, should, if possible, 
 understand the nature and objects of a discourse, and 
 should learn to construct a discourse correctly. He 
 should acquire the ability to think out a train of thought, 
 which embodies oue idea revealed by the Spirit of truth, 
 and to lead the minds of men in the direction which he 
 intends. Thorough, faithful, and honest dealing with a 
 candidate, may here be of eminent advantage to his fu- 
 ture ministry. 
 
 But suppose this train of thought to be thus prepared, 
 shall it be written or unwritten ? Each has its advan- 
 tages, but I am constrained to believe that the value of 
 written discourses has been in this country greatly over- 
 rated. Speaking an unwritten train of thought is by far 
 the noblest and most effective exercise of mind, provided 
 the labor of preparation in both cases be the same. I 
 can not but think that we have been the losers, by cul- 
 tivating too exclusively the habit of written discourses. 
 
 But the discourse having been prepared, it has yet to 
 be delivered. The cultivation of a clear and impressive 
 delivery, free from awkwardness, vulgarity, and oddity, 
 
56 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 and deeply imbued with the tones expressive of natural 
 feeling, is of the greatest importance to a public speaker. 
 It has surprised me that in seminaries, of which the ob- 
 ject is to educate preachers, so little time should be de- 
 voted to the art of delivery. From want of attention to 
 this subject, good and able men frequently attain to Very 
 moderate success, and are shoved aside by men, in other 
 respects, very greatly their inferiors. 
 
 But the gospel is to be preached not only publicly, but 
 from house to house. In preparing for this part of his 
 duty a young minister may receive much valuable in- 
 struction from an elder brother who has himself been a 
 diligent pastor. The sick are to be visited, the mourners 
 consoled, the thoughtless aroused, the secure alarmed, the 
 convicted urged to decision, the penitent pointed to 
 Christ, the wandering reclaimed, the feeble encouraged. 
 All this is to be done by personal appeal to individuals, 
 and he who has done it successfully, may give much val- 
 uable counsel to him who is just entering upon the work. 
 Until a minister has learned not only to perform but to 
 love this part of his labor, he cannot hope to be a work- 
 man that needeth not to be ashamed. I do not know 
 of a more common or a more just ground of complaint 
 against the ministry, than that of the neglect of parochial 
 visitation. It seems strange that a man whose sole call- 
 ing it is to urge men to repentance, should refuse to per- 
 form this duty, in this particular form, especially when 
 his people themselves invite him to perform it. They de- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 57 
 
 sire that he should converse with them individually on the 
 subject of their souls' salvation, and shall he consider 
 such conversation a drudgery, and leave his people un- 
 warned ? If any one desires to see this subject treated 
 of with great force and eloquence, I ask leave to commend 
 him to the perusal of " Baxter's Reformed Pastor." 
 
 Such seem to me, after some reflection, to be the points 
 to which the attention of a candidate for the ministry 
 should be directed. To these I know many others are 
 commonly added, and the number of additions is contin- 
 ually increasing. We, however, seem frequently to forget 
 that the time is rapidly approaching every young man, 
 when, if he would be any thing but a retailer of other 
 men's opinions, he must be a teacher unto himself ; and, 
 that the sooner he can be induced to put himself under 
 his own instruction, the sooner will he attain to the sta- 
 ture of a full grown man. 
 
 It is possible, my brethren, that in the views I have 
 thus frankly suggested, there may seem to you somewhat 
 of strangeness ; but let me respectfully request that you 
 will examine them, not in the light of the opinions and 
 practice of men, but in the light of the teachings of 
 Christ and his Apostles. Believe them and put them in 
 practice in just so far as they conform to the revealed will 
 of God, and no farther. This I may reasonably claim of 
 every disciple of Christ, and I have no desire to claim any 
 thing more. 
 
 At the present moment, a right understanding of the 
 
58 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 duties of the private disciples of Christy and of the min- 
 isters, and of the relations which they sustain to the Mas- 
 ter and to each other, seems to me of incalculable impor- 
 tance. Since the era of the Reformation, Protestantism 
 lias made no aggressions upon Popery, and the same 
 geographical lines have for centuries separated the parties 
 from each other. But now it is evident that a contest 
 for the mastery of the world between the powers of light 
 and the powers of darkness is imminent and inevitable. 
 The nations in which the Bible is freely circulated, and 
 the gospel publicly preached, are ranging themselves on 
 the one side ; and the nations from which the Bible is 
 prohibited, and where the preaching of Christ crucified is 
 forbidden, are ranging themselves on the other. Within 
 the life-time of men who now hear me, the question will 
 probably be decided, whether the kingdom of Christ is 
 now to proceed to universal victory, or ages of intellec- 
 tual and moral darkness are again to overspread the earth. 
 It is for such a crisis as this that the disciples of Christ 
 are now called upon to prepare. 
 
 But more than this. It is obvious that this question 
 is really to be decided in our own country. So long as 
 the light of true Christianity shines brightly here, the 
 rest of the world can not be enveloped in darkness. Hence 
 it is that the intention is publicly avowed of overturning 
 our systems of universal education, and thus bringing us 
 under the power of a foreign hierarchy. In aid of this 
 design, immigrants by hundreds of thousands are annu- 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 59 
 
 ally arriving on our shores, who are at once admitted to 
 all the privileges of citizenship, while they are conscien- 
 tiously bound to obedience to a foreign ecclesiastical po- 
 tentate. At the same time the press is scattering broad- 
 cast over our land the seeds of frivolity and licentiousness. 
 Unbounded prosperity is providing for every class of our 
 people the means of sensual gratification. The rise of 
 prices, consequent upon the increase of the precious 
 metals, is stimulating to yet greater excess the desire of 
 acquisition already sufficiently rife amongst us. But 
 critical as is our position, there would be nothing to alarm 
 us, if the disciples of Christ, holy and self-denying, were, 
 with one accord, ranging themselves under the banner of 
 their Master, and using every means in their power to 
 prepare for the coming onset ; and the ministry, in the 
 van of the Lord's hosts, tilled with the power of the Holy 
 Ghost, were by precept and example training their breth- 
 ren for the approaching conflict. 
 
 But what is the condition of our churches of all denomi- 
 nations at this critical moment ? The disciples of Christ 
 seem to be fast losing the distinctive marks of their pro- 
 fession. Self-denial for the cause of the Kedeemer will 
 soon become the exception, rather than the rule. In large 
 districts of our country, the admissions to the churches 
 are not as numerous as the removals by death. In the 
 mean time, the number of candidates for the ministry is 
 diminishing, in all denominations, not only relatively, but 
 absolutely. Nay, it is diminishing more rapidly than the 
 
60 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 figures indicate, for of the reputed number of candidates 
 a considerable portion never enter the ministry ; and of 
 those who enter it, a greater and greater number are an- 
 nually leaving it for other pursuits. And what is the 
 remedy proposed in this unusual crisis ? It has been 
 recommended, in order to meet this emergency, to reduce 
 the cost of ministerial education, to extend the term of 
 ministerial study, and to increase the pecuniary emolu- 
 ments of the ministry. In other words, we are told to 
 address stronger motives to the self-interests of men, that 
 so we may induce them to enter upon a calling essentially 
 self-denying. When the whole power of the adversary 
 is thundering at the gates, and the crisis requires every 
 man to stand to his arms, we content ourselves with of- 
 fering large bounty to officers, and allow every citizen to 
 retire from the conflict. Was ever a victory gained by 
 strategy such as this ? 
 
 In our own denomination, it is said that we have 4,000 
 churches destitute of preachers of the gospel. What is 
 to be done to meet this deficiency ? Does all that we are 
 doing furnish us with the shadow of a hope that this de- 
 mand can be supplied ? Nay, multiply our present 
 efforts to any practicable extent, and compared with the 
 work to be done, the discrepancy between the means and 
 the end is such as to awaken the feeling of the ludicrous. 
 Is it not time, then, to examine the whole subject from 
 its foundations ? May not some light be derived from 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 61 
 
 considering attentively the doctrine and examples of 
 Christ and his apostles ? 
 
 Is it not evident that if we are attempting to do the 
 work of God, we must do it in obedience to his command- 
 ments, and in conformity with the principles which he 
 has established ? Ministerial gifts have been bestowed 
 upon the church by Christ ever since he ascended on high, 
 and led captivity captive. He has commanded us to 
 pray the Lord of the harvest to bestow these gifts upon 
 men, and thus send forth laborers into the harvest. These 
 gifts, in whatsoever manner bestowed, we are to receive 
 cherish and improve. By no rules of our own are we 
 to restrict their number, or diminish their usefulness. We 
 are to accept thankfully all the means which Christ has 
 bestowed upon us for the advancement of his cause. We 
 are to cultivate a ministry after the example of the apos- 
 tles, composed of men relying upon prayer and the Holy 
 Ghost ; and in self-denial, crucifixion to the world, its 
 maxims, its amusements and its frivolities, setting an ex- 
 ample to the flock, while they devote themselves daily to 
 the work of saving souls. To every one whom Christ has 
 thus called let us give every intellectual advantage, which 
 the circumstances of his individual case render suitable. 
 Having done this, we have done all in our power for the 
 improvement of the ministry, and we may reasonably ex- 
 pect on our labors the blessing of God. 
 
 But when all this has been done, but little will have 
 been accomplished. If you, brethren, would improve the 
 
62 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 ministry, you must begin by improving yourselves. Min- 
 isterial gifts are not bestowed upon a slumbering, luke- 
 warm and worldly church. And suppose they were be- 
 stowed, of what value would they be either to you or .to 
 others, if you are surrendered up to the lusts of the flesh, 
 the lust of the eye, and the pride of life ? The ministry 
 can only labor successfully as you labor with them. If 
 you then really desire to witness the triumph of the cause 
 of the Kedeemer, you must begin to live a holy, self- 
 denying life. You men of wealth must cease from accu- 
 mulation, and devote not only your income but yourselves 
 to the work of the' Lord. You men in active business 
 must be content to accumulate less rapidly, that you may 
 have more of your time to consecrate to the salvation of 
 men. Ye who, professing obedience to Christ, are yet 
 living in subjection to the maxims of the world, eagerly 
 chasing its frivolities, and teaching the lesson to your 
 children, must commence a life of godly simplicity and 
 Christian self-denial. Every disciple, by his mode of 
 life, must show that he is not of the world, even as Christ 
 was not of the world. When ministers and people thus 
 begin to labor in earnest for Christ, we shall witness re- 
 sults such as the ages have not yet seen. 
 
 The nineteenth century since the advent of Christ, is 
 now half completed, and the world still lieth in wicked- 
 ness. Is it not high time that the heathen were given to 
 Christ for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
 earth for his possession ? Never, since the beginning, 
 
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 63 
 
 have the disciples of Christ enjoyed such advantages for 
 the universal dissemination of the gospel as at present. 
 Let us then go up and possess the land, for we are well 
 able to overcome it. Nothing is now wanting to subdue 
 the world unto Christ, but an universal, earnest, self-sac- 
 rificing effort of his disciples, in firm reliance upon the 
 Spirit from on high. Thus far we have failed in just so 
 far as we have trusted to our own wisdom instead of the 
 wisdom of the Master. We mourn over the vices of the* 
 land ? We invoke the majesty of the law, and laws are 
 not executed. We unite in associations, and our associa- 
 tions are rent asunder. We join hands, now with one, and 
 then with another struggling party, and we are sold in the 
 political shambles like brute beasts. Let us then abjure 
 all such vain alliances, and commence the work of reform- 
 ing the world by obeying the precepts of Jesus. If we 
 can convert men to Christ, the work of reformation will 
 be done. By no other means will the flood of iniquity 
 be stayed. 
 
 Do you not believe that if all the disciples of Christ in 
 any of our cities or villages thus labored for Christ, they 
 would soon arrest the progress of iniquity, and make it a 
 garden of the Lord ? Suppose that we in the same spirit 
 undertook, in solemn earnestness, the conversion of the 
 world ; would it not soon be given unto Christ for his 
 possession? Brethren, on whom does the responsibility 
 for the present state of our cities, of our country, and of 
 the world rest ? Awake, then, and shake yourselves 
 
64 THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 from your lethargy ! Put ye in the sickle and reap, for 
 the harvest of the earth is ripe. 
 
 The following- Citations are appended as illustration of the doctrines dis- 
 cussed in the sermon : 
 Objects of the Ministry: 
 
 Acts, xxvi. 17. 
 
 2 Cor., v. 20. Acts, xx. 24. 
 Call to the Ministry, to be judged of by the Individual : 
 
 1 Tim., i. 12. 1 Cor., is. 16. 
 Qualifications for the Ministry, to be judged of by the Church : 
 
 1 Tim., iii. 2-7. 
 
 Titus, i. 6-9. 
 
 Paul's preaching in Corinth. 
 
 1 Cor., xi. 1-8; and 11, 12. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY FOR THE CONVERSION" OF 
 THE WORLD. 
 
 That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the houso 
 of God, which is the church of the living God. — 1 Timothy, iii. 15. 
 
 In the New Testament, pious men are sometimes 
 spoken of as individual believers, and sometimes as 
 members of the church of Christ. In the text, the 
 Apostle Paul addresses Timothy under the latter rela- 
 tion. He moreover clearly intimates that, to this rela- 
 tion, there attach peculiar and important obligations. 
 He desires that his " own son in the faith" may know 
 how to behave himself, not merely as an individual 
 Christian, but also as a member of the Christian society. 
 The text then naturally leads us to consider the duties 
 of believers in this particular relation. If it was impor- 
 tant that Timothy should know lioio to beJiave himself 
 in the church of God, it cannot l?e unimportant to any 
 one of us. 
 
 But if we would know how to behave ourselves in the 
 church of Christ, we must first form some definite con- 
 ception of the nature of the church itself. I shall there- 
 fore, in the following remarks, endeavor to set before you 
 
66 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 the teachings of the New Testament on this subject, 
 confining myself to the consideration of the church 
 of Christ as an association of men for the accomplish- 
 ment of a particular object. When we can form a clear 
 conception of the church in this aspect, our duty as 
 members of it, or, in other words, how we ought to 
 behave ourselves in it, will be self-evident. 
 
 Jesus Christ left his disciples without any organization, 
 and this fact has appropriately been used as an evidence 
 of the divine authority of his mission. In one respect 
 this is perfectly true, and the argument derived from it 
 is valid. The Messiah established no organization such 
 as ever entered into the mind of man. He appointed no 
 successor, nor did he confer on his disciples the power to 
 make any such appointment. The office of apostle also 
 was limited to those who had seen the Lord, and had 
 been personally appointed by Christ himself. It, of 
 course, terminated with the men who first held it, and 
 they had no successors. Nor did Jesus form any consti- 
 tution for the government of his church, such as we see 
 in all human organizations. We find in the New Testa- 
 ment, not a word about the different grades of office, or 
 their functions, duties, responsibilities and powers, such 
 as we find in the constitutions of all other bodies politic. 
 Our Lord, once for all, repudiates in the most pointed 
 manner, every such idea as wholly inconsistent with the 
 nature of the church which he was establishing. One is 
 your Master, said he, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 67 
 
 We see then that, in Christ's view of his church, there 
 was one Head over all, and that all the members were on 
 the level of absolute equality. So, again, the mother of 
 Zebedee's children, with her sons, came to him worshipping 
 him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said 
 unto her, What wilt thou ? She saith unto him, Grant 
 that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, 
 and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. After expos- 
 ing the folly of her request, he called the disciples unto 
 him and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles 
 exercise dominion over them, and they that are great 
 exercise authority over them (i. e. the princes), but it shall 
 not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among 
 you let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief 
 among you let him be your servant, even as the Son of 
 Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
 to give his life a ransom for many. That is to say, In the 
 kingdoms of this world there exist various gradations of 
 rank and authority, each officer being subject to those 
 above him, and controlling those below him ; but, in the 
 kingdom of Christ, no such gradations of office exist. 
 Superiority here depends wholly on moral character. He 
 is the greatest in this kingdom who attains to the highest 
 degree of humble, self-sacrificing benevolence. He, whose 
 life most closely resembles the life of Christ, is the 
 greatest here. The Master, though in the form of God, 
 and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, made 
 himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of 
 
b» , THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and 
 being formed in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and 
 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
 This is the highest conception of greatness which the 
 universe presents. He surely must be the greatest on 
 earth, who, in his character, most accurately realizes it. 
 
 Thus, utterly without visible organization, did Christ 
 leave his disciples. There was only one officer having au- 
 thority, it was the Eedeemer himself. All below him 
 were brethren standing on the same undistinguished level. 
 If any one was ambitious of greatness, there was only 
 one way pointed out by which he could attain it. He 
 must sink himself below that level, and become more 
 emphatically the servant of all. So, after he had washed 
 their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set clown 
 again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done 
 unto you ? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say 
 well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, 
 have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one an- 
 other's feet. For I have given you an example that ye 
 should do as I have done to you. 
 
 While, however, all this is true, it is not true that 
 Christ left to his disciples a work without providing the 
 means by which it should be accomplished. He organized 
 a society of the most remarkable character, designed to 
 subdue this world to God, and he adapted it perfectly to 
 its purpose. The whole conception of it is so unique, it 
 is in every respect so entirely unlike any association ever 
 
FOE THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 69 
 
 framed by the mind of man, so perfectly in contrast with 
 all that man has ever designed or even imagioed ; and yet 
 containing within itself the elements of such irresistible 
 power and the necessity of such marvellous self-extension, 
 that we recognize its origin in the mind of God : it never 
 had its birth among the thoughts of man. 
 
 Let us then proceed to examine the theory of the 
 Christian church; as a society established by Christ for 
 the accomplishment of the purpose for which he became 
 incarnate. 
 
 A society consists of certain individuals, voluntarily 
 united under a common law, for the accomplishment of a 
 specific object. 
 
 In examining the nature of any society, three distinct 
 points of inquiry immediately present themselves. First, 
 what is the character, and what are the qualifications of 
 those who compose it ? secondly, what is the object which 
 it intends to accomplish ? and, thirdly, what are the laws 
 by which it is governed ? Understanding these, we may 
 easily form a distinct opinion of the nature and effective- 
 ness of such association. 
 
 I. What are the qualifications for membership of that 
 society which Christ established, sometimes called the 
 kingdom of God, sometimes the church, or the house of 
 God, and sometimes the church of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ ? 
 
 When the Son of God came to our earth to establish 
 his kingdom, he found the whole world in open rebellion 
 
70 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 against his Father. AH flesh had corrupted its way. The 
 Gentile world was universally given over to idolatry. 
 Every true conception of God had been banished from 
 the minds of men. Because they did not like to retain 
 God in their knowledge, God had given them over to the 
 control of every evil passion, and every degrading lust. 
 Not only did they do these things, they had pleasure in 
 those that did them. The Jews, while retaining in their 
 Scriptures the written knowledge of God, were as base 
 and vastly more guilty than the heathen themselves, so 
 that, through them, the name of God was blasphemed 
 among the Gentiles. Here and there a pious soul was 
 looking for the salvation of Israel, but, even in such rare 
 and exceptional cases, this hope was blended with low 
 ideas of temporal sovereignty, and the expectation that 
 God was about to restore the kingdom to Israel. The 
 idea of God as the Creator of all, loving all the race of 
 man with an equal and unspeakable love, infinitely holy, 
 and yet not willing that any should perish, giving up his 
 well-beloved Son for our offences, and thus opening wide 
 for us all the gate of heaven, did not then exist upon 
 earth, except in the bosom of the Messiah. Of the peo- 
 ple there was none with him. Not one of the race of 
 man had ever risen to so mighty a conception. He alone 
 comprehended it, and comprehended it in all its gran- 
 deur. "He was conscious that he was set apart to carry 
 into effect this astonishing purpose of God. He bowed 
 himself to assume the weight of this stupendous under- 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 71 
 
 taking. He, standing alone on this round earth, conse- 
 crated himself to the work of turning its teeming millions 
 from their rebellion against God, and of making them 
 the dutiful sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. 
 He saw the intense guilt which denied the soul of every 
 one born of woman, and he undertook to cleanse and pu- 
 rify and sanctify all who would believe on and receive 
 him as the Saviour of their souls. 
 
 One part of this work consisted in his sacrifice for sin. 
 He obeyed the law which we had broken, and gave him- 
 self up for our offences. He thus removed the obstacles 
 to our pardon and restoration, which, under the holy gov- 
 ernment of God, had otherwise rendered our salvation 
 impossible. These obstacles he took out of the way, 
 nailing them to his cross. Salvation was now as free as 
 condemnation. Whosoever believed in him could never 
 perish, but had passed from death unto life. 
 
 The foundations of this kingdom were thus laid. But 
 how was the good news of pardon to be carried to a world 
 that hated the very Messiah who told of peace on earth 
 and good will to man ? A plan must be devised by which 
 this good news should be proclaimed, in circles widening 
 and multiplying from age to age, until every nation should 
 be subjected to the faith, and the kingdoms of the world 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. 
 
 In forming a society for this purpose Jesus Christ ex- 
 plicitly informs us what are the qualifications of its mem- 
 bers. From these qualifications hereditary descent is at 
 
72 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 once excluded. Here it is of no avail to have even 
 Abraham for our father. The members of this society 
 are neither born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 
 of the will of man. Parentage can give us no title to 
 membership. No work of man, no rites which he can 
 impose, no ceremonies that he can perform, can introduce 
 us into this society. It is a spiritual kingdom, and the 
 change which prepares us for it, is wrought in our souls 
 only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Except a man be horn again he can not see the king- 
 dom of God. As by physical birth we become members 
 of that civil society which embraces the whole brother- 
 hood of man ; so, by the spiritual birth, we become mem- 
 bers of the society which Christ has established, the gen- 
 eral assembly and church of the first-born. This birth 
 involves an entire change of moral affections. The su- 
 preme love of the sinner is transferred from the vanities 
 and follies, the lusts and ambition of earth, and is fixed 
 on God his Father and Christ his Eedeemer. God be- 
 comes the all-sufficient portion of the renewed soul. lis 
 controlling and all-absorbing desire is to please God and 
 to be like him. The man would in all things be perfect 
 as his Father in heaven is perfect. The change wrought 
 in him by this new birth is likened by the Apostle to that 
 wrought in Christ, when, from his lifeless state in the 
 tomb of Joseph, God raised him to glory, and set him at 
 his own right hand, far above all principalities, and powers, 
 and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, 
 
FOE THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 73 
 
 not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, 
 and hath put all things under his feet. Not only is thv 
 transformation of the human soul to be compared to 
 nothing less than this change in the personal condition of 
 the Eedeemer ; the power also by which it is effected is 
 declared to be equally stupendous. Such is the moral 
 change which must be wrought in us before we can enter 
 the society which Christ has established. 
 
 As soon as a member is received into the society of 
 Christ, he is at once entitled to all its privileges. Whether 
 young or old, learned or ignorant, bond or free, bonored 
 or despised, he is at once admitted to an equal share in 
 all the blessings promised in the gospel. He was under 
 condemnation, but there is now no condemnation to those 
 that are in Christ Jesus. He was an alien and a foreigner, 
 he is now a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the 
 household of God. He was a stranger from the covenants 
 of promise, now, all the promises of God are unto him 
 yea and amen in Christ Jesus. He was living without 
 hope, he now has a hope sure and steadfast, entering 
 within the vail. He was without God in the world, now 
 he dwells in God and God dwells in him. Christ was to 
 him a root out of a dry ground, having neither form nor 
 comeliness ; now, for him to live is Christ, and to die is 
 gain. This w r orld was his home, and he looked for nothing 
 beyond it, now it is but the resting-place in which he 
 tarries for the night, until the day dawn and the day star 
 arise in his heart. He was once willing to barter away 
 
 4 
 
74 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 his soul for wealth and honor and pleasure, now, the 
 world is crucified to him, and he is crucified to the world. 
 Once the grave was to him the gloomy passage to yet 
 more gloomy darkness ; now, it is the entrance to an im- 
 mortality of light, the introduction to the immediate 
 presence of the Saviour who loved him and gave himself 
 for him. The day of final account was to him an object 
 of unutterable dread, for he knew that then he had no 
 intercessor ; now, he can look forward to it in humble joy, 
 knowing that he shall appear clothed in the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, and be a partaker in the merits of his all- 
 sufficient sacrifice. Beyond, all is joy unspeakable and 
 full of glory, for he knows that neither life, nor death, 
 nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pres- 
 ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor -any 
 other creature, shall be able to separate him from the love 
 of God, which is in Christ Jesus his Lord. 
 
 The member admitted to this society, partakes at once 
 of the communion of saints. Every Christian receives 
 him as a brother, and bestows upon him more than a 
 brother's love. To every believer, Christ is precious, for 
 in him is united every moral excellence that can attract 
 a renewed soul. But every believer is formed in the like- 
 ness of Christ, and this likeness can be found nowhere 
 else on earth. Those who love the original, can not but 
 love his image reflected from the souls of his disciples. 
 If we love him who begat, we must love those that are 
 begotten of him. This love is one of the very first tests 
 
FOE THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 75 
 
 of membership of Christ's society. By this shall all men 
 know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to 
 another. By this do we know that we are passed from 
 death to life, because we love the brethren. How could 
 it be otherwise ? Christ is the head, and every believer 
 is a member of his body, and if one member suffer, must 
 not all the members suffer with it ? The Christian be- 
 holds in his brother those moral elements which he loves 
 better than any thing else on earth. He loves him be- 
 cause he venerates, adores, and loves his Father who is in 
 heaven. He loves him because he has given up his whole 
 self to that Saviour who gave up himself a ransom for 
 us all. He loves him because the Spirit of G-od dwells 
 in him, working in him all the fruits of righteousness. 
 He loves him for his penitence for sin, for his loving trust 
 in Christ, for his meekness under reproach and contumely, 
 for his forgiveness of injuries, for his self-denial for the 
 good of others, for his victories over the world, and for his 
 livel} 7 hope of an inheritance that fadeth not away. It is 
 impossible that a Christian should not love with an over- 
 coming and abiding affection the brother in whom he 
 perceives these moral elements. They are found in every 
 believer ; hence every renewed soul loves the whole family 
 of the redeemed, and the whole family of the redeemed 
 loves in return every individual ; and thus love, the per- 
 fect bond, unites them all to each other, and to Christ 
 who is the head. 
 
 But yet more, our Saviour has taught us that this love 
 
76 THE CHUKCH A SOCIETY 
 
 of the members of his society to each other must trans- 
 cend every other form of affection. It was so with him, 
 and it must be so with his disciples. Whosoever doeth 
 the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my 
 brother and sister and mother. Our Lord enforces the 
 duty of loving our brethren more than even our own life 
 by his own example. This is my commandment that ye 
 love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath 
 no man than this that a man lay doivn his life for his 
 friends. The Apostle John urges the same precept, and 
 enforces it .by the same motive. Hereby perceive we the 
 love of God because he laid down his life for us ; and we 
 ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Herein is 
 love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and 
 sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Be- 
 loved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one an- 
 other. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and 
 his love is perfected in us. And this commandment have 
 we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother 
 also. Nor has this truth proved, like too many others, 
 a mere barren dogma. Nothing, in the early ages of 
 Christianity, so amazed the heathen as the earnest, self- 
 denying love which bound all the disciples of Jesus to 
 each other, even to those whom they had not personally 
 known. Nothing was more common with them than 
 willingly to surfer death rather than discover to their per- 
 secutors the hiding-places of their brethren. In every 
 age of martyrdom, this same love has been always appa- 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 77 
 
 rent. Christians by hundreds of thousands, have, like 
 Priscilla and Aquila, laid down their own necks for their 
 brethren. Such is the love which pervades the society of 
 Jesus Christ, according to his conception of it. 
 
 Here then we behold a society without any organiza- 
 tion, bound together by a stronger and more universal 
 tie than the world ever conceived of. Every member is 
 obliged, by the terms of admission, to love his brother 
 better than his own life. He that loveth not his brother 
 abideth in death. The same moral affections animate 
 every member. The same hopes and fears agitate all. 
 The same God is served, the same Saviour is loved, the 
 same world is to be overcome, the same hell to be es- 
 caped, and the same heaven to be gained, by every in- 
 dividual. Hence there exists throughout this whole so- 
 ciety one and the same universal token of recognition. 
 Whatever may be the differences of their social position, 
 how great soever the varieties of their culture, every mem- 
 ber knows his brother by a sign which can not be mis- 
 taken, and, knowing, loves him with a love stronger than 
 death. His possessions are all held subject to the call 
 of his brother's necessities. For whoso hath this world's 
 goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up 
 his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love 
 of God in him ? With his brethren he shares reproach. 
 For them he endures persecution. In every suffering 
 brother he beholds a representative of the Saviour who 
 died for him, and hears a voice from the excellent glory 
 
78 THE' CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 saying unto him, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
 me. 
 
 But the Master has commanded every one who enters 
 this society publicly to confess him before men. This is 
 most appropriate. Before, he was a servant of Satan, 
 doing his will, and yielding himself up in subjection to 
 the desires and appetites of a heart at enmity with God. 
 He has now changed his allegiance forever. He renounces 
 without reserve the authority which he formerly acknowl- 
 edged, and owes it no obedience. He has become dead 
 to the world, and is henceforth alive unto God. It is 
 seemly that so important a change in all his moral rela- 
 tions should be announced, both to his former and to his 
 present associates, by some public act. By the command 
 of the Lord he is, therefore, baptized into the name of 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is bound 
 in baptism to show his death to the world ; he rises from 
 the water to show that he is risen with Christ, and enters 
 upon a new and ever-blessed life. By this significant rite 
 he declares to the world his change of character, and the 
 establishment of new moral relations. 
 
 In thus confessing Christ before men, he unites himself 
 with some visible company of believers. These, at the 
 present day are divided into various sects, or religious de- 
 nominations, differing from each other commonly in mat- 
 ters not essential to salvation. Such is the natural and 
 necessary result of free discussion, and it will doubtless 
 

 FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 79 
 
 continue until we all know the way of the Lord more 
 perfectty. He unites with those whose views of the teach- 
 ings of Christ most nearly coincide with his own. With 
 them he specially lahors in building up the cause of 
 Christ. To them he submits himself, but only as under 
 law to the Master. In their labors he shares a special 
 responsibility. He does this, not because they are the 
 church of Christ, but, as he believes, a true branch of it, 
 because his lot has been cast with them, and because 
 their views and practice seem to him most in harmony 
 with the teachings of the Saviour. 
 
 But while all this is true, it is never to be forgotten 
 that the believer was a member of Christ's society before 
 he ever united himself to any community of professing 
 Christians. They acknowledge him to have been a mem- 
 ber of this society before they received him to their fel- 
 lowship, and declare that this is the only ground on which 
 they had any authority to receive him. They were all 
 admitted in the same manner and for the same reason. 
 Hence it is obvious that the society which Christ has es- 
 tablished, is the foundation of every particular association 
 of brethren calling themselves a church of Christ. They 
 are in fact entitled to the name of churches of Christ only 
 as they are portions of the general society of renewed 
 souls. The teachings of the New Testament concerning 
 the church universal must control and govern their ac- 
 tion as separate associations. To elevate any separate 
 portion of the general society into an original authority 
 
80 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 to claim for it a power over the whole, to assume for it 
 an authority to modify or alter, to add to or take from, 
 any of the laws which Christ has enacted for the govern- 
 ment of his disciples, is arrogant and impious. The be- 
 liever was a member of Christ's society before he became 
 a member of any church seen of men. His union to 
 Christ, by which he becomes a member of Christ's society, 
 takes precedence immeasurably of any union which he 
 can form with them. His association with his brethren 
 has in no respect changed his relations to Christ, or to 
 Christ's society. Hence his love to his Christian brethren 
 can not be circumscribed by denominational lines, nor re- 
 stricted by sectarian shibboleths. He must embrace with 
 Christian affection every man in whom he sees the image 
 of Christ ; and the fervor of his love must be measured, 
 not by the sympathies of party, but by the perfection in 
 which that image is formed in the soul of the believer. 
 He must rejoice in the prosperity, and sorrow in the ad- 
 versity, of every Christian brother and every Christian 
 sect. He must pray without ceasing that grace, mercy, 
 and peace may be upon all who love the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and ever bear in mind the words of the Saviour, 
 he that doeth the will of my Father in heaven, he is my 
 brother and sister and mother. 
 
 Such then are the constituent elements of the society 
 which Christ has established. Its members are the re- 
 newed in heart, the children of the Lord Almighty. They 
 are identical in moral character, being all formed in the 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 81 
 
 likeness of Christ. By this likeness they recognize each 
 other amid all the varieties of human condition. They 
 are united to each other by the perfect bond of universal 
 love, by a stronger and more enduring affection than is 
 elsewhere to be found among men. 
 
 II. Every society must have an object. What is 
 the object for which Christ established his society upon 
 earth. This question is easily answered by observing 
 the relations which the renewed soul sustains to the Ke- 
 deemer. 
 
 It is obvious that the Son of God became incarnate 
 for the single purpose of redeeming the race of man from 
 the condemnation of the second death. God so loved 
 the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth on him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life. In him we have redemption through his 
 blood, even the remission of sins. When he undertook 
 this work, he gave himself up wholly to it. He pressed 
 forward to the endurance of any suffering by which it 
 could be promoted. I have a baptism to be baptized 
 with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished. 
 He recoiled from no humiliation that this work demanded. 
 He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them 
 that plucked off the hair. He hid not his face from 
 shame and spitting. He became obedient to death, even 
 the death of the cross. He refused not at that awful 
 crisis to be bereft of every friend on earth, and even to 
 
 be forsaken by his Father in heaven, that thus he might 
 
 4* 
 
82 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 destroy him that had the power of death, and open the 
 door of life to all who believe. For this purpose he re- 
 appeared on earth, he ascended to the glory which he 
 ever had with the Father, and there he ever liveth to 
 make intercession for ns. His whole being as the 
 Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, was, without the 
 shadow of a turning, consecrated to the accomplishment 
 of this one purpose. Never was a life so absolutely unique, 
 never was every energy of a being so absolutely swallowed 
 up in the effort to realize one mighty idea. 
 
 When a man becomes a member of Christ's society, 
 by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, he has an apprehen- 
 sion by faith of the sacrifice which Christ has made for 
 his redemption. The incarnate Son of God gave himself 
 up without any reservation for him, and bore his sins in 
 his own body on the tree. What can he do to testify his 
 gratitude for love such as this ? Instinctively he surren- 
 ders himself, all that he is, all that he has. for time and 
 for eternity to his Kedeemer. He yields himself up to 
 Christ that he may be wholly formed in his likeness. His 
 ambition henceforth is to obey every command of Christ, 
 and in his humble manner do as Christ did, and live as 
 Christ lived. The object for which Christ lived and died 
 and rose again, is the object for which he lives. He has 
 become a member of that body of which Christ is the 
 head, and the vitality which animates the head animates 
 the remotest extremity. Christ dwells in his heart by 
 faith, a soul within his soul, inciting him to copy the ex- 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 83 
 
 ample which he set before us when he was manifest in 
 the flesh. Such is the mold into which the believer is 
 cast. 
 
 We have already seen the object of the life of Christ. 
 It was to save the world by reclaiming it to obedience to 
 the Father. Such then is the object for which the re- 
 newed man lives. As Christ gave himself wholly to this 
 object, so the disciple gives up himself wholly to it. As 
 Christ made no reservation so he makes none. If he re- 
 serves any thing which he refuses to surrender to Christ, 
 Christ does not admit him as a member of this society. 
 If any man come to me and hate not his father, and 
 mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, 
 yea, and his own life also, he can not be my disciple. And 
 whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me 
 can not be my disciple. And whosoever he be of you that 
 forsake th not all that lie hath, he can not be my disciple. 
 The most cherished affections of our nature must be 
 allowed to interpose no obstacle to our obedience to 
 Christ. The loss of everything earthly must be cheer- 
 fully endured, when duty to him requires it. We must 
 pursue the object for which he lived, with a self-abandon- 
 ment akin to his, if he would share in his merits and be 
 partakers of his glory. 
 
 This then is the object for which the individual be- 
 liever lives, the subjection of the world to Christ. To 
 this he has consecrated all that he has, yea, and his own 
 life also. But, this being the object of every individual 
 
84 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 member, it must be the object of the whole society. This 
 is the purpose for which the church was established, and 
 for which it has been continued on earth. Hence its 
 members are called the salt of the earth. They are the 
 leaven by which the whole mass is leavened. They are 
 the candle lighted and set upon a candlestick that it may 
 give light to all that are in the house. They are the 
 medium of communication, through, which the spirit of 
 God is sent to convert and sanctify men, the appointed 
 instrument which God employs in turning the world unto 
 himself. 
 
 This object of the Christian's life has respect to the 
 world within him, and the world without him. 
 
 Though the believer is renewed in his spirit, he is sanc- 
 tified but in part. The remains of corruption still linger 
 about him, and from time to time discover themselves. 
 He has, however, declared eternal warfare against every 
 sin, and most of all against the sin that dwelleth in him. 
 Hence his life is a continual struggle against the evil in 
 his own heart, and a striving after higher and higher 
 moral attainment. This work is carried on in the deep 
 recesses of the man's own consciousness. But even here 
 he may derive important aid from his brethren of the 
 Christian society. They may see faults which he can not 
 see, they may detect vices which he has not discovered. 
 By using their spiritual vision he may thus be enabled 
 the better to accomplish the great object of his life. He 
 courts these smitings of the righteous, which are to him 
 
FOB THE CONVEKSION OF THE WORLD. 85 
 
 an excellent oil ; and in return his prayer is lifted up for 
 them in their calamities. In time of deep tribulation, 
 the experience of his brethren will frequently direct his 
 eye to a ray of hope which had otherwise been unobserved. 
 When called upon to bear reproach for Christ, the bur- 
 den is alleviated by his brethren who hasten to share it 
 with him. Nor is this all. In all his prayers for himself, 
 every Christian remembers every Christian brother on 
 earth. Whatever good thing he desires for himself, he 
 equally desires for every disciple, but most of all he 
 prays that the Holy Spirit, the crowning mercy purchased 
 by the Saviour for us, may be shed abroad abundantly on 
 every believer. Every member thus receives the benefit 
 of the prayers of the whole society. Thus, each one 
 laboring with his might to secure the highest moral attain- 
 ment both for himself and for all Christ's people, the 
 whole society, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual 
 house, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar peo- 
 ple, to show forth the praises of him that hath called 
 them out of darkness into his marvellous light. 
 
 But the world without is in rebellion against God, and 
 under the condemnation of eternal death. As soon as 
 man is formed in the likeness of Christ, he devotes him- 
 self without reservation to the work of its salvation. 
 
 Were there but one Christian on earth, he would be 
 obliged, from the very elements of his renewed character, 
 to commence this undertaking. Proclaiming salvation 
 through the blood of Christ, in faith and love, the Holy 
 
86 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 Spirit, according to the promise of the Father, would ac- 
 company his preaching with Almighty power. Souls 
 would be converted ; and each convert formed in the same 
 moral likeness, and devoting himself in the spirit of the 
 Master to the same work, the name of divine love would 
 be communicated from heart to heart ; it would spread 
 from neighborhood to neighborhood, from city to city, 
 from nation to nation, until the whole earth should be 
 filled with the glory of the Lord. Thus was it in the 
 beginning ; nor did the progress of the gospel cease until 
 men forsook the precepts of Jesus, relied on an arm of 
 flesh instead of the promise of the Spirit, and basely 
 submitted to the world which they had already well nigh 
 overcome. 
 
 But what would be the duty of a disciple of Christ 
 were he the only disciple on earth, is clearly the duty of 
 every disciple. Every one is bound to undertake the 
 conversion of the world to God. No one of Christ's peo- 
 ple is under stronger obligations to be like the Master 
 than another. All are equally bound to live and die for 
 the object for which he lived, and died, and rose again, 
 and is now seated on the right hand of the Father. The 
 father and the mother in the family are to leave no effort 
 untried to bring their children and their whole household 
 to Christ. The mechanic in his shop, the merchant in 
 his warehouse, the lawyer in his office, is the candle 
 lighted and placed there upon a candlestick, that it may 
 give light to all that are in the house. Every believer is 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 87 
 
 so to conduct his secular calling as to render it an instru- 
 ment for extending the kingdom of Christ. Thus every 
 member of this society, wherever his lot may be cast, is 
 to be a plant bearing fruit ; and the fruit has the seed 
 within itself, from which again a more abundant harvest 
 shall be sown and bear fruit until it has covered the 
 whole earth. 
 
 But suppose that two or three of the members of this 
 society find themselves thrown together in the midst of a 
 company of those who know not God. From the very 
 principles of their renewed nature, they unite together 
 and form the church of Christ in this community. They 
 then labor not only individually, but in concert for the 
 advancement of the kingdom of Christ. They need no 
 ecclesiastical organization to render them, in all essential 
 respects, a church of Christ. They unite in bearing tes- 
 timony for Jesus, in avoiding the appearance of evil, in 
 shunning the counsel of the ungodly, in mutual prayer 
 for the descent of the Spirit, and in bearing reproach for 
 the name of their Lord. But besides this they labor 
 personally to turn men from sin to righteousness. The 
 gifts bestowed upon each are different from those of the 
 others, but all are bestowed by the same Master, and all 
 are to be used in the same service. Each one cultivating 
 his own peculiar talent, the power of the whole is in- 
 creased by the employment of all the means which 
 Christ has consecrated to this work. No matter how small 
 this company of believers is, laboring in this manner 
 
80 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 they may lay claim to the promise of Christ, wherever 
 two or three are gathered together in my name, there am 
 I in the midst of them. 
 
 Nor are we without examples of just such churches in 
 the records of early Christianity. The Apostle Paul 
 frequently addresses messages to the church in a particu- 
 lar house. He, in this manner, alludes to the church in 
 the house of Aquila and Priscilla. These disciples were 
 tent makers, and the apostle had labored in their work- 
 shop when he was in Corinth. They had, as we may 
 suppose, many other workmen in their service. Some of 
 these were disciples, and the apostle, remembering his 
 former associates in labor, speaks of them as the church 
 in that house. They formed, in that company, a little 
 band of loving, bold, uncompromising witnesses for Christ. 
 They were ever acting, not only individually, but in con- 
 cert, for the building up of each other in the faith, and 
 for the salvation of the souls around them, and therefore 
 were they, with great propriety, designated the church 
 of Christ in this Corinthian tent manufactory. My 
 brethren, when every manufactory, every shop, every 
 warehouse, every office, has not merely its professors of 
 religion, but in reality its church bearing witness for 
 God, then may we say unto Zion, Arise and shine, for 
 thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen 
 upon thee. 
 
 When a sufficient number of converts has been gath- 
 ered in any place they proceed to form a society for the 
 
FOE THE .CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 89 
 
 purpose, of publicly holding forth the word of life, and 
 maintaining in their original simplicity the ordinances of 
 the gospel. Here they publicly covenant with each other 
 to consecrate themselves and all that they possess to the 
 accomplishment of the object for which Christ died. 
 For this they first gave themselves to God, and then to 
 each other by the will of God. They undertake the 
 conversion of the world, but specially that part of it in 
 which their lot has, by the providence of God, been cast. 
 God has committed to each one of them, some talent 
 which he has created for this purpose. The Christian 
 society finds occupation for all the gifts which Christ has 
 committed to it. Some it sends into the highways and 
 hedges to invite men to come in, some it appoints to 
 converse at their houses with the poor and neglected, 
 some to minister to the sick and afflicted, some who are 
 endowed with the gift of utterance to preach the gospel 
 in the destitute neighborhood around them. All are 
 diligently engaged in promoting the work to which each 
 one has individually consecrated himself. The poor give 
 their service, the rich their service and their wealth. 
 Their object is to fill that neighborhood, that town, that 
 city, with the knowledge of the Lord. Every convert 
 increases their power and adds one to the number of 
 their laborers. Every new station furnishes an addi- 
 tional centre for the diffusion of moral light. Advancing 
 thus with accumulating power, and ever relying on the 
 soul renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, they cannot cease 
 
90 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 from their work until they have dried up every fountain 
 of iniquity within their borders, and the place in which 
 they reside has become a mountain of holiness, the 
 dwelling place of righteousness. 
 
 Nor even then can it cease. There yet remain regions 
 beyond, unblessed by a knowledge of the gospel of 
 Christ. The all-consuming love of souls which burns in 
 the bosom of Christ's people, finding no place of labor in 
 its own vicinity, will yearn to carry the good news of 
 salvation where Christ has not been named. The mer- 
 chant and the mechanic, instead of wandering abroad in 
 search of some new California, inquire only, Where can I 
 pursue my avocation with the greatest service to the 
 cause of Christ ? If Aquila and Priscilla had believed 
 that they could more efficiently serve Christ in Rome 
 than in Corinth, do you suppose that any prospect of 
 gain would have prevented their removal ? The student 
 employs his learning in scattering abroad among bar- 
 barian nations the word of everlasting truth. The min- 
 ister of the gospel, turning away from regions filled to 
 repletion with the knowledge of salvation, seeks his field 
 of labor among those who are perishing for lack of vision. 
 Every people, every Christian sect, sends forth its labor- 
 ers, of all occupations, to turn the heathen to righteous- 
 ness. Nor will this labor cease until the earth shall be 
 filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and the kingdom 
 and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole hea- 
 ven, be given to the saints of the Most High. 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 91 
 
 Have I, in these remarks, in aught exaggerated ? 
 Have I not described the society of Jesus Christ as he 
 himself coaceived of it, and as he himself established it ? 
 If we would form an accurate opinion on this subject, let 
 us take an example from the company of his early dis- 
 ciples, who acted under the immediate direction of the 
 ever-blessed Spirit. We will take, for instance, the 
 Apostle Paul, whose life is better known to us than that 
 of any of his brethren. How did he enter the society of 
 Christ ? Was it not by as complete and radical a change 
 of moral character as we can possibly imagine ? Did he 
 not surrender himself without the shadow of a reservation 
 to him who had loved him and given himself for him ? 
 Was not his whole soul poured out in love to his breth- 
 ren, so that he was willing to spend and be spent for 
 them, though the more he loved them the less he was 
 loved ? Was not the inner life of his soul consumed in 
 the agonizing struggle after likeness to Christ, keeping 
 under his body and bringing it into subjection, counting 
 all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus his Lord, forgetting the things which were 
 behind, and reaching forward to those things which were 
 before, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the 
 high calling of God in Christ Jesus ? And in this labor 
 for Christian perfection, do we not behold him in every 
 one of his epistles calling upon his brethren to aid him by 
 their prayers, while he declares that without ceasing he 
 daily remembers them in all his supplications ? Of his 
 
92 THE CHURCH. A SOCIETY 
 
 efforts to extend the kingdom of Christ why should I 
 speak ? His whole life was a succession of missionary 
 tours, except when his plans were interrupted by bonds 
 and imprisonment. Asia Minor was his first missionary 
 field. When he had established churches in every impor- 
 tant city on the sea-board of that populous region, he 
 entered Europe, and in various cities of Macedonia, in 
 Athens and in Corinth, he labored abundantly. Then, 
 extending his field yet more widely, he projected a mis- 
 sion to Spain, and was only interrupted in his design by 
 his imprisonment in Kome. But even here he ceased not 
 from his labors. ' His bonds in Christ were manifest in all 
 the palace and in all other places ; and hence were sent 
 to the churches those immortal letters, the precious her- 
 itage of the believer until the end of time. If the greatest 
 of our missionary organizations, uniting the efforts of 
 half a million of professed believers, had accomplished 
 as great results as these, we should look upon it as mar- 
 vellous success. And yet this man was feeble in health, 
 weighed down by a distressing physical infirmity, and 
 knowing that wherever he went, bonds and imprisonment 
 awaited him. In one case, in vindication of his own 
 character, he sums up in these words the circumstances 
 under which his life had been spent from the moment in 
 which he united himself to the society of Christ. In la- 
 bors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons 
 more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times 
 received I forty stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 93 
 
 rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a 
 night and a day have I been in the deep. In journeyings 
 often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
 my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in 
 the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 
 in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfull- 
 ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
 often, in cold and nakedness, beside those things which 
 are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care 
 of all the churches. It was in this manner that the Apos- 
 tle Paul behaved himself as a member of the society of 
 Christ, the church of the living God. Did he over-esti- 
 mate his obligations ? Was he either a fool or a fanatic ? 
 Then I have in no manner over-stated the obligations rest- 
 ing upon 'every disciple of Christ. 
 
 III. I come in the third place to speak briefly of the 
 laws by which this society is governed. 
 
 The laws of the society of Christ control the con- 
 science. They can not therefore be made by man. They 
 originate with the Master, to whom every member has 
 voluntarily submitted himself. They have respect mainly 
 to the qualifications of membership, and to the duties 
 which the Master imposes upon the members. They are 
 found in the New Testament, and consist of the precepts 
 which have been committed to us by Christ and his 
 apostles. 
 
 The laws of the Christian society have been made by 
 the Master, and, as I have said, can be made by no other 
 
94 . THE CHUKCH A SOCIETY 
 
 authority. Should all the disciples of Christ on earth 
 be at any one time assembled, they would be utterly 
 powerless to add to, or take from, to alter, or modify, a 
 single law enacted by Jesus Christ. The decisions of 
 councils, or popes, or bishops, or synods, or assemblies, 
 or conventions, or associations, can impose no obligation 
 upon any disciple of Christ. If what they enact was 
 before enacted by Christ, their re-enacting of it is nuga- 
 tory. If it were not enacted by Christ, it is an assump- 
 tion of his jurisdiction. One is our Master, even Christ, 
 and all we are brethren. 
 
 But it may be asked, Who shall interpret for us the 
 precepts of Christ ? We answer, Christ has appointed 
 no interpreter. He has told us that every one must give 
 account for himself unto God. The New Testament is a 
 message from God to every individual, and every indi- 
 vidual, seeking the truth in humility and prayer, is an 
 interpreter unto himself. He must, in the fear of God, 
 learn from the written revelation what God requires of 
 him, and, so seeking, he will be taught all necessary 
 truth. 
 
 But will there not arise from hence great diversities of 
 opinion ? If men seek with a right spirit, I answer, not 
 in things essential to salvation. But, were it otherwise, 
 would these diversities be lessened by submitting our 
 conscience and intellect to any other interpreters ? These 
 are as liable to err as ourselves, and, as each one of us is 
 to give account for himself, it is reasonable that each 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 95 
 
 should, for himself, learn from the written message what 
 God has required of him. 
 
 Supposing, however, differences of opinion as to the 
 teachings of Christ to exist. Each disciple unites with 
 those whose belief is most nearly coincident with his 
 own. With these he labors more especially, and for their 
 progress as disciples of Christ, he is more directly re- 
 sponsible. But this, as I have said, changes in no 
 respect his relation to the whole body of believers. He 
 is most of all a member of the society of Christ, belong- 
 ing to the general assembly and church of the first born. 
 Yet having united with them in visible fellowship, he has 
 placed himself specially under their jurisdiction, and is 
 amenable to their authority, in respect to all things which 
 he and they believe Christ to have commanded. They 
 have no legislative power. They may enforce obedience 
 to the commands of Christ on every one of their mem- 
 bers. This they are obliged to do as servants of Christ, 
 this they must do, or the distinctive character of Christ's 
 society would in a few years disappear. And these laws 
 must be enforced upon all, without respect of persons. 
 To them, the rich and the poor, the wise and the unwise, 
 the powerful and the powerless, are equally amenable. 
 
 The society of Christ has but one means of enforcing 
 the commands of the Master. It has no physical penal- 
 ties to inflict. It can punish the disobedient neither by 
 fine, nor imprisonment, nor exile, nor the scaffold, nor 
 the stake. All that it can do, is simply to withdraw 
 
96 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 itself from every brother that walketh disorderly. He 
 joined the society as a renewed man, who submitted 
 himself without reserve to the .authority of Christ. 
 When his conduct renders it evident that he is unre- 
 newed, and that the word of Christ has no control over 
 him, his brethren withdraw from him, and return him 
 again to the world to which he belongs. Thus far they 
 may go. Beyond this, they have received from the 
 Master not a shadow of authority, and to assume it is an 
 atrocious invasion of the dearest rights of humanity. 
 
 Such do I suppose to be the conception of the church 
 of Christ as he has revealed it to us in the New Testa- 
 ment. How a man should behave himself in it, has 
 been manifest as we have proceeded. I will, therefore, 
 close this discourse with a few suggestions which press 
 themselves upon us as we reflect upon the ground which 
 we have passed over. 
 
 1. If such be the scriptural idea of the church of 
 Christ, we may reasonably inquire where such churches 
 are to be found. There exist vast corporations^ of incal- 
 culable wealth and terrific power, each claiming to be 
 not only a church, but the church of Christ, though 
 founded upon principles diametrically opposed to those 
 on which Christ has established his society. Can these 
 be churches of Christ ? Have they a single mark which 
 can designate them as his people ? Of the associa- 
 tions, called at the present day churches of Christ, just 
 so many are portions of Christ's society as obey the laws, 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 97 
 
 and imitate the examples which have been left to us in 
 the New Testament. I speak not here of individuals. 
 A holy man may be a visible member of an unholy 
 church. It is not given us to know how much error may 
 co-exist with piety. While, therefore, we hope and be- 
 lieve that even in the most corrupt churches, there are 
 reserved many thousands who worship God in spirit, it 
 yet seems evident that nothing can be in reality a church 
 of Christ, which does not practically realize the idea of a 
 church left us by Christ and his apostles. 
 
 2. It has frequently been a matter of surprise that the 
 religion of Christ has made so little progress, and that, 
 after eighteen centuries, so small a portion of mankind 
 has acknowledged his authority. To abate our surprise 
 at this acknowledged fact, we may ask whether we can 
 conceive of any means better adapted to the accomplish- 
 ment of their purpose, than the society which Christ has 
 established. We may also point to the historical fact, 
 that whenever any portion of his professed disciples have 
 practically realized our Lord's idea of a church, their 
 moral power has always been irresistible. The promise 
 of Christ that the kingdom should be given to the 
 little flock, was only made to his flock, the church built 
 upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, he 
 himself being the chief corner stone. He never promised 
 the moral conquest of the world to everything that might 
 be called by his name. The power of his church resides 
 in the elements which he has incorporated into its very 
 
 5 
 
98 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY 
 
 essence. Remove these, and it is shorn of its strength, 
 for the Lord has departed from it. Christ promised the 
 victory over the world only to the society which he estab- 
 lished. If we have changed it into another, and instead 
 of a spiritual society, made it, in various degrees, a secu- 
 lar corporation, is it any wonder that the promise of 
 Christ yet remains unfulfilled. And it will remain un- 
 fulfilled until the church assumes again the character 
 which it received from Christ. Then, and not till then, 
 will its righteousness go forth as brightness, and its sal- 
 vation as a lamp that burneth. 
 
 3. If such be the case, "Brethren, what is to done ? Is 
 Christ's idea of a church such as I have attempted to 
 delineate ? Can we then hope to subdue the world to 
 Christ, nay, can we hope to save our own souls, unless we 
 be practically conformed to it ? Have we, who profess to 
 belong to Christ, the evidence in our own consciousness, 
 that we are renewed in the spirit of our minds ? Have 
 we given up ourselves wholly to Christ, in return for the 
 gift of himself for us ? Is our affection for our Christian 
 brethren paramount to the ties of sect, or party, or social 
 position, nay, to the love of life itself? Are we using 
 every talent we possess in the cause of Christ, seeking 
 first of all the kingdom of God ? Are we, as churches of 
 Jesus Christ, practically acknowledging the conversion of 
 the world to be the great object for which we are asso- 
 ciated, and are we laboring to accomplish this object, 
 
FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 99 
 
 striving according to the working that worketh in us 
 mightily ? If we can not answer these questions affirma- 
 tively, we have either left our first love, or we have the 
 name to live, while we are dead. Let us try our ways 
 and turn again to the Lord. It is very possible for us to 
 profess the name of Christ, and yet to be, in fact, the 
 greatest obstacles to the progress of his kingdom. If 
 ever the condition of the world demanded a living and 
 not a dead church, it demands it at this very moment. 
 Our own country, in an especial manner, demands it. 
 Iniquity abounds. Our cities and towns are becoming 
 sinks Of moral pollution. The want of principle in our 
 public men is periling the very existence of our republic. 
 And while this is becoming more alarming, there seems 
 no moral power existing to arrest those tendencies which 
 are becoming every year more and more alarming. And 
 there is no moral power in the people, because the church 
 of Christ is faithless to her trust ; and men professing 
 godliness love luxury, and power, and party, better than 
 Christ. Is it not time then for the children of God to 
 come out from the world and be separate, and put away 
 from them every unclean thing ? Unless this be done, I 
 see nothing to prevent us from perishing in one common 
 ruin. But it is possible that we have not yet wearied 
 out the forbearance of God. There may yet remain a 
 blessing in store for us if we repent of our sins and turn 
 again to the Lord. Let this then be our first work. Let 
 
100 THE CHURCH A SOCIETY. 
 
 us begin with our own hearts. Let us cany the princi- 
 ples of the gospel in practice in all our churches. Let us 
 consecrate ourselves and all our possessions to the Saviour, 
 and prove him now herewith, if he will not open to us 
 the windows of heaven, and pjour us out a blessing that 
 there shall not be room enough to receive it. Amen. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
 midst of them. — Matthew, xviii. 20. 
 
 To a being endowed with the intellectual and moral 
 faculties of man, the idea of a supernatural power arises 
 almost by necessity. To him, the heavens declare the 
 glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth his handy 
 work. He no sooner begins to reflect, than he perceives 
 that he has been placed in a world which he did not 
 create, which he can not govern, and from which, without 
 any respect to his own volitions, he will inexorably be re- 
 called. Above him, beneath him, and within him, a sys- 
 tem is carried forward which he did not originate, which 
 he can not change, but which everywhere indicates the 
 existence of infinite power, unsearchable wisdom, and 
 ever-unfolding goodness. Whatever it is that possesses 
 these attributes, how feebly soever he may conceive of 
 them, assumes to him the character of Deity. His con- 
 ception may be obscure, imperfect, erroneous, or absurd, 
 but it is formed in obedience to the primitive impulses of 
 his intellectual and moral nature ; and, even in its very 
 lowest form is incomparably more reasonable than the 
 
102 CHRISTAN WORSHIP. 
 
 denial of the existence of a Creator. The fool hath said 
 in his heart there is no God. 
 
 It is manifest that the belief in a Deity necessitates 
 the idea of adoration, supplication, thanksgiving. To 
 the thoughtful man, as he surveys the boundless glories 
 of creation, and meditates on the attributes of their Au- 
 thor, the sentiments of humility and devotion present 
 themselves spontaneously. When I consider the heavens, 
 the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which 
 thou hast ordained, saith David, what is man that thou 
 art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest 
 him ? Lord our God, how excellent is thy name in all 
 the earth. The thought of God first prostrated the soul 
 of the king of Israel in self-abasement, and then inspired 
 it with sublime and exulting adoration. 
 
 But it is not alone in minds of deep moral sensibility 
 and refined intellectual culture, that the idea of a Deity 
 awakens becoming emotions. The wintry tempest, as it 
 walks forth in majesty, teaches the soul even of the rude 
 savage to bow in submission before a power which he can 
 not resist, and which it is meet that he should propitiate. 
 Spring with its reviving loveliness, and autumn with its 
 overflowing bounty can scarcely be contemplated, without 
 awakening an emotion of thankfulness in the bosom of 
 the most obdurate. The endless vicissitudes of joy and 
 sorrow, of blessing and bereavement, of danger and de- 
 liverance, as they must occur in the personal history of 
 every individual, teach the same lesson ; and, with dif- 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 103 
 
 ferent degrees of distinctness, that lesson is learned by 
 every human being who has arrived at the condition of 
 earnest thought. 
 
 Hence have arisen the various forms of religion which 
 have prevailed among men. Notwithstanding their end- 
 less diversity, their universality proves that they spring 
 from the instinctive impulses of our common nature. 
 Hence when we hear of a newly discovered tribe or peo- 
 ple, we as naturally inquire respecting their religion, as 
 respecting their social or domestic habits. Go where we 
 will, we observe on every side traces of the acknowledg-. 
 ment of a supernatural power, and of the relations which 
 are sustained to that power by us, the children of yester- 
 day. 
 
 But man, beside being a religious, is also a social being. 
 He delights in the united expression of a common senti- 
 ment, and the common manifestation of the same emo- 
 tion. The sentiments and emotions of religion are 
 awakened by changes which equally affect the whole 
 community. God causes his sun to shine on the evil 
 and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
 the unjust. A whole nation trembles at t^e prospect of 
 famine, or rejoices in the abundance of harvest. Every 
 living thing is aroused from slumber by the rising sun, 
 and is soothed to rest beneath the curtain of darkness. 
 That all should unite in deprecating the wrath of the 
 Being whose power we know to be irresistible, and in 
 giving thanks to him whom we believe to be the Giver 
 
104 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 of all good, is one of the first dictates of our nature. 
 Hence the culture of religion is so universally a public 
 concern, and has been so commonly, though so incorrectly, 
 placed under the guardianship of the State. Men unite 
 together in acts of worship as they unite in public rejoic- 
 ing or lamentation, and they meet together when they 
 perform a religious service, just as they meet to declare 
 war or accept conditions of peace, to elect a ruler or de- 
 throne a despot. 
 
 But, in the early ages of humanity, men, like children, 
 think more readily through the medium of visible objects. 
 Hence the idea of God is soon transferred to some repre- 
 sentation of the Deity which can be seen and felt. Thus 
 arose all the multiplied forms of heathen idolatry. Each 
 nation forming its own conception of the Supreme Being, 
 embodied that conception in some material image. Then 
 again, the notion of the Deity became divided and sub- 
 divided, as some distinct supernatural being was sup- 
 posed to govern some peculiar department of the visible 
 creation. Thus every nation and tribe and city had its 
 own appropriate gods to whom it specially looked for 
 succor in calamity, and whom it adored as the authors of 
 every deliverance. Not only every trade and occupation, 
 but every individual had his supernatural friend, god, 
 demi-god, or deified hero, to whom his special service 
 was due, and who was to him, in a peculiar sense, the 
 giver of all good. 
 
 It thus followed that a mutual intercourse was sup- 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 105 
 
 posed to be established between the gods and men. The 
 gods bestowed favors, and men made to them offerings 
 of the things in which they specially delighted. The gods 
 were present, either by representation or in person, and 
 they received the sacrifices which the worshiper pre- 
 sented. But the common people were not worthy them- 
 selves to present their offering to the gods. Hence a 
 caste, selected from the people, or holding their office by 
 hereditary descent, was chosen by the god to mediate 
 between him and men. And again, since the gods were 
 personally present, they must have a place of abode. At 
 first the most beautiful and picturesque spots on earth 
 were consecrated to their service. Thus, in Greece, the 
 lofty hill-top as it first received the rays of Apollo, the 
 smiling valley bearing on its bosom the rich gifts of Ceres, 
 the solemn forest as it whispered the praises of Jove, nay, 
 every sparkling fountain, every mysterious cavern, every 
 loud resounding beach, had each its presiding divinity. 
 As wealth increased, men began to adorn and beautify 
 their private residences. The deity must also have his 
 appropriate dwelling-place. His house was the temple. 
 This was his chosen abode where, by his own appointment, 
 he could be most acceptably worshiped. Hence he scat- 
 tered blessings upon his friends, and hence he launched his 
 thunderbolts upon his enemies. The splendor of the 
 temple of the deity was the measure of the devotion of 
 his worshipers. Hence the wealth of provinces was not 
 unfrequently exhausted in providing a suitable edifice for 
 
 5* 
 
106 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 the abode of the god. All that geDius could conceive, or 
 art elaborate, was poured out in profusion in honor of the 
 patron deity. Hence arose those stupendous structures 
 in India and Egypt, and those magnificent temples in 
 Greece and Italy, the ruins of which can not now be 
 viewed without the profoundest emotions of grandeur and 
 astonishment. The civilized world was dotted thickly 
 with edifices and shrines, in comparison with which all 
 that the Christian religion has ever done in the erection 
 of forms of beauty and sublimity, dwindles into insignifi- 
 cance. 
 
 Of the moral results of the heathen temple worship it 
 is not my purpose here to speak. These may be best un- 
 derstood from the character of paganism delineated in 
 the first chapter of the Epistle to the Komans. One or 
 two general observations, however, thrust themselves upon 
 our attention. 
 
 In the first place, we observe that it all proceeded 
 upon the belief of lioly places, that is, of peculiar locali- 
 ties made holy by the actual presence of the god. In the 
 temple consecrated to his honor the deity personally 
 dwelt, and dwelt more emphatically in proportion to the 
 splendor of his abode. Thus the temple of Juno at 
 Carthage, of Minerva at Athens, and of Jupiter at Kome, 
 were supposed to be the places at which these deities 
 were, in an eminent degree, propitious. 
 
 In the second place, we perceive that this heathen 
 worship proceeded upon the belief not only of holy places, 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 107 
 
 but also of holy persons. The common herd of worship- 
 ers were considered unworthy to approach into the pres- 
 ence of the deity. He must have servants of his own 
 selection, to negotiate between him and men, and these 
 alone were admitted into his immediate presence. Hence, 
 every temple was surrounded by a retinue of priests who 
 officiated as the sole ministers in holy things. They were 
 under the especial protection of the god whom they served, 
 and an injury to them was an insult to him, to be pun- 
 ished with bloodshed and pestilence, and to be atoned 
 for only by hecatombs of offerings. The priest alone ad- 
 mitted the worshiper to intercourse with the deity. He 
 presented the petition, he offered the victim, and he fat- 
 tened on the oblation. 
 
 Hence, in the third place, you see that the heathen tem- 
 ple was never an audience room in which a congregation 
 assembled. It was merely the palace of the god, where, 
 shrouded in darkness, he held his court, surrounded by 
 his retinue of waiting ministers. The people, at humbler 
 distance, might surround the shrine ; but no one except 
 a priest dared to enter it on penalty of death. This 
 honor was reserved for the priesthood alone, and it was 
 granted to them only on occasions of peculiar solemnity. 
 The place was holy, and none but those whose holiness 
 the god had himself recognized, were admitted to hold 
 personal interviews with the being who condescended to 
 dwell with men. 
 
 If now we turn to the Hebrew ritual, we observe that 
 
108 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 it was established on similar principles. God, in the 
 manifestation of himself to man, has always in great con- 
 descension, accommodated himself to the condition of 
 humanity. The Hebrews, just emancipated from the 
 slavery of Egypt, were a rude people, and like any other 
 rude people were more readily impressed by an appeal to 
 the senses. The worship which God ordained was there- 
 fore adapted to minds unaccustomed to reflect upon the 
 spiritual and invisible ; while, at the same time, to those 
 who looked upon it aright, it shadowed forth the glories 
 of the coming dispensation. 
 
 The Hebrew ritual was established on the principle of 
 holiness of places, that is, of places in which God abode, 
 and where he was most acceptably worshiped. God, as 
 their Theocratic King, dwelt among the children of 
 Israel. It was therefore necessary that a place be prepared 
 for his residence. The people were dwelling in tents, and 
 he directed that a tabernacle, of surpassing magnificence, 
 should be constructed for the place of his rest. The 
 directions for the material, the form, and the furniture of 
 this tabernacle, were with the most minute speciality 
 dictated by Jehovah himself. When it w r as finished 
 according to the pattern showed to Moses in the Mount, 
 when the ark of the covenant overshadowed by cherubim 
 was deposited in its place, when every thing had been 
 made ready for the Divine Occupant, then did God, by 
 a visible manifestation, come down and take possession 
 of his abode. Thus we are informed by the inspired 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 109 
 
 historian, that then a cloud covered the tent of the con- 
 gregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the taber- 
 nacle ; and Moses himself was not able to enter the tent 
 of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon. 
 And when the cloud was taken up from over the taber- 
 nacle, the children of Israel went onward in their 
 journeys, but if the cloud were not taken up, then they 
 journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For 
 the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day ; 
 fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of 
 Israel throughout all their journeys. Here then was the 
 visible dwelling place of Jehovah. Here above all other 
 places on earth was he to be acceptably worshiped. 
 Here in distinction from every other spot falsely es- 
 teemed holy, might men come and bow down in adoration 
 before God, the Creator, the Euler and the Upholder 
 of all. . 
 
 But if God held his court on earth, he must be sur- 
 rounded by a retinue of his own appointed servants. 
 He therefore chose the family of Aaron as the officers, if 
 I may so say, of his household, whose duty it was to wait 
 upon him, and mediate between him and the people. 
 They alone could perform the solemn service of his 
 house, but even of their number, one only could, as 
 High Priest, approach into his immediate presence ; and 
 he was not allowed to draw near to God unless on the 
 day of solemn expiation. But the service was too 
 onerous to be discharged by a single family. The whole 
 
110 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 tribe of Levi was set apart to aid in the labor which 
 pertained to the ordinances of the Hebrew ceremonial. 
 The ritual was so burdensome that one man in twelve of 
 the whole nation, was required to perform the religious 
 duties commanded by the Mosaic law. 
 
 It moreover pleased God to give the most minute 
 directions concerning every part of this ritual. The 
 purity of the blood of both priests and levites, the man- 
 ner of inducting them into office, their dress and manner 
 of life, their food, and their social and domestic habits 
 were all accurately and specifically ordained. It was 
 meet that it should be so. If the Holy One had taken 
 up his residence with sinful men, it was appropriate that 
 those who ministered to him should be separated from 
 their brethren, and thus escape the defilement of inter- 
 course with the ungodly. They alone mediated between 
 man and his Maker. Through them alone could the pious 
 Israelite draw near into the presence of Jehovah. He 
 dared not, on pain of death, enter the Holy Place, but 
 the high priest in his name appeared before God, and he 
 felt assured that he had thus approached as near to the 
 Most High as was permitted even to the seed of Abra- 
 ham his friend. 
 
 Thus, again, we see that the Jewish temple was not, 
 any more than the heathen temple, a place in which the 
 congregation ever assembled. For any man but a priest 
 to enter the temple where the deity dwelt, would, in 
 either case, have been considered unpardonable impiety. 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. Ill 
 
 The prince and the beggar alike stood aloof from its 
 sacred precincts. The sanctuary was a shrine, a thing to 
 look upon, before which men were permitted to bow down 
 at a reverential distance, but to attempt to enter it, to 
 draw aside the veil which shrouded its sacred mysteries, 
 was a crime which scarcely admitted of expiation. 
 
 The tabernacle was the centre from which every moral 
 and social influence emanated. Every sin was to be 
 atoned for by an offering, or a ceremonial rite. Every 
 mercy was to be acknowledged by a gift. The first 
 fruit of the field and the stall was to be devoted to God. 
 The kind of offering, its age, its condition, color, and the 
 manner of its sacrifice, were all distinctly specified. 
 Three times a year every Hebrew male was commanded 
 to appear before God, in the place which he had chosen 
 for his abode. So complicated indeed was the ritual ser- 
 vice, and so thoroughly was it intended to pervade the 
 whole life of the Israelite, that of the five books of 
 Moses, the original scriptures of the nation, if we exclude 
 the narrative portion, about three-fourths are occupied in 
 directions for the offices of the tabernacle, and the 
 various services directly or indirectly connected with it. 
 
 When the people were settled in the land of Canaan, 
 and had become a great nation, it was obvious that some 
 better provision should be made for the dwelling place of 
 Jehovah. The Hebrews now dwelt not in tents but in 
 ceiled houses, and the resting place of the Deity was 
 under curtains. Then arose the temple at Jerusalem 
 
112 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 covered with pure gold, astonishing the world by its un- 
 paralleled magnificence. Then was the service of the 
 sanctuary inaugurated with increased splendor, and the 
 offerings of the whole nation were poured out like water 
 to contribute to its imposing ceremonial. Levites in 
 multitudes thronged around the shrine. Thousands of 
 singers on the solemn feast days hymned the praises of 
 the Holy One of Israel. Countless victims smoked upon 
 its altars. It was a gorgeous spectacle. All that man 
 could do was done to render honor to the God whose 
 dwelling place was on Mount Zion, and whose chosen 
 resting place was the temple in Jerusalem. 
 
 Such was the worship ordained by God for his ancient 
 people. It recognized the fact of holiness of places. It 
 supposed that God manifested himself with peculiar favor 
 to those who approached the place where he had recorded 
 his name, and where he had condescended to exhibit the 
 visible signs of his presence. There was the throne of 
 Jehovah on earth. There he was surrounded by the 
 thousands and tens of thousands of his selected servants, 
 who ministered day and night before him. They were 
 specially under his care, and no Hebrew of another tribe 
 could, without the grossest impiety, assume the most 
 trifling function of their office. To Jehovah thus shrouded 
 in darkness, and surrounded by his chosen ministers, 
 three times a year the pious Hebrew drew near with 
 solemn awe. Yet he never presumed to enter the tem- 
 ple. It was not a house of worship, it was the palace of 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 113 
 
 the great king. Standing at humble distance, he united 
 with the thousands of Israel in singing the praises of him 
 to whom he offered the firstling of his flock, the first 
 born of his sons, and whose presence rendered Jerusalem 
 the city of the living God, the joy of the whole earth. 
 
 But all this magnificent pageant, as, in process of time 
 the human mind advanced in cultivation, and increasing 
 luxury gave greater power to temptation, was shorn of its 
 effect. This spendid service at the time of our Saviour, 
 had become a mere physical and outward seeming. The 
 Jews, excepting here and there a Simeon and an Anna, 
 believed that God could be cajoled by formal offerings, 
 while the worshipper wallowed in sensuality, and insulted 
 the Holy One by treachery, cruelty and lust. They tithed 
 mint, anise and cummin, with scrupulous exactitude, 
 while they wholly omitted justice, mercy and faith. They 
 prayed in the corners of the streets, but their prayers 
 were the longest and the most earnest while they were 
 devouring widows' houses. As the corruption of true re- 
 ligion is wont to degrade the conscience beneath the 
 standard of unassisted natural virtue, so the Apostle 
 Paul declares, That the Jews had become more corrupt 
 than even the heathen around them. All that a magnifi- 
 cent ritual addressed to the senses, the taste, and the 
 imagination, could do, had been done, and the result had 
 proved a lamentable failure. Religion and morality had 
 become entirely disconnected ideas. Men believed that 
 by formal service they might recommend themselves to 
 
114 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 the favor of God, while they rioted in unblushing licen- 
 tiousness. Such is ever the result of a religion of form 
 and ritual, of gorgeous ceremonial and magnificent parade, 
 or, in a word, of attempting to move the consciences of 
 men by an appeal to the senses, the taste, and the ima- 
 gination. Gentile and Jew were thus given over to vile 
 affections, and it might reasonably have been expected, 
 that the next manifestation of the Deity to man, would 
 be a revelation of wrath, consigning the whole race to 
 merited and remediless destruction. 
 
 But my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 
 my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens 
 are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
 your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 
 Throughout these long ages of misery and sin, God had 
 never forgotten the promise made in the garden of Eden, 
 that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the 
 serpent. Amidst all the vicissitudes of empire, God had 
 been preparing the way for the advent of the reign of 
 Heaven. At last, when the fullness of time had come, 
 God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under 
 the law to redeem those who were under the law, that 
 we might receive the adoption of sons. 
 
 The principles on which this new dispensation, the king- 
 dom of God upon earth, was established, were, as might 
 well be supposed, the very reverse of all that had pre- 
 ceded it. The former dispensation with its burdensome 
 and material ritual, was, as I have said, typical of the 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 115 
 
 spiritual facts of that which was to follow. When the 
 new revelation was published, when he of whom Moses 
 in the law and the prophets did write had appeared, its 
 office was accomplished, and it was forever abolished. 
 Then was revealed the reign of heaven, scorning the 
 sensual and ritual appliances which were the shadows of 
 that which was to come. It is impossible to conceive of 
 two systems more diametrically opposed, in all that is 
 visible and tangible, than the Mosaic dispensation, and 
 the kingdom of the Messiah. The one relied for its 
 effect on architectural display, imposing ceremonial, and 
 the performance of rites which could not make the wor- 
 shiper perfect as pertaining to the conscience. The 
 simple utterance of the other was, the kingdom of God 
 is within you. 
 
 The Mosaic dispensation, as I have said, proceeded 
 upon the belief that the presence of God was in a definite 
 sense limited to a particular locality. This locality was 
 the temple. Hence the temple was the central glory of 
 the ancient dispensation. To it all that professed to be 
 religion tended, and from it all proceeded. The Mosaic 
 scriptures are filled to overflowing with directions concern- 
 ing its construction and its service. The Jew never 
 wearied of describing its magnificence, and he exulted in 
 the thought that the shrine at which he worshiped was 
 esteemed one of the wonders of the world. 
 
 I turn now to the New Testament, and I do not find a 
 single syllable on this subject, or on anything even re- 
 
116 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 motely allied to it. With the advent of the Messiah, 
 the doctrine of holy places passed forever into ohlivion. 
 The hour now is, said the Saviour, when ye shall neither 
 in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the 
 Father ; the true worshipers worship the Father in 
 spirit and in truth. Throughout the whole New Testa- 
 ment, I remember hut three places mentioned, in which 
 the saints were accustomed to assemble for worship, one 
 was the upper chamber at Jerusalem, another was the 
 school room of Tyrannus, at Ephesus, and the third was 
 Paul's own hired house in Eome, where he received all 
 that came unto him. God had left his ancient abode, 
 and had chosen for himself a far different residence. 
 Know ye not, saith the apostle, that ye are the temple of 
 God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. If a 
 man. love me, said the Saviour, he will keep my words, 
 and the Father will love him, and we will come unto Mm 
 and make our abode with him. When the Jews and 
 heathen reproached the early Christians because they had 
 no temples, their apposite and beautiful reply was, that 
 their hearts were the temple of God, that there he dwelt, 
 and there he had his abode. The tabernacle and its 
 ritual was formed after the pattern showed to Moses in 
 the mount. The Christian church is built upon the 
 model of the new Jerusalem beheld by John in vision. 
 I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and 
 the Lamb are the temple of it, and there shall in no wise 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 117 
 
 enter into it any thing that defile th, but they that are 
 written in the Lamb's book of life. 
 
 The old dispensation had its priesthood, divinely ap- 
 pointed to mediate between God and man. They held 
 their office by hereditary succession, and in their veins for 
 ages had flowed uncontaminated, the pure blood of Aaron. 
 The priesthood had its various gradations, descending step 
 by step from the high priest to the humblest Levite who 
 ministered in its service. The sacerdotal order, by vir- 
 tue of their mediatorial office, held undisputed control 
 over the conscience of the nation. Hence, as it must be 
 where such an order of men exists, they stood at the head 
 of the commonwealth, amassing its wealth, aspiring suc- 
 cessfully after its honors, imposing on the laity burdens 
 which they would not touch with one of their fingers, 
 and by their licentious example leading the nation to in- 
 evitable destruction. 
 
 I turn now to the New Testament, and I perceive that 
 the priesthood is forever abolished. It is evident that our 
 Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake 
 nothing concerning the priesthood. Jesus Christ was, 
 therefore, a Jewish layman. There is, therefore, a disan- 
 nuling of the commandment going before, for the weak- 
 ness and unprofitableness thereof. There is no longer 
 either any priest or high priest on earth.* We have, how- 
 ever, an High Priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 
 from sinners, made higher than the heavens, who needeth 
 not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for 
 
118 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 his own sins, and then for the sins of the people, for this he 
 did once when he offered up himself. Wherefore he is 
 able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto 
 God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
 them. Every believer is, under the new dispensation, a 
 priest unto himself ; and it is his undoubted and inesti- 
 mable privilege to draw near to God, pleading the merits 
 of the ever-prevalent Intercessor. In the place of a pow- 
 erful, wealthy, and insolent hierarchy, enslaving the con- 
 science and monopolizing the offices of the nation, I be- 
 hold twelve common men, all but one, peasants, publicans 
 and fishermen ; untitled, illiterate, unknown, whom nei- 
 ther the lordly priest nor the learned Greek would have 
 numbered with the dogs of their flock. Instead of the 
 various grades of the priesthood, I hear the Saviour de- 
 clare, one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are 
 brethren ; and if any of you would be great, let him be- 
 come the servant of all. Hereditary descent determined 
 the right to the Jewish priesthood. The Christian min- 
 istry is thrown open to every man of earnest piety, self- 
 sacrificing zeal, on whom the Holy Spirit has conferred 
 the gift of teaching. Social position, wealth, and polit- 
 ical influence were the attendants upon the Jewish priest- 
 hood. To the Christian minister the Saviour promised 
 nothing but the natred of the world, the loss of friends, 
 the malice of enemies, and persecution even unto death, 
 with the crown of righteousness which the Lord the right- 
 eous judge shall give him at a coming day. Moses, the 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 119 
 
 warrior statesman, and Aaron the head of an aristocratic 
 hierarchy, were the types of the first dispensation ; the 
 Eedeemer on the cross, drawing all men unto him, was 
 the type of the second. 
 
 The Mosaic ritual was burdened with numberless cere- 
 monial observances which met the pious Jew at every 
 hour of the day, none of which could be omitted without 
 bringing guilt upon the conscience. In the New Testa 
 ment, but two rites are ordained, of which the one may 
 be performed at any water-side, if need be, whenever a 
 disciple and a convert may meet together ; the other, a 
 simple commemorative meal, which may be celebrated 
 with the domestic utensils that can be found in any pri- 
 vate house. In the place of the costly sacrifices which 
 were offered year by year continually, I see nothing de- 
 manded of the Christian worshiper but the offering up 
 of holy affections, repentance for sin, and faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, bringing forth the fruits of love to 
 God and charity to man. The soul united to the Saviour 
 finds within itself a living principle of holy and childlike 
 obedience, and from this fountain issue those graces which 
 manifest the man to be a new creature in Christ Jesus. 
 
 But in this entire absence of pomp and splendor, in 
 this absolute want of visible organization, there is mani- 
 festly no element of power. Negations have no efficiency. 
 Whence then that wonderful almightiness by which the 
 new dispensation is intended to subdue all things unto 
 itself ? The answer to this question is found in the as- 
 
120 CHEISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 tonishing facts which the New Testament reveals. In 
 these consist the power of the new dispensation, and hence 
 beams forth that glory before which all the forms of rit- 
 ual religion fade away into insignificance. These facts 
 are, as I understand them, mainly as follows. 
 
 A race of intelligent and immortal beings, morally re- 
 sponsible, in rebellion against God, was justly under the 
 condemnation of eternal death. Help from a created 
 arm was evidently impossible. The Son of God, by 
 whom and for whom all things were made, moved by 
 Godlike love, undertook the work of our redemption. 
 He took upon himself our nature. He offered up himself 
 for us. He obeyed the law which we had broken, and 
 bore our sins in his own body on the tree. God can now 
 be just and justify the ungodly, in virtue of the doing 
 and suffering of him who has magnified the law and 
 made it honorable. As, by the disobedience of one the 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one the 
 many may be made righteous. A door was thus opened 
 in heaven. The race of man, which had been shut out 
 from all hope, may now enter freely into the holy place 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant. 
 
 The Son of God, while he was thus working out our 
 salvation, condescended to become our teacher. Through 
 him, the pure light from the throne of God shone down 
 upon our sin-benighted world. By obedience to his pre- 
 cepts, every one born of woman, though now under con- 
 demnation, may attain to glory, honor, and immortality. 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 121 
 
 And more than this, he himself, in his own life, so clearly 
 exemplified every precept which he taught, that a way- 
 faring man though a fool need not err therein. Denying 
 ourselves, taking up our cross and following in his foot- 
 steps, no one will fail to enter with him into the man- 
 sions which he has prepared for those that love him. 
 
 But this is not all. Jesus Christ implants in the souls 
 of those who ohey him a new principle of moral life, by 
 which they obtain victory over the sin that is within 
 them, and the sin that is without them, and become 
 united to God by a loving and childlike faith. This new 
 principle of spiritual life must be communicated by them 
 to others. Every man who is enlightened is under impera- 
 tive obligations to hold forth the word of life. He that 
 believeth on me, said the Saviour, out of his belly shall 
 flow rivers of living water. Every man, as soon as he is 
 quickened, is commanded to proclaim to men perishing 
 in sin the good news of redemption, until the reign of 
 heaven shall have become universal, and the kingdoms of 
 this world transformed into the kingdoms of our Lord and 
 of his Christ. 
 
 The Captain of our salvation, having finished his work 
 on earth, and opened the gate of heaven to the race 
 whose nature he had assumed, ascended to the glory 
 which he had with the Father before the world was. He 
 took his seat at the right hand of the Most High, not in 
 his original condition, but as the glorified Messiah, the 
 head of his body which is the church. As such he sends 
 
 6 
 
122 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 forth the Holy Spirit, who by the manifestation of the 
 truth awakens # to spiritual life those who are dead in sin. 
 He endows his servants with those gifts which are needed 
 in the labor to which he has appointed them. He meets 
 his disciples when they meet to worship him. Where 
 two or three are met together in his name, there is he in 
 the midst of them. Nay, the soul of every individual be- 
 liever is a temple of the Holy Ghost. If a man love me, 
 said the Saviour, he will keep my words, and my Father 
 will love him, and we will come to him and make our 
 abode with him. Every believer is a priest, and in this 
 temple he offers up spiritual sacrifice to God. The ob- 
 lations which he presents are childlike affections, filial 
 obedience, the sob of contrition, the tear of penitence, the 
 humble yet mighty confidence of faith, the patience of 
 hope, the labor of love, the universal and joyful surrender 
 of himself to the Saviour who loved him and gave himself 
 for him. These are the sacrifices with which God is well 
 pleased. The priest who offers such sacrifice, whether in 
 the private chamber or in the public assembly, in the 
 crowded city or the lonely desert, on the throne or in the 
 hovel, draws nea«r to God, and God draws near unto him, 
 shedding abroad in his soul the consciousness of his love, 
 the peace which the world can neither give nor take 
 away. 
 
 Such then is the worship of the new dispensation. It 
 knows of no holy place but the sanctified heart. It ac- 
 cepts of no oblation but devout affections. It acknowl- 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 123 
 
 edges no high priest but the Advocate with the Father, 
 and it invites every believer in his Dame to draw near to 
 the mercy-seat. It scorns as impertinent all appeals to 
 the senses, wrought in gold and silver and stone graven 
 by art and man's device. Its kingdom is established in 
 the spiritual nature of man. Its aim is accomplished in 
 just so far as it realizes the saying of our Saviour, God 
 is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him 
 in spirit and in truth. 
 
 From this view of the new dispensation the principles 
 may be easily discovered in obedience to which the ser- 
 vices of the Christian sanctuary are to be conducted. To 
 this part of our subject suffer us now to direct our atten- 
 tion. 
 
 The design of Christian worship is two-fold : first to 
 cultivate the divine life in the soul of the believer, and 
 secondly to communicate that life to those who are yet 
 dead in trespasses and sins. Both these ends are accom- 
 plished by the same means — the public exhibition of the 
 truths of the New Testament in humble and belie vino- 
 
 o 
 
 dependence upon the promised aid of the ever-blessed 
 Spirit. 
 
 The word of God must be addressed to men or oily. A 
 place where they can assemble, retired from the noise of 
 the passing world, is therefore needed. The church there- 
 fore requires an audience room, to which believers may 
 invite their fellow-men to hear the words of everlasting 
 
124 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 life. Let us then inquire what are the principles which 
 should govern its construction. 
 
 We have seen that the New Testament rejects all ideas 
 of holiness of place. God dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands, but in the heart of the humble and contrite. 
 The soul in which the Spirit dwells is holy, all else is 
 common. There is no holiness in form. There is no 
 holiness in antiquated form. There is no holiness in any 
 mode of decoration, whether it be Boodhist or Grecian, 
 Hebrew or Gothic. From all these the religion of Christ 
 averts her face in sorrow, if not in anger. The church 
 of Christ does not worship before a shrine, addressing 
 itself to the eye, which men may look upon, but which 
 only the priesthood may enter. It needs merely an au- 
 dience-room, in which the congregation may assemble to 
 hear the word of God, and unite in oral praise and thanks- 
 giving. In all its arrangements, therefore, the ear and 
 not the eye is first of all to be consulted. The place of 
 worship should therefore be of convenient dimensions, 
 adapted to the wants of both speaker and hearer. It 
 should be well warmed, well ventilated, and in every re- 
 spect so constructed that nothing either within or about 
 it shall withdraw the attention of the worshipers from 
 the great object for which they are assembled. The only 
 beauty at which it can aspire must be derived from cor- 
 rect proportion and simplicity of structure. If our devo- 
 tions are suspended to behold what manner of stones and 
 of buildings are these, taste has overstepped her appro- 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 125 
 
 priate limits, and, irreverently placing herself by the side 
 of the Creator, has wrought not beauty but deformity. 
 Every thing about a Christian place of worship should 
 be neat, chaste, appropriate, and simple ; so that the dis- 
 ciple of Jesus, free from the intrusion of every other sen- 
 timent, may direct his whole attention to the relations of 
 his spirit to the unseen God. An edifice of this charac- 
 ter meets all the conditions required in a meeting-house 
 for Christians. It may, moreover, be constructed in un- 
 exceptionable taste and of pleasing appearance, and yet 
 be completed at a cost not beyond the pecuniary means 
 of almost any ordinary company of worshiping disciples. 
 I do not perceive that either taste or piety requires any 
 thing beyond this in a Christian house of worship. 
 
 Holding these views, it may well be supposed that I 
 have no sympathy with the style of ecclesiastical archi- 
 tecture which is rapidly extending itself among the 
 various denominations of Protestant Christians in this 
 country. Whatever be its form, whether Gothic, or 
 Grecian, or Italian, I object to it, in the first place, on 
 account of its enormous and unreasonable expense. 
 
 I am aware that I shall here be met at the outset by 
 the remark, that men build sumptuous palaces for them- 
 selves, why should they not build magnificent houses for 
 the worship of God? Men, it is said, will spend their 
 money in some way or another, why should not a part of 
 their extravagant outlay be employed for the purposes of 
 religion ? To this I reply, by what right do they build 
 
126 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 such palaces for themselves ? Does it become a disciple 
 of Jesus of Nazareth to consume his property in useless 
 and frivolous extravagance ? Is not every dollar that he 
 possesses a talent committed to him by God, for which he 
 must render a strict account ? "While the poor around 
 him are growing up in ignorance and vice, while perish- 
 ing millions are famishing for the bread of life, by what 
 right does a disciple of the blessed Jesus consume in 
 fashionable expenditure those means by which a heathen 
 district might be turned from idols to the living God ? 
 We engage in the pursuit of wealth with an earnestness 
 which paralyzes every holy affection, and throw away our 
 gains in a vain competition for preeminence in extrava- 
 gance. Living thus, I grant it may be consistent to 
 build expensive houses of worship. But would it not 
 be equally consistent, and more befitting the disciples of 
 the lowly Jesus, to cultivate simplicity and plainness in 
 every form of expenditure, and consecrate our gains to 
 the cause of that Saviour who loved us, and gave himself 
 for us ? 
 
 But there are graver and important objections to the 
 present style of ecclesiastical architecture, aside from its 
 lavish expenditure. It is certainly no trifling matter 
 that thus the influence of worldliness is extended over 
 the church of Christ. That expensiveness of worship 
 has this tendency, the history of the past, and the obser- 
 vation of the present, abundantly demonstrate. 
 
 But this is not all. The moral results of the prevailing 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 127 
 
 views of ecclesiastical architecture are already alarming. 
 It is evident that our Lord intended the religion of the 
 gospel ever to hold its seat among the middling classes 
 and the poor, for these constitute the mass of humanity. 
 It was among these classes that Christianity was first 
 planted. The Redeemer himself was. as was supposed, 
 the son of a mechanic. His apostles were peasants and 
 fishermen, illiterate and common men. Wherever the 
 gospel was preached, it was among such men that it 
 flourished. Thus our Saviour proclaimed it as one of the 
 palpable evidences of the truth of his mission, that to 
 the poor the gospel was preached. By this feature was 
 his religion to be distinguished from systems of man's 
 devising, which always sought alliance with the rich and 
 the powerful. As churches were multiplied after the 
 ascension of the Redeemer, they were composed of the 
 very classes from which Christ selected his disciples. 
 Paul, though a well educated man, so preached that the 
 illiterate and the cultivated could equally well understand 
 him. He came not with excellency of speech, or of wis- 
 dom, to the luxurious and polished Corinthians, but with 
 the determination to know nothing, even among them, 
 but Jesus Christ and him crucified. And the result of 
 his preaching was such as might have been expected. 
 Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise 
 men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble 
 are called ; tyit God hath chosen the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the 
 
128 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 weak things of the world to confound the mighty ; and 
 base things of the world, and things that are despised, 
 hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring 
 to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in 
 his presence. 
 
 Now I object to costly church architecture because it 
 completely reverses the design of Christ in the promul- 
 gation of the gospel. Expensive edifices render necessary 
 a great additional expense in the accessories of public wor- 
 ship. So enormous is the cost of edifices, and so great the 
 expense of maintaining religious services in our cities and 
 large towns, that none but the rich are able to hear the 
 gospel of salvation. The mass of the community are as 
 effectually excluded from the house of God as if they 
 were expressly forbidden to enter it. Thus men of mod- 
 erate means are growing up by hundreds of thousands 
 estranged from every religious sympathy. They will not 
 go where every thing around them contrasts so strangely 
 with the plainness of their attire that their very presence 
 may be a subject of remark. We hear much of increas- 
 ing wickedness and alarming infidelity in our cities, and 
 we observe that the infection is spreading to the country. 
 How can it be otherwise, when we practically exclude from 
 the worship of God four-fifths of our population, and 
 associate religion with fashion, and wealth, and power, 
 and galling worldly distinction ? 
 
 But it will be said that in most of these churches free 
 seats are provided for " these people ;" why do not they 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 129 
 
 occupy them ? Or it may be said again, we will build 
 mission chapels for the poor, which they may occupy free 
 of cost. To this, I reply, such means as these will do 
 but little to mitigate the evil. The self-respect of an 
 American mechanic forbids him to accept as a gift what 
 is paid for by his neighbors. He will cheerfully contribute 
 for what he receives according to his ability ; but^if you 
 demand a contribution beyond his ability, he will have 
 nothing to do with your service. But suppose it were not 
 so. Were the rich assembled in luxurious temples, re- 
 galed with the music of the choir, and elated with the 
 consciousness that no plebeian sinner united with them 
 in the service of the sanctuary ; and were the poor and 
 the laboring classes collected by themselves in humble 
 chapels in lanes and by-ways, should we thus realize the 
 idea of worship presented to us in the New Testament ? 
 Let the Apostle James answer our question. My 
 brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 Lord of glory, with respect to persons. For if there 
 come into your assembly a man with a gold ring, in 
 goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile 
 raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay 
 clothing, and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place, 
 and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit here undei 
 my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves and 
 are become judges of (having) evil thoughts ? Hearken, 
 my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of 
 this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which 
 
 6* 
 
130 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 he hath promised ? If ye have respect to persons, ye do 
 commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 
 But it may be asked, are not the souls of the rich of as 
 much value as those of the poor ? I answer, of precisely 
 as much, and no more. We all stand on the same level 
 in the sight of God. It is for the spiritual good of the 
 rich, as much as of the poor, that I strenuously urge a 
 change in our practice in this respect. Let there be at 
 least one place this side of the grave where the rich and 
 poor may meet together on terms of equality, as the 
 children of one Father in heaven ; where the one party 
 may learn a lesson of thankfulness and humility, and the 
 other may feel that they are recognized as heirs together 
 of the same inheritance, and where the hearts of all are 
 bound together in one common sentiment of Christian 
 sympathy, and then every worshiping assembly would 
 testify that the children of God are one, and the world 
 would believe that Christ was sent of the Father. 
 
 But again, we are living in an unexampled period of 
 the history of our race. The whole world (nations under 
 the power of the Komish and Greek churches only ex- 
 cepted), is now accessible to the preaching of the gospel. 
 Our own country presents a field for philanthropic and 
 Christian effort, such as has never before been seen. It 
 is in the power of the disciples of Christ in the United 
 States to make this nation the instrument of a world's 
 renovation. All the means possessed by the children of 
 God are required in the work of Christian benevolence. 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 131 
 
 The field both at home and abroad is boundless. The 
 providence of God invites us to go up and possess the 
 whole land. At such a time as this, can the disciple of 
 Christ innocently lavish upon splendid temples the wealth 
 which would feed famishing millions with the bread of 
 eternal life ? 
 
 The style of church architecture now coming into use 
 among us is the medieval. To this, especially there 
 seem to me very grave objections. 
 
 Aside from the fact of its enormous expensiveness, it is 
 especially unfit for a Christian place of worship. We 
 need for this purpose, as I have said, a convenient 
 audience room. But for this purpose the Gothic form is 
 wholly unsuited. Its numerous columns and arches, the 
 elevation of its roof, the multitude of its angles, and the 
 profuseness of its ornament, render it equally incon- 
 venient both for speaker and hearer. Were an audience 
 room to be constucted for any other purpose but hearing 
 the gospel, who would ever select, as the most appropriate 
 form, the model of a Gothic cathedral ? 
 
 But, it is said, the Gothic is remarkable for its solemn 
 magnificence. It appeals with power to the taste and 
 the imagination. Why should we not use these means 
 for the promotion of piety? Can wealth be better em- 
 ployed than in creating those forms of beauty and grand- 
 eur which lead men to holy reflection ? 
 
 To this I answer, first, I have seen some of the most 
 exquisite specimens of medieval architecture. I have 
 
132 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 spent a day in admiring the surpassing beauty of Lincoln 
 Cathedral. As a work of art I have never seen any thing 
 that could compare with it. I was almost saddened as 
 the conviction came over me that no such structure 
 would ever stand on the soil of my country. I must, 
 however, confess that it never awakened in my bosom a 
 single religious emotion. Those magnificent pillars, with 
 their superb tracery, neither raised my soul to Grod nor 
 quickened my charity to man. I bowed in reverence 
 before the unknown architect who had composed this 
 wondrous epic in stone. The remembrance of his work 
 can never leave me ; but the emotion is purely esthetical ; 
 it has nothing whatever in common with religion. 
 
 But perhaps I may be peculiar, and, in this respect, 
 unlike the rest of my species. I will turn then to the 
 teachings of history. If these grand and beautiful forms, 
 which we strive at so humble a distance to emulate, have 
 any power to raise the soul to God, they would naturally 
 have been created at a period when the disciples of Christ 
 were specially heavenly minded, and willing to part with 
 their wealth profusely for the purpose of attaining a more 
 vigorous growth in holiness. But is this so ? Did archi- 
 tectural magnificence take its rise in a period of pure, or, 
 of corrupt Christianity ? Costly Christian temples were 
 never erected until the church was sinking into the 
 lethargy of spiritual death. The period in which ecclesi- 
 astical architecture most flourished was the age of spir- 
 itual darkness, when the Bible was a forbidden book, to 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 133 
 
 the masses of the people, and almost unknown to the 
 priesthood itself, and when moral midnight brooded over 
 all the people of Christendom. 
 
 But we may ask, what has been the practical result 
 of this effort to awaken piety by an appeal to the 
 senses ? Many of these magnificent piles have stood for 
 ages. Have they been found peculiarly successful in the 
 cultivation of devotion ? Are they now, or have they 
 ever been, thronged with the humble believing disciples 
 of Jesus ? If there be any places in Christendom where 
 the name of Christianity has become a scoff and a by- 
 word, is it not under the eaves of those cathedrals which 
 are now held forth to us as incentives to piety ? Would 
 it not appear to us passing strange if we were told that 
 a glorious revival of religion was in progress in York 
 Minster, or Westminster Abbey, or Notre Dame, or the 
 Cathedral of Strasburg, or Milan, or St. Peter's ; and that 
 these gorgeous shrines were crowded with men and 
 women, inquiring what they should do to be saved ? Or, 
 suppose the Spirit of God should be poured out in these 
 very localities, where would you expect to find the awak- 
 ened souls assembled ? In these magnificent temples, 
 or in hovels and barns, in retired hamlets, and caves of 
 the earth, where they might escape the notice of the very 
 priesthood whose religion had been nourished by the 
 contemplation of the noblest specimens of medieval archi- 
 tecture ? Or we may come nearer home. Do we find that 
 any better effect is produced among ourselves by our 
 
134 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 puny imitations of the architectural wonders of Europe ? 
 Do you find the temples which adorn our cities in any 
 manner the special resort of the humble, devout, self- 
 denying disciples of Jesus ? Is it to these that the sinner 
 most eagerly resorts when he would know what he shall 
 do to he saved ? When trembling in moral agony he is 
 inquiring, how shall man be just with God, will stained 
 glass, or oriel windows, or carving in wood or stone return 
 him any answer ? I can not then believe that such struc- 
 tures have any moral efficacy. If they have never accom- 
 plished the purpose for which they were designed, and if 
 they do not accomplish it now, I am constrained to be- 
 lieve that for every moral purpose they are, to say the 
 least, utterly powerless. 
 
 But it will be said that these forms of ancient archi- 
 tecture are hallowed by ancient and holy associations. Is 
 it not desirable to avail ourselves of sacred memories to 
 increase our reverence for the house of God ? In this 
 suggestion there is certainly a show of reason. We nat- 
 urally look with reverence on the past, and delight to 
 foster every recollection that can aid us in the attain- 
 ment of piety or virtue. But, granting this, let us not 
 mislead ourselves by a misstatement of the facts. Let 
 the moral history of the most splendid specimens of 
 medieval architecture be written, and what associations 
 would it awaken in the bosom of a disciple of Christ ! 
 Were they erected by the free-will offerings of the holy, 
 or by contributions drained from the earnings of the 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 135 
 
 degraded slaves of an oppressive and licentious hierarchy 
 the most imposing of them all by the sale of indulgences 
 to sin ? Who have frequented these solemn shrines ? The 
 lowly disciples of the Son of God, or brutalized, sensual 
 men, who dared not on pain of death to open the lively 
 oracles? Have the ecclesiastics, who age after age have 
 fattened on the oblations offered at their shrines, been 
 men determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and 
 him crucified, or were they purpled cardinals, mitred 
 bishops, luxurious abbots, 
 
 " Monks, eremites and friars, 
 White, black, and gray, with all their trumpery ?" 
 
 These very edifices, with all their gorgeous magnificence, 
 have been the chosen resorts of men who have perse- 
 cuted even unto death our brethren, the saints of the 
 Most High. What is there in any such associations that 
 can create any joy, or awaken any reverence, in the bosom 
 of the disciple of Christ ? Were we to be governed by 
 association I would as soon construct all our halls of 
 justice after the model of the judgment hall of Pilate, as 
 to erect churches of Christ after the pattern of the most 
 splendid specimens of medieval architecture. 
 
 But it is time that I turned from the house of worship 
 to the purpose for which it is intended. What is the 
 purpose for which a Christian congregation assembles ? 
 
 This service is all expressed in the single word wor- 
 ship. We come up to the house of God neither for the 
 gratification of taste nor the cultivation of intellect, but 
 
136 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 for the single purpose of worshiping him who is a Spirit 
 in spirit and in truth. 
 
 This worship consists in no physical acts. It is not the 
 performance of an imposing ceremonial, it is not the offer- 
 ing up of costly oblations, it is not the burning of incense, 
 or the procession of priests, nor is it the seemly presen- 
 tation of our bodies in the house of God, bedizened with 
 all the adornment of costly apparel. Ah no ! it is some- 
 thing infinitely different from all these. It is the offering 
 up of holy affections to the Most Holy God. Penitence 
 for sin, the earnest purpose of amendment, the confidence 
 of filial love, the outpouring of gratitude, longing after 
 holiness, the self-sacrificing resolution to be in all things 
 a follower of Jesus, the absolute surrender in the presence 
 of God of the most secret and unsuspected sins, the cut-' 
 ting off of a right hand, the plucking out of a right eye, 
 adoring views of the love of Christ that bring to the soul 
 the consciousness of indissoluble union to him, the solemn 
 consecration of our whole selves to him for time and eter- 
 nity, faith which confers victory over the world, joyful 
 anticipations of the day when, washed from every stain 
 and clothed in the Redeemer's righteousness, we shall be 
 ever with the Lord ; these, these are the offerings which, 
 in the name of the only Mediator, we present before God 
 when we come to worship in his presence. Wherever his 
 people assemble to offer such sacrifices, the Saviour in an 
 especial manner draws near to them. He presents the ob- 
 lation with much incense before the throne. Where two 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 137 
 
 or three are met together in my name there, saith he, am 
 I in the midst of them. 
 
 So far as this service is purely individual and spiritual, 
 it is precisely the same in minister and people. So far 
 as it is social and vocal, it is shared between them. 
 
 In prayer, the minister expresses orally the spiritual 
 affections which the people, each one for himself, present 
 unto God. He does not offer it for them, he only gives 
 utterance to their offering. They approach no nearer to 
 God by any mediation of his. His prayers are no more 
 prevalent with God than those of the humblest worshiper 
 before him ; they may not in fact be half so prevalent. 
 He rises before them, not to make an official address to 
 the Most High, or to deliver an eloquent harangue to 
 man, but to utter, in the hearing of all, the spiritual af- 
 fections which animate his bosom and the bosoms of his 
 fellow- worshipers. 
 
 But their affections are excited and sustained by the 
 contemplation of the truth revealed to us by inspiration. 
 For this reason the reading of the Scriptures should in- 
 variably form a part of the service ivhenever Christians 
 assemble for worship. And again, the truth of revelation 
 may be so unfolded and enforced, that it will enable us 
 to offer up a more acceptable service than would arise 
 from our unaided contemplation. The preacher, a man 
 who has, it may be, withdrawn himself from worldly 
 affairs that he may give himself continually to prayer 
 and the ministry of the word, explains a passage of holy 
 
138 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 writ, and shows its bearing upon the spiritual character, 
 affections, and conduct of a Christian assembly. He 
 deals not with other truth, be it scientific, philosophical, 
 economical, political, or patriotic, but simply with that 
 truth which Christ came from heaven to reveal. This 
 truth alone will nourish the soul in all virtue, and pre- 
 pare it for its eternal home. The teachings of inspira- 
 tion having been unfolded, he must apply them fearlessly, 
 honestly, and lovingly to every man's conscience in the 
 sight of God. He does not stand up in the presence of 
 his Maker to attract attention to the beauty of his style 
 or the splendor of his imagery. He does not rise there to 
 build up a reputation. This were to handle the word of 
 God deceitfully. His object is, in thorough, honest and 
 holy self-forgetfulness to make known to perishing men 
 the precise mind of the Spirit, warning every man and 
 teaching every man in all wisdom, that he may present 
 every man perfect in Christ Jesus. You observe that 
 the apostle, by way of emphasis, thrice repeats the words 
 every man, and not without reason. The minister of the 
 gospel is not to preach that the ten shall applaud him, 
 while the ninety shall wonder at what they do not un- 
 derstand. He is to unfold the law of God with stern 
 impartiality, whether it condemn the few or the many, 
 the mean or the mighty. He must place his learning, 
 his talent, his whole self on the altar, as the Son of God 
 gave up himself for us. He must so deliver his message 
 that every one of his audience not only may, but so that 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 139 
 
 with common attention every one of them must, under- 
 stand him. Jesus Christ was not too great to preach 
 simply. Though in him dwelt the fullness of the God- 
 head, he was not ashamed to bear the reproach of 
 " having never learned." The common people heard him 
 gladly. Shall those who follow in his footsteps aim at 
 preaching what three-fourths of their hearers can not 
 understand, and what, to those who understand it, serves 
 no other purpose than the creation of an intellectual 
 excitement ? 
 
 Such is the labor of a minister of Christ. His object 
 is to awaken and to cherish holy affections in the minds 
 of those around him, to arouse sinners to repentance, and 
 to strengthen the faithful in all well doing. His object 
 is to do it now, while they are at this moment before 
 him. He is not to preach in the frigid hope that perad- 
 venture, at some time or other, some two, or ten, or 
 twenty years hence, his words may become effectual to 
 their salvation. Peter did not preach thus on the day of 
 Pentecost. He called on his hearers on that day to re- 
 pent, and on that day they repented, and three thousand 
 souls were added to the Lord. Why should not the same 
 results follow the preaching of the gospel now ? The 
 minister of Christ preaches the truth which is appointed 
 to make men wise to salvation. Perishing men, in dan- 
 ger of perdition, are before him. The Saviour, according 
 to his promise, is in the midst of the assembly. Why 
 should not the truth be effectual now rather than at any 
 
140 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 other time ? It is to accomplish these results, to bring 
 men now, at this present, to be reconciled to God that 
 the minister of the gospel labors, striving according to 
 the working which worketh in him mightily. 
 
 I have said that so far as the service of God in the 
 Christian sanctuary is vocal and social it is shared by the 
 minister and people. They perform their part of the ser- 
 vice in singing the praises of God. 
 
 The principles on which music aids us in devotion are 
 apparent. It is well known that musical sounds have a 
 decided influence over the tone of the mind. One air 
 harmonizes with grave emotions, another with cheerful, 
 and another with exulting. Not only do they harmonize 
 with such emotions, but they are capable of exciting 
 them. Hence, when the sentiments which we utter are 
 accompanied by appropriate music they make a deeper 
 impression both on ourselves and on others. The im- 
 pression of music is also greatly increased when a multi- 
 tude expresses the same sentiments in unison. A hymn 
 sung by a single individual, or a choir, at the head of an 
 army, would scarcely attract attention ; let it be sung by 
 ten thousand men on the eve of a battle, and its effect 
 would be irresistible. The music of a solemn psalm was 
 on the lips of Cromwell's Ironsides in those furious onsets 
 before which the best troops in Europe were scattered 
 like the dust of the summer threshing-floor. 
 
 The application of these principles to the case before 
 us is self-evident. In a Christian assembly the believing 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 141 
 
 soul offers up to God the sacrifice of devout affections. 
 These affections are essentially the same in the bosom of 
 every worshiper, as the hymn is appropriately read. By 
 a natural instinct they are impelled to express them in 
 unison. By thus expressing them, the sentiment of devo- 
 tion is enkindled to an intenser flame, and the hearts of 
 the worshipers are united in holier sympathy both with 
 the Saviour and with each other. In one spirit and with 
 one voice they bow in lowly adoration before the King 
 invisible. Together they pray for the kindling power of 
 the Holy Spirit, together their hearts melt in lowly con- 
 trition, together they lay hold by faith on the promises, 
 and anticipate that day when, clothed in the righteousness 
 of saints, they shall unite with all the redeemed in sing- 
 ing the song of Moses and the Lamb. 
 
 Believing all this to be true, you will not be surprised 
 when *I say, that nothing but congregational singing 
 seems appropriate to the devotions of a Christian assem- 
 bly. We meet to worship God. We worship God by 
 offering up to him the oblation of holy affections. In 
 singing we offer up this oblation in unison. It is then a 
 service in which every believer is expected to unite. 
 Hence the airs should obviously be simple. They should 
 be emphatically expressive of solemn, tender, and devout 
 emotion. However well adapted music may be to the 
 expression of other emotions, if it fail here, it is at best 
 an impertinence. Unless it fan the flame of devotion, it 
 
142 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 were better to omit it entirely, and lift up our souls to 
 God in silence. 
 
 And if this be so, by what name shall we designate 
 that service which is performed merely as a matter of 
 musical divertisement, when the most solemn truths of 
 which the mind can conceive are used for the frivolous 
 purpose of professional display ? Can that be the worship 
 of God, which is enacted by men and women hired from 
 the theater and the opera house, to regale the ears of 
 an audience of musical amateurs ? Can it be pleasing to 
 God to exchange the oblation of holy affections for a 
 mere sensual oblectation ? The Saviour, whom we wor- 
 ship, has said, where two or three are gathered in my 
 name, there am I in the midst of them. My brethren, do 
 we believe this ? Is such a service as this a meet obla- 
 tion to offer to the Saviour who is present in the assem- 
 blies of his saints ? When he demands of us the tear of 
 penitence, the yearning of holy love, and the confidence 
 of childlike faith, is it seemly to offer him, instead, trills 
 from a fashionable opera ? 
 
 Such are some of the views which I entertain respect- 
 ing the worship of God under the New Testament dis- 
 pensation. With a few parting words I close this dis- 
 course, already too far extended. 
 
 You have been prompted to erect this house of wor- 
 ship, I trust, by sentiments similar to those which I have 
 so imperfectly unfolded. God grant that the devoutest 
 hopes you have ever cherished may be more than realized. 
 
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 143 
 
 You have consecrated this house to the worship of God. 
 Let it never be used for any other purpose. Let no 
 sound but the voice of worship be ever heard within 
 these walls. Here, Sabbath after Sabbath, may you ap- 
 pear before God to offer up to him the sacrifice of holy 
 affections. Here may the Word be ever preached in 
 earnest, faithful, and loving simplicity. From this place 
 may you go forth clothed in the whole armor of God to 
 fight the good fight of faith. Here may you trim your 
 lamps so that in all the resorts of business you may 
 hold forth the word of Life. Here may the Holy Spirit 
 take up his permanent abode, and fill this house with 
 awakened sinners, and with saints growing in grace. 
 From you may the Word of God be sounded out in this 
 city, and in all the region round about you. *A.nd, as in 
 succession, each one of you comes to offer his last sacri- 
 fice at this altar, may an entrance abundantly be min- 
 istered to you into the temple made without hands, 
 where the Lamb is the light thereof. May your children 
 rise up to fill the places which you leave vacant, and 
 your posterity to the remotest generations become heirs 
 of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Then shall 
 this sanctuary, which you have builded, be to you none 
 other than the house of God and the very gate of heaven. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 A CONSISTENT PIETY, THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 
 
 "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall 
 teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven : but 
 whosoever shall do, and teach them the same, shall be called great in 
 the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew, v. 19. 
 
 The form of expression here is peculiar and idiomatic. 
 The meaning is not, that the man who breaks the com- 
 mandment and teaches men so, and the man who obays 
 and teaches them, shall both enter heaven, though not 
 under equally favorable circumstances. The words teach 
 us a lesson far more emphatic. They affirm, that the one 
 shall be excluded from the kingdom of heaven, while the 
 other shall be admitted to it. This sense is clearly 
 brought out by the connection of the text with the 
 verse that follows it. Except your righteousness exceed 
 the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall 
 in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord 
 always describes the Pharisees as sinning in the manner 
 alluded to in the former part of the verse ; they broke the 
 commandments and taught men so ; they would not 
 enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, and those that 
 would enter in they hindered ; they compassed sea and 
 
A CONSISTENT PIETY. 145 
 
 land to make a proselyte, and then made him twofold 
 more the child of Satan than themselves. They could 
 not, therefore, escape the damnation of hell. The text 
 is then to be understood as positively affirmative and 
 negative. If a man (knowingly of course) breaks one of 
 the least commandments and teaches men so, he shall 
 not, if he do and teach them he shall, enter the kingdom 
 of heaven. The Apostle James teaches the same truth 
 when he says, if a man keep the whole law and yet of- 
 fend in one point, he is guilty of all. The entire subjec- 
 tion of the whole man, body and soul and spirit, to the 
 will of Christ, is, everywhere in the New Testament, de- 
 clared to be the only valid test of discipleship. 
 
 But what are the commandments referred to in the 
 text ? Plainly the law and the prophets mentioned in 
 the preceding verses, or, more generally, the whole re- 
 vealed will of God. This law is briefly expressed by our 
 Lord in his conversation with the young ruler. What 
 shall I do, said the inquirer, to inherit eternal life ? He 
 said unto him, What is written in the law, how readest 
 thou ? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
 and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And 
 Jesus said, Thou hast answered right, this do and thou 
 shalt live. 
 
 We learn from the discourses of our Lord, that these 
 words announce the law which God has established for 
 the government of his moral universe. It was revealed 
 
 7 
 
146 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 under the old dispensation, and it has been confirmed by 
 God manifest in the flesh, speaking as the Divine Law- 
 giver for mankind. The reward of obedience is also pro- 
 claimed by the same authority. The Son of God has 
 declared, This do and thou shalt live. Such is the law 
 to which our Lord refers in the text. 
 
 If we reflect but for a moment upon this command- 
 ment, we shall easily perceive that it is holy and just 
 and good. It requires us to love God supremely, that is, 
 to love him as much better than every thing that he has 
 made, as he is more deserving of our love, and of course 
 to subordinate every motive to this all- controlling affec- 
 tion. Can any one complain of such a law ? Let him 
 then take any object in creation, and placing it by the 
 side of the eternal God, ask himself, Which of these two 
 is the more worthy of my supreme love and adoration ? 
 Or, let him take this whole created universe, and ask 
 himself again, Which is the more worthy of my unlim- 
 ited reverence, affection, and obedience, this stupendous 
 mechanism, or the Being whose mind conceived, whose 
 hand formed, and whose word sustains it, and who, in 
 infinite benevolence, watches with parental care over 
 every creature, rational and irrational, that inhabits it ? 
 Or, if it be remembered that disinterested goodness justly 
 deserves a return of gratitude and love, let him ask, What 
 has this created universe done for me ? or what sacrifices 
 has it made to secure my happiness, or shelter me from 
 harm ? On the other hand, the Creator of all has 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 147 
 
 watched over me and all that he has made with infinite 
 loving-kindness ; and when by willful rebellion I bad in- 
 volved myself in misery such as no finite mind can ade- 
 quately comprehend, be so loved me that he gave his 
 only-begotten Son that I might not perisb but have ever- 
 lasting life. Should we not then love the Creator in- 
 finitely better than all that be has created ? There is 
 not a man who can stand up in the presence of bis rea- 
 son and conscience, and not confess that this command- 
 ment is holy and just and good. 
 
 The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neigb- 
 bor as thyself. By this precept we are commanded to 
 love our neighbor's rigbts as we love our own. We love 
 our own rights, not because they are our own, but because 
 they are rights. We despise a man who acts on any 
 other principle, and who cares for right only wben it is 
 for his personal advantage. I ask, then, are not my neigh- 
 bor's rights as much rights as my own ? If I love my 
 own rights because they are rights, ought I not to love 
 equally well my neighbor's rigbts for the very same rea- 
 son ? 
 
 But it may be said, and truly, that the precept is 
 broader than this, that it requires us to love our neigh- 
 bor's happiness as we love our own. Be it so. But how 
 do we properly love our own happiness, or, in other words, 
 what is the true and legitimate object of self-love ? I 
 answer, self-love is an innocent and necessary impulse, 
 disposing us to surrender a small good at the present, 
 
148 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 for a greater good in the future ; or (throwing away the 
 element of time, which is obviously merely an accident) 
 which disposes us to prefer a greater amount of happi- 
 ness to a less. In this way we properly and wisely love 
 ourselves. Ought we not to love our neighbor in the 
 very same manner, and setting aside all consideration of 
 mine and thine, prefer a large amount of his happiness 
 to a small amount of our own ? This is, as it seems to 
 me, the precise view taken of the subject by our Saviour 
 himself. It was in illustration of this law that he spake 
 the parable of the good Samaritan. He tells us of a man 
 on a journey who expends his money and exposes himself 
 to personal inconvenience in order to save the life of a 
 fellow-man, a stranger and a national enemy. He sur- 
 rendered a less good of his own to accomplish, a greater 
 good for his neighbor. Ought we not to love our fellow- 
 men in precisely this manner ? We should then love 
 them as ourselves, according to our Lord's interpretation 
 of the law. Can any man suggest a better rule for the 
 government of our conduct ? John Howard spent a life- 
 time in practical obedience to this precept, and human- 
 ity, without a dissenting voice, has declared that he acted 
 nobly. But was not John Howard placed under precisely 
 the same moral law as ourselves ? Can we honor him 
 without acknowledging that it is our indispensable duty 
 to go and do likewise ? Is not every responsible being 
 obliged to imitate an example of which his conscience 
 approves ? 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 149 
 
 I ask, then, do not our reason and conscience consent 
 unto the law that it is good ? We can not disobey it 
 without doing violence to our own moral nature, and 
 thus increasing the consciousness of guilt and the expec- 
 tation of punishment. We know that we shall suffer the 
 consequences of evil doing, because we ought to suffer 
 them. If, on the contrary, we obey the moral law under 
 which we are created, God in boundless goodness has 
 promised to reward us with eternal life. If, however, we 
 look for eternal life on the ground of obedience, that obe- 
 dience must be perfect. If we fail but in one point, 
 our claim on the ground of merit is set aside forever. 
 
 Such were the conditions of our first probation. Have 
 these conditions been fulfilled ? Alas ! all flesh has cor- 
 rupted his way, there is none that doeth good, no not one. 
 Men did not like to retain God in their knowledge, and 
 he gave them up to a reprobate mind, and they have loved 
 and served the creature more than the Creator. The love 
 of God, the controlling principle of the moral universe, 
 having perished, the love of man perished with it. The 
 first-born of woman was a murderer, and his children have 
 imbibed his spirit and walked in his footsteps. It is evi- 
 dent, then, that by the deeds of the law no man can be 
 justified. The conditions of our probation having been 
 hopelessly violated, there remains for us nothing but to 
 suffer the consequences of our transgression. 
 
 In this our lost condition, the infinite love of God, 
 through the atonement of his Son, provided for us a 
 
150 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 second probation, established upon better promises. He 
 gave bis only-begotten Son ; that whosoever believeth on 
 him should have everlasting life. Under the conditions 
 of this probation, sinners of the human race may be re- 
 ceived as righteous through the faith that is in Christ 
 Jesus. Under this most merciful arrangement, it is not 
 our obedience but the obedience of Christ, that avails at 
 the bar of eternal justice. The evidence that we are 
 sharers in the blessings of the atonement is found, not in 
 the sinless obedience demanded by the conditions of the 
 first probation (for this has become impossible), but in 
 supreme love to the Saviour, prompting us to sincere, 
 honest, whole-hearted intention to obey the law of God 
 in every thing that shall be revealed to us. This is the 
 law of God that we keep his commandments. If we say 
 we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and if any man sin 
 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous. The law continues the same ; it could not be 
 changed, for then God would deny himself. We must 
 set it always before us and make it the rule of our con- 
 duct as much as if we expected to merit heaven by our 
 own obedience. A twofold motive now impels us to 
 keep it with all our heart. In the first place, an enlight- 
 ened and quickened conscience prompts us in all things 
 to do the will of God : in the second place, the love of 
 Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that we 
 should not live unto ourselves, but unto him who died 
 for us and rose again. The law as a rule of conduct is 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 151 
 
 the same under the new dispensation as the old, only- 
 additional and more powerful motives urge us to obey it. 
 Do we then by faith make void the law ? nay, we estab- 
 lish the law. We can not believe in Christ without 
 dying unto sin, and if we be dead to sin, how can we 
 live any longer therein ? He that hath this hope in 
 him, purifieth himself even as he is pure. This then is 
 the law under which the disciple of Christ is now passing 
 his probation. Its requirements press upon us in all their 
 strictness, and must press upon us, unless we make 
 Christ himself the minister of sin. 
 
 Nor is this all. We must not only do the command- 
 ments but teach them, if we would enter the kingdom of 
 heaven. We are the leaven by which the mass is to be 
 leavened. By precept and example we must show forth 
 the excellency of piety, and by labor and self-sacrifice 
 we must persuade men to be reconciled to God. If we 
 look to Christ for salvation, we must follow in his foot- 
 steps, bearing his cross, and confessing him in evil re- 
 port and good report. We must fight the fight of faith, 
 ever remembering that it is only he that overcometh that 
 shall have a right to the tree of life. And if we do other- 
 wise, if to please men we break the commandments of 
 Christ, if we timidly surrender ourselves to the tyranny 
 of a world that perisheth, if by our conduct and conver- 
 sation we cause others to offend, what, I pray you, will it 
 avail to have been called by the name of Christ ? Many 
 will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not 
 
152 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, 
 and in thy name done many wonderful works; and then 
 will I profess unto them, I never knew you ; depart from 
 me ye that work iniquity. 
 
 It is moreover to be remarked, that this spiritual life is 
 to be maintained in the midst of a world lying in wicked- 
 ness, in which the laws of God are everywhere set at 
 defiance. He who obeys God must oppose the world and 
 be opposed by it. Our only choice is between the ser- 
 vice of God and the service of the world, for to serve 
 both, our Lord has declared to be impossible. We are 
 now in the midst of this conflict, and it knows of but two 
 issues, victory or defeat. It is a warfare which admits of 
 no compromises. If we manifest our love to Christ by 
 keeping his commandments and teach men so, we shall 
 receive the crown of life which fadeth not away. If we 
 break the commandments, and lead others to eternal per- 
 dition, our inheritance must be shame and everlasting 
 contempt. 
 
 Though this antagonism between the kingdom of 
 Christ and the world, must continue, until the reign of 
 Christ be universal, yet its visible manifestations are not 
 always the same. Though the maxims and practices of a 
 carnal world must be opposed to the teachings of Jesus, 
 the opposition displays itself under a considerable variety 
 of phases. Hence the temptation to break the law of 
 Christ and teach men so, may appear at different times 
 under quite dissimilar aspects. It must then be a matter 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 153 
 
 of some practical importance to ascertain some of the 
 snares which at this present beset the path of the pil- 
 grim to the new Jerusalem. Some who bear the name 
 of Christ are hardly aware of the position which they 
 actually occupy. Others have lately commenced the 
 Christian life, and, observing the practices of men pro- 
 fessing godliness, are asking with solicitude, where are 
 the representatives of the Saviour on earth ? To such 
 and many others it may be useful to reflect upon some of 
 the moral perils which surround the disciple of Christ in 
 the age in which we live. 
 
 Permit me then to remark, that the present is, if I 
 mistake not, an unusually irreligious age. By this I 
 mean that the proportion of men in Christendom, who, 
 in simplicity of heart, do the commandments of God and 
 teach men so, is now lamentably small. I do not deny 
 that we exhibit an outward respect for the visible forms 
 of religion. We build magnificent temples after the 
 most approved architectural models. Without regard 
 to expense we load them with such ornaments as will 
 gratify the taste, true or false, of the worshipers. We 
 provide for the display of the most artistic musical talent 
 in our religious assemblies. With imposing ceremonies 
 we dedicate these temples to the name of him who had 
 not where to lay his head. With considerable regularity, 
 once at least on the Sabbath, we unite in what we esteem 
 a religious service. We have succeeded making the gos- 
 pel of Christ so entirely respectable, that a man who 
 
154 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 would hold a position in good society finds it for his in- 
 terest to connect himself, more or less closely, with some 
 society of professed worshipers of God. This surely 
 looks as if the kingdom had been given to the saints. 
 But we do more than this. We unite ourselves in volun- 
 tary associations to aid the various objects of Christian 
 benevolence. Societies exist for the purpose of promoting 
 every good design, and of arresting almost every form of 
 evil. Men at the head of every political party conde- 
 scend to recommend the revelation which God has made 
 of himself as a very useful book. The value of religion 
 as a social power is commonly acknowledged, and politi- 
 cians and statesmen patronize it, in part no doubt on 
 account of its benign tendencies, and in part, perhaps, 
 because by its cohesive attraction it will enable them the 
 more easily to move the masses on the political chess- 
 board. It is not on account of any neglect of religion in 
 these and similar respects that I am constrained to con- 
 sider the present as more than commonly an undevout 
 age. 
 
 I however turn to first principles. I open the New 
 Testament, and there learn that the Son of God left the 
 glory which he had with the Father to establish a spir- 
 itual kingdom in the hearts of men, to accomplish a per- 
 fect revolution in the* moral character of our race, to 
 transform the enemies of God into living and obedient 
 children, to make every human soul a temple of the Holy 
 Ghost, and to prepare us for heaven by breathing the 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 155 
 
 spirit of heaven into our own bosoms. It was for this 
 purpose that Jesus Christ constituted his disciples into a 
 holy brotherhood, commanding them to disciple all na- 
 tions, until the will of God should be done on earth as 
 it is done in heaven. This brotherhood is the church of 
 the redeemed, which he has purchased with his own 
 blood. From the very principles of its constitution its 
 normal condition is antagonism to every form of evil ; 
 its only movement is aggression upon all the powers of 
 darkness. Its only watchword is, onward. Having tri- 
 umphed over the kingdom of Satan immediately around 
 it, its eager eye is fixed upon the regions beyond. It 
 knows no pause. It is incapable of weariness. Like a 
 conflagration in the forest, it acquires intensity as it 
 advances, becoming more irresistible at every step of its 
 progress, and, by its own necessity, knowing of no ces- 
 sation until there remains nothing more to be conquered. 
 Such is the conception of the kingdom of Christ as it 
 existed in the mind of its founder. How far is this con- 
 ception realized by the church at the present moment ? 
 Are men by thousands, as at the beginning, submitting 
 themselves to God ? In Christendom itself, does the in- 
 crease of converts to Christ keep pace with the increase of 
 population ? Nay, the statistics of most of oar churches, 
 of every sect, for several years past, have exhibited an an- 
 nual diminution in the number of their communicants. 
 I bless God that within the last few months there are 
 indications that the church of Christ is returning to her 
 
156 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 normal condition, and is becoming once more aggressive. 
 Should this change become permanent, there will be 
 hope. Should it be but temporary, it will only exhibit 
 by contrast the difference between what the church of 
 God ought to be, and what, in fact, it is. It is, however, 
 true, that for many years the world has been on the 
 aggressive and in advance, and the church on the defen- 
 sive and in retreat. Can this be the normal condition of 
 the kingdom of the living God ? Did the Son of God 
 take upon him our nature, was he born of a woman and 
 made under the law, did he bear our sins in his own body 
 on the tree, was this earth sealed with his blood for his 
 peculiar possession, and is he now seated at the right 
 hand of the Father, head over all things to his church, 
 and all this to establish a kingdom that should be con- 
 quered, beaten down and exterminated by the very 
 powers whom he has once conquered, triumphing over 
 them openly ? 
 
 But this is not all. It is perfectly manifest that the 
 Eedeemer established his church for the very purpose of 
 exhibiting a living example of direct and positive antago- 
 nism to the principles and practices of the world. Indi- 
 cations, however, are not wanting of a prevalent desire to 
 conform Christianity to the principles and practices of 
 the world. Christ has taught us that the more distinctly 
 the contrast is seen between his kingdom and the king- 
 dom which he came to overthrow, the greater is the 
 power of the church, and the more rapid her progress to 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 157 
 
 universal dominion. We seem to have taken a different 
 view of this matter, and to suppose that the kingdom of 
 Christ can conquer by conforming itself to the world, 
 and reducing its peculiarity to a mere thing of creeds 
 and forms, and names and ceremonies. Instead of trans- 
 forming the world to Christ, we seem to suppose that the 
 same end may be attained by transforming Christ to the 
 world. The holy, fearless, plain-spoken friend of publi- 
 cans and sinners, clothed in the garments and radiant 
 with the manners which he brought with him from 
 heaven, seems unfit to be presented to the society in 
 which we move ; we must array him in modern apparel, 
 and teach him a more polished address, and repress his 
 homely truthfulness, and accustom him to look upon 
 fashionable sin with allowance if not with approbation, 
 before we can venture to introduce him into the selecter 
 circles of intellectual, well-bred, and thoroughly respect- 
 able Christianity. 
 
 Whosoever shall break one of the least of these com- 
 mandments and shall teach men so, shall be called least in 
 the kingdom of heaven. We can not break the command- 
 ments of Christ without teaching others to break them. 
 When the professed disciples of Christ, whatever may be 
 their theory, conform their lives to the manners of the 
 world, they must, of necessity, lead others astray. Espe- 
 cially is this influence exerted over those who are com- 
 mencing a religious course. It is natural to suppose our- 
 
158 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 selves good enough, if we are no worse than our neighbors, 
 and more than all if these neighbors have been in the 
 school of Christ before us. We thus insensibly slide down 
 from the high moral eminence on which Christ has placed 
 his church, and approach the dead level of absolute world- 
 liness. We then in turn become sad examples to those 
 that are coming after us, until the servant of Christ and 
 the servant of Mammon are separated by a line so indis- 
 tinct that it can be discovered only at the communion 
 table. Nor is this quite all. He who chooses for him- 
 self a higher standard of religious attainment than is 
 acknowledged by those about him, exposes himself to 
 manifold forms of ill will. This ill will nestles most 
 securely in the bosoms of those who think themselves as 
 good as there is any occasion for. Hence, as Whitfield 
 and Tennant and Edwards in a former generation found 
 it, the contradiction of saints is harder to bear than the 
 contradiction of sinners. The young convert has, after a 
 desperate and protracted moral struggle, surrendered the 
 world for Christ. He enters a church of Christ's disci- 
 ples and finds them delighting in the very forms of 
 worldliness which he has abandoned as incompatible with 
 a hope of salvation. Is it wonderful if he is moulded 
 by the examples everywhere around him, after he has 
 searched the church in vain for witnesses for God ? The 
 salt has lost its savor and is profitable for nothing. 
 Those who call themselves disciples of Christ break 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 159 
 
 Christ's commandments and teach men so ; how can 
 they point out to others the path to the kingdom of 
 heaven ? 
 
 To set before you all the cases of departure from the 
 commandments of Christ would be impossible. I will, 
 however, present a few of the most obvious, for the sake 
 of illustrating our manifest moral tendencies. 
 
 In the first place, I fear that the love of wealth is un- 
 dermining the religious principles of many who profess 
 to be the disciples of Christ. In the too eager struggle 
 for accumulation, men break the Saviour's commandment 
 and teach men so. 
 
 That this should be the case, especially in this coun- 
 try, is not remarkable. The perfect freedom of individual 
 action, the universality of education, the free develop- 
 ment of human invention, the boundless extent of our 
 national domain, render the attainment not merely of 
 competence, but even of wealth, possible to an extent 
 heretofore unprecedented. Increased facilities of inter- 
 course at home and abroad have inflamed the desire of 
 acquisition, by placing before us every form of sensual, 
 luxurious and artistic gratification. The passions thus 
 acquire a terrific power in their warfare against the soul. 
 Temptation becomes too great to be resisted by ordinary 
 human virtue. The self-denying precepts of the gospel 
 must thus be brought into stern and perpetual collision 
 with desires inflamed by the presence of every means of 
 enjoyment. Never did the enemy of righteousness go 
 
160 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 forth to the conflict armed with so deadly weapons, or 
 clothed with so irresistible power. 
 
 For instance, the Word of God commands us to be dili- 
 gent in business and fervent in spirit ; to labor not for 
 the meat which perishetb, but for that which endureth 
 to everlasting life ; that our desire for accumulation 
 should never interfere with our spiritual-mindedness and 
 the needful preparation of our souls for eternity. Do we 
 keep, or do we break this commandment ? Does the dis- 
 ciple give to Christ or to Mammon k the choicest portion 
 of his time, his talent, and his earnest and effective exer- 
 tion ? Does he set apart, first of all, such a portion of 
 every day as will cultivate within him an habitual con- 
 sciousness of the presence of God ? or, does he surrender 
 himself thoughtlessly to the pursuits of business, and 
 leave for God only those fragmentary moments which 
 are useless for any other purpose ? If a merchant should 
 decline a lucrative arrangement because it would leave 
 him no time for communion with God, would not even 
 his Christian brethren look upon him with amazement, 
 and the opinion be generally expressed that he had mis- 
 taken his profession and had better become a minister ? 
 
 In our relations with men the commandment is, As ye 
 would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto 
 them. It is the law of simple-minded, honorable, disin- 
 terested reciprocity. It forbids not only stealing, or the 
 appropriation to ourselves of any thing which belongs to 
 our neighbor, but coveting, or the secret desire to appro- 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 161 
 
 priate it. It commands us to love not only our neighbor's 
 rights, but also his means of happiness, as we love our 
 own. Such is the commandment. But when we urge 
 obedience to it as a practical every-day duty, we are told 
 of overwhelming competition, of the customs of trade, of 
 the present modes of doing business, and the utter im- 
 possibility of obeying such a rale if we hope to be rich. 
 The plain English of such statements is this : we can not 
 become rich without breaking the commandment, but we 
 must be rich whether we break the commandment or not. 
 Thus, when Christ and Mammon claim authority over 
 the man's life, he yields to the authority of Mammon, 
 and yet flatters himself that he is a disciple of Christ. 
 The love of wealth thus gains the victory over him, and 
 his power to resist evil is fatally impaired. Temptations 
 to wider and wider deviations are palliated by more and 
 more skillful methods of self-deception. At last, this dis- 
 ciple of Christ is known of all men to be rapacious and 
 unscrupulous, and nothing but his religious profession 
 rescues him from the imputation of being a sharper. His 
 life among men is a topic of common conversation, and 
 scoffers point at him as an example of the morality 
 taught by the blessed Redeemer. 
 
 Jesus Christ has said, Lay not up for yourselves treas- 
 ures on earth. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, 
 and all these things shall be added unto yon. It is easier 
 for a camel to sro throusrk a needle's eve than for a rich 
 man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. These words 
 
162 A CONSISTENT PIETI 
 
 from the lips of Jesus were no rhetorical exaggeration ; 
 he intended them to convey a very definite meaning, for 
 he spake nothing at random. But we can give them no 
 meaning at all which does not rebuke with decided em- 
 phasis the inordinate love of wealth which we see every- 
 where around us. Our Lord surely taught us to be con- 
 tented with a moderate portion of worldly possessions, 
 that so we might give ourselves without reserve to the 
 service of his kingdom. Is this commandment kept or 
 broken by his disciples ? When they have attained to a 
 competence, do they pause and devote their lives to the 
 service of Christ, or do they, just like other men, go on 
 adding fortune to fortune, while the appetite for lucre 
 grows by what it feeds on ? 
 
 But we may look upon this subject from another point 
 of view. The Saviour has taught us that we can not hope 
 to be saved by his sacrifice unless we surrender ourselves 
 and all that we possess without reserve to him. He re- 
 commits to us what we have surrendered, as a talent to 
 be used in his service, for which we must render up our 
 account. We are not owners, we are only stewards, and 
 we must so use our stewardship as to please the Master. 
 How then can we use our Lord's property for the purpose 
 of sensual gratification, of luxurious display, or of social 
 emulation ? Can we spend the money which we declare 
 to be the Lord's, as those spend it who know not God ? 
 Yet, when we press these plain precepts upon men, it will 
 not be strange if they treat us as intruders into their per- 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 163 
 
 sonal concerns, and tell us that they have earned their 
 money honestly, and have a perfect right to use it as 
 they please. If they violate no human law in acquiring 
 their gains, and pay the market price for whatever they 
 purchase, they wish us to understand that no further 
 question can be made in the matter. They thus, in fact, 
 shut God out from the government of this part of his 
 universe, and affirm that their right is paramount, and 
 of course extinguishes his. The question here, you will 
 observe, is not at all between man and man, but between 
 the man and his Maker. Christ declares that the pos- 
 sessions of his redeemed ones are his, and are to be used 
 only in obedience to his will ; they assert that their pos- 
 sessions are their own, and they will use them as they 
 please. We have no controversy with men on this mat- 
 ter. We leave the servant to settle this account with his 
 Master. 
 
 I trust that in these remarks I am in no danger of being 
 misunderstood. In all the denominations of Christ's dis- 
 ciples, we find among the rich and the poor shining ex- 
 amples of earnest, simple-minded, self-denying piety. 
 The religion of Jesus Christ received into the heart must 
 of necessity transform the affections and give victory over 
 the world. This is the love of God, that we keep his 
 commandments. It is by the precept and example of 
 such men and women that the church is distinguished 
 from the world. But, I ask, are there not among the 
 churches of every denomination, just such specimens of 
 
164 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 professing Christianity as those to which I have alluded ? 
 Are they ever rebuked ? nay, are they not, if occupying 
 a prominent social position, frequently flattered and ca- 
 ressed ? I ask, again, do not the lives of humble, self- 
 denying Christians shine as lights in the church ? But 
 why should they shine so conspicuously if their brethren 
 in general obeyed the commandments of Christ ? They 
 have surely done no more than their duty. But if this 
 be so, what must be the end of those who are manifestly 
 living to themselves ? 
 
 I remark in the second place that the fear of man is, 
 to a lamentable degree, undermining the religious prin- 
 ciples of the professed disciples of Christ. 
 
 The teaching of Jesus on this subject is explicit. He 
 commands us not to fear those that kill the body, and 
 after that have no more that they can do, but fear him 
 who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell, 
 yea, I say unto you fear him. Blessed are ye when men 
 shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner 
 of evil against you falsely for my sake ; rejoice and be 
 exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. The 
 apostles understood these sayings literally, and they acted 
 accordingly. When threatened for uttering unpalatable 
 truth, they nobly replied that they must obey God rather 
 than man, and when beaten with many stripes for pro- 
 claiming Christ and the resurrection, they departed from 
 the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to 
 suffer shame for his name. They had a vivid conception 
 
THE DEMAND OP THE AGE. 165 
 
 of a higher law than can be enacted by man, and they 
 fully believed that this higher law must in all things 
 govern the conduct of every disciple. They were simple 
 enough to believe that the will of man, no matter fi in 
 what way it be expressed, is unworthy of a moment's 
 consideration when it comes into conflict with the will of 
 Almighty God. No matter what our obedience costs, 
 no matter to what sacrifices of the respect and favor of 
 men it leads us, if we be the disciples of Christ we must 
 resolutely do his will and prepare without shrinking to 
 take the consequences. 
 
 Such is the commandment of the Master. Do we keep 
 it or break it, and are we by our lives teaching men to 
 keep or to break it ? 
 
 We will take an example from a class of men not un- 
 frequently seen in every denomination. It shall be a man 
 of large possessions accumulated by his own exertions. 
 In early life he maintained the reputation of an earnest, 
 prayerful, and consistent Christian. His expenditures 
 for every thing but religion have increased in proportion 
 to his means, and he has now attained to the height of 
 his ambition. He holds a place among those whom the 
 world treats with all the respect of which it is capable. 
 
 Let us enter his princely dwelling and observe the 
 habits of his family. The worship of Grod has been found 
 incompatible with the arrangements of a fashionable es- 
 tablishment, and it has long since been discontinued. 
 His children are leaders in every form of polite dissipa- 
 
166 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 tion. Their talk is of the ball-room, the theater, the 
 opera, and the watering-places. The card-table and the 
 billiard-room have become necessary to the amusement of 
 this Christian household. That income which the man 
 long since consecrated to Christ, is squandered upon fur- 
 niture, equipages, and every form of luxurious extrava- 
 gance. He is perfectly aware that if he had been edu- 
 cated as he is now educating his children, he would long 
 since have become a bloated sot or a loathsome debauchee. 
 His conscience formerly spoke to him in tones of solemn 
 warning, but he has at last succeeded in silencing its 
 monitions. We tell him of his obligations, we point out 
 to him his danger." He acknowledges it all, but asks in 
 despair, What can I do ? All this is expected, he as- 
 sures us, of a person holding his position in society. 
 Were he to live according to the precepts of Jesus he 
 would be discarded at once by all his acquaintances. 
 Were he to confess Christ, men would separate him from 
 their company. This he can not bear. He dare not obey 
 him whom he calls Master. He therefore breaks the com- 
 mandment and teaches men so. 
 
 Let us follow him in his walks through the world. Are 
 his chosen associates the children of God, or the children 
 of this world ? Some of them are ruining themselves 
 by vicious indulgence. Does he privately and faithfully 
 warn them that the end of these things is death ? They 
 are given to much wine. Does he abstain from the wine- 
 cup himself, lest, by his example, a brother be made to 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 167 
 
 stumble ? Inquire respecting one of his fashionable en- 
 tertainments, and you shall hear that his guests have 
 been seen reeling homeward, as from the celebration of a 
 Bacchanalian festival. He is surrounded by men whom 
 he believes to be hastening to a lost eternity. When re- 
 turning from the funeral of one who has died and made 
 no sign, he resolves that he will warn them of their dan- 
 ger ; but the contrast between his belief and practice 
 closes his lips, and he sees them one by one sink into a 
 lost eternity. If we tell him of his duty and his danger, 
 he replies, perhaps, that he knows it all, but that were he 
 to do otherwise he would lose all his influence, though 
 what his influence really is good for, neither he nor any 
 other man can possibly conceive. He is afraid to confess 
 Christ before men, and therefore he breaks the command- 
 ment and teaches men so. 
 
 I know, however, of no case in which the conduct of 
 the disciples of Christ is more at variance with their 
 principles, than in the case of their political associations. 
 
 It is needless for me to remind you that the law of 
 God is intended to govern all our actions, private and pub- 
 lic, individual and social. If we ascend up into heaven, 
 behold, Grod is there ; if we make our bed in hell, lo he is 
 there. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where 
 the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. But this 
 consciousness of the divine presence should press upon us 
 with redoubled power when our action affects not our- 
 selves, merely, but our fellow-citizens, the church of 
 
168 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 Christ, and the whole brotherhood of man. So much as 
 this will certainly be admitted by every reasonable being. 
 But what is the spectacle actually presented during the 
 progress of every important election ? You will see pro- 
 fessed disciples making themselves parties to the most 
 atrocious wrong-doing, and supporting measures at which 
 the natural conscience of man turns pale, at the com- 
 mand of their political leaders. When their political 
 party prescribes one course, and the precepts of Christ 
 another, they, without a blush, obey their party and dis- 
 obey Christ. If you know a man's political party, you 
 can easily predict the cause which he will espouse, but if 
 you know only that he is a professed child of God, you 
 can form no opinion in the matter. Christian legislators 
 in their places have been heard to scoff at the authority 
 of conscience, and men claiming to be ambassadors of 
 Christ have taught us that we have no higher law than 
 that enacted by our fellow-men. When we set before 
 Christians the law of the Most High, they shake their 
 heads and tell us sometimes that they can not, and some- 
 times that they dare not desert their party. It would 
 seem that men would rather meet the judgments of 
 Almighty God than be found in a political minority. If 
 we show them that their party is doing wickedly, they 
 reply that religion is one thing and politics another, and 
 that we had better be careful how we mingle them to- 
 gether. Let any atrocity become a political measure, and, 
 in the minds of many Christians, it seems to be cleansed 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 169 
 
 from its wickedness, and sheltered securely from the pos- 
 sibility of moral rebuke. We must not apply to it the 
 principles of the gospel, because the wickedness is done 
 for the purpose of aiding the schemes of a political 
 party. Thus do men claim the right to ignore the au- 
 thority of God, and mark out for themselves a domain 
 within which he must not enter. And Christian men 
 dare not resist this usurpation, but consent to serve the 
 creature more than the Creator. Do we not thus break 
 the commandment of Christ and teach men so ? 
 
 In the third place we are in danger of breaking the 
 commandment in consequence of erroneous views of per- 
 sonal obligation. 
 
 I think it obvious that the New Testament is a mes- 
 sage from God, addressed not to nations, or societies, or 
 masses, or to any ecclesiastical caste, but to every indi- 
 vidual of the human race. It treats of the relations 
 which every one of us holds to God, and of the duties 
 which he requires of every one of us personally. Every 
 one of us must give an account for himself unto God. 
 The duties which the New Testament imposes must be 
 performed, not by the votes of the masses, but by the 
 acts of the individual, not by representatives, but by 
 each man for himself. Moral obligation is in its nature 
 intransferable, and it is of moral obligation exclusively 
 that the Word of God treats. It tells us of the duties 
 which we owe to our Creator and Redeemer, and these 
 duties can never be performed by substitute. So far as I 
 
170 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 know, this rule applies to every precept taught by Jesus 
 Christ. What could be more absurd than to suppose 
 ourselves at liberty to lie or steal if we only procured 
 some one else to be honest and tell the truth for us. 
 Does not the same principle apply equally to all the 
 other precepts of the gospel ? Do we keep the law or 
 break it ? 
 
 Let us turn for a moment to the views which prevail 
 in most of the churches of every denomination. There 
 can, I think, be no doubt that the Saviour requires every 
 redeemed soul to make the extension of the kingdom of 
 Christ the great business of his life, to labor personally 
 with men for their salvation, to invite them to come to 
 Christ that they may escape the wrath to come. There 
 can not then be a disciple of Christ, whatever be his con- 
 dition, on whom this obligation in all its strictness does 
 not plainly rest. But how do we perform this duty ? 
 We form ourselves into churches, delegate the labor of 
 extending the kingdom of Christ to a single individual, 
 and consider ourselves absolved from the duty imposed 
 upon us by simply ministering to his physical wants. 
 The Master summons us all to personal labor in his vine- 
 yard, and we combine together and send, in the place of 
 several hundreds, a single individual. To render our 
 conduct consistent, we prescribe qualifications for the dis- 
 charge of a Christian duty which Christ has never pre- 
 scribed, and then excuse ourselves from doing his bidding 
 because we have not these self-imposed qualifications. 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 171 
 
 We seem to suppose that no disciple is at liberty to invite 
 sinners to come to Christ unless he has consumed many 
 years in the study of heathen classics, and become famil- 
 iar with the opinions of men for eighteen centuries on 
 the teachings of Christ. It required the wisdom of 
 Omniscience to express the ideas of God in the words of 
 Jesus so simply that a little child can understand them. 
 We assume that these very teachings are, of all writings 
 on earth, the most enigmatical, nay, that they are in 
 fact committed to a learned priesthood, who are author- 
 ized to interpret them to us. But this learned caste seem 
 to find almost as much difficulty in understanding the 
 revelation as their less favored brethren. They open 
 the book and spread over it a covering of the opinions 
 of the so-called fathers, and over this another from the 
 logomachy of the schoolmen, and over this another from 
 the polemics of the Reformation, and over this another 
 from the metaphysical divinity of a later age, and over 
 these, last of all, a thick vail of German neology, and 
 then they wonder that through all these, they can not 
 decipher the letters of light traced by the finger of God 
 manifest in the flesh. Thus the vision is become unto 
 us as the words of a book that is sealed, which men 
 deliver to one that is learned, saying, Eead this I pray 
 thee, and he saith, I can not for it is sealed ; and the 
 book is delivered unto one that is not learned, saying, 
 Read this I pray thee, and he saith, I can not for I am 
 not learned. Thus, to escape the obligation of personal 
 
172 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 duty, we make the Word of God of none effect, we deny 
 the right of private interpretation, and are thoughtlessly 
 embracing one of the most fatal errors of Romanism. 
 
 The same tendency to do the will of God by substitute, 
 instead of doing it each one for himself, may be observed 
 in our attempts to accomplish some good design, or to 
 arrest the progress of some enormous evil. Christ com- 
 mands every one of us, individually, to follow his exam- 
 ple, and, laying hold of the weapons of faith and love, 
 with holy boldness commence the warfare against every 
 form of vice and oppression. It is on the efforts of sin- 
 gle men, moved by a common love of Christ, and guided 
 by the indwelling Spirit, that the gospel relies for success. 
 We, however, take a different course. Instead of com- 
 mencing this labor, each one for himself, we prefer to 
 merge our individuality in extensive voluntary associa- 
 tions. We meet in conventions, we deliver platform 
 orations, we pass strong resolutions, and we return 
 home well pleased with the belief that, though we have 
 not reformed a single sinner, we have made a powerful 
 impression on what we term the American mind. In this 
 conviction we remain perfectly at ease until the next 
 anniversary, when we meet again, make speeches, pass res- 
 olutions, talk vehemently about the all-controlling moral 
 efficacy of the ballot-box, and, although we have not 
 touched the burden with one of our fingers, wonder that 
 the work of reformation is not already accomplished. 
 We proceed in the same manner in the matter of ordi- 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 173 
 
 nary benevolence. Jesus Christ has made it the duty 
 of every one of his disciples to feed the hungry, to clothe 
 the naked, to visit the sick and the prisoner, to speak 
 words of comfort to the disconsolate, and to carry the 
 good news of salvation to publicans and sinners, the lost, 
 the forgotten, and the abandoned, and he has said, Inas- 
 much as ye have done it to the least of these my breth- 
 ren ye have done it unto me. He has taught us that 
 personal labor in these forms of charity is a means of 
 spiritual improvement, just like prayer or fasting ; he 
 has subjected it to the same rules, and promised to it the 
 same rewards. How do we obey this precept ? We 
 form a society to which each member contributes a mis- 
 erable mite, and thus a sum is annually collected no 
 greater than that which many of these individuals expend 
 in thoughtless extravagance. We employ an agent to 
 distribute these little offerings, and never ourselves come 
 into personal contact with poverty, wretchedness, and 
 ciime. Thus the work of charity is, as we suppose, ade- 
 quately, as it certainly is economically, performed. It 
 costs no sacrifice. It cultivates the Christian graces nei- 
 ther of the benefactor nor the recipient. In all this, do 
 we keep or break the commandment of the Kedeemer ? 
 
 Before I close, suffer me to add a remark respecting 
 missions. The command of the Saviour to his disciples, 
 is, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature. To fulfill this command is the very 
 object for which the church of Christ was constituted, 
 
174 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 and for which each individual Christian lives. For him- 
 self and for his fellow-men he seeks first the kingdom of 
 heaven. To this object the plans of his life should he 
 subordinated. Every disciple of Christ should hold him- 
 self ready, at all times, to spend his life in any place 
 where he can the most successfully labor for the conver- 
 sion of souls. With these views I do not see why a 
 Christian merchant, or mechanic, or physician, is not 
 bound, just as much as a minister of the gospel, to ask, 
 is it the will of the Master that I shall serve him in a 
 heathen or in a Christian land ? The cause of Christ 
 requires the aid of all men of every calling. Men of the 
 world go to heathen lands by thousands for the sake of 
 gain ; why should not Christian laymen accompany them 
 and labor to rescue souls from perdition ? The heathen are 
 corrupted by the example of ungodly civilized men ; why 
 should not their unholy influence be corrected by the 
 precept and example of godly men ? Or, if the Chris- 
 tian layman believes it to be his duty to remain at home, 
 the principles which govern his life are not on that ac- 
 count in any manner changed. He accumulates not for 
 himself but for others, and all that he possesses is to be 
 consecrated in simplicity of heart to the advancement of 
 the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 But how do we obey the injunctions of the Master ? 
 We form associations for the purpose of extending the 
 kingdom of Christ at home and abroad, we devolve upon 
 a few of our brethren the labor of superintending the 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 175 
 
 work, and suppose that our duty is performed by simply 
 making a contribution to this form of charity. This con- 
 tribution, however, is too small to occasion the self- 
 denial of the most insignificant luxury. We send a few 
 missionaries abroad, and a few to our own destitute 
 settlements. But let me ask, at our present rate of self- 
 denying effort, what millions of years must elapse before 
 the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord and of his Christ? Are we in this matter obeying 
 or breaking the commandment of the Master ? 
 
 I need not any further multiply illustrations. Suppose, 
 however, a visitor from another sphere, acquainted with 
 all that has been done for the salvation of man, and 
 knowing the infinite consequences which result from 
 keeping or breaking the commandments of Jesus, should 
 visit our world, pass through our marts of business, enter 
 our families, frequent our places of amusement, go with 
 us to our magnificent temples, and make himself familiar 
 with the vice and misery festering everywhere around us, 
 where would he look for the disciples of the holy, self- 
 denying Son of G-od ? If we made simple obedience to 
 the commands of Jesus the foundation of his judgments, 
 would he not decide that the love of the Father was 
 hardly to be discovered among us ? But, beloved, there is 
 such a Visitor ever present with us, whose word is quick 
 and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, and a dis- 
 cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He said 
 not a word, when he was on earth, which did not express 
 
176 A CONSISTENT PIETY 
 
 the unchangeable law of the eternal God. That Jaw is 
 as great and powerful now as at the moment when he 
 uttered it. He has said, unless a man deny himself, and 
 take up his cross, and follow me, he can not be my dis- 
 ciple. In vain do ye call me Lord, Lord, and do not the 
 things that I say. If any man love the world the love 
 of the Father is not in him. The law of Christian dis- 
 cipleship has not changed, for Jesus Christ is the same 
 yesterday, and to-day, and forever. Awake, thou that 
 sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee 
 life. 
 
 Nor is this all. "When we break the commandments 
 of Christ we of necessity teach men so. We are set 
 forth before the world as the living exponents of the pre- 
 cepts of Christ, and men understand them to mean 
 whatever they see us actually doing. Hence the young 
 convert, misled by our example, quickly forsakes his first 
 love and sinks his religion into a thing of creeds and 
 formulas and outward professions. The impenitent ask 
 us, what is the change which we insist upon as necessary 
 to salvation, since the men who have passed through it are 
 no better than themselves ? They hear from the pulpit 
 much about human depravity, regeneration, heaven and 
 hell, victory over the world, and of unreserved consecra- 
 tion to Christ, but they hear little of them anywhere 
 else. These, if they be truths, do not influence men's 
 lives, and the inquirer denounces the whole system a 
 worthless imposture. Beloved, does our practice give 
 
THE DEMAND OF THE AGE. 177 
 
 occasion to no such errors as these ? If we enter not the 
 kingdom of heaven ourselves, the mischief does not ter- 
 minate here — those that are entering in we shall hinder, 
 and on whom will the sin of their destruction rest ? 
 
 Beloved, pardon, I beseech you, my plainness. Bat 
 if these are the true sayings of the New Testament, 
 ought they not to be spoken plainly ? Was there ever a 
 time, since the coming of Christ, in which the whole 
 world stood in such perishing need of a universal revival 
 of religion as the present ? Was the world ever so 
 universally open to Christian effort as it is now ? The 
 voice of G-od's providence seems emphatically to say to 
 us, go ye up and possess the land. But can we ever go 
 up until we cast ourselves loose from the entanglements 
 of the world, and, in reality as well as in form, consecrate 
 our whole selves and all that we possess to the service of 
 Christ? May God enable us to reflect upon the solemnity 
 of our position ; may Zion arise and shake herself from 
 the dust and put on her beautiful garments ; and thus 
 may the will of our Father who is heaven be done on 
 
 earth even as it is in heaven. 
 
 8* 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves 
 among themselves, are not wise. — 2 Corinthians, s. 12 
 
 It is too obvious to need illustration, that upon our 
 social nature a large part of our happiness essentially de- 
 pends. We become members of civil society as soon as 
 we enter upon our existence, and our right to its pro- 
 tection and care is universally acknowledged. We in- 
 stinctively concede to all born of woman the privileges 
 which belong to humanity, and guarantee even to a help- 
 less infant the free enjoyment of them all. This is evi- 
 dently one of the noblest impulses of our common nature, 
 and that heart must be morally diseased in which it does 
 not beat with, the power of an irresistible passion. On 
 our instinctive social and moral elements rest the whole 
 fabric of government and law. Remove these, and though 
 we might be gregarious we could never form a common- 
 wealth, and the physical force of the individual would 
 confer the only authority known among men. 
 
 Allied to the social element of our nature are various 
 accessory impulses of acknowledged power. Among these 
 may be reckoned the simple love of companionship. A 
 
SLAVEKY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 179 
 
 sane human being instinctively shrinks from being alone. 
 Solitary confinement for life is deemed by many more 
 terrible than death. So abhorrent is this condition to our 
 nature that it frequently terminates in insanity. The 
 conception of an intelligent being condemned to eternal 
 banishment from every living thing is one of the most 
 terrific that the imagination can create. 
 
 Intimately associated with the love of companionship 
 is the desire for the esteem and affection of our fellow- 
 men. We all desire our companions to adopt our prac- 
 tices and coincide with our sentiments. The more dis- 
 tinctly we observe in others this moral parallelism with 
 ourselves, the more readily do we form acquaintances, and 
 the more rapidly does acquaintance ripen into intimacy. 
 It is, on the other hand, painful to find ourselves segre- 
 gated in feelings, sentiments, and action from our fel- 
 lows ; and when, in fact, a dissimilarity exists, our first 
 impulse is to conceal it, lest, by chance, we should forfeit 
 somewhat of their good opinion. Our Saviour alludes to 
 this as the cause of much of the pain which would at- 
 tend upon a profession of his religion : they shall sepa- 
 rate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast 
 out your name as evil. He, on various occasions, takes 
 special care to strengthen them against this form of per- 
 secution as one which it would be hard to bear and dif- 
 ficult to withstand. 
 
 It is, however, evident that this accessory of our social 
 nature is wisely implanted within us. From this univer- 
 
180 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 sal impulse arise many of the choicest amenities of daily 
 intercourse. We are thus reciprocally guarded against 
 the infliction of unnecessary pain ; and hence an incal- 
 culable amount of mental disquietude is banished from 
 the earth. He who disregards this impulse of his nature, 
 and derives pleasure from collision with the opinions and 
 practices of his neighbors, soon finds himself in a condi- 
 tion in which collision is impossible. Men gradually 
 withdraw from him, and leave him in the undisturbed 
 enjoyment of his cherished opinions. From this love of 
 esteem, and the unwillingness to forfeit it, flow ah the 
 courtesies of refined society, the laws of universal good 
 breeding, and that studiousness to avoid giving unneces- 
 sary offense, which should ever regulate our intercourse 
 with our fellow-men of every rank, of every position, of 
 every degree of refinement, and every grade of social cul- 
 tivation. 
 
 But while all this is acknowledged, it is apparent that 
 this excellent tendency of our nature may easily be car- 
 ried to excess. Its foundations are laid in the relations 
 which men sustain to each other, as beings endowed with 
 the same sensibilities, and invested with the same in- 
 alienable rights. Our relations to the Creator depend 
 upon very different principles, and it is essential to 'the 
 perfection of our moral character that every impulse 
 should be subject to the love and obedience which we 
 owe to our Father who is in heaven. If this love of 
 companionship, this longing for the good opinion of 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 181 
 
 others, is permitted to stifle the monitions of conscience, 
 and paralyze our love of rectitude ; if it lead us to say 
 what we know to be false, or do what we know to be 
 wrong; if it cause us to ignore the government of God, 
 and thus, in practice, exclude the Most High from the 
 government of his universe, then I think we all must 
 allow that the love of human approbation has carried 
 us somewhat too far. This conflict between impulse and 
 obligation did not escape the notice of the Saviour. 
 How can ye believe, said he, who receive honor one of 
 another, and not the honor which cometh from God 
 only ? 
 
 That an antagonism between our moral principles and 
 our love of human esteem is likely to arise in a world 
 lying in wickedness, is sufficiently apparent. The fool 
 hath said in his heart, there is no God ; and we are every- 
 where surrounded by men who are practically guilty of 
 this precise folly. The most comprehensive charity must 
 admit that men are, in general, lovers of pleasure, of 
 power, of wealth, of social position, rather than lovers of 
 God. From the principle of companionship to which we 
 have alluded, they desire all men to bow down to their 
 idols, and worship the images which they have set up. 
 Nor is this quite all. Conscience, though stupefied by 
 sin, is painfully aroused by a living testimony to the 
 frivolity and wickedness of a life without God. We 
 naturally turn away from that which gives us pain, and 
 hence he who resolutely obeys God will frequently find 
 
182 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 himself in a small minority ; it will "be well if he is not, 
 like the prophet of old, apparently alone. In addition to 
 this negative distress, he will frequently he called upon 
 to suffer from the malice aroused by his determined op- 
 position to the practices prevalent around him. It is 
 thus that every step in our probation on earth becomes a 
 test of moral character. The question is arising every 
 day, and many times in the day, shall we obey Grod 
 rather than man ? The authority of the Creator and 
 of the creature are thus set over one against the other. 
 We must decide which of the two we will obey, and his 
 servants we are whom we obey, whether of sin unto 
 death, or of obedience unto righteousness. 
 
 It is thus that the love of companionship tempts us to 
 disobey God. But it frequently goes much further. We 
 even plead companionship in evil as a justification of 
 evil itself. If our moral convictions are at variance with 
 our conduct, we silence the voice of conscience by the 
 reflection that we are no worse than others. If Grod 
 forbids the deed which we are about to do, we do it 
 nevertheless, replying to our Maker, that all the world 
 does it also. Thus, what we would confess to be wrong 
 if we did it alone, we claim to be right if we do it in 
 company and by concert. We seem to suppose that 
 though it would be madness for one man to contend with 
 Omnipotence, a multitude of men may do it with impu- 
 nity. At last, having silenced the monitions of con- 
 science, we yield ourselves up to the current of public 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 183 
 
 opinion, and without a moral struggle float onward 
 towards that eternity in which we and all born of woman 
 will shortly be ingulfed. 
 
 It may perhaps surprise us to observe how universal 
 and all pervading is this soul-destructive tendency. It 
 meets us everywhere, and meets us at all times during 
 our progress through life. It spreads its snare for us as 
 we leave the cradle, and follows closely on our track until 
 we step into the grave. 
 
 The little child is no sooner capable of holding inter- 
 course with the intelligent beings around him than he 
 finds himself enveloped in this unhealthy moral atmos- 
 phere. He hears, in the nursery, as the justification for 
 wrong doing, that some one else did it also. He quickly 
 learns the lesson, and, when conscious of fault, enters the 
 same plea in exculpation. When convicted of miscon- 
 duct, he has only to show that brothers and sisters have 
 been equally guilty, and it seems as though his innocence 
 were established, and that the parents whose precepts 
 he has violated can accuse him of no wrong. Thus 
 was it at the beginning. The Lord God said, Hast thou 
 eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou 
 shouldest not eat ? and the man said, the woman whom 
 thou gavest me to be with me, gave me of the tree, and 
 I did eat. 
 
 The instructions of parents may in some measure have 
 corrected these evil tendencies, and the young immortal 
 may have learned to make some accurate moral distinc- 
 
184 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 tions, when a new world opens upon him, the world of 
 the school room. He soon finds that the children around 
 him have very different notions of right and wrong from 
 those which he learned at home. Words reach his ear 
 which he has been taught to consider wicked and de- 
 grading. In the sports in which he engages, treachery 
 and deceit may form a part of the amusement. Tyranny 
 over the weak and defenseless is the rule rather than the 
 exception. All this, however, must be kept secret from 
 parents and instructors, and if this can be done only 
 by prevarication and falsehood, it matters not ; every 
 scholar is bound, right or wrong, to shield the rest from 
 punishment. If the boy questions the right of all this, 
 he is told that the rules of the family and the rules of 
 the school are very different things ; that there is no 
 wrong in the acts which he has considered wicked, for all 
 the boys do them ; and, in a word, unless he conform to 
 the manners of the society in which he lives, he will be 
 treated as a traitor, fit only to be the butt of boyish 
 ridicule and the object of daily annoyance. The young 
 immortal hesitates. There is placed before him, on the 
 one hand, the teaching of parents and the sanctions of 
 the Bible, and, on the other, the maxims of Satan en- 
 forced by all the power of boyish public opinion. This 
 is a critical moment in the history of a child. He may 
 with noble heroism stand firmly for truth, and honesty 
 and God, and thus from the first build up his character 
 in righteousness. Too frequently, association with wick- 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 185 
 
 edness inflicts a stain hardly ever erased. His mind is 
 divided in its affection between truth and error. He is 
 capable of being moved in either direction by the force of 
 the public opinion around him. His character at home 
 and at school are strangely at variance. His future, 
 henceforth, depends not on himself, but upon the acci- 
 dental associations into which he may be thrown. This 
 is almost the best that can be hoped for. It is well if he 
 has not by degrees become partaker in every form of evil, 
 ready to inculcate defiance of principles upon the inno- 
 cent stranger, and proud of being a ringleader in every 
 form of boyish depravity. Thus is it, that so early in 
 life the love of companionship and fear of public opinion 
 have planted within his soul the seeds of treachery, 
 violence, selfishness, and thorough dissoluteness of prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 The youth thus instructed enters upon another stage 
 of his career. He is removed from home to a more ad- 
 vanced institution of learning. Under the discipline which 
 he has left, the evil tendencies which surrounded him 
 w r ere checked and frequently arrested by the eye of the 
 instructor in the school room, and the precept and ex- 
 ample of parents by the fireside. Domestic religion may 
 daily have recalled to his recollection the teachings of 
 the Bible, and conscience thus quickened may have held 
 him back from the grosser forms of sin. He was con- 
 tinually receiving from his parents affecting proofs of 
 self-sacrificing love. Brothers and sisters were watching 
 
186 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 liis progress with trembling anxiety, and he could not be 
 unaware that they all were looking forward to his success, 
 as one of the brightest spots in their anticipations of the 
 future. These redeeming influences have not been with- 
 out their effect. Though his heart, under the discipline of 
 the school room, has in many places grown callous, there 
 remain some fibres within it, which still palpitate with 
 generous emotion. The word home still exerts its magi- 
 cal power over his affections, and he would shrink from 
 giving pain to those who love him so tenderly. But now 
 his condition is, in many respects, dissimilar. The home 
 of bis childhood, hallowed by so many delightful associa- 
 tions, is exchanged for a residence in a college. He is to 
 be separated for months, it may be for years, from all 
 who love him best. He is no longer a witness to their 
 self-denials. He no more hears their words of encour- 
 agement and affection. Left to his own guidance, with 
 the means provided by parental love, he is to work out 
 his own destiny in the new world upon which he has just 
 entered. 
 
 At first a distressing feeling of loneliness settles 
 heavily upon him. He instinctively craves society of 
 some sort, and soon finds that this craving can easily be 
 satisfied. His acquaintance is quickly sought by older 
 students, who soon initiate him into all the mysteries of 
 the new society. It is not long before he finds that 
 many lessons are to be learned, besides those specified in 
 the published course of study. There exists here an 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 187 
 
 unwritten code of laws, in many respects quite unlike 
 that with which he has been previously acquainted. He 
 learns that one law governs his intercourse with students, 
 and another his intercourse with instructors. To lie to 
 a student is mean, to lie to an officer is innocent, it 
 may even be honorable. The principles which regulate 
 his conduct to students are very different from those 
 which regulate his conduct to the rest of the world. His 
 associates form a society by themselves, governed by such 
 laws as its public opinion may enact, and right or wrong 
 they are bound to stand by each other. Deceit, dishon- 
 esty and malice are only disreputable in our intercourse 
 with the protected class. The grosser crimes affect un- 
 favorably no man's standing provided they are com- 
 mitted in comparative secrecy, and' to conceal them from 
 the uninitiated every man holds himself unreservedly 
 committed. 
 
 The young man, if he be not thoroughly corrupt, is for 
 a time bewildered. He can not comprehend these dis- 
 tinctions of moral obligation. He has been taught that 
 right acknowledged no modification of circumstances, but 
 was pure and unchangeable as the throne of G-od. He had 
 always believed that duplicity was mean, that deceit was 
 contemptible, that the very suspicion of falsehood inflic- 
 ted on the character a stain like a wound, that vicious 
 pleasure was a sin against God, and that to abuse the 
 self-denying love of parents was a crime of which none 
 but the most abandoned could be guilty. If he remon- 
 
188 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 strates against some act of meanness or wickedness, he 
 finds to his surprise, that his remonstrance is seconded 
 by no one. He is told that such things can not be wrong, 
 for all the fellows do it ; and he learns that this announce- 
 ment is clothed with a power which he can scarcely com- 
 prehend. Those antiquated notions belong to a state of 
 society quite unlike that into which he has now entered. 
 Honorable men here acknowledge no laws but those 
 enacted by the public opinion of the little world around 
 them. He observes the men by whom this public opinion 
 is created, and he finds them in general to be the idle, 
 the ignorant, the dissolute and the profane. He, how- 
 ever, soon learns that this public opinion is a fixed fact, 
 and that its origin is not to be too closely investigated. 
 He is moreover assured that everybody submits to it, 
 that it punishes with isolation and multiplied annoyance 
 the rebel against its authority, and that he had better be 
 careful how he sets its mandates at defiance. He begins 
 to reflect seriously upon his position. Here is the very 
 crisis of his destiny. If strong in manly virtue he re- 
 solves to hold fast to his integrity, and acknowledge no 
 higher law than the law of God ; if rising to the dignity 
 of a disciple of Christ he scorns the enticements of sin 
 and despises the threatenings of sinners ; if looking 
 calmly at all that may come upon him he determines on 
 no occasion, be it great or small, to swerve from his 
 allegiance to truth and honor and the fear of God, he has 
 determined his character for life. No severer trial in the 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 189 
 
 future, probably, awaits him. No temptation will hence- 
 forth take him at a disadvantage. His path is onward 
 and upward. With the blessing of God, his success is as 
 certain as his life. He can not fail, for he holds in his 
 own hands the power of being victorious. He has van- 
 quished the vanquisher of millions, by defying public 
 opinion when it is a defie/of the Most High God. Let 
 him pursue this path to the end of life and he may, by 
 the blessing of God, leave an inheritance for humanity 
 which they will not readily consign to oblivion. But if 
 he take the opposite course, if yielding to the love of 
 companionship, and quailing before the frown of a vicious 
 public opinion he first temporizes, then surrenders prin- 
 ciple in things that seem ambiguous, then associates with 
 the vicious and depraved, and, at last, silencing the voice 
 of conscience, acknowledges no law but that imposed 
 upon him by the men whom he despises ; every manly 
 and generous sentiment will soon be cleanly scooped out 
 of his heart. Friends on earth and angels in heaven will 
 weep over the change that has passed upon the lost soul. 
 He left his- father's house a worshiper of God, pure in 
 principle, virtuous in conduct ; looking forward to the 
 future buoyant in hope and confident of success. He 
 returns thither shipwrecked in faith, beggared in hope, 
 conscious of the degradation which is written on his 
 flushed forehead and in his treacherous eye, the fawning 
 and impious worshiper of a public opinion which though 
 he servilely obeys he can not but thoroughly despise. 
 
190 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 If leaving the snares which beset the path of the 
 young, we observe the pursuits of maturer life, we may 
 not unlikely fall upon similar experiences. Were we 
 invisibly to pass through the marts of trade, we might 
 probably meet with much that would deeply interest a 
 thoughtful mind. We might perhaps learn that light 
 weight and short measure were' in many cases indispensa- 
 ble to profitable business, that to tell a lie to a customer 
 is no untruth, for he need not believe it unless he chooses, 
 that selling a vicious adulteration at the price and in the 
 place of a genuine article is not dishonest if people are 
 willing to buy it, that to defraud the revenue is no wrong, 
 if it be not discovered, that a false oath at the custom 
 house involves us in no guilt, if a clerk is willing to per- 
 jure himself for us, that to monopolize the necessaries of 
 life in order to fleece the community and double the 
 price of the poor man's loaf is one of the legitimate uses 
 of capital, and that to dupe the unfledged in the stock 
 market is nothing more than a pleasing divertisement. 
 We might wonder at all this, and be surprised to behold 
 engaged in it men who would grieve to be suspected of 
 dishonor. Were we, however, in a moment of calm re- 
 flection to ask them whether such things are right, the 
 answer would probably be, why, not exactly right, but 
 what is the use of talking, for every body does it ? Thus 
 men seem to think that what every one would acknowl- 
 edge to be wrong if it were done by a single individual, 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 191 
 
 every one believes to be innocent if it only be done by 
 the multitude. 
 
 Should we turn now to public life, one might possibly 
 there also find some rare examples of this power of sin. 
 Could we listen to the private discourse or the more pri- 
 vate thoughts of the men who devote themselves to the 
 service of their country, we might possibly learn that 
 discourse about political principles was designed only for 
 the uninitiated, that patriotism was a word useful only for 
 a political canvass, that a man liable to be troubled with 
 conscientious scruples, was a very useless, or as it is said, 
 a very impracticable member of a party, that on ques- 
 tions involving the dearest interests of humanity, a man 
 may, without the least offence, take any side that prom- 
 ises him a majority, that he may change his opinions as 
 often as necessity requires, provided always that it is not 
 done clumsily, that he can never expect to rise to power 
 unless he loves party better than principle, or even per- 
 sonal honor, and, in a word, that religion, truth, morality 
 are one thing, and politics quite another. We should 
 thus learn that there is a large class of actions, ac- 
 tions affecting the highest interests not only of ourselves, 
 our children, our fellow-citizens, but the interests, social, 
 moral and religious, of the whole human race, in which 
 it is innocent for us to ignore every principle derived 
 either from the love of God or the love of our neighbor. 
 If we press this consideration upon men, what reply 
 shall we probably elicit ? They will tell us, not that it 
 
192 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 is right, bat that it has been so always and every where, 
 and that now especially such is the universal practice. 
 It would not be surprising if they should turn upon us 
 and ask, who would be such a fool as to be in a minority 
 for the sake of an idea, or sacrifice his political prospects 
 for a barren adherence to impracticable rectitude. 
 
 But if leaving the men of the world, we turn to the 
 church of Christ, shall we find that even here the fear of 
 God has triumphed over the fear of man ? By observing 
 the communicants at the sacramental table, we find 
 those who profess the name of Jesus intermingled with 
 other men in all the departments of active life. They 
 are to be seen among students, professional men, mer- 
 chants, mechanics, manufacturers, brokers, and^oliticians 
 of every grade and every political party. Should we ask 
 them whether in their several relations they make it their 
 first concern to obey the Master, they would probably in- 
 quire with some astonishment whether we suppose that 
 the precepts of Jesus Christ are to be understood liter- 
 ally. Should we modestly intimate that Christ spoke 
 very plainly, they would inform us that to obey the law 
 of Christ strictly, would separate them from all men, that 
 the course which they pursue can not be wrong, for every 
 body pursues it, and that, upon the whole, it is certainly 
 better to do a little wrong, than by shutting ourselves 
 out from the world, lose all our influence over it. 
 
 But let us open our eyes upon the men around us who 
 claim to be, by way of eminence, the world. What are 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 193 
 
 the gods which these immortal beings worship ? They 
 are worshipers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They 
 bow down before the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the 
 eye, and the pride of life. The objects for which they 
 live are the various forms of sensual enjoyment, political 
 power, social position, and luxurious display. They con- 
 gregate by thousands in those resorts where vanity may 
 be satiated, if satiated it can be, where the senses are 
 stimulated to intense excitement, and where fashion 
 scoffs at the prudery which shuns the appearance of 
 evil. Every one knows that this ceaseless pursuit of sen- 
 sual pleasure banishes from the soul every thought of 
 eternity, benumbs our moral sensibilities, and renders us 
 powerless to resist the temptations which it spreads 
 everywhere around us. Nothing can be more at variance 
 with a heavenly mind than a life of thoughtless worldli- 
 ness. But are the men and women who avow that they 
 are living for this world the only worshipers at the shrine 
 of fashionable sensuality ? Alas ! too often shall we see 
 in the midst of this giddy throng, enjoying its pleasures 
 to the uttermost, many of the professed disciples of the 
 lowly, cross-bearing, crucified Jesus of Nazareth. You 
 ask, Can such things delight a soul that has been trans- 
 formed into the image of Christ ? Can these childish 
 vanities satisfy affections that are placed on the eternal 
 God ? Do the followers of the Messiah find the print 
 of his footsteps here, and did we not see them in the gar- 
 den with him ? When we press these questions on such 
 
 9 
 
194 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION^ 
 
 disciples as these, we are told that they would lose caste 
 unless they followed the examples of those who hold the 
 social position after which they aspire, and heside this, it 
 is all perfectly innocent, for they find associated with 
 them Christians of every denomination ; and yet more, 
 conformity to the world is necessary in order to render the 
 religion of Christ attractive to the giddy and thoughtless. 
 We urge upon men of the world the saying of Jesus, Ex- 
 cept a man be born again he can not see the kingdom 
 of God, and they tell us they can not see the necessity 
 of any moral change, for these regenerated men are in no 
 respect different from themselves. Thus Christians dis- 
 obey Christ because men of the world do it; and the 
 men of the world disobey him because Christians set them 
 the example. 
 
 But let us pause for a moment, and ask where do we 
 now find ourselves ? We have only to generalize this 
 principle, and whereunto will it lead us ? The voice of 
 conscience is silenced, the distinction between honor and 
 meanness, between virtue and vice, between right and 
 wrong is abolished ; the law of God is trampled in the 
 dust ; the Judge of the whole earth has no longer any 
 jurisdiction*; and all this is accomplished by the simplest 
 possible process. Nothing else is needed than that you 
 and I, the creatures of yesterday, declare that though we 
 defy God and crucify his Son afresh, we have nothing to 
 fear, for we do it by companies and we do it in concert. 
 
 But amidst all this flimsy folly and audacious wicked- 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 195 
 
 ness, God has not left himself without a witness. He 
 has taken special means to caution us against this wide- 
 spreading delusion. If there be a single child of Adam 
 beguiled by this miserable sophistry, it will not be on 
 account of ignorance that could not be dispelled, but be- 
 cause he has loved darkness rather than light, because 
 his deeds are evil. 
 
 In the first place, reason and conscience abundantly 
 teach us that no relation whatever exists between many 
 and few, and innocence and guilt. Eight and wrong, in- 
 nocence and guilt, depend on the moral relations of the 
 parties, and not upon the number of the actors. If ten 
 men lie, each one of them is an individual liar ; nor is 
 the matter altered if they agree to the same lie, and all 
 unite in affirming it to be the truth. If twenty men 
 agree together to do a mean thing, every one of them is 
 individually despicable. If a hundred men are false to 
 their country, every one of them is a traitor, and as an 
 individual must he answer for it. I do not deny that 
 companionship and concert may, in some respects, modify 
 the character of a moral action. If a man act alone he 
 may act thoughtlessly, and from sudden and ungovern- 
 able impulse ; but if a number of men agree together to 
 do an act, they must do it deliberately. If they organize 
 themselves into an association to do it, they manifest a 
 still more settled determination. Thus piracy is always 
 held to be more atrocious than murder ; v and an organized 
 
196 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 banditti deserves more condign punishment than an in- 
 dividual thief. 
 
 But lest this should not be enough, God, in the reve- 
 lation which he has given us, has made known his moral 
 attributes, and the relations which we sustain to him. 
 He is the Creator and Preserver of all, the Legislator, 
 and rightful Governor, and Proprietor of the universe. 
 He justly claims of all his intelligent creatures universal 
 obedience, the obedience which springs from boundless 
 gratitude and illimitable love. Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. All other 
 things are created, God alone is the Creator, holy, just, 
 true, all compassionate and all merciful. The greatest 
 crime of which it is possible for us to conceive, is for a 
 creature on any account, or for any reason, or under any 
 inducement, to disobey God. What then must be the 
 guilt of setting aside the authority of God by deliberate 
 consent, and installing in its place the opinions and ex- 
 ample of men, nay of men even weaker and more wicked 
 than ourselves. It is exchanging the true God for a lie, 
 and worshiping and serving the creature rather than the 
 Creator who is blessed forevermore. 
 
 In his written word God has left us some impressive 
 lessons on the subject which we are now considering. In 
 the early history of our race, the worshipers of the Most 
 High had followed the examples of the ungodly, until 
 all flesh had corrupted its way, and the earth was rilled 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 19T 
 
 with violence. Century after century bad the infection 
 spread, until only one family remained which held fast to 
 its integrity. It was then that Jehovah interfered, and, 
 saving only eight persons, overwhelmed with a flood the 
 world of the ungodly. Though the whole race was 
 united in companionship in evil, the judgment of God 
 slumbered not, but brought upon every individual sinner 
 unexpected and remediless destruction. 
 
 At a later period, the cities of the plain had sunk down 
 in loathsome sensuality. A preacher was sent to reprove 
 them for their wickedness and warn them of their danger. 
 To all his remonstrances every individual was able to 
 plead that there could be nothing very wrong in their 
 conduct, for no man was in particular more corrupt than 
 his neighbor. One family alone was exempt from this 
 general pollution ; the rest had become so preeminent in 
 wickedness, that their name has become a by-word to the 
 ages. At last their cry came up to heaven, and no inter- 
 cession could save them. A deluge of wrath swept them 
 away, and, with the exception of this single family, they 
 all sunk into the burning abyss, and are set forth as an 
 example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 
 
 Nor are the Scriptures wanting in examples of those 
 who, in the face of contumely and persecution unto death, 
 have scorned companionship with sinners, and boldly 
 avowed their allegiance to God. We read of Moses, who 
 chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, 
 than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming 
 
198 SLAVEEY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treas- 
 ures of Egypt. We are told of the three noble Hebrews, 
 who, in sight of the furnace heated sevenfold, calmly re- 
 plied to an Oriental despot, Be it known unto thee, 
 king, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden 
 image which thou hast set up. We have the example 
 of Daniel, who, when the decree was signed forbidding 
 the worship of any God under pain of a dreadful death, 
 and when a whole realm was bowing submissively to the 
 blasphemous enactment, went into his house, and his 
 windows being open to Jerusalem, kneeled upon his knees 
 three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before 
 his God as he did aforetime. The Holy Spirit has set 
 before us such instances for the imitation of all the sons 
 of God. Nay more, they teach us that when we refuse 
 at all hazards to becor» oartakers in sin, we are then 
 the objects of the special care of our Father in heaven. 
 We may, it is true, be surrounded with hosts of the un- 
 godly, but more are they that are with us than those that 
 be with our enemies ; for the mountain on which we stand 
 is encompassed with chariots of fire and horses of fire, 
 sent from on high to be our invisible but mighty protec- 
 tors. Nothing can harm us if we be followers of that 
 which is good. 
 
 But all human examples pale in the presence of that 
 illustrious example which came down to us from heaven. 
 The Messiah visited our earth not only to make an 
 atonement for our transgressions, but to teach us how 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 199 
 
 we should live in the midst of a world in rebellion 
 against God. Observe the position which he chose for 
 the accomplishment of his object. Was he surrounded 
 by millions bowing before him in lowly adoration ? Did 
 he by conforming to the manners of Jew or Gentile, ally 
 himself to the wealthy, the powerful, the intellectual, or 
 the refined ? Did he by pandering to the vices of the * 
 multitude gain over the masses to his cause ? Did the 
 fear of standing alone ever move him to adopt the j)rin- 
 ciples or conform to the practices, of sinners ? Did he 
 ever quail before the tyranny of public opinion in re- 
 bellion against God ? You know his history. -He stood 
 up alone, and resisted unto death the whole power of a 
 world lying in wickedness. No temptation could allure, 
 no danger could alarm him. Neither the opinions nor 
 examples of earth's teeming millions ever moved him 
 an hair's breadth from the line of perfect love to God, and 
 perfect charity to man. No association either with the 
 lofty or the lowly ever palsied his tongue when the cause 
 of truth, or piety, or charity required him to speak. The 
 prince of this world came, and had nothing in him. 
 Amidst a world of faithless, 
 
 " Faithful only he. 
 Amidst innumerable false, unmoved, 
 His loyalty he kept, his love and zeal, 
 Nor numbers nor example with him wrought, 
 To swerve from truth, nor change his constant mind, 
 Though single." 
 
200 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 If such were the Master what must be the disciples ? 
 Are those his disciples who walk not in his footsteps ? 
 
 A few Galilean fishermen imbibed his spirit, .separated 
 themselves from the world, and became his chosen and 
 inseparable companions. With them he traversed the 
 mountains of Galilee and threaded the streets of Jem- 
 . salem. With them he shared his scanty meals, and 
 spread his homely couch. He knew no distinction among 
 men, but that which is made by moral character. Who- 
 soever, said he, doeth the will of my Father, he is my 
 brother, and sister and mother. Day by day he enlight- 
 ened their understandings, invigorated their principles, 
 enlarged their conceptions, and thus prepared them to 
 engage in the conflict with a sensual, frivolous and un- 
 godly world. 
 
 By the Spirit which descended upon him from on high, 
 they were enabled to follow in his footsteps. Few and 
 feeble, poor and illiterate, they went forth boldly to 
 subdue rebellious nations unto God. Every people, every 
 political party, every religion, every priesthood, all the 
 usages of society, all the maxims of trade, all the in- 
 vestments of capital, all the reverence for antiquity, all 
 the seductions of the arts, all the blandishments of poetry, 
 and all the magic of eloquence were arrayed in deadly 
 hostility against them. They met it all and came off 
 .from the conflict victorious. But in what manner was 
 that victory achieved ? Was it by yielding themselves 
 up to the seductions of a sensual age, by submit- 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 201 
 
 ting their consciences to the dictation of rulers, or con- 
 forming their lives to the maxims of the world around 
 them ? You all know how they lived and how they died. 
 In every place and in every company, they fearlessly 
 avowed their principles in the presence of persecution 
 unto death. They had but one question to ask, " is it 
 right in the sight of God to obey God rather than man ?" 
 and by the answer to that question, the course of theii 
 conduct was decided. Everywhere they proclaimed the 
 teachings of their Master, and exemplified his precepts 
 by a holy life and blameless conversation. It was thus 
 that they have exerted a power over humanity to which 
 the history of our race presents no parallel. Thus they 
 commenced that moral movement which is so perceptibly 
 changing the destinies of mankind, and which can never 
 be arrested until the kingdoms of this world become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Thus did 
 Christ and his apostles achieve their victories. This then 
 is the model of a Christian life, and we are disciples of 
 Christ, in just so far as we are individually conformed 
 to it. 
 
 If this be so, the principles which govern a Christian's 
 life must place him in direct opposition to the opinions 
 and maxims of impenitent men. He acknowledges the 
 supreme authority of the eternal God, they bow down 
 and worship the public opinion of a world lying in wick- 
 edness. The one looks to the present, the other to the 
 future. The one acts for time the other, for eternity. The 
 
202 SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 one follows in the footsteps- of Christ, the other in the 
 footsteps of his enemies. Lives so diametrically oppo- 
 site can never coincide, for we can not serve God and 
 Mammon. Let each man inquire for himself, which 
 manner of life he has chosen, for on the choice which he 
 has made depends his eternal destiny. 
 
 Would it not be well for every one of us to pause for a 
 moment and consider well our prospects for eternity ? 
 The objects which now interest us so deeply will soon 
 have passed away forever. Every one of us will soon 
 have laid aside this earthly tabernacle, and uncovered 
 spirits stand in the presence of our Omniscient Judge. 
 Companionship in sin will avail us nothing, for every one 
 of us must give account for himself unto God. Public 
 opinion will yield us no protection, for there every mouth 
 will be stopped, and the whole world be guilty before 
 God. What will it profit us to have sinned in company 
 and defied the Almighty in concert ? Our plea will only 
 seal our tenfold condemnation, and our dwelling place 
 forever must be with the devil and his angels. 
 
 Some among us hope that we have taken shelter under 
 the cover of the atonement, and are trusting in the 
 merits of Christ for salvation. But what are the condi- 
 tions on which we are permitted to rely on the great 
 sacrifice for sin ? The Saviour himself has told us. 
 Unless a man deny himself, and take up his cross, and 
 follow me he can not be my disciple. What evidence 
 have we that we are resting under the shadow of the 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 203 
 
 atonement, if we have neither denied ourselves, nor taken 
 up the cross, nor followed Christ ? In vain do ye call me 
 Lord ! Lord ! and do not the things that I say. "What will 
 it avail us, at the last day, to aver that multitudes with 
 us made the same profession of discipleship, that we 
 denied Christ in masses, and put him to open shame in 
 company ? We thus with our own mouths pronounce 
 our own condemnation. 
 
 When the question was asked, Lord are there few that 
 be saved ? the answer returned was, Strive to enter into 
 the strait gate, for many shall seek to enter in and shall 
 not be able. Are there any among us who are thus 
 striving, who hold themselves aloof from all companion- 
 ship with fashionable sin, whose standard of duty is the 
 Word of God, and whose pattern of life is the example 
 of Christ ? Are there any among us in whose daily con- 
 versation Christ is set forth, and who joyfully suffer 
 ignominy for the name of Jesus ? Are there not some 
 among us who esteem the reproach of Christ greater 
 riches than all the companionship of the ungodly ? God 
 be with you and strengthen you, ye saints of the Most 
 High. Men may cast out your names as evil, but be of 
 good cheer, your names are written in the LamVs book 
 of life. The path that you tread may be rough and 
 wearisome, but it leads directly to the city of the living 
 God. There is not a reproach that you bear for Christ, 
 which shall not work out for you a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory. Trials may await you, for 
 
204 SLAVEKY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 in the world ye shall have tribulation, but fear not, little 
 flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
 kingdom. Your eternity will be with the Forerunner in 
 whose footsteps you have trodden, and with the general 
 assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are 
 written in heaven. And one of the elders said unto me, 
 what are these that are arrayed in white robes, and whence 
 came they ? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And 
 he said unto me, These are they which have come out of 
 great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are 
 they before the throne of God, and serve him day and 
 night in his temple. For the Lamb that is in the midst 
 of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living 
 fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears 
 from their eyes. 
 
 The Son of God goes forth to war, 
 
 A kingly crown to gain ; 
 His blood-red banner streams afar ; 
 
 Who follows in his train ? 
 Who best can drink his cup of woe, 
 
 Triumphant over pain, 
 Who patient bears his cross below : 
 
 He follows in his train. 
 
 The martyr first whose eagle eye 
 
 Could pierce beyond the grave ; 
 Who saw his Master in the sky, 
 
 And called on him to save. 
 Like him, with pardon on his tongue 
 
 In midst of mortal pain, 
 He prayed for them that did the -wrong : 
 
 Who follows in his train ? 
 
SLAVERY TO PUBLIC OPINION. 205 
 
 A glorious band, the chosen few 
 
 On whom the Spirit came; 
 Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew, 
 
 And mocked the cross and shame. 
 They met the tyrant's brandished steel, 
 
 The lion's gory mane ; 
 They bowed their necks the death to feel : 
 
 Who follows in their train ? 
 
 A noble army, men and boys, 
 
 The matron and the maid, 
 Around the Saviour's throne rejoice, 
 
 In robes of light arrayed. 
 They climbed the steep ascent to heaven, 
 
 Through peril, toil and pain. 
 God ! to us may grace be given, 
 
 To follow in their train ? 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many 
 foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
 For the love of money is the root of all evil : which while some coveted 
 after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through 
 with many sorrows. But thou, man of God, flee these things. — 1 Tim- 
 othy, vi. 9, 10, 11. 
 
 It has long since been wisely remarked, that our great- 
 est moral dangers arise, not from direct but indirect 
 temptations. When we are solicited to violate a plain 
 commandment of Christ, conscience promptly gives the 
 alarm, and we turn away from the sin with abhorrence. 
 When, however, the evil consists in doing in excess 
 what can be innocently done only within limits ; when 
 conduct, perhaps harmless to others, paralyzes our moral 
 sensibilities and disqualifies us for the discharge of duty; 
 when the motives which at first impelled us may be in- 
 sensibly exchanged for others which calm reflection would 
 instantly pronounce to be wrong, we frequently pass, 
 without heeding it, the boundary which separates virtue 
 from vice, and the voice of conscience is hardly recognized 
 until the chains of habit are riveted upon us, and we are 
 fully committed to a course of ill doing. 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 207 
 
 To no subject does this remark more emphatically ap- 
 ply than to the pursuit of wealth. Labor is imposed 
 upon us as one of the conditions of health and enjoyment, 
 nay of existence itself. If a man will not work, neither 
 shall he eat, said an Apostle. We are, moreover, com- 
 manded not only to do with our might whatever our hand 
 fmdeth to do, but to be in all things moderate in our de- 
 sires, temperate, and self-denying. But this course of 
 life leads, by necessity, to increased possessions. The in- 
 crease of possessions opens new avenues to temptation ; 
 it spreads before us allurements 'unknown to poverty, 
 and discloses opportunities for accumulation clustering 
 thickly just on the other side of the line of perfect rec- 
 titude. Hence the Scriptures so frequently admonish us 
 against these inevitable clangers. We are taught that 
 the love of wealth is, in its nature, at variance with the 
 love of God, for covetousness is idolatry ; and that unless 
 we forsake houses and lands for Christ's sake, we can not 
 be his disciples. In the solemn and impressive words of 
 the text, they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and 
 a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
 drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love 
 of money is the root of all evil, which while some have 
 coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced 
 themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, 
 man of God, flee these things. 
 
 If such be the dangers of riches, it is our duty to medi- 
 
208 THE PERILS OF EICHES. 
 
 tate upon them with deep attention. To aid you in this 
 moral labor is the object of the present discourse. 
 
 I. Suffer us, in the first place, to set before you some 
 of the dangers which surround the acquisition of wealth. 
 
 In order to apprehend this subject the more adequately, 
 let us commence with the obvious truth, that the right 
 of property rests on the self-evident axiom, that every 
 man has A right to himself. His powers of body and 
 his faculties of mind were bestowed upon him by his 
 Creator, and no created power can revoke the grant. 
 These energies of body and faculties of mind every man 
 may use as he will, provided only he obey the laws of 
 Grod, and violate no right of his neighbor. It is on this 
 foundation that the doctrine of human accountability 
 rests. For every thought and word and action of our lives, 
 every one us of must give account. But this account 
 could never be required, unless every man were perfectly 
 free, provided he violated no right of his neighbor, to 
 think and speak and act as he pleased. 
 
 Secondly. A man, under the condition just suggested, 
 is at perfect liberty to employ his faculties, both of body 
 and mind, in the creation of value, or, as it is commonly 
 called, wealth. By the use of his powers, in obedience 
 to the laws of nature, a product is created which did not 
 before exist. It owes its existence in its present form to 
 the exercise of these faculties, or, in common language, 
 to his labor. If the labor had not been put forth, the 
 product could not have existed. This product, whatever 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 209 
 
 it be, is the exclusive property of the man by whom it 
 has been brought into existence. If the original material 
 and the means of production are his own, the whole of 
 the product is the property of the producer. If the ma- 
 terials and the means of production belonged to another, 
 the product must be equitably divided between the capi- 
 talist and the laborer. But whatever be the portion 
 earned by the laborer, whether the whole or a part of the 
 product created, it is all exclusively his own. It is the 
 reward which Gocl has bestowed upon him for obedience 
 to the laws of his creation. 
 
 The productiveness of the earth has been ordained in 
 perfect harmony with the laws of human labor. We can 
 not exist without food, clothing and shelter. These 
 wants of man may be fully supplied from the bosom of 
 the soil, but they are not furnished spontaneously. We 
 must labor to procure them, and they are yielded to 
 us on no other condition. By the sweat of thy face thou 
 shalt eat thy bread, is the original enactment. It has 
 never been repealed and the Lawgiver enforces it with 
 adequate penalties. It is thus that the labor of every 
 day provides for the wants of every day. Because the 
 labor has been our own, we are entitled to its results, for 
 the sustentation of our lives, and the production of our 
 individual happiness. 
 
 But the relation between human labor and the pro- 
 ductiveness of the earth may be still further considered. 
 If the use of our physical power has been directed by 
 
210 THE PERILS OF RIOHES. 
 
 skill, the earth will yield far more than will suffice for 
 the supply of our daily wants. An annual surplus will 
 remain after every rational want is gratified, and this 
 surplus may be used to increase the productiveness of the 
 succeeding year. Thus it is that, by the union of indus- 
 try with frugality, wealth is created. It is clearly the 
 will of God that each generation should leave the world 
 richer than it found it, and better adapted to yield a 
 larger increase. Thus it is that the earth, which once 
 possessed nothing but capabilities, is now covered with 
 the various forms of wealth, and every means for the 
 production of human happiness. Land and sea, moun- 
 tain and valley, forest and prairie, the soil that we tread 
 on, the mine beneath and the atmosphere around us, are 
 all rendered subservient to the well-being of man. Had 
 we obeyed the laws of our Creator, and had sin with its 
 results been banished from our world, the whole earth 
 would long since have been again transformed into a 
 paradise, and suffering, and want, have been no more 
 known among the children of men. 
 
 It is too obvious to need remark, that the surplus 
 which remains after our wants have been supplied, is our 
 own, just as much as any part of our product. ."No one 
 without injustice can take from us one part more than 
 another, unless he pay us a satisfactory equivalent. 
 Again, our product may be perishable and its value 
 depreciate, or a part of it be annihilated. Inasmuch as 
 the whole product is our own, and no one else has the 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 211 
 
 semblance of a right over it, the loss must, by necessity, 
 fall upon ourselves and we ourselves must bear it. So, 
 on the other hand, our product may increase in value. 
 This additional value, for the same reason, is our own 
 just as much as the original product, and to take from us 
 this part of our property without an equivalent, is just 
 as wicked as to deprive us of any other. It is all our 
 own, the result directly or indirectly of our own labor, 
 and every portion of it is equally guarded by the same 
 moral law of the Creator. 
 
 All this is simple and easily understood, and were 
 wealth accumulated on no other principles, our moral 
 nature would be in little danger from increased posses- 
 sions. But it unfortunately happens that by the increase 
 of wealth, the love of wealth is rendered more intense. 
 Great possessions, by opening new avenues to gain and 
 presenting new opportunities for sensual and social enjoy- 
 ment, expose us to some of the most seducing tempta- 
 tions which ever beset us. The insatiate striving for 
 more, leads us to look with an evil eye upon the pros- 
 perity of our neighbor. As the gains of our own labor 
 are insufficient to supply our exaggerated wants, the 
 desire springs up unbidden to appropriate to ourselves 
 some portion of that for which he has labored. We covet 
 that which is our neighbor's and yet we despise the char- 
 acter of a thief. We would not on any account take 
 from him all his possessions. We would not pick his 
 pocket of a shilling, or break into his house and rob him 
 
212 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 of his spoons. We might, however, take great pains to 
 accomplish an exchange with him, by which we should 
 receive a full equivalent for all that w r e part with, and 
 besides this a very large amount for wdiich we have ren- 
 dered no equivalent whatever. We would on no account 
 charge him with goods which were never delivered, but 
 we might be quite willing to deliver him goods of which 
 twenty-five per cent, is useless adulteration, or which we 
 know to be short of measure or deficient in weight. If 
 our property has depreciated in value, we scruple not to 
 charge a buyer who is ignorant of the market, a price 
 which shall throw upon him the loss which belongs 
 wholly to ourselves. If, on the other hand, our neigh- 
 bor's property has risen in value, w r e scarcely consider it 
 sharp practice, quietly to obtain it, on such terms as shall 
 secure to us the additional value without the shadow of 
 an equivalent. I would not sell a forged bond, or pass a 
 counterfeit bill, but I might sell a bond which I privately 
 knew was not worth the half of what I received for it, or 
 I might offer in payment the bills of a bank which, from 
 " information received," I was sure w r ould to-morrow be 
 almost worthless. Accustomed to this manner of trans- 
 fer, we may go a step further, and ourselves create the 
 very rise and fall of prices of which we so eagerly take 
 advantage. When the market price of an article is low, 
 we may innocently purchase as much as we think for our 
 benefit. We thus equalize prices, and prevent any fur- 
 ther depreciation. But because we may do this inno- 
 
THE PEEILS OF RICHES. 213 
 
 cently, we rimy be tempted to go farther, and combine 
 with others to purchase the whole supply of a necessary 
 of life, that thus we may command the market, and 
 oblige our fellow-citizens to pay us any price which our 
 cupidity may impose. Because we have the power, we 
 think we have the right, to wring from the laboring 
 masses as much of their dear bought earnings as we 
 please, and thus enrich ourselves by impoverishing the 
 community. The talent committed to us for the purpose 
 of blessing mankind we use as an instrument of whole- 
 sale oppression. We thus create that very prejudice 
 against wealth of which we are the first to complain, and 
 bring to pass the saying of Solomon, He that withholdeth 
 corn, the people shall curse him. 
 
 These and a thousand such snares beset the disciple of 
 Christ in his effort to grow rich, or even to provide for the 
 exaggerated wants of them of his own household. He 
 can only escape them by undeviating adherence to the 
 Saviour's commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 as thyself. God has given to each of us such a portion 
 as he chose, and neither of us may touch a farthing of 
 that which he has bestowed on another. Nay more, we 
 are forbidden even to desire it. We may not covet his 
 house, or his lands, or anything that is our neighbor's. 
 Whatever is his, be it much or little, be it in whole or 
 in part, is guarded and protected by that holy low which 
 is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
 
 Let a man make haste and delay not to keep this com- 
 
214 THE PEKILS OF EICHES, 
 
 mandment ; let him submit himself and all his transac- 
 tions to the clearly revealed will of God ; and he may 
 walk unharmed amidst all the snares which beset the 
 path of him who is diligent in business. The temp- 
 tations to fraud, chicanery and overreaching, will fall 
 harmless at his feet. The smallest right of the most igno- 
 rant and unsuspecting will be as precious in his eyes as 
 his own. Whatever be the increase which God has given 
 him, there will not be found there a shilling, which the 
 law of impartial justice would award to another. His 
 earnings are the blessings which his Father in heaven has 
 bestowed on his honest industry, and he may confidently 
 trust that on such gains the favor of God has rested. 
 
 I know full well the objections which can be urged 
 against this scriptural law of accumulation. I shall be 
 told that the customs of trade proceed on very different 
 principles, and that to these customs every man of busi- 
 ness must conform. It will be said that to obey Christ 
 in that matter would consign ourselves and our families 
 to inevitable poverty. Be it so. Still I ask, what does 
 the Saviour require of us if we acknowledge him to be 
 our Master ? If we are not willing to surrender houses 
 and lands for his sake, we cannot be his disciples. If 
 we do not submit our desires to his will, how can we 
 claim him as our Kedeemer ? Doth it matter much, 
 though we be poor in this world, if we be rich in faith 
 and heirs of the kingdom that shall be revealed ? If the 
 world lieth in wickedness and we wallow in wickedness 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 215 
 
 with it, will a profession of religion save us from the 
 condemnation that cometh upon the ungodly ? Is it 
 not an honor to endure poverty for the sake of him, 
 who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that 
 we through his poverty might be made rich ? 
 
 But I ask has it been found that disinterested and 
 honorable dealing commonly leads to poverty ? How 
 comes it then to be universally acknowledged that hon- 
 esty is the best 'policy ? Industry, frugality and un- 
 deviating integrity have always been found to lead with 
 certainty to mercantile success. I know that fortunes 
 are sometimes made, but I also know that they are much 
 more frequently lost, by rash speculation, the result of all 
 grasping love of gain. But let us bring this matter to a 
 practical test. Suppose that every professor of the 
 religion of Christ was known to be a man of undeviating 
 truth and scrupulous conscientiousness, whose word was 
 as good as his bond, and in whose hands the concerns of 
 every man w r ere perfectly secure, would not the disciples 
 of Christ control the business of the world ? Would not 
 every man, whether stranger or near neighbor select them 
 as the persons with whom he would prefer to transact 
 business ? Their success would oblige other men to imi- 
 tate their example, and thus they would create the 
 general necessity of adopting the highest standard of 
 mercantile integrity. They would thus leaven the world 
 instead of being leavened by it. The precepts of Jesus 
 would govern the minutest transactions of the counting- 
 
216 . THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 room and banking-bouse, so that, in the significant lan- 
 guage of scripture, Holiness should be written on the 
 bells of the horses. How vain then is the excuse so 
 often pleaded, that a Christian must degrade himself to 
 the level of covetous and unscrupulous men, in order 
 to achieve mercantile success. Were the disciples of 
 Christ fearlessly, stedfastly, and in faith, to obey their 
 Master, not only would they escape the perils which sur- 
 round their peculiar position, but they would elevate the 
 whole community to the high level of honorable and dis- 
 interested Christian morality. 
 
 Such then are some of the perils of accumulation, 
 and thus can they b'e met by the Christian merchant. 
 Whether he be rich or poor, whether he be rich in youth, 
 in manhood, or mature life, is to him a matter of sec- 
 ondary importance. His first concern is, to please the 
 Master, and this he can do, only by adherence to the law 
 of high-minded, disinterested, Christian reciprocity. The 
 rest he leaves with God. In success or in failure, the 
 great object of his life is to please his Father who is in 
 heaven. His daily labor is a service to Christ. His daily 
 warfare with temptation strengthens his virtue, confirms 
 him in all goodness, and in an eminent degree prepares 
 him for that world where the crown of righteousness is 
 given to all who have triumphed over the sin which so 
 easily besets them. 
 
 Here, however, let me caution the young believer 
 against a rock on which very many have made ship- 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 217 
 
 wreck. Though he should obey the rule of the Saviour 
 in the mauner of his accumulation, yet too eager a de- 
 sire for immediate success may entangle him in a snare 
 hardly less hurtful. Feeling deeply the need of capital, 
 he is tempted to re-invest his gains with an avidity which 
 puts far away into the future all the claims of religion 
 and benevolence. The command of God is, Honor the 
 Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of thy 
 increase. In too great haste to be rich, he determines to 
 devote the first part of his life to accumulation, that, in 
 old age, he may have the more to consecrate to the ser- 
 vice of God. Of this device of the adversary let the 
 young Christian beware. The duty of devoting our pos- 
 sessions to Christ, belongs to all times and all places. It 
 is obligatory on us as much at the commencement as at 
 the close of our probation. The small offering saved by 
 self-denial from the scanty salary of the clerk, or earned 
 by the additional toil of the young mechanic, or with- 
 held from some rare investment by the young merchant, 
 may be a richer gift in the sight of God, than the world- 
 renowned benefaction of the aged millionaire. Besides, 
 it is only by commencing early in life the consecration of 
 our substance unto God, that we can establish the habit 
 of benevolence. While we postpone the discharge of our 
 duty until we have become wealthy, the love of gain is 
 insensibly acquiring strength, we listen to the claims of 
 benevolence with less and less sensibility, and at last be- 
 come deaf to the voice of humanity. When we are able 
 
 10 
 
218 THE PERILS OF KICHES, 
 
 to give without the smallest self-denial, the disposition to 
 give has perished, and we have been transformed into the 
 very misers whom once we thoroughly despised. 
 
 Were it necessary, I might here explain the connection 
 which God has established between habitual benevolence 
 and financial ability. Time would fail were I to consider 
 the subject at large. I will only remark that this very 
 habit, above all others, cultivates that calm equanimity 
 on which soundness of judgment so materially depends. 
 Men commonly fail from one of two causes. They either 
 timidly shrink from a reasonable risk, or, allured by the 
 promise of extraordinary gains, peril their all in too haz- 
 ardous investments. We are best preserved from both 
 these dangers, by ever considering our property as a tal- 
 ent committed to us by God, which we are bound to use 
 for the benefit of humanity. Our personal interest then 
 ceases to agitate us, and we act as stewards to whom a 
 trust has been committed. Thus, exempted from the 
 bias both toward timidity and rashness, we estimate a risk 
 at precisely its true value, the surest test of financial 
 skill. In this manner the promise is fulfilled which fol- 
 lows the precept I just now quoted. Honor the Lord 
 with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thy in- 
 crease ; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy 
 presses shall burst out with new wine. 
 
 II. But suppose the disciple of Christ to have pursued 
 his calling in obedience to the law of reciprocity, and 
 that not a dollar of his estate has been soiled by mean- 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 219 
 
 ness or dishonesty. He may have given of his increase, 
 so that, thus far, lie has escaped the charge of avarice. 
 God lias smiled upon the labor of his hands, and has 
 blessed him with ample means for the supply of every 
 reasonable want, both of himself and his children. He 
 believed it his duty to make provision for those committed 
 to his charge. This duty is accomplished ; what shall he 
 do next ? The question presents itself, how much may 
 be in the fear of God accumulated, and how much longer 
 may he rightfully continue in the pursuit of wealth ? 
 Shall he labor on for the gold that perisheth until death 
 surprises him, or shall he devote the remainder of his 
 life to the service of God and humanity ? Here is the 
 temptation to the man of middle age. 
 
 I am well aware that this question may sound strangely 
 to most of you. I fear that many a disciple of Christ has 
 lived until his eye has grown dim and his natural force 
 abated, without ever asking it. On this very rock we fear 
 that thousands are at this moment making shipwreck of 
 faith. It is obvious that the man of business has no more 
 right to live unto himself than the clergyman, the mis- 
 sionary, the martyr, or the apostle. The principles which 
 govern the life of a Christian are not affected by his call- 
 ing ; they are the same always and everywhere. Christ 
 died for the one as much as for the other, and the title of 
 both to the heavenly inheritance is verified by the same 
 sign, they live not unto themselves but unto him who 
 loved them and gave himself for them. 
 
220 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 But let a man ignore all this, and claim that he has a 
 light to live unto himself, and he chooses the path which 
 leads to the chambers of spiritual death. The opportu- 
 nity is afforded him to spend the remainder of his life 
 in the direct service of Christ, or in the labor for accu- 
 mulation. He chooses the latter, and it soon becomes 
 his ruling passion. Religion, from being an active prin- 
 ciple, becomes a matter of form. He may attend the 
 worship of the sanctuary wilh business-like punctuality, 
 but his soul holds no communion with God. As his 
 wealth increases, his love of it becomes more intense 
 and absorbing. Investments are so precious that he has 
 nothing to spare for the cause of Christ. The cry of dis- 
 tress, that once aroused his whole soul to sympathy, 
 now falls on his ear unheeded. His moral perceptions 
 are obscured. Arts of gain which he once scorned, he 
 now practices with avidity. At last, professing the reli- 
 gion of the blessed Jesus, and holding the most orthodox 
 of creeds, he is transformed into a grasping miser. Yet 
 he is hardly aware of the change that has passed upon 
 him. His brethren foster his delusion, for instead of re- 
 buking, they flatter him, for they know that he is very 
 rich. Thus, cursed with spiritual blindness, he is draw- 
 ing near to the judgment-seat with a lie in his right hand. 
 
 The man dies and appears before God. What evi- 
 dence has he left behind him that he is an heir of 
 heaven ? The heathen have not read the message of 
 salvation from Bibles which he has scattered abroad. 
 
THE PEEILS OF RICHES. 221 
 
 No savage tribe has heard of the love of Christ from the 
 lips of a herald whom he has sent forth. The poor have 
 not been warmed by the fleece of his flock, nor has his 
 cheering voice or liberal hand caused the heart of the 
 widow or the orphan to leap for joy. Nay, his life has 
 been an offence ; for multitudes, taking his example as 
 an exponent of the religion of Jesus, have resolved that 
 they will have nothing to do with it. An asterisk is pre- 
 fixed to his name on the books of his church. The news- 
 papers announce the death of the senior member of a 
 very respectable firm. Men on 'Change discuss with in- 
 terest the question how much he was worth, and this 
 question answered, he passes away from the thoughts of 
 the living, and is remembered no more forever. Such is 
 the end of him that layeth up treasure for himself, nnd is 
 not rich toward God. 
 
 Another disciple has made provision for every reason- 
 able want ; it is in his power to consecrate his life to the 
 service of Christ, but he chooses the pursuit of worldliness 
 in its more seductive form. 
 
 He is able to enter upon the career of social competi- 
 tion, and gain for himself and his family a position in 
 what is fancifully termed " the best society." His modest 
 dwelling is exchanged for a mansion that attracts the 
 gaze of the passers by. His drawing rooms shine in 
 costly magnificence, and are embellished by the highest 
 efforts of artistic skill. His tables are loaded with every 
 delicacy that wealth can command. His equipages are 
 
222 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 remarked for tlie tastefuluess of their construction, and 
 the perfection of their appointments. His entertainments 
 boast an extravagance from which nobles would draw 
 back, and they are crowded with all that is distinguished 
 in talent or wealth, in beauty or fashion, in political 
 power or social preeminence. The man has devoted his 
 life to the accomplishment of his object, and he has ac- 
 complished it. And he must continue it, though old age 
 is coming upon him, and the labor which it imposes 
 presses heavily upon grey hairs, exhausted energies, and 
 the saddened conviction that he is living in vain. He is 
 by profession a disciple of that Jesus of Nazareth who 
 had not where to lay his head, and he regularly at the 
 communion table professes, that his affections are set 
 upon things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand 
 of God. But when Christ who is our life shall appear, 
 will he appear with him in glory ? 
 
 This rich man also dies and is buried. His establish- 
 ment is broken up, and his equipages are scattered. A 
 prominent name is erased from the list of aspirants for 
 social distinction. A house of gratuitous entertainment 
 for the frivolous and gay is closed. Before the next sea- 
 Bon arrives his name is forgotten. The widow and the 
 orphan have not a friend the less. The young and inex- 
 perienced have lost no counselor. The church of God is 
 no longer paralyzed by the influence of his example. 
 Every act of his probation has been recorded on high, and 
 
THE PEPwILS OF RICHES. 223 
 
 the man has appeared before God to render up his ac- 
 count for the deeds done in the body. 
 
 But it will be asked, Are we not bound to make a 
 suitable provision for our children ? Is not this duty 
 imposed upon us by the gospel itself ? We answer most 
 certainly. But it is to be remembered that we are here 
 dealing with those who have already made every provision 
 needful to enable their children to enter upon a life of 
 industry with the best prospect of success. We have 
 still to ask whether, having accomplished this, a disciple 
 of Christ may spend the rest of his life in the accumula- 
 tion of wealth for those that shall come after him. 
 
 We have observed that the man has the opportunity 
 to select the manner in which the maturity of his life 
 shall be spent. He may devote it to the service of Christ 
 or to the service of his children. While we grant that 
 not to love our children is to deny the faith, we must not 
 forget our Saviour's emphatic declaration, He that loveth 
 son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 
 Here then the two things are set the one over against 
 the other. We may live for the salvation of the world 
 for which Christ died, or we may live for the purpose of 
 leaving large possessions to our children. We choobe the 
 latter. We love son and daughter more than Christ. 
 Can we then be worthy of him ? 
 
 I would ask, in what manner can we so worthily provide 
 for our children, as by laboring to prepare them for use- 
 fulness here and happiness hereafter ? But in what de- 
 
224 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 gree does large accumulation confer this preparation ? 
 When we have suitably cultivated the faculties with 
 which God has endowed theni, and accustomed them to 
 habits of manly self-reliance ; when we have trained them 
 up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and pro- 
 vided them with the means of rendering their industry 
 available, wealth can render them no further service. 
 The direct effect of large expectations is to render labor 
 at first unnecessary, and then repulsive. Indolent habits 
 with large opportunity for sensual gratification, consti- 
 tute the most perilous condition of human probation. 
 Hence when the children of the rich rise to eminence, 
 we consider the case exceptional, and award to them the 
 praise of having escaped the most appalling moral dan- 
 gers. The high prizes in life are almost always gained 
 by those on whom poverty has sternly yet kindly imposed 
 the necessity of earnest and untiring effort. To this ne- 
 cessity they ascribe their success, and the habits which it 
 cultivated they declare to have been the source of their 
 present happiness. Can it be wise parental love to re- 
 move from our children the necessity of industry, with 
 the high-souled self-reliance and the full development of 
 their intellectual and moral nature which industry so 
 naturally fosters ? 
 
 We seem here to be the victims of a strange and un- 
 accountable . delusion. No man of sense is ashamed to 
 acknowledge that he was the architect of his own for- 
 tunes, and that by his own unaided effort he has attained 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 225 
 
 to independence. Nay, it is to him a matter of honest 
 gratulation. Our friends so esteem it, and they delight 
 to repeat the story of our early struggles, our resolute 
 self-reliance, and their ultimate reward. We compare 
 ourselves with our companions in childhood who were 
 born to hereditary wealth. We observe, perhaps, with 
 too complacent self-esteem, the difference between their 
 course and our own. They grew up in indolence, were 
 nurtured in affluence, yielded to the seductions of vice, 
 and sunk to an early and dishonored grave. We were 
 inured to hardship, were taught industry by necessity, at 
 an early age were obliged to rely upon ourselves, and en- 
 tering upon life with this discipline soon discovered the 
 path to eminence. Bat with these facts daily in remem- 
 brance, in the treatment of our children we reverse the 
 principles which all our experience has so fully verified. 
 We make it the business of our lives to exclude them 
 from the very conditions to which we owe our success, 
 and surround them with the very perils which were fatal 
 to our contemporaries. How shall we account for so 
 universal an abandonment of the lessons of reason and 
 experience ? Can it be possible that we are honest with 
 ourselves in this matter ? May it not be the fact that 
 under the cover of love to our children, there lurks con- 
 cealed within us the base and miserly love of simple 
 accumulation ? 
 
 If the perils of riches are thus alarming, a disclplo of 
 Christ is certainly bound frequently to pause wd ast 
 
 10* 
 
226 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 himself whether it would be either wise or right lo spend 
 any greater portion of his life in the acquisition of wealth. 
 It may aid him in forming his decision on this subject, to 
 read the words of the Master. His teachings contain 
 warnings such as these, Lay not up for yourselves trea- 
 sures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where 
 thieves break through and steal ; but lay up for your- 
 selves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
 corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 
 steal. Take no thought, saying, what shall we eat or 
 what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed, 
 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
 ness and all these things shall be added to you. Verily, 
 I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the 
 eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the king- 
 dom of God. When his disciples were astonished at this 
 saying, our Lord continued, how hard is it for those who 
 trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ; and 
 then he repeated his previous assertion. By this he 
 evidently intended to teach us, that it is hardly possible 
 for us to be rich without trusting in riches ; and to trust 
 in riches is fatal. Hear also the words of the text in which 
 the moral perils of wealth are. most solemnly set forth. 
 But they that will be rich fall into temptation, and a 
 snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown 
 men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money 
 is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, 
 they have erred from the faith and have pierced them- 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 227 
 
 selves through with many sorrows. But thou, man of 
 God, flee these things. He who will meditate on these 
 solemn admonitions, and the Word of God is filled with 
 them, may surely find reason to ask himself, can I any 
 longer, with a good conscience, devote myself to the accu- 
 mulation of the treasure that perisheth ? 
 
 III. But it will doubtless be said, suppose we do this, 
 and cease from further accumulation, in what man- 
 ner shall we spend the remainder of our lives ? The 
 gospel does not allow us to live in idleness. This is an 
 important inquiry, and we must attempt briefly to an- 
 swer it. 
 
 I here address myself to those who have given them- 
 selves without reserve to Christ, who expect to be par- 
 doned through his sacrifice, who have pledged themselves 
 to obey all his commandments, and who daily pray that his 
 will may be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. 
 Let such a man think for a moment upon the condition 
 of our race, more than eighteen centuries after the Son 
 of God by the sacrifice of himself has opened wide the 
 gate of heaven to every one who will believe. Let him 
 survey the hundreds of millions still groaning under the 
 curse of paganism, in whose hearing even the name of 
 the Saviour has never yet been uttered. Let him look 
 upon the nations nominally Christian, and observe how a 
 religion bearing the name of Christ, but more corrupt 
 and debasing than paganism itself, is pressing with the 
 weight of ages upon prostrate humanity. Let him then 
 
228 THE PEKILS OF KICHES. 
 
 turn to the lands most favored with the light of the 
 gospel, and reflect upon the wrongs of oppression, the 
 misery inflicted by intemperance, the myriads of souls 
 offered up annually for the gratification of lust, the in- 
 creasing godiessness of our whole population, while the very 
 church of Grod is retreating before her enemies, or com- 
 promising her principles to maintain a nominal existence ; 
 let him think of all this when he prays Thy kingdom 
 come, and he will surely be in no danger of suffering 
 from want of employment. And more than this, he will 
 be convinced that this world can never be regenerated 
 until every disciple of Christ devotes himself with his 
 whole soul to the work of its salvation. To leave it to an 
 ecclesiastical caste, is to concede that the object for which 
 the Son of God died can never be accomplished. It was 
 when the people had a mind to work that the wall of 
 Jerusalem was built. And this reign of Christ can 
 never be established on earth, until every disciple is 
 ready to forsake houses and lands for his sake and the 
 gospel's. 
 
 But suppose a Christian brother having overcome the 
 love of wealth, is willing to consecrate himself to the 
 cause of his Master, in what manner can he best employ 
 himself.- To this I might reply in general, if he is really 
 willing to labor, the Master will soon find for him abun- 
 dant occupation. On this subject, however, a few prac- 
 tical suggestions may not be inappropriate. 
 
 A disciple of Christ wiio has resolved to labor no 
 
THE PEEILS OF KICHES. 229 
 
 longer for accumulation, will naturally deliberate on the 
 question whether he shall relinquish his business or con- 
 tinue in it. The question he must decide for himself, in 
 view of the circumstances in which he is placed, and of 
 his own particular aptitudes. 
 
 Suppose then that a disciple of Christ, convinced that 
 he can proceed no farther in the work of accumulation, 
 resolves to release himself from secular pursuits, where 
 shall he find adequate employment ? To this I answer, 
 First, it may be his duty to enter the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation. For this form of Christian labor his habits of 
 business, his knowledge of the world, his experience of 
 the temptations to which men in active life are exposed, 
 his acquaintance with the ordinary modes of thought on 
 religious subjects, and the subterfuges under which the 
 neglect of religion hides itself, would confer on him pecu- 
 liar advantages. He may not, it is true, be familiar 
 with the knowledge of the schools ; but, I ask, is it in 
 the knowledge of the schools, or the knowledge of the 
 human heart, that the pulpit of the present day is most 
 palpably deficient. Is not the latter, to say the least, as 
 indispensable to the preacher of the gospel as the former. 
 The common complaint against our preaching is, that it 
 is dry, abstract, bookish and metaphysical, or else poeti- 
 cal, imaginative, and morally unimpressive. We prepare 
 ourselves for the ministry by the study of books, se- 
 cluded as far as possible from all intercourse with man- 
 kind. Would not the churches hail with delight a class 
 
230 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 of preachers who. had prepared themselves for their work 
 by a large and intimate acquaintance with men. I 
 believe that the walks of mercantile and professional life 
 could easily furnish us with ten times as many useful 
 and acceptable preachers of the gospel, as all the theo- 
 logical seminaries in the land. 
 
 If I do not mistake, there is at this moment, a multi- 
 tude of men engaged in secular pursuits, who in youth 
 have silenced their convictions of duty, and have borne 
 about with them ever since the painful conviction that 
 they ought to have devoted themselves to the preaching 
 of the gospel. The prospect of worldly gain overcame 
 the monitions of conscience ; and they quieted her up- 
 braidings with the promise that when they had acquired 
 a competence, they would devote themselves exclusively 
 to works of religious usefulness. While engaged in the 
 hot pursuit of wealth they almost forget their bygoue 
 vows ; but when the hand of affliction presses heavily 
 upon them, or when the influences from on high quicken 
 them to spiritual life, the question addressed to the wan- 
 dering prophet sounds solemnly in their ears, What doest 
 thou here, Elijah ? Never in the history of the church, 
 was the aid of such men so much needed as at present. 
 Let them delay no longer to perform their vows, and now 
 that all things have been added to them, seek first the 
 kingdom of God and his righteousness. 
 
 Again, there are others to whom the gift of teaching 
 and public address has not been given, who are largely 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 231 
 
 endowed with administrative talents. They are capable 
 of conducting extended and complicated operations with 
 singular facility and success. The services of such men 
 are greatly needed in the management of all our benevo- 
 lent associations. Our societies for the promotion of 
 religion and the relief of distress, for the reformation of 
 offenders and the suppression of vice, all stand greatly in 
 need of the labors of pious laymen, endowed with the 
 talent of managing affairs. At present, from the neces- 
 sity of the case, ministers of the gospel are to a great 
 extent pressed into this service. Men complain that in 
 this work we are unskillful, and conduct the affairs com- 
 mitted to our charge, on the principles of brotherhood 
 rather than of business. This may be true, but we do as 
 well as we can. Why do they not relieve us and assume 
 the responsibility themselves ? They can transact busi- 
 ness much better than we, and we had much rather give 
 ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. If 
 other men would undertake this service, they would 
 enable a large number of our most useful ministers 
 to return to their appropriate work, and also add 
 greatly to the efficiency of our means for evangelizing the 
 world. 
 
 But when all this has been done, by far the widest 
 field for Christian labor remains still unoccupied. There 
 exists not a city, or town, or village, or neighborhood in 
 our country, in which there may not be found a large por- 
 tion of the people unblessed by any proper knowledge of 
 
232 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 the truths of religion. In our large cities this portion of 
 our populace greatly outnumbers the attendants upon the 
 sanctuary. In fact they have no sanctuary. Our churches 
 are built and furnished, and our services are conducted, 
 for the rich ; the poor will not and can not enter them. 
 They therefore grow up strangers to religious culture, 
 either at home or abroad, and yield at once to the temp- 
 tations of sensuality and vice. They spend their sab- 
 baths in rioting and excess, and corrupted and corrupting, 
 the infection of their example is ever drawing multitudes 
 within the reach of its influence. Intemperance and 
 licentiousness sweep them off by thousands, and yet their 
 number increases with appalling rapidity. We have 
 Maine laws and vagrant acts, we have magistrates and 
 policemen, we have night watchmen and day watchmen, 
 we have prisons and jails, we have houses of reformation 
 for youth and for adults, and yet the spirit that worketh 
 in the children of disobedience laughs at our efforts to 
 arrest the progress of evil. Intemperance increases. The 
 tide of licentiousness is rising higher and higher, carry- 
 ing misery and debasement into thousands of households 
 that the world knows not of. Crime against both person 
 and property multiplies beyond precedent. Poverty, 
 squalid and despairing, the cause and the result of vice, 
 nestles in every unfrequented suburb, and in every filthy 
 alley. We now and then detect and imprison an offender. 
 We sometimes rescue from misery a single victim. But 
 it is commonly acknowledged, that, especially in our 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 233 
 
 cities, a large portion of our population, with intellects 
 quickened and passions inflamed by the progress of civili- 
 zation, are passing their probation under moral condi- 
 tions vastly more awful than those of the most benighted 
 heathen. 
 
 Can nothing be done to arrest the progress of evil, and 
 rescue these perishing millions from misery here and per- 
 dition hereafter ? Is there no balm in G-ilead, is there no 
 Physician there ? Why then is not the health of the 
 daughter of my people recovered ? Will it ever be re- 
 covered by the remedies at present administered ? Can 
 the disease be cured by the erection of magnificent tem- 
 ples to Jesus of Nazareth from which the poor, to whom 
 he preached the gospel, are virtually excluded ? Will 
 the cure be effected by a few ministers of the word, whose 
 power is exhausted in the attempt to render the teachings 
 of Jesus acceptable to the intelligent and refined, the 
 opulent and the fastidious ? Can we expect a reforma- 
 tion from our Sabbath-schools, filled as these schools fre- 
 quently are with children who might be instructed at 
 home ? Alas ! such means as these are wholly inade- 
 quate to the accomplishment of our object. An effort 
 far more universal is required, if we would arrest the 
 progress of iniquity, and subdue our cities and towns, 
 nay our whole country, unto God. Christian men and 
 women must give themselves individually to this work. 
 Why should not every church in city and in country un- 
 dertake, in the strength of Grod, the conversion of the 
 
234 TEE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 souls in its vicinity ? Why should not every neighbor- 
 hood be divided into districts, and apportioned out among 
 the disciples of Christ, so that each one may have his ap- 
 propriate field of labor ? The brethren who have relin- 
 quished the pursuit of gain for the love of Christ, would 
 find delightful occupation in systematizing and directing 
 efforts of this kind, and in furnishing examples of the 
 manner in which the work should be done. Oh, could 
 the disciples of Christ of every name unite in a universal 
 effort thus to fulfill the commands of their Master, there 
 is not an abandoned neighborhood in the most licentious 
 of our cities, that would not be transformed into a dwell- 
 ing-place of righteousness ; there is not a moral desert 
 among us that would not rejoice and blossom as the rose. 
 Nothing but such an effort can save us. Such an effort, 
 by the blessing of God, can save us. Why should not 
 the effort be made ? 
 
 But, in the next place, there may be many of the dis- 
 ciples of Christ engaged in secular business, from which 
 they can not disengage themselves, and others whose 
 talent is specially adapted to the management of large 
 financial operations. Such men may nevertheless be 
 convinced that they have no right to devote the remain- 
 der of their lives to the purpose of accumulation. They 
 have already made provision for every reasonable want, 
 and they recognize their obligation to devote their re- 
 maining gains to the service of their Lord. Let such 
 men continue in their calling, pursuing it with diligence 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 235 
 
 and energy as co-workers with Christ. A Christian la- 
 boring thus, and ceasing to accumulate, will be enabled 
 at once to enter upon the noblest enterprizes of benevo- 
 lence. The poor and destitute around him, by judicious 
 assistance and timely advice, may be delivered from the 
 fear of poverty, by learning how to take care of them- 
 selves. The ignorant, near and afar off, may through 
 his liberality be blessed with the means of . education. 
 The gospel planted by his labors may gladden the heart 
 of many a wanderer in the wide-spreading west, and thus 
 the foundation of coming empires be established upon the 
 principles of immutable justice and reciprocal good will. 
 He may go beyond the confines of his own country, and 
 embracing in the arms of Christian love the whole family 
 of man, establish missions among far distant heathen, 
 and plant the standard of the cross among nations that 
 for thousands of years have been sitting in the region and 
 shadow of death. All these blessed enterprizes are open 
 before him, and he may choose from them that which he 
 prefers, or he may labor according to his ability in them 
 all. He may put on righteousness as a clothing, his 
 judgment may be a robe and a diadem. When the 
 ear hears him it shall bless him, and when the eye sees 
 him it shall give witness unto Mm, because he delivers 
 the poor when he crieth, the fatherless and him that 
 hath none to help him. The blessing of him that 
 was ready to perish shall come upon him, for he has 
 caused the widow's heart to leap for joy. All this is well, 
 
236 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 but it is only a small part of his reward. He shall walk 
 all day in the light of his Saviour's countenance. The 
 consciousness shall ever abide with him that he is not 
 living to himself, but to the Saviour that died for him. 
 Christ shall dwell in his heart by faith. Being rooted 
 and grounded in love, he shall be able to know the 
 length and breadth and depth and height of the love of 
 Christ, which passeth knowledge, and shall be filled with 
 all the fullness of God ; and when he is called home to 
 his reward, an entrance shall abundantly be administered 
 to him into the kingdom of his Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. My Christian brother, you may if you will enter 
 upon such a life as this. Dare you turn from it to the 
 weak and beggarly elements of a perishing world. Fix 
 your eyes on Calvary, and tell your ascended Kedeemer 
 what manner of life you intend henceforward to choose. 
 
 But you may reply, We aid in all these good designs 
 already ; what lack we yet ? I doubt not that you aid 
 them, but I fear lest all you have thus far done will hardly 
 save you from the condemnation of him who hid his lord's 
 talent in a napkin. Let us look for a moment on the 
 facts of the case. You believe that after moral character, 
 education is the greatest of earthly blessings — and you 
 pay your tax for the support of public schools. Why 
 do you not from your own means establish schools for 
 the destitute ; or like Peter Cooper and Amos, Abbott, 
 and William Lawrence, bestow upon coming generations 
 the richest treasures of science and the largest knowledge 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 237 
 
 of the works of God. You believe it to be of the great- 
 est importance to furnish our whole population, especially 
 the young, with the opportunity for extensive and valu- 
 able reading — and you pay your annual subscription to 
 a library in your neighborhood. Why do you not, like 
 G-eorge Peabody and Joshua Bates, provide for the town 
 that nurtured you, as valuable and abundant means for 
 intellectual and moral culture as any man could desire ? 
 You believe that those whom God has called to the min- 
 istry should receive as valuable culture as their circum- 
 stances will allow — and you pay your annual subscription 
 to an education society. Why do you not, by donation 
 or loan, assist a score of men thus to enlarge the field 
 of their usefulness ? You can select them as wisely, and 
 watch over them as carefully, as any education society, 
 and you will thus do it with much greater benefit to your 
 own soul. You are convinced of the importance of home 
 missions, and mourn over the moral desolation that over- 
 spreads many of our old and all of our newly settled 
 States — and you are a life member of some Home Mis- 
 sion Society. Why are you not a Home Mission Society 
 yourself? Why do you not establish the preaching of 
 the gospel in twenty villages of the West, and thus dis- 
 tribute the bread of life every Sabbath-clay to twenty 
 congregations of perishing men ? You believe that 
 Christ has commanded us to preach the gospel to every 
 creature ; you think well of foreign missions — and you 
 make an annual contribution of a few dollars to a 
 
238 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 Foreign Mission Society. Why do you not establish a 
 mission yourself, selecting the field, sending forth and 
 supporting the heralds of salvation, and being yourself 
 the instrument of bringing a nation into obedience to 
 Christ ? 
 
 When Kobert Haldane, nephew to the Earl of Cam- 
 pcrdown, became a disciple of Christ, he disposed of 
 his splendid estate at Airthrey, to obtain the means for 
 establishing a mission in India ; intending of course to 
 lead the enterprize himself. He had selected his asso- 
 ciates and matured his arrangements, when the whole 
 plan was frustrated through the opposition of the Direc- 
 tors of the East India Company. His efforts in this di- 
 rection being arrested, he turned his attention first to 
 his own country, and devoted his large income to the 
 education of pious men for the ministry, and the erection 
 of houses of worship in destitute places, and thus became, 
 in fact, a Home Mission Society for the length and 
 breadth of Scotland. Through his labors and those of 
 his brother, an extensive revival of religion was witnessed 
 in every part of that land. His attention was then turned 
 to the Continent, and he spent several years in Greneva, 
 laboring in faith to sow the seed of the gospel where 
 formalism had usurped the place of Christianity. Abun- 
 dant success here also attended his efforts, and all the 
 evangelical religion now existing in the city of Calvin, is 
 the fruit of his labors. There are among us many dis- 
 ciples of Christ who might well follow the example of 
 
THE PEKILS OF RICHES. 239 
 
 Robert Haldane, and who, with the blessing of God, 
 might reap a similar harvest. 
 
 The late Joseph John Gurney was a man of similar 
 spirit. During the early part of his life he was the 
 leading partner in an extensive banking-house. In mid- 
 dle life he became satisfied that it was his duty to cease 
 from accumulation. He gradually retired from active 
 business, so far as it was in his power, and devoted him- 
 self to labors for the extension of the gospel and the 
 welfare of humanity. His benefactions in aid of every 
 good design were such as became his character. For- 
 saking the comforts of Earlham, the spot which he loved 
 so well, he spent three years of incessant gospel labor in 
 this country and the West Indies. The remainder of 
 his life was employed mainly in journeys on the conti- 
 nent, in preaching Christ crucified to men of every rank, 
 distributing bibles and tracts, and pleading with men in 
 authority for those who were suffering persecution for 
 conscience' sake. My brethren, let us meditate on such 
 examples ; and seeing we are encompassed by so great a 
 crowd of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and 
 the sin that doth so easily beset us, and run with patience 
 the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus the 
 author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that 
 was set before him, endured the cross, despising the 
 shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the 
 throne of God. 
 
 But it may be said, do you intend to throw the burden 
 
240 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 of charity solely on the wealthy ? Is not benevolence 
 the duty of all men ? Why then single us out, as 
 though we were alone responsible for the progress of the 
 religion which we profess. 
 
 I reply, it is perfectly right that you should be sin- 
 gled out as the leaders in every good work. The greater 
 part of mankind are obliged to labor for little more than 
 a mere subsistence. A smaller number are only begin- 
 ning to accumulate something. The providence of God 
 has delivered you from the fear of want and the neces- 
 sity of personal labor. You then are the very persons 
 whom God has prepared for the work of Christian benefi- 
 cence. Nay, if you carry out the principles of yeur 
 religious profession, in what other manner can you spend 
 the remainder of your life. Those who are forced to 
 labor for their personal support, are denied the privilege 
 which has been granted to you. We ask you to render 
 unto God according to his benefits. Is not this just ? 
 We ask for nothing more. 
 
 Besides, your example would quicken the pulse of 
 charity throughout the whole multitude of Christ's dis- 
 ciples. Laboring men will emulate your deeds of mercy, 
 and thus a new impulse will be given to the whole church 
 of Christ. You are not probably aware that rich Chris- 
 tians are, most commonly, obstacles to the progress of 
 the gospel. The amount of your pecuniary ability is 
 better known than you suppose. The ratio of your 
 charities to your income is pretty well ascertained. 
 
THE PERILS OF RICHES. 241 
 
 Other men measure themselves by the standard which 
 you have established, and hence the aggregate of our 
 offerings to Ghrist is so meagre. I said measure them- 
 selves by your standard, but it is not so. Your charities 
 impose ou you not the shadow of a sacrifice. Did poor 
 men give only within this limit the fountains of religious 
 benevolence would be well nigh dried up. Should your 
 zeal provoke them to emulation, the host of God's elect 
 would be excited to universal effort, and a new era would 
 dawn upon the church of God. 
 
 And, lastly, some one may say that I am transcending 
 the limits assigned to a teacher of religion, and prescrib- 
 ing to other men what they shall do with their own 
 property. Not so, my brother. What you have honestly 
 earned, so far as man is concerned, is your own, and with 
 your disposal of it we pretend not to interfere. Whatever 
 we may say, you will do with it just what you please, 
 and we would not if we could prevent you. But, as you 
 profess to obey without reserve the commands of Christ, 
 it is surely competent to us to show you what the com- 
 mands of Christ are. We desire simply to point out to 
 you what your profession of discipleship involves. Having 
 done this we rest. It is for you to decide whether what 
 we have said is in accordance with the teachings of the 
 Master, and if it be, whether you will or will not obey it. 
 If we have faithfully and in love made known to you the 
 will of the Lord, our duty is done. The rest remains 
 with you. 
 
 11 
 
242 THE PERILS OF RICHES. 
 
 Christian brethren, we beg you to consider these things, 
 Kemember the saying of the Lord, That it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive. Kemember his example; 
 though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor, that 
 we through his poverty might be made rich. Observe 
 the awful peril which attends upon the laying up of 
 treasure on the earth. Kemark the effect which accumu- 
 lation has already produced on your religious character. 
 Estimate if you can the blessings which, by devoting 
 yourselves in faith to the cause of Christ, you might con- 
 fer upon humanity ; the hearts which you might gladden, 
 the ignorant whom you might enlighten, the vicious 
 whom you might reclaim, and the souls whom you might 
 rescue from eternal death. Think of the peace which the 
 Kedeemer sheds abroad in the soul of the faithful, and 
 the crown of life which he bestows upon those who for- 
 sake houses and lands for his sake and the gospel's. 
 Think of all this, redeemed sinner, and compare it witri 
 all that can be hoped for from a life of successful worldli- 
 ness, and form your decision in the sight of Him before 
 whom all born of woman will shortly be gathered. The 
 Lord help you to decide wisely. And may the God of 
 peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the 
 blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in 
 all things to do his will, working in you that which is 
 well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom 
 be glory forever. Amen. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 PREVALENT PRATER. 
 
 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
 and it shall be done unto you. — John', xv. 7. 
 
 You must all have observed, my brethren, the impor- 
 tance which the Scriptures attach to the subject of 
 prayer. We are exhorted to pray always, lifting up holy 
 hands without wrath or doubting. We are encouraged 
 in all things, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiv- 
 ing, to make our wants known unto God. It is the in- 
 tention of our Father in heaven that our lives should be 
 a continual prayer, that in all our concerns, whether 
 great or small, we should ask his direction, expecting his 
 blessing, and return to him without ceasing our tribute 
 of grateful adoration. It is our privilege to live ever in 
 intimate communion with God ; so that the spiritual in- 
 tercourse between us and the Creator should be as unlim- 
 ited and as incessant as our dependence upon him. 
 
 In the New Testament this subject assumes a new and 
 even more interesting aspect. Sinners might well shrink 
 back from approaching a God of infinite holiness. From 
 the abyss of our moral degradation, it might seem pre- 
 sumptuous to lift up our eyes to the place where his 
 
244 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 honor dwelleth. But the gospel reveals to us an atoning 
 sacrifice, an all-prevailing intercessor, who has purchased 
 our pardon, through whose merits we are invited to draw 
 near unto God. Approaching the mercy-seat in his name, 
 we may cast behind us our own un worthiness; and pleading 
 the atoning sacrifice of God manifest in the flesh, ask 
 for all that we need, in the full assurance that God will 
 hear us for the sake of the beloved. We thus have bold- 
 ness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a 
 new and living way which he hath consecrated for us. 
 Such is the new relation in which we stand to God, the 
 Judge of all, in consequence of the death and sacrifice 
 of his well-beloved Son. 
 
 But more than • this : God has, in the most explicit 
 manner, assured us that he will answer our prayers. It 
 is not needful for me here to pause and inquire about the 
 manner in which the fulfillment of this promise may be 
 reconciled with the doctrine of the divine decrees ; or with 
 the truth that God governs the universe by general laws. 
 God has declared that he never disregards the feeblest 
 supplication of the least of his children. Faith asks for 
 no firmer reliance than the word of the unchanging God. 
 Our Lord has said to us, Ask and ye shall receive, seek 
 and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. 
 If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children, Jiow much more shall your Father in heaven 
 give good things to them that ask him ? Whatsoever ye 
 ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. The 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 245 
 
 Scriptures clearly teach, that whatsoever we ask for, 
 under the conditions which God has revealed, will be 
 granted to us, not indeed according to the measure of 
 our unwise desires, hut the measure dictated by omnis- 
 cient knowledge and infinite love. 
 
 I need not remind you, that the word of God is filled 
 •with examples of answers to prayer, for every conceivable 
 blessing. Our great High Priest himself offered up 
 prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, 
 unto him that was able to save him from death, and was 
 heard in that he feared. The prayers of nations have 
 often prevailed to avert a national calamity. The prayers 
 of individuals, such as Moses and Samuel and £>avid, 
 have been answered in the salvation of a whole people 
 from pestilence and utter destruction. The prayers of 
 saints for temporal as well as spiritual mercies, for them- 
 selves, for each other, and for the people of God, have 
 been abundantly answered in time past, and they will be 
 answered in time to come, unless the Spirit of inspira- 
 tion has taught us to believe a lie. Our Lord places this 
 subject in the strongest light when he says, If ye have 
 faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say to this 
 mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the 
 sea, and it shall obey you ; and nothing shall be impos- 
 sible to you. It may be said, and said truly, that this 
 language is figurative. But though it be figurative, it 
 must mean something ; and it can mean nothing, if it 
 does not teach, that things utterly beyond the power of 
 
246 PREVALENT PRATER. 
 
 natural causes, are possible to the prayer of humble, ear- 
 nest, confiding faith. 
 
 Such is the teaching of the Word of God, and we be- 
 lieve it all to be true ; but how does it correspond with 
 the facts which are everywhere transpiring around us. 
 We believe it to be true, but we most commonly act as if it 
 were false. We generally pray with but little expectation 
 that our prayers will really be answered, and too frequently 
 justify our unbelief by the supposition that some change 
 must have occurred in the manner of the divine dispen- 
 sations. We take it for granted that we can not expect 
 God to do at this time as he did on the day of Pentecost, 
 and in the times of the apostles. We have been praying 
 for centuries for the conversion of the world, yet the 
 world is not converted. We pray for a revival in our 
 churches, but our churches are not revived. We pray for 
 an increase of piety in our own souls, but we continue 
 immersed and steeped in worldliness. We pray for the 
 conversion of our children, but they grow up without 
 God in the world. How shall we account for all this ? 
 Has God ceased to be the unchangeable God ? Is not 
 Christ Jesus the same yesterday, to-day and forever? 
 Are not his promises, as of old, yea and amen ? Hath he 
 said and will he not do it, hath he spoken and will he 
 not make it good ? 
 
 Such questions as these may perhaps find the elements 
 of a solution in the words of the text. We here find an 
 explicit and universal assurance, that the prayers of the 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 247 
 
 people of God will be answered. With this is connected 
 the condition by which this assurance is limited. The 
 promise is, Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done. 
 The condition is, If ye abide in me, and my words abide 
 in you. 
 
 Let us consider first the promise, and secondly, the 
 condition. 
 
 I. The promise is, Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall 
 be done unto you. 
 
 The first thing which strikes us in reading these words, 
 is, their universality. The grant which they contain is 
 as absolute as language can make. Ask what ye will, 
 there is no limit as to the objects of prayer. It is like 
 the saying of Christ to the Syrophenician woman, Be it 
 unto thee even as thou wilt. It shall be done. The 
 promise is without a peradventure. It is fixed as the 
 ordinances of God. It is as definite as the promise to 
 Noah, while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, 
 cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night 
 shall not cease. I do not see how we can escape from 
 the plain and literal meaning of the words even if we 
 desired it. 
 
 But if this be the case, we naturally ask, is there no 
 restriction in the application of this promise. It was 
 addressed originally to the apostles. Were not they the 
 only persons to whom this assurance was given ? This 
 is evidently an important inquiry, for on the answer to it 
 depends our personal interest in the whole matter. We 
 
248 PREVALENT PRATER. 
 
 must seek for the truth, here, not by attempting to 
 harmonize the words with any theory of our own ; but 
 simply by examining the context for ourselves. 
 
 We ask then, was our Lord addressing his hearers as 
 apostles, or merely as disciples who stood in the same 
 relation to him as we do at this moment ? Observe the 
 preceding verses. I am the vine, ye are the branches. 
 Were the apostles the only branches of the vine ? Were 
 they the only members of the body of which Christ. is 
 the head ? He that abideth in me beareth much fruit, 
 for without me ye can do nothing. Is this true of the 
 apostles alone, or of every believer ? In the verse imme- 
 diately preceding the text, it is said, if a man, (not an 
 apostle) abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and 
 men gather them and cast them into the fire. This is 
 certainly a general sentiment. It is as true of you and 
 me, as it was of the eleven apostles. Then follow the 
 words of the text. If ye abide in me and my words 
 abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be 
 done unto you. Our Lord proceeds, in the next verse, to 
 say, herein is my Father'glorified that ye bear much fruit, 
 so shall ye be my disciples, not, my apostles. We can not 
 therefore give to these words a restricted meaning, with- 
 out doing violence to the whole spirit of the passage, and 
 setting at defiance the plainest principles of interpreta- 
 tion. We must admit that they announce, not a special 
 but a general law of the divine dispensation. But in the 
 laws of God's moral government, we and the apostles, 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 249 
 
 and all other men stand precisely on a level. We are 
 authorized therefore in taking this promise just as it 
 stands, and receiving it as our own, just as much as the 
 apostles to whom it was originally given. 
 
 II. Let us now, in the second place, examine the con- 
 ditions of this wonderful promise. If ye abide in me, 
 and my words abide in you. 
 
 What is meant by abiding in Christ? I think it has 
 precisely the force of the phrase abide in my love, used 
 in the tenth verse of this chapter. It is to have the love 
 of Christ within us, as an all controlling motive. It is 
 analogous to the words of the apostle, the love of Christ 
 constraineth us. It is that holy, tender, grateful affec- 
 tion to Jesus, wdiich is ever moving us to do whatsoever 
 will please him, and which renders his approval the 
 highest object of our existence. This is what is meant 
 by being in Christ, or being in his love. But our Lord 
 goes further, he says abide in me, abide in my love. He 
 speaks not of a temporary emotion, present to-day and 
 forgotten to-morrow. If we abide in Christ, he will take 
 up his abode with us. Love to him will be the atmos- 
 phere which w r e breathe, which sustains us in life and 
 from which we derive all our spiritual health and vigor. 
 It is the permanent and stedfast condition of the soul. 
 Thus saith the Apostle Paul, I am crucified with Christ, 
 nevertheless I live ; yet not I but Christ liveth in me ; 
 and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the 
 
 11* 
 
250 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself 
 for me. Such is it to abide in Christ. 
 
 The immediate result of such a life is, that his words 
 abide in us. His precepts will be written on our hearts, 
 and will control all our affections. We shall not only do 
 his will, but we shall do it from love. It will be the 
 spontaneous acting of the soul renewed and transformed 
 into the image of Christ. These two ideas, love and 
 obedience, are so intimately connected that our Lord in 
 this chapter frequently uses them interchangeably. If 
 ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love ; 
 he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it 
 is that loveth me. And then again, if a man love me he 
 will keep my words and the Father will love him. This 
 is the law of God, that we keep his commandments. To 
 abide in Christ then, is to have our affections supremely 
 fixed on him as the unchanging condition of the soul ; 
 and to have his words abiding in us, is to carry out this 
 affection in universal obedience to his commandments. 
 If this be the meaning of the words, the promise of the 
 Saviour is briefly this, if we, with the whole heart, per- 
 fectly love and perfectly obey Christ, we may ask what 
 we will, and it shall be done unto us. 
 
 Here again you will ask, does Christ intend to declare 
 that every child of God receives all that he asks for ? If 
 this be the promise, it certainly is not fulfilled. ~No, my 
 brethren, this is not quite the promise. Many of those 
 who are, as we hope, his children, pray much and receive 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 251 
 
 but little answer. The apostle James declares, Ye ask 
 and receive not, because ye ask amiss. The question 
 then returns, what is the limitation with which this pas- 
 sage is to be understood. 
 
 We said, in the beginning, that the promise in the 
 text is to be taken absolutely, and without restriction. 
 The words will bear no other signification. Ask what ye 
 will, and it shall be done unto you. In like manner is the 
 condition annexed to it to be taken. If the promise 
 speaks of perfect prevalence in prayer, the condition in 
 like manner speaks of perfect love and perfect obedience. 
 That is to say, if a man love and serve God perfectly, his 
 prayers will infallibly prevail. And this, you see at once, 
 is a general principle in the government of God. We 
 believe that in heaven, every desire being holy, every 
 desire will be fully gratified. Then shall I be satisfied, 
 saith the Psalmist, when I awake in thy likeness. Thus 
 saith the Kevelator, They shall not hunger any more, nor 
 thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor 
 any heat ; but the Lamb shall feed them and lead them 
 to fountains of living water. The meaning of these two 
 passages, though they differ in form, is precisely the 
 same. They teach us that the desires of a holy soul, 
 being perfectly in harmony with the will of a holy God, 
 must be fully gratified. 
 
 But you will say, these illustrations are taken from the 
 condition of saints and angels in heaven. What has this 
 to do with us who are encompassed with infirmity, who 
 
252 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 "bear about with us this body of sin, and who are daily 
 bemoaning its power over us ? The words were spoken, 
 not to angels and glorified spirits, but to men like our- 
 selves, who can plead no perfect righteousness, and can 
 boast no sinless obedience. 
 
 We answer they are intended to express a general law of 
 the divine dispensation. They announce the general rule 
 by which prevalence of prayer is graduated, the condi- 
 tion under which God pledges his veracity to grant our 
 petitions. That is to say, if the prayer of the perfectly 
 loving and obedient will infallibly prevail, so, in any in- 
 ferior degree will prayer prevail, in proportion to the per- 
 fection of our love and obedience. The words are in- 
 tended to unfold the relation which exists between the 
 moral temper of our hearts and the prevalence of our 
 prayers. It- is as though he had said, your love and 
 obedience is the measure of the guaranty that your 
 prayer shall be answered. I do not say, by any means, 
 that our Father in Heaven does not, in compassion to 
 our infirmity, frequently do much more than he has 
 here promised. This is all of his superabundant love to 
 us in Christ Jesus. It is, however, only as we obey and 
 love him, that we can plead his promise ; and, looking 
 up to him with confidence, in lowly humility, urge him 
 to do even as he has said. 
 
 The reason of this rule is obvious. Just in proportion 
 as we abide in the love of Christ, and his words abide in 
 us, his Spirit dwells within us, teaching us how to pray, 
 
PKEVALENT PRAYER. 253 
 
 and what to pray for. The desires which the Spirit of 
 God kindles in the soul, must be according to the will of 
 God. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know 
 not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit 
 maketh intercession for us. The desires of a soul per- 
 vaded by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be holy, 
 and they can not but be gratified by a holy God. Our 
 prayers are then nothing else than the perfections of God 
 reflected from the soul of the believer, and he must act 
 in harmony with them, unless he deny himself. The 
 desires of a holy soul in heaven must be gratified, for they 
 are emanations of the divine will. The desires of a soul 
 in hell must be ever unsatisfied, for they are, of necessity, 
 perfectly at enmity with God. And so, between these 
 two extremes, wherever prayer proceeds from a loving 
 and obedient spirit it will be answered ; and the abun- 
 dance of the answer, will, according to the condition in the 
 text, be measured by our attainments in holiness. It is 
 the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that 
 availeth much. 
 
 But we need hardly appeal to the Scriptures to con- 
 firm a truth which is, in fact, legibly written on the con- 
 science of man. Wicked men on their deathbeds, or in 
 any imminent peril, feel the need of help from on high, 
 but have no confidence whatever in the prevalence of 
 their own prayers ; they therefore call upon the most 
 pious man they know of, to pray for them. No matter 
 though he be a man whom they have injured and scoffed 
 
254 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 at, arid scorned, they come to him in lowly humiliation, 
 and beseech him to intercede for them before the mercy- 
 seat. What is this but a practical version of the text, If 
 ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask 
 what ye will, and it shall be done unto you ? 
 
 While, however, we thus speak, it is to be remembered 
 that God does not pledge himself to answer our prayers 
 literally in the manner, and at the time we may desire. 
 He answers according to infinite love, guided by omnis- 
 cient wisdom, and not according to our finite knowledge. 
 He may not give us precisely what we ask for, because he 
 desires to give us something incomparably better. He 
 may not answer us at the instant, but he reserves for us 
 something in the future, tenfold more valuable. He 
 thus, in fulfilling his promises, gives us all the advantage 
 of his omniscient wisdom and infinite love. 
 
 We are now, I think, prepared to consider the ques- 
 tion, Why have not the prayers of the church of God re- 
 ceived, and why do they not now receive, a more abundant 
 answer ? 
 
 God has promised that he will do whatsoever his chil- 
 dren ask, if they abide in him, and his words abide in 
 them. He has said that the earth shall be filled with 
 the knowledge of the Lord. The whole church daily, 
 and many times a day, prays, Thy kingdom come, thy 
 will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. If it be 
 demanded, When have we seen the answers to these 
 prayers ? I ask in how far is the church of Christ fulfilling 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 255 
 
 the condition on which the prevalence of prayer depends. 
 Of the millions called by the name of Christ, what is the 
 proportion of those who abide in him ? The most 
 numerous church of those nominally Christian, prohibits 
 the reading of the scriptures, and persecutes if possible, 
 even unto death, those who abide in Christ. And if we 
 turn to Protestant churches, where shall we find one that 
 is suffering persecution for the faithfulness of its testi- 
 mony for Jesus ? Where is the church that can be 
 singled out among men as crucified with Christ, victorious 
 over the world, a living and consistent witness for God ? 
 It matters not to say that there are good men in all these 
 churches ; of course there are. But is not the number 
 of those in whom the Word of God abides, who, without 
 conferring with flesh and blood, follow Christ through 
 evil and through good report, lamentably small ? How 
 small is the proportion of those among good men, whose 
 piety attains to the standard of apostolic times. We 
 pray for the conversion of the heathen world, but who 
 makes sacrifices for the souls of the heathen ? We 
 pray for a revival of religion at home, but who obeys 
 Christ and devotes any portion of his time to the work 
 of warning men of their danger, and telling them of the 
 love of a Saviour. 
 
 If we expect an answer to our prayers for any particu- 
 lar blessing, the word of Christ that has respect to that 
 particular thing, must specially abide in us. If we pray 
 that the kingdom of Christ may come, we must obey those 
 
256 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 words of Christ which concern the coming of his kingdom. 
 We must seek first the kingdom of God. We must make 
 the progress of the religion of Christ the real object for 
 which we live. We must labor and suffer reproach, and 
 endure cheerfully the scorn of men, and hold our pro- 
 perty and all that we call our own, subject every moment 
 to the will of the Master, that so we may glorify his 
 name in the conversion of souls. This was the type of 
 primitive piety, and hence it was that the prayers of 
 the saints then prevailed mightily to the pulling down 
 of strongholds. Our prayers will never in like manner 
 prevail, until we follow their example. The Lord's arm 
 is not shortened that he can not save, nor his ear heavy 
 that he can not hear. Our God is a living God, as truly 
 as he was in the days of the apostles. The Holy Spirit 
 is as powerful to bow the heart of man in penitence, as it 
 was ever of old. But we must abide in Christ, if we ex- 
 pect him to descend as on the day of Pentecost. The 
 real power of the church of Christ resides neither in 
 numbers, nor wealth, nor social position, nor learning, nor 
 talent, but in holiness. When the standard of piety in 
 the church shall reach the point of- self-sacrificing love 
 and simple earnest obedience, to all the words of Christ, 
 then, and not till then, shall the greatness of the king- 
 dom be given to the saints of the Most High. 
 
 This subject may also teach us why so many of our 
 prayers on our own behalf remain unanswered. You 
 have been a professor of religion for many years, and 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 257 
 
 looking back upon your Christian life, perceive that you 
 have made but small progress in holiness. It may be 
 that your evidences of piety grow dimmer as you grow 
 older. Beligion has become with you a matter of form, 
 rather than an earnest and ever present reality. You 
 have an obscure hope that you shall be saved, but you 
 can hardly tell on what it rests, for you do not know in 
 w T hom you have believed. You are dissatisfied with your- 
 self. At times you are alarmed at your condition. You 
 tell us that you pray daily for deliverance and for the 
 light of God's countenance, but your prayers are not an- 
 swered. You sink deeper and deeper in despondency, 
 and you can find no access to the throne of the heavenly 
 grace. 
 
 My brother, is there not a cause ? You pray, but 
 does the word of Christ abide in you ? Are you honestly 
 and earnestly laboring to keep all of Christ's command- 
 ments ? Have you broken off from everything in word, 
 and thought, and action, that you know is displeasing to 
 him ; and are you doing his will at all hazards and at all 
 sacrifices ? "When you think of submitting your actual, 
 practical, every day life to Christ, do you not know that 
 before you can do this, a great change must pass over you. 
 The world, its wealth, its pleasures, its ambitions, and^ 
 its society are engrossing those affections that belong only 
 to God, and encroaching sadly upon those hours which 
 should be given to prayer, meditation, doing good, and 
 the social worship of the saints. What self-denials are 
 
258 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 you enduring for Christ, what crosses are you taking up 
 and bearing after Jesus ? So long as you live thus, it is 
 all in vain to talk about praying for holiness and com- 
 munion with God. The words of Christ must abide in 
 you, if you would have prevalence in prayer. If you love 
 Christ you must keep his commandments, though in so 
 doing you break loose from every other association, and 
 stand perfectly alone. You never will have the witness 
 in yourself until you make sacrifices for Christ. Until 
 you do your first works, and strengthen the things that 
 are ready to die, your prayers for the indwelling of the 
 Spirit will be as the idle wind. Yea, though you cry 
 aloud and shout, God will not hear your prayer. Awake, 
 thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
 give thee light. 
 
 These same remarks apply emphatically to our prayers 
 for our relatives and friends. 
 
 You are a parent. You are anxious, and justly so, 
 about the eternal welfare of your children. You tell us 
 you pray for them daily, and you ask your friends to pray 
 for them. They are nevertheless growing up to be 
 worldly and thoughtless, and are evidently wandering 
 farther and farther from God. Your prayers are unan- 
 swered, and it seems as if the promises of God, in your 
 case, had utterly failed. 
 
 It may be, Christian parent, that God is making trial 
 of your faith. But before you accuse God of unfaithful- 
 ness, it may be well to ask, have the words of Christ 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 259 
 
 respecting this particular thing, abode in you. Have you 
 brought these children up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord, and sedulously guarded them from every in- 
 fluence adverse to their salvation ? You have prayed /or 
 them, have you* prayed with them ? Have you on every 
 suitable occasion, set before them their danger, and 
 pointed them to the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
 sin of the world ? Have you never, for the sake of 
 worldly advantage, placed them in circumstances under 
 which every serious reflection would naturally be dissi- 
 pated ? When ambition for social position leads in one 
 direction, and the will of God in another, which do you 
 really desire your children to follow ? Parents have 
 sometimes desired me to converse with their children on 
 the subject of personal religion, while I knew that they 
 were exposing them to all those influences, which must 
 render every effort for their salvation utterly hopeless. 
 Brethren, if we desire that our prayers should be an- 
 swered, our lives and our prayers must be in harmony. 
 It is mocking God to ask him to do something for us, and 
 then place every obstacle in our power in the way of his 
 doing it. Unless the word of Christ abide in us, we can 
 never ask in faith that God will hear us. 
 
 And lastly, this subject may convey an important les- 
 son to quite a different class of persons. We sometimes 
 meet with persons to whom the subject of personal reli- 
 gion has- long been a matter of serious consideration. 
 They have been in the habit of daily prayer and the read- 
 
260 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 ing of the Scriptures. They think they have submitted 
 themselves to God, and asked for pardon through the 
 blood of Christ. They can detect some change in their 
 moral affections. The world has lost much of its attrac- 
 tiveness, and the truths of religion awaken in them some 
 unwonted emotion. They, however, find no satisfactory 
 evidence of their conversion to God. They make no pro- 
 gress in their Christian course, yet they dare not go back, 
 though they can not go forward. They are always look- 
 ing into their own hearts for evidences of piety, and the 
 longer they look the fewer do they discover. They pray 
 for light, for repentance, for faith, for some manifestation 
 of the love of God, but no answer is returned to their 
 frequent supplications. 
 
 If now we ask such a person what are you doing for 
 Christ ? the answer is, nothing. If we ask what cross 
 are you bearing for his sake ? the answer is the same. 
 Have you warned any sinner of his danger, or spoken to 
 any one of the love of Jesus ? the answer is, no. Have 
 you so submitted yourself to Christ, that, in sober prac- 
 tical earnest, you have begun to do his will as far as you 
 know it ? You will probably answer that you are wait- 
 ing for an assurance that you are pardoned, before you 
 begin to serve God ; and that, if he will only save you, 
 then you will serve him with all your heart. 
 
 I would say to such an inquirer, that he is assuming a 
 false and a very dangerous position. In the first place, 
 God never makes compromises with sinners. If we re- 
 
PREVALENT PRAYER. 261 
 
 pent of our sins, and submit ourselves to him, it must be 
 without any ifs or reservations. We must acknowledge 
 the justice of God in our condemnation, and plead for 
 pardon, not on account of what we have done, or intend 
 to do, but wholly for the sake of him that has loved us, 
 and given himself for us. He who thus comes will never 
 be cast out. He who comes in any other way, will never 
 find the open door which leads to everlasting life. 
 
 And secondly, you know full well the life which a 
 Christian should lead. You say that you have submitted 
 yourself to God. What then prevents you from doing 
 his will in every thing in which he has revealed it to you ? 
 Begin then at once, and do it. Is there no duty pressing 
 at this moment on your conscience, from the doing of 
 w r hich you have timidly shrunk back ? Is there no un- 
 converted friend for whose salvation you ought at once to 
 labor ? Is there no company before which it is your 
 manifest duty to confess Christ ? While you continue 
 in the neglect of plain and manifest duty, you can never 
 expect an answer to your prayers. You must begin at 
 once to do the will of God, in so far as he reveals it to 
 you, and then shall your light shine forth as brightness, 
 and your salvation as a lamp that burneth. If the words 
 of Christ abide in you, you may ask what you will, and 
 it shall be done unto you. 
 
 And, lastly, we may learn from this subject that an- 
 swers to prayer for the conversion of souls, is the sure 
 test of the piety of a church. In all our churches, prayer 
 
262 PREVALENT PRAYER. 
 
 is made without ceasing for the outpouring of the Holy- 
 Spirit. If our prayers are not answered, it must be be- 
 cause we do not abide in Christ, and his words do not 
 abide in us. When, therefore, additions are not continu- 
 ally made to a church, it is a cause for alarm and self- 
 examination. There must be wrong somewhere, and that 
 wrong must be repented of before a blessing can be ex- 
 pected. We should search and try our ways, and turn 
 again to the Lord. We must abide in Christ, and his 
 words must abide in us, and then we may ask what we 
 will, and it shall be done unto us. The mountain of the 
 Lord's house must be established in the top of the moun- 
 tains, and exalted above the hills, before all nations shall 
 flow unto it. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 
 
 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother ? And he said, I 
 know not : Am I my brother's keeper ? And he said, "What hast thou 
 done ? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. — 
 Genesis, iv. 9, 10. 
 
 This remarkable conversation was held between the 
 first born of woman and the eternal God. The Lord said 
 unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother ? The question 
 manifestly implied that he was in some sort responsible 
 for his brother's well-being. Cain answers his Maker in 
 the first place by a deliberate lie. I know not, said he, 
 while he knew too well the field in which his brother lay 
 weltering in his blood. Cain moreover observed the im- 
 plication involved in the question, and he took occasion 
 instantly to repudiate it. Am I, said he, my brother's 
 keeper ? God condescends neither to argue with the 
 sinner nor to take notice of the insolence of his reply. 
 He reveals at once his knowledge of the murderer's guilt, 
 and pronounces the sentence which it deserved. What 
 hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth 
 to me from the ground. And now thou art cursed from 
 the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy 
 brother's blood from the ground. 
 
264 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE 
 
 My brethren, I fear that our fallen nature has improved 
 but little since these words were first uttered. Were 
 God to-day to put the same question to us, it would not 
 be remarkable if he received, in effect, precisely the same 
 answer. Were he to inquire of each one of us, Where 
 is Abel thy brother ? where are the persons with whom 
 you have been acquainted, who must have been rendered 
 either better or worse by their intercourse with you ? I 
 fear that, with Cain, you would reply, I know not ; am I 
 my brother's keeper ? I do not hold myself responsible 
 for either the well-being or the well-doing of my neigh- 
 bor. I am responsible for no one but myself, and my 
 neighbor has precisely the same responsibility. Every 
 one must take care of himself. I never oblige men to 
 sin ; if they sin, they do it of their own free will, and 
 for what they do, or leave undone, I am not accountable. 
 I imagine that, as in the former case, our Creator would 
 neither enter into an argument nor take note of our in- 
 solence, but, in the words of the text, would say to each 
 one of us, What hast thou done ? The voice of thy 
 brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Your 
 hands are stained with the blood of souls, and you must 
 answer for it in the day when the secrets of all hearts 
 are made manifest. 
 
 There seems then to be a question at issue between 
 man and his Maker. God holds us responsible for the 
 effect of our conduct upon others. We declare that we 
 are not responsible. What God affirms we deny. What 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 265 
 
 is the truth in the case ? Is God right and are we 
 wrong, or is God wrong and are we right ? Is the Judge 
 of the whole earth a God of equity, or is mortal man 
 more just than his Maker ? This is the question which 
 we are called upon for a few minutes to consider. 
 
 I. What is the truth in this matter, if we examine our 
 relations to each other as men ? 
 
 You say that you are not responsible for the result of 
 your conversation and example upon others ; that every 
 one must take care of himself, and bear his own burden ; 
 and that all for which we are accountable is the result of 
 our own actions upon ourselves. But I ask, do you not 
 know that others are affected by your example, and that 
 their moral character will be modified by what they hear 
 you say and see you do ? This you do not deny, but 
 still you affirm that no one can be either good or bad for 
 another; that sin is the act of the individual sinner; 
 that every moral agent is endowed with perfect freedom 
 of will ; that no one need be influenced by you unless he 
 chooses ; and therefore you can not be held responsible 
 for the sin of your neighbor. Hence you hold, that 
 though you acted with perfect freedom, and knew what 
 would be the result of your actions, nay, though you de- 
 liberately intended to produce this result, you are in no 
 manner morally accountable for the consequences. 
 
 Let us attempt to illustrate this case by one some- 
 what analogous. You take a pan of coals and throw 
 them into your neighbor's house. The house takes fire, 
 
 12 
 
266 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 and is consumed. It sets on fire the houses adjoining, 
 these to others, until the conflagration becomes general, 
 and a whole neighborhood is reduced to ashes. You are 
 arraigned for the crime of arson. You admit the fact 
 that you placed the burning coals in his house, but you 
 plead that you did not burn the house, that was wholly 
 out of your power. The house burnt itself, and it could 
 not be burned in any other manner. You knew, to be 
 sure, that if you threw burning coals into it, it would be 
 consumed ; but you did not burn it. And still more, it 
 burned because it was of wood ; if it had been con- 
 structed of stone and iron it would never have taken fire. 
 You do not deny that you knew it to be made of wood, 
 and that it would burn. We ask if you did not know 
 that if this house burned it would set fire to all the houses 
 adjoining ? This you do not deny, but you reply that 
 people should not set their houses so near together, and 
 that every one must take care of his own house. You 
 say, moreover, that the owner of the house should have 
 taken better care of his property, and not have allowed 
 you to do him an injury ; and that he should have put it 
 out as soon as he discovered the danger. The fault is 
 therefore his, because he took so little care of his prop- 
 erty. We tell you that he did not bar you out because 
 he had confidence in you. You reply that he had no 
 right to be unsuspecting, for you never told ,him that 
 you would not set fire to his house. What, I pray you, 
 would all this twaddle amount to ? There are the facts 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 267 
 
 Before us is this wide-spread desolation. You are the 
 knowing and willful cause of it. It is all the result of 
 your own deliberate act. You intended to produce the 
 first result ; you knew that the others were liable to en- 
 sue, and knowing and intending all this, you did the deed 
 and are responsible for it, and for all the consequences. 
 
 Let us apply this in the first instance to your own ex- 
 perience. Turn your eyes inward, and observe with care 
 what you are at this moment. Examine deliberately 
 your own character, and weigh with accuracy your own 
 intellectual and moral condition. G-o back to boyhood, 
 and recall the various changes that have been wrought 
 in you during your passage through life. You can well 
 remember those critical periods when your biases, your 
 objects, your aspirations, the governing principles of your 
 character, underwent the most important modifications. 
 You will recollect, if you care to recollect it, that those 
 changes in character, by which so much of your subse- 
 quent destiny was determined, were to a great extent, if 
 not wholly, the result of the associations which were then 
 exerting a predominant influence over you. Some of 
 the men whom you have known took care to summon 
 you to high resolve, to breathe into your soul noble as- 
 pirations, and instill into your forming mind the princi- 
 ples of truth and honor, disinterestedness and humanity. 
 Others, by example and precept, filled your imagination 
 with pictures of wickedness ; they took pleasure in liber- 
 ating you from moral restraint ; they enticed you into 
 
268 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 sin ; they forged those chains of evil habit by which you 
 are to the present moment held in bondage. How do 
 you look upon these two different classes of your asso- 
 ciates ? Do you not love and honor and venerate the 
 one, and hate and despise the other ? You look upon 
 the former as your dearest friends, and upon the latter 
 as your worst enemies. The thought of the one fills 
 you with gratitude that softens your heart and makes 
 you better, the thought of the other arouses within you 
 a spirit of hate and revenge, which must be subdued 
 into forgiveness, or it will make you worse. But why this 
 difference, if the good have fulfilled and the wicked have 
 violated no responsibility ? If their precept and exam- 
 ple have had nothing to do with your present condition, 
 why should you lay your virtue or vice, your success or 
 failure, at their door ? Your own conduct, your own moral 
 instincts, your own deliberate judgment, all give the lie 
 to your theory ; and you can not but see that if others 
 are responsible for your present moral condition, you are 
 equally responsible for their's. 
 
 But we will proceed to other illustrations. We will 
 take the case of a parent. A family is growing up around 
 him, and looking up to him as the model upon which 
 their intellectual and moral character is to be formed. 
 It is right that they should do so, for where else should 
 they look for precept and example. On various occasions, 
 to escape some trifling inconvenience, or to gain some 
 transient advantage, he utters, or he tells them or his 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 269 
 
 servants to utter, what he knows to be false ; he makes a 
 promise which he does not intend to fulfill, he speaks a 
 threat which he does not mean to execute, or he terrifies 
 a child by setting forth some danger which he knows to 
 be fabulous. He smiles approbation upon some transac- 
 tion which displays great skill but little honesty. He 
 has never said so, but his children have imbibed the 
 decided impression that he estimates men by their suc- 
 cess, and not by their integrity. He talks to them very 
 gravely about the excellence of virtue and goodness, but 
 the deference which he pays exclusively to wealth and 
 position, show very clearly that he is not in earnest. His 
 children imbibe his sentiments and improve upon his ex- 
 ample. He finds as they grow up to be men and women, 
 that they have become adepts in all the arts of duplicity 
 and cunning, and that they are putting in practice to- 
 wards him, the very lessons in which he was their first 
 instructor. He is ashamed to observe that they care far 
 less than he considers respectable, for the means by which 
 wealth is acquired, so long as the end is attained ; and 
 that their associates are men whom he would hardly 
 notice on 'Change. His sons are the companions of 
 sharpers and profligates, and his daughters the wives of 
 adventurers and debauchees. When, and where, and by 
 whom were the germs of all this wickedness and misery 
 nourished ? Whom did God appoint to be the keeper 
 of these children ? Who was it that set fire to that 
 house ? 
 
270 KESPONSIBILITT FOR THE 
 
 Take another illustration. Here is a man engaged in 
 extensive business, surrounded by junior partners, clerks, 
 and the various classes of young men employed in a large 
 mercantile establishment. They look upon him as their 
 acknowledged head, whose opinion will determine their 
 position when they enter upon life. They hear him ex- 
 press opinions to a customer quite at variance with those 
 which in confidence he expresses to them. They, not 
 unfrequently, record transactions which are sadly in viola- 
 tion of the precept, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self. A neighbor is pressed for money, and a profit is 
 realized out of his necessities, which must not be men- 
 tioned out of doors. All this and much like it is of course 
 confidential, and is never spoken of elsewhere. Here it 
 seems to terminate and be forever forgotten. But does it 
 terminate here ? Alas, the poison is already at work, 
 corrupting the principles of all those young men. The 
 lesson has been learned by all to whom it has been 
 taught, and the practice commencing where the teacher 
 left it, soon grows into habitual dishonesty. You may 
 trace these men into subsequent life. One becomes 
 wealthy by practices which brand him as a sharper. 
 Another loses all character by a shamefully dishonest 
 failure. One flees his country as a defaulter, and another 
 is convicted of forgery. It is fortunate for the chief if 
 these lessons are not practised on himself, and his account 
 of stock, at the end of the year, does not discover dis- 
 crepancies hard to be accounted for. Was not this man 
 
MORAL .CONDITION OF OTHERS. 271 
 
 the keeper of the souls of the young men in his employ? 
 When, and where, and by whom were these seeds 
 planted ? Where is Abel thy brother ? Who set fire to 
 this house ? 
 
 I might take other illustrations. I might ask, who 
 are the men, at this moment, responsible for the well 
 being and happiness of this nation ? Who chooses the 
 legislators whose laws we must obey or suffer the ex- 
 tremest consequences ? Who elect the magistrates that, 
 in our cities, and states, and the United States, carry 
 those laws into execution ? Who select the judges by 
 whom these laws are interpreted, and by whom they may 
 be made the instruments of the direst oppression ? Who, 
 in fact, direct the intercourse of this country with foreign 
 nations, and render the United States the richest bless- 
 ing or the direst curse to humanity ? You, my hearers, 
 and such as you, do all this. The interests of "mankind 
 are placed in your keeping. God holds you responsible 
 for the well-being of your fellow-citizens and of your 
 brethren of the human race. Every act of oppression, 
 of public wrong doing, of wickedness in high places, can 
 be traced home directly or indirectly to you and such as 
 you ; and it will be traced home and laid at your door, 
 and your children and your children's children will reap 
 the reward or pay the penalty to the remotest genera- 
 tions. 
 
 But why should I particularize. Look at the history 
 of every day of our lives. We are always talking and 
 
272 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 men are always hearing us. We are always acting and 
 men are always seeing us. Every word that we speak 
 and every act that we perform, is contributing something 
 to form the character of the men around us. They are 
 made either better or worse by their intercourse with us, 
 and we can not prevent it. The effect which we produce 
 on them they will reproduce in their intercourse with 
 others. Thus the fountain of moral influence which we 
 open will flow on, growing deeper and broader even unto 
 the end. In the broad daylight of the judgment morn- 
 ing, all this complicated network will be completely dis- 
 entangled, and the part which each man has borne in 
 forming the character of his neighbor will be traced back 
 distinctly to its author. There will then be no need 
 there of asking, Where is Abel thy brother ? for he will 
 stand face to face before us, and every lineament which 
 we have traced upon his soul will be distinctly visible to 
 the universe. Well will it be for us, if at that day, the 
 blood of our brother does not cry out to God against us. 
 Here let us pause for a moment, to observe the light 
 which is thus thrown upon the sinfulness of sin. It 
 would seem, from all that we know, that moral evil is in 
 its nature infectious, and by necessity reproduces itself 
 forever. That a single sin must mar our own moral 
 nature, and create a tendency to sin. which, unless cor- 
 rected, must forever gain strength, can be easily shown. 
 That it must from our social nature produce the same 
 effect upon others, is also evident. Thus it is that the 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 273 
 
 sin of our first parents is the cause of all the sin and 
 misery that have cursed our race to the present day. 
 Every one of our own sins partakes of the same character. 
 What must then be the desert of the sins of a lifetime ? 
 What mortal man can measure, much less make repara- 
 tion for, the mischief which he has wrought in the uni- 
 verse of God ? Surely by the deeds of the law can no 
 flesh be justified. Well for us is it, that our help is laid 
 upon One mighty to save. The blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanseth from all sin: for he hath magnified the law and 
 made it honorable. This is the only and all-sufficient 
 hope for a sinner. 
 
 II. I have thus far treated of this subject in its rela- 
 tions to men who claim no part in the blessings of salva- 
 tion. Its bearing is yet more* impressive on those who 
 profess to be the disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us look 
 at it briefly in this relation. 
 
 It is manifest that the children of God are continued 
 on earth, for the express purpose of being keepers of their 
 fellow-men. They were such under the old dispensation. 
 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord of Hosts. He ex- 
 pected his chosen people to testify for him, and exemplify 
 the superiority of the true religion over every form of 
 idolatry. He looked for the fulfillment of the obligations 
 which they had assumed, when they separated them- 
 selves from the heathen and became his people. Surely, 
 said He, they are my people ; children that will not lie, 
 therefore he was their Saviour. When they did not fulfill 
 
274 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 their obligations, but suffered the lamp of piety to go out 
 in their temple, so that they shed no light upon the sur- 
 rounding darkness, but through them his name was blas- 
 phemed among the Gentiles, he swept them away from 
 the land which they had polluted, and blotted them out 
 of the catalogue of nations. 
 
 The teachings of the New Testament are yet more ex- 
 plicit, frequently repeated, and set before us with every 
 variety of illustration. Our Lord represents the world as 
 going to decay, and his disciples as the salt by which it 
 is preserved from decomposition. The world is a mass 
 of unleavened meal, Christ's disciples are the leaven by 
 which it is excited to universal fermentation. The world 
 is a dark room, they are the lamp by which it is to be light- 
 ened. The world is shrouded in starless midnight, they 
 are the city set upon a hill, by which the far off traveler 
 discovers his direction and reaches his home in safety. 
 
 The meaning of all this can not be misunderstood. 
 We are here taught that our title to discipleship must 
 rest on something more than mere quiescence, having our 
 religion to ourselves^ and doing no harm with it. If this 
 be all our piety, we are salt that has lost its saltness, 
 good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden undfr 
 foot. We are lamps hidden under a bushel, which are 
 just as good as no lamps at all. Christ teaches us that 
 his disciples must be something better than a mere nega- 
 tion, they must exert a real and positive agency on the 
 world around them. The salt must diffuse its salBhess. 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 275 
 
 The city on the hill must scatter light on those near and 
 those afar off. It is by thus doing that we give evidence 
 of our discipleship, and, if we do it not, he will say unto 
 us I never knew you. Christ imposes upon all his disci- 
 ples the duty of being in this sense the keepers of their 
 fellow-men. 
 
 The reasonableness of all this is self-evident. In order 
 that the world should be converted unto Christ, it is ne- 
 cessary that every man should be convinced of the truth, 
 of bis doctrines, and the authority of his mission. An 
 abundant proof of this may be logically made out, on 
 the principles of historical evidence. But this evidence 
 can reach not one in ten thousand of the human family, 
 and among those whom it reaches, prejudice will cavil 
 where the understanding can make no reply. Christ in- 
 tended the conversion of sinners to be the standing 
 miracle by which it should be proved that he is the 
 messenger from the Father. When men, by belief in 
 him, are transformed from sin to holiness ; when the 
 lascivious become chaste, the passionate meek, the selfish 
 self-denying, the covetous liberal, the proud humble ; 
 when men are seen trampling upon the idols to which 
 they lately bowed down in subjection, here is a moral 
 victory which nothing earthly can account* for. - The 
 power which conquers the world must be derived from 
 something the world knows not of. Men may reply to 
 an argument, but there is no reply to a life changed from 
 sin to holiness. It is a fact which every man can ob- 
 
276 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 serve, which every man can comprehend, and which can 
 be accounted for by nothing but the power of the Spirit 
 from on high ; and that Spirit acting only through the 
 words of Christ, teaches that Jesus is the Messiah sent 
 of God. 
 
 Nor is this all. The Spirit is sent to convert men in 
 answer to the prayers of the children of God. They are 
 the medium through whom the Spirit is imparted to 
 men. God converts the world through the instrumental- 
 ity of his own children. But their prayers are in vain, 
 and their efforts are a dumb show, unless they proceed 
 from a holy and loving soul. God has thus made the 
 progress of his cause on earth, the salvation of a world 
 perishing in sin, to depend on the holy and consistent 
 lives of the disciples of his Son. For this reason again he 
 declares that each one of us is the keeper of his brother. 
 
 Not only are we taught our responsibility in this mat- 
 ter ; the most solemn judgments are denounced against 
 those who neglect to fulfill it, or who, by their example 
 or precept, lead others into sin. This is what our Lord 
 means by offending, or being a cause of offence or stum- 
 bling to others. He declares that it were better for us 
 that a millstone were hanged about our necks, and we be 
 cast into th,e sea, than to be guilty of this sin. Nay, he 
 urges us to cut off a right hand, or pluck out a right eye, 
 rather than do it. In other words, he teaches us that 
 we must suffer any privation, lose any advantage, or de- 
 prive ourselves of any pleasure, rather than by our con- 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 277 
 
 duct or example be the means of ruining the souls of 
 our fellow-men. In a word, we are forbidden to do or to 
 leave undone any thing by which the salvation of our 
 brethren may be endangered. The Apostle Paul carried 
 out this precept to the letter. He knew as well as we, 
 that meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we 
 eat are we the better, nor if we eat not are we the worse, 
 yet, said he, if meat maketh my brother to offend, I will 
 eat no meat while the world standeth. It is good neither 
 to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy 
 brother stumbleth, is offended, or is made weak. It is 
 in this spirit that the Master holds us to be the keepers 
 of our brethren. 
 
 And now suppose a professed disciple of Christ to com- 
 mit any of the sins of which I have before spoken. He 
 does more than lead men into sin ; he stupefies their con- 
 sciences, and teaches them to do evil without remon- 
 strance from within. Looking upon him as a practical 
 exponent of the law of God, they flatter themselves that 
 what he does is not forbidden, and they may therefore do 
 it with impUnity. Suppose a Christian parent to be 
 thoughtless about his word ; in fits of passion to give 
 way to violence of manner and rashness in utterance ; 
 suppose him to labor more for wealth and position than 
 for Christ and his salvation ; suppose him to allow suc- 
 cessful wickedness to pass unrebuked, and unpopular piety 
 be made a matter of ridicule, his children will of course 
 follow his example. But this is not all. They will natu- 
 
278 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 rally conclude, either that he is no Christian, or that all 
 this is consistent with Christianity ; that there is in it 
 nothing morally distinctive, and that in fact it is all a 
 pretense. Another disciple is a merchant, attentive upon 
 all the ordinances of religion, sound in the faith, and 
 ready on all proper occasions to exhort men to repent- 
 ance. But follow him to his place of business, and you 
 may find him grasping with an overreaching eagerness 
 for gain, forgetful of truth in his representations, selfish 
 and unfeeling toward those in his power, and capable of 
 littleness, nay of meanness, in financial negotiations. 
 That the young men around him will imitate his exam- 
 ple, there can be hardly a doubt. But more than this : 
 they will learn to associate the most solemn truths of 
 religion, and the most devout profession of piety, with 
 selfishness and trickery. The gospel itself becomes to 
 them an offence, and to awaken them to repentance be- 
 comes almost hopeless. Who has hardened their hearts 
 and stupefied their consciences ? Was not this man the 
 keeper of the souls of his brethren, and how has he kept 
 them ? 
 
 Suppose a disciple of Christ does none of this, but con- 
 tents himself with doing nothing for his Master. His 
 most intimate friends declare with truth, that he never 
 warned them of their danger or pointed them to Christ; 
 while they know that he -believes them to be, at every 
 moment, in danger of eternal death. He converses with 
 the freedom of a friend on every other subject, but never 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 279 
 
 utters a word about personal religion. They would gladly 
 receive his advice and listen to his warnings, but on this 
 subject his lips are closed in unbroken silence. They 
 ask, Can he believe the religion which he professes ? If 
 we believed him to be in so imminent a danger, we 
 could not let him go unwarned. Thus his very silence 
 hardens the hearts of men. They arrive at the conclusion 
 that there is, after all, no great danger to be apprehended 
 from a life of irreligion, and they go on in impenitence to 
 eternal death. 
 
 Again, the Word of God teaches us that if any man 
 be in Christ he is a new creature ; old things have passed 
 away, behold all things have become new. Hence, when 
 a man professes to believe in Christ, nothing is so marked 
 as the entire change of his moral affections. The pleas- 
 ures, the amusements, the ambitions, the gains of the 
 world have lost their charms, and he turns from them 
 with aversion, for they were ruining his soul. His affec- 
 tions are placed on things above, and thence he derives 
 a happiness of which he had before no conception. Hap- 
 piness was before only a shadow, now he has found the 
 substance. His soul, wearied in the chase of that which 
 satisfieth not, has now found rest in the bosom of Grod. 
 
 But what if this disciple at any time forgets all this, 
 and mingles as before with the world ? He enters into 
 its amusements, and drinks as deeply as ever of the cup 
 of its pleasures. The meeting for prayer is deserted for 
 the ball-room, the theater, the opera, and the card-table. 
 
280 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
 
 In fact, in all but his profession, so far as man can see, 
 he is just the same person that he was before. Men put 
 these two things together. They say, Here is a man who 
 has tried both sources of happiness, and we have tried but 
 one. After a deliberate trial of both, he comes back to 
 that which we have always chosen. From an adequate 
 knowledge of both, he determines that the world is the 
 better portion. After all this talk about religion, he evi- 
 dently believes that there is nothing in it. Is not this a 
 natural and reasonable conclusion ? And who is respon- 
 sible for the production of this result ? Who furnished 
 the facts from which this conclusion is drawn ? When 
 God shall ask, Where is Abel thy brother ? will not thy 
 brother's blood cry out against thee from the ground ? 
 
 And now, if all this be so, Christian brethren, what 
 remains to be done ? Does it not become us to form a 
 more definite conception of the character, and estimate 
 more truly the responsibility, of a disciple of Christ ? 
 Shall we not humbly repent of the carelessness of our 
 lives and the worldliness of our motives ? Shall we not 
 once more lay upon our shoulders the forsaken cross, deny 
 ourselves, and follow in the footsteps of Christ ? Shall 
 we not, as Christ did, make the salvation of souls the ob- 
 ject in reality for which we live ? There is much land 
 to be possessed and we are well able to possess it. Let 
 us thrust in the sickle and reap, for the harvest of the 
 earth is ripe. 
 
 The encouragements to Christian effort were never so 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF OTHERS. 281 
 
 great since the apostolic age, as they are at this moment. 
 The field is the world, and it is all white to the harvest. 
 At home we may labor under the protection of law, and 
 abroad the heathen are waiting for the Gospel. Of late, 
 God has taught us what he is willing to do, when we seek 
 first the kingdom of heaven. During the past winter, 
 when Christians left the pursuit of gain to meet at morn- 
 ing, at noon, and at evening, to pray for the outpouring of 
 the Spirit, and followed up their prayers by calling on all 
 whom they met to repent and believe, their prayers were 
 abundantly answered, and men by tens of thousands were 
 converted unto God. It was, moreover, mainly the work 
 of private Christians. It was a manifest token of divine 
 approbation bestowed upon the labor of individual disci- 
 ples. I believe, Christian brethren, that in all this we 
 have as yet seen only the hiding of the power of our God. 
 He has shown us this much that we may hope to see yet 
 greater things than these. Our churches are now pre- 
 pared to labor for the conversion of this country, as we 
 have never been before. Encouraged and refreshed by 
 what we have seen, let us enter with tenfold earnestness 
 upon the work of the Lord, and give him no rest until 
 the sun of the day of Pentecost again rises upon the 
 earth. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due 
 season shall we reap if we faint not. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 By Rev. D. C. Haynes, of Philadelphia. 
 "With an Introduction by Rev. John Dowling, D. D 
 1 vol., 12mo. Muslin. Price $1. 
 
 GRACE TRUMAN; 
 
 Or, Love and Principle. 
 
 By Sallie Rochester Ford. With Steel Portrait of the Authoress. 
 
 1 vol., x2mo. Price $1. 
 
 ""We have read the book with uncommon interest. The tale is well told, and its oe- 
 
 velopment is natural. It is intended to illustrate the trials and triumphs of a young wifo, 
 
 In maintaining her principles against the intolerance of the open communion friendaof 
 
 her husband ; and this is done so as to preserve unfailing freshness in the narrative, and 
 
 to throw a Hood of light on the principles and practices of the Baptist denomination. W« 
 
 expect to hear that the book will have multitudes of readers. "'—New York Examiner. 
 
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