o'^xy ^\$ V p \$m. A SERMON DRI.IVKRKI) IN THE CHAPEL OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. Dec. lOth, 1876, REV. JOHN T. DUFFIELD, D.D.. I'ROFKSSOR ol' MATHEMATICS. iFiitliBliea. To^r Z2,eq.-va.est. PRiyCETON: 'Itrss I'FIIMING ESTAril.lSiniK.^T. lake Jict'd tlnrcforc Jio7i< yc licary — I a K i-: vi i i, I S. The sceptic Holin^hroke — who h;itl no L,n'eat respect for the c!er^"\' of his da}' — remarked, tliat to his mind the strongest proof of the truth of the Christian reh^^ion was, that in s])ite of such preach- ing^ as was ordinarily heard from its ministers it still survived. This remark, intended as mere sarcasm, has in it far more of truth than w.is apprehended b)' the \\'itt\' statesman who uttered it. The trea- sure of the Gospel has indeed been put, as the Apostle expresses it. " in earthen vessels, that tlie excellenc)' of the power" — that strau'^e power which even its enemies are constrained to acknowled^^e it possesses — " ma\' be of (lod and not of us." " By the foolishness of |)reachinL(," even in the sense c^f poor preachin^.^, it often " pleases God to save them that believe." Whilst, however, God ma\' and often does bless to the salvation of souls the feeblest efforts of the feeblest of Mis servants, it is doubtless true that the comparative!}' limited success of the Christian reliction, now after eighteen hundred years of Gospel preaching, is, humanly speaking, largely due to the lack of ability and lack of fidelity of the heralds of salvation. At the same time, whilst it is undeniable that poor preaching is an evil far too common, there is another kindred evil no less common, to which the tardy progress of Christ's kingdom is in larger measure due — I mean, poor Jicaring. It is to this evil that with marked significance our attention is directed by the exhortation, or rather the solemn warning, with which the Saviour closes his interpretation of the parable of the sower, " take heed therefore Jiow ye hear'' He seems to have anticipated the reception which is ordinarily given to the Gospel message. There are many who appear in the house of God, sabbath after sabbath, who act as if they thought that their whole duty with respect to this ordinance was fulfilled by the mere fact of their presence, or at least by respectful decorum during the exercises of worship ; who treat the services of the sanctuary as if they were nothing more than a mere ceremony to be decently performed, a ritual ser- vice to be gravely gone through w^ith ; who seem to regard Divine truth as something which it nuu' be their dut}' to hear but in respect to which, when heard, all duty ceases. Of these hearers but not heeders of the Gospel there are two classes that deserve special mention — they who sit within the sound of the preacher's voice and )-et may be said not to hear at all, and they who hear indeed but hear amiss. The former class are the list/css hearers — if hearers they may by courtesy be called. Brought to the house of God by constraint, or custom, or to gratify pious friends, or to see and be seen, or pos- sibly from some vague sense of duty, yet wdien here they sit with listless unconcern whilst " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God " is proclaimed in their hearing. Their attention is fixed on anything rather than the truths proclaimed from the pulpit. Bodily present in the sanctuary, they are virtually absent — their minds wandering like " the fool's eyes " of the proverb " to the ends of the earth " — their im- agination roving over their secular pursuits, their pleasures, it may be their very sins. So far as they are concerned the preacher might as well be speak- ing in an unknown tongue. As his eye falls on one and another of these listless hearers, he feels not untrcquentl}' as the prophet must have felt in the valley of vision, when the word of the Lord came unto hirn sa\'ini^, " Prophesy to the dry bones." The attetnpt to make on them any impression is as if one should attempt to write upon glass. These are the " \\a\'side" hearers of the parable. The seeds of truth, so far as they reach their minds at all, lie for a little time on the hard, dry, barren surface, and the devil snatches them away. The}^ go from the sanctuary without profit — would that I could say, without sin — they leave at the Church door all that they have heard, and ere an hour has passed every impression of the service has faded from their memory and become to them like the visions of a forgotten dream. The other, and in such a community as this by far the larger class of those who hear but heed not, are they who listen indeed — it may be with close attention and ev^en interest — and yet apparentl\' with- out any appreciation of the fact that the truth pro- claimed is practical, and is addressed to themselves personally, that it concerns their most precious interests, and will be profitable only so far as they " receive it with faith and love, laying it up in their hearts and practicing it in their lives." Their interest is inainl\- if not wholly intelleclual. The)' listen to a sermon with the same kind of interest as that with which they would listen to a platform lecture or a Uterary oration. They go to the sanctu- ary not to be spiritually edified but to be entertained — hungering and thirsting it ma\' be, but not for the bread of life and the water of life. Like the Athenians of Paul's day, they are desirous to " hear some new thing," or at least old things presented in some new way. And hence it is that so many Gospel hearers at the present day have what the Apostle calls " itching ears," that are not satisfied with preaching that does not abound with sensa- tional anecdote, and flowers of rhetoric, and flights of the imagination, and flashes of wit, and bursts of eloquence. Epicures in their religious tastes, they have no relish for spiritual food that is not highly spiced, and that too with the very thing which the Apostle of set purpose refrained from using, " the enticing words of man's wisdom." With this mis-appreciation of the great end for which preaching was instituted, and estimating it by this false standard, it is not strange that their inter- est in it either terminates with the service, or expends itself in subsequent criticism of the sermon, com- 8 mending what they esteem its merits, condemn- ing wliat they deem its defects, discussing its logic, and its rhetoric, and the manner of its delivery, and comparing other preachers with him who afforded them their last religious entertainment. Many habitually do this, and only this, without a thought of giving heed to the truths proclaimed; and do this, not only without self-reproach but rather with com- placency that they are taking an interest in religious things, and that in respect to preaching they are " doing God service," and all the service that is therein required. And is this all our dut\' in regard to God's appointed means for our salvation — to imitate the folly of a patient, diseased nigh unto death, who when the physician announces to him the only remedy for his case, either refuses to hear, or hears only to criticize the manner of the announcement ? Is this all our duty, to imitate the folly of prisoners under grievous bondage, to whom a messenger of author- ity comes and opening their prison doors proclaims to them a pardon, and they begin to talk to one another about the herald's voice, and style, and emphasis, and gestures, and perhaps find fault that he read to them their pardon when he might have conimittcd it to nicinor\' and recited it, or pcradvcn- turc complain that sonic other messenger had not been sent \\-hose manner would have been more interesting and impressive, who would ha\e enter- tained them with a more thrilling description of their wretchedness, or would have depicted more vividly the blessedness of that freedom to which they were in\-ited — and then turn themselves over in their chains and give no further heed to the message of pardon ? The Gospel of salvation deserves other treat- ment at our hands than this. We come to the house of God to take part in no mere outward form and empty ceremony. The service we here engage in — if it be not wholly meaningless — is one of the most precious privileges and solemn duties of our earthl}' existence, and involves in it the gravest responsibility. We can not with impunity, slight the summons of the context, " If any man have ears to hear let him hear ;" nor can we without sin despise the Saviour's admonition, " Take heed Jiow ye lie ay y Let us consider briefl}^ some of the reasons why we should give heed — in the language of the Apostle to the Hebrews, should ''give the Diore earnest heecf' — to the Gospel message. lO Wc should do so, in the first place, because of its Author. It is a message from God — a communication from heaven to men — not indeed so immediate, but as direct as when at Sinai the assembled host heard Jehovah's voice proclaiming, " Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." If preaching were but the expression of the thoughts and feelings of the occupant of the pulpit, neglect and criticism might be excused — yea, the doors of the sanctuary might well be closed. But such is not the preacher's office. He comes to mfcn on no private errand, or to gain any merely personal ends. His warrant is the voice of God proclaiming, " I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, therefore thou shall hear the \vord at my mouth and warn men from me." His authority is the Lord's command " Go, preach my Gospel." His commission is sealed with the seal of heaven's court, and bears this endorsement by the Saviour of the world, " He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me." He comes to men as " the ambassador of Christ" — yea, " as though God did beseech you by us we pra}' you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." When Gospel truth is preached it is God that speaks — man is but the instrument. I I Nor should \vc fail in this conncclion to observe the special sense in which the truth we preach bears the stamp of divinit\- upon it. " At sundry times and in dix'crs manners God spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets." lie " hath in these last days spoken unto us b}- his Son." The law was given by Moses ; the gracious truth we preach came by Jesus Christ. " Therefore," argues an inspired Apostle, " we should give the more earn- est heed" to the gospel message. " For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgres- sion and disobedience receiv^ed a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so -great salvation, which began to be spoken b\' the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him?" But further, we should " take heed how we hear" the Gospel, not only because it is a message from God as its Author, but because it is a revelaiioii of God as its subject. What higher theme can occupy the mind of man or angel than Jehovah's adorable character and attri- butes and works. " This is eternal life" — the very life of an immortal spirit — "to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." And wliat revelation has Jehovah ever made of him- self comparable to that which is made in the Gospel of His Son. " The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth forth His handi- work." '■ The invisible things of God are clearly seen in the things which He has made, even His eternal power and Godhead." Wherever we turn our eyes, on field or flood, rock, hill or dale, tree, plant or flower, the heavens, the earth, ourselves, — without, within, above, beneath, around — in atom or in world, in insect or archangel — we behold a mani- festation of God's power and wisdom. And yet, before " the light of the knowledge of the glory of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ" all other revelations that He has made of Himself to men, pale as the light of a taper pales when the sun rises in its strength. Here we behold a display of Divine poivcr, greater than that manifested when out of nothing the universe was spoken into being. Here we behold a displa}' of Divine wisdom, not only sur- passing all other revelations ever made to us, but the crowning act of a grand scheme devised by the All-wise an^l executed by the Almighty *' to the in- tent," as declared by the Spirit of inspiration, " that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places miLjht be known the nianiToUl wisdom of God." Here we behold the justice of God inflexible, and His trutJi immutable, tluni^h tested b>' the stren ' precious mystery which we cannot comprehend, we can only believe, rejoice in and adore. The angels, who excel in knowledge as they " excel in strength," who behold with unv^eiled vision the light to mortals inaccessible, turn from all that is revealed of God in heaven, to gaze with admiring wonder and a new delight on the manifestation of the Divine at- tributes here displayed, wherein the\' are permitted to behold the development and anticipate the consum- mation of one, and probably one of the most glori- ous, of the eternal purposes of Him who is " infinite in counsel and almight)^ in working." In the Gospel is presented to us that which is adequate to minis- ter in overflowing measure to the gratification of the highest faculties of our spiritual nature — those of knowledge, of love, and of holiness — faculties, in the 14 right exercise of which, \vc may share the dehghts of angels, — yea, ma}- in our measure have an experi- ence of that joy in which Jehovah himself rejoices. And shall we be engrossed with the beggarly things of this world, and be uninterested in things heavenly and divine ? Shall we be ever feeding on the husks of this world's wisdom wdien God is showering around us heavenly manna, and inviting us to par- take to the full of angel's food ? Or does it not become us to give " earnest heed " to these precious and ennobling truths, " lest at any time we should let them slip?" But again, — not only should we give heed to the Gospel message because it is from God as its Author, and a revelation of God as its subject — it has an additional and peculiarly binding claim on our regard, because of the great end for which this message has been sent, this revelation made, to men. The truth we preach is " the wisdom of God and the power of God " unto salvation — our personal salvation from eternal death. Upon whatever theme God might see fit to address the children of men the message would deserve and should receive our devout and heedful regard. Were He to unlock the secret chambers of His prov- idcnccand disclose to us " llu- hidin;_;,s of His power," were He to reveal to us tlie mysteries of nature — the laws and operations of those physical forces that in ceaseless activity according to His will work out the phenomena of the material world — were He to speak to us of the stars or of the anc^els or make known to us luiknown truth in reg'ard to an\' of the wondrous works of His creation, should we not lis- ten with absorbed attention and unw^earied interest? And shall we sit with listless ears, or hear with heedlessness, when Jehovah speaks to tell us of^w- seh'cs — of our spiritual relations and our eternal interests ; when God himself, in the person of his Son, comes to us bringing our " life and immortality to light" — teaching us wdiat we are, and why we are, and the destiny that awaits us ? Shall we refuse to look, or look with stolid unconcern, when God lifts the veil behind which lies the life beyond the grave, and discloses to our view, on the one hand the burning pit, and on the other " the far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory ?" Shall we be as deaf men and as blind men amid such sights and sounds of warning and of merc)^ ? Especialh', shall we be heedless when Jehovah speaks to tell us not only of our danger but of our i6 remedy — not only of our peril but how we may escape it ; when He forewarns us of the coming storm of wrath and fiery indignation, and then points us to Him who is " an hiding place from the wind, A covert from the tempest, a shadow^ from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones " — the unre- strained malignity of Satan, permitted in just judg- ment — " is as a storm against the wall ?" Fellow- sinners, will ye not give heed to the Gospel message — gladdest tidings, to them that hearken, ever heard by human ears ? Ye, upon whom the burden of un- pardoned sin is resting, " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh aw^ay the sin of the world." Ye, who have destroyed yourselves, behold Him who is " the resurrection and the life." Rebels, listen to the proclamation of your pardon. Bondmen of Satan, accept the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Prodigals, there are blessed mansions prepared for you in your father's house — parental affection is waiting with outstretched arms to embrace you as a son that was dead and is alive again, as a child that was lost and is found. Can men refuse to hear this gracious message, or hear it without heeding ? Can they not only despise God's threatenings but slight His love and trifle with their own eternal welfare ? K'5, injii can and do — alas, how many do it — alas, how oftca. And in view of this, does the Apostle unreasonably ask. How sliall tJicy cscafn- wJio JiCLiicct so gn'at salvation — a salvation that has claims upon their regard commensurate with the preciousness of the soul, and the duration of eternity, and the desira- bleness of heavenly joys, and the dreadfulness of hell's torments — commensurate with the very infini- tude of the love of Christ, the length, the breadth, the depth, the height of which, " passeth knowl- edge ? " And further — as you value your soul's sahation, " take heed how ye hear " the Gospel, not only because it x?, fyoDi God as its author, and is <'^God as its sub- ject, and has our sahationiox its object, — it behooves us to give heed, because the sahation here revealed — the only salvation " under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved," if saved at all — is a salvatio)i that ean be attained in no other 7cay than by giving earnest, diligent, lifelong heed thereto. According to the GosjdcI method of sah-ation the appointed means of grace are not like a fetish or a charm. They do not act upon the soul diseased like medicine on the body, b>' an efficacy in themselves and independent of our will and consciousness. Sal- vation is not to be attained by sprinkling or immersion, or by having our absolution pronounced by a regu- larly ordained priest, or by having a successor of the Apostles lay his consecrated hands upon our head. Were the Romish dogma of transubstantiation true, eating and drinking the very body and blood of Christ could not save the soul. All such methods of salvation belong to heathenism and the semi- heathenish perversion of the truth as it is in Jesus. The salvation of the Gospel is indeed supernatu- ral, and yet in an important sense — tJic sense in which especially our responsibility and duty is in- volved — it is at the same time natural, that is, is in entire accordance with our intellectual and moral nature. We are regenerated and sanctified by the blessed Spirit of God — but the Spirit operates upon men tJiroiigJi the truth — truth distinctly apprehended and diligently heeded. We are saved by grace, but it is through faith, and faith implies knowledge, and to attain that " knowledge that maketh wise unto salva- tion " we must " attend thereto with diligence, prepara- tion and prayer." It is only by earnest striving that we can enter the strait gate, and having entered, it is only by continued effort that we can make pro- gress in the narrow way. We must " give all dili- 19 gcncc " if \vc would " make our calliiiL^ and election sure." The work demands the ceaseless vigilance of warfare, the vii^orous exertion of one who is wrest- ling for the master\\ the perse\-erance of one who is running for a prize. No attainments that we ever make in piety can release us from the necessity for con- tinued watchfulness and exertion. That model child of God, who was able to say, " for me to live is Christ," declares in the same Epistle, " I count not myself to have apprehended " — that is, I do not allow myself to act as if success were already attained — " but this one thing I do " — as if all the energies of his mighty soul were concentrated in the effort — " forgetting those things which are behind," the vision on the way to Damascus, the ston- ing at Lystra, the stripjs and imprisonment at Phillipi, yea, all that he had hitherto done or suffer- ed for Christ's sake" — and reaching forth to those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." And, brethren, if such an one as Paul the aged, covered with the scars of a life-long conflict and bearing about in his bod)- the very dying of the Lord Jesus — if such an one dare not lay aside his armor until he had got the crown — shall we sleep 20 at our posts and yet hope to share with him the victory ? Shall wc be carried to the skies, On flowery beds of ease, Whilst others fought to win the prize. And sailed through blood\- seas? If " the righteous "' — such righteous as the martyred Apostles — shall " scarcely be saved," where shall such laggards in the race, such cowards in the fight, as we, appear ? I will add but one other reason why we should "take heed how we hear" the Gospel — if we heed it not, it zvill hut aggravate our condcnuiatiim that ive ever heard it at ail. He that knoweth not his lord's will and doeth it not "shall be beaten with few stripes," hut he that knoweth and doeth not " shall be beaten with many stripes." There are degrees of torment in hell, even as there are degrees of glory in the heavenly state. Some of the redeemed shall here- after shine as the sun, others as the moon, and others as the stars. Even so, rest assured, one fallen star differeth from another in magnitude. If this be so, surely, if there be one abyss in the lake of fire that burns with a fiercer flame than another, it will 21 be that in which those wretches are confined, who from the midst of Gospel h'i^ht and Gospel privi- leges neglected and unheeded, descend with guilt unpalliated to their place o( torment. And if this be so, whose burden of woe hereafter shall be heavier than that which )'ou and I must bear if we despise the Gospel ? We sometimes pity the poor heathen, who having never heard of Christ and the way of eternal life, go down to the death of those who know not God. Peradventure, at the judgment day, the poor heathen may pit\' some of us. We read with awe of the wrath of God poured out in a storm of fire upon guilty Sodom and G(Miiorrah. Peradventure it ma\' be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the da\^ of judgment than for us. There is no greater mistake than that which many make, that the Gospel is often preached without effect. The blow that does not break, hardens. The Gospel is never preached without effect — if not an effect unto salvation, an effect unto destruction. It is ever " a sweet savour of Christ both in them that are saved and in them that perish — to the one a savour of life unto life, to the other a savour (^f death unto death." Its effect for weal or woe on every one who hears it is inevitable. And there are few 22 upon whom its effect is so momentous as upon those who hear it and imagine that it has produced no effect upon them at all. I beseech you therefore, " take heed how ye hear" the Gospel. Hear it with that reverence with which we should listen to the voice of God speaking by His ambassador. Hear it with the devout emotion we should feel, in beholding the most glorious manifestation of God, ever made to the intelligent creation. Hear it with the deep interest of personal concern therein — even as a dying man would listen to one announcing to him a way — the only way b}' which he may be saved. Hear it with the docility of one who feels that the life of his soul depends upon his intelligent and sincere obedience. Hear it with fear and trem- bling lest at the last your mouth shall be filled with bitterness and cursing, that you ever heard the Gospel. And may God, by his Spirit, prevent his mes- sage to you this day, being made the occasion of the very sin, against which the message is a warning.