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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
 
 Chap. __. Copyright No, 
 
 ft.fr * 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 " 
 
SERMONS 
 
 ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS 
 
 BY 
 
 S. R. HARSHMAN, 
 
 Evangelist, and Pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ, 
 SULLIVAN, ILLINOIS. 
 
 
 ! JliM ££1896 
 
 
 MDCCCXCVI. 
 
Copyright, 1896, 
 
 by 
 
 S. R. HARSHMAN. 
 
a 
 
 i 
 
 TO THE 
 
 BRETHREN AND FRIENDS 
 
 WHO SO GENEROUSLY PROVIDED THE MEANS FOR ITS 
 
 PUBLICATION, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
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^*$* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN offering this volume of sermons to the public, I am not 
 influenced by the belief that they will supply the place of 
 the preached word. Nothing can be successfully substituted 
 for God's appointed means for saving men. But it is hoped 
 that the truth in print may prove to be an auxiliary means of 
 spiritual good, and that it may not only stir up pure minds by 
 way of remembrance, but may create a demand for a preached 
 gospel. To the labor of love of preparing this volume I have 
 felt called of the Lord, and I leave the whole result with him, 
 well knowing, if any good is done in the earth, the Lord doeth 
 it. I have avoided all attempt to be rhetorical, or to write fine 
 sermons, feeling with John Wesley, that to write a fine sermon 
 is as much a mark of vanity as to wear a fine coat. Besides I 
 do not imagine I could write fine sermons if disposed to do so. 
 The man who can air his rhetoric, or strain after " excellency 
 of speech," in dealing with men's eternal interests, shows him- 
 self to be a profane person like Esau, having no sense of the 
 value of the things in which he traffics. I have striven to 
 avoid all ambiguity of language and to write with clearness 
 and force, having the one object in view, to produce conviction 
 of the truth presented. As I feel that my responsibility ceases 
 with the preparation of this volume, I trust that the reader 
 will feel that his responsibility begins as he reads it. 
 
 S. R. H. 
 Sullivan, III., February #£, 1896. 
 
Sermons on Familiar Subjects 
 
 FAITH 
 
 " So then faith cometh by hearing." — Rom. x:i7. 
 
 IN the introduction of the Christian religion into the 
 * world, many new truths were revealed to men. 
 These truths were of a Spiritual nature and could only 
 be represented to the mind in symbolical language. 
 Words are the signs of ideas. In the revelation of 
 these new ideas, not only were symbols used, but 
 words were used in a higher and more extended 
 sense than before. So that we cannot find the exact 
 sense in which terms are used by Christ and his 
 Apostles, by going to the Greek Classics. Many 
 misunderstandings have arisen by confining the 
 meaning of Christ's words in this way. We can 
 easily learn from a Greek lexicon what " bap to " and 
 "baptizo" mean as used by the pagan Greeks; but 
 these definitions do not by any means include or 
 express all the meaning of these words as Christ and 
 the New Testament writers use them. When words 
 which commonly express ideas of worldly things are 
 used to express ideas of Heavenly things, their 
 meaning is as much higher as the theme is higher. 
 
 (7) 
 
8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 This principle applies to the word here translated, 
 "Faith." Its full meaning cannot be found in the 
 lexicon. The New Testament writers use this word 
 in two distinct senses. It is used to express a grace 
 which comes from God, and an act of the creature. 
 There is probably another sense in which the word 
 is a few times used in the Epistles : that of a miracu- 
 lous gift. In Gal. v:22 faith is mentioned as one of 
 the fruits of the Spirit. So in Heb. xi : I it is spoken 
 of as an evidence, or Divine conviction, of things not 
 seen. In these instances faith as a grace of the 
 Spirit is referred to. When we are commanded to 
 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, here faith is evi- 
 dently enjoined as an act of the creature. There is 
 a wide difference between a grace which comes from 
 God, and something done by man. Yet they are 
 intimately related ; for there can be no act of faith 
 without the preceding grace. We will then now 
 consider : 
 
 Faith AS a Grace. — In the matter of our salva- 
 tion we are "workers together with God." He must 
 first work before we can work. As the Articles of 
 religion say " The grace of God preventing us," that 
 is, preceding our efforts. We are commanded to 
 exercise faith, but we must possess it before we can 
 use it. Saving faith is not a natural faculty or power ; 
 it is supernatural. It comes from God. All grace 
 comes from God, the grace of faith included. This 
 grace is thus defined in Scripture (Heb. xi:i): 
 " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for ; the 
 
FAITH. 9 
 
 evidence of things not seen." It is a Divine con- 
 viction of the existence of things unseen. There are 
 certain things of which we must be convinced before 
 we can come to God. " He that cometh to God 
 must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek him." How are men to be 
 convinced of these truths? Jesus promised that 
 when the Holy Spirit should come into the world as 
 the Comforter of His people, He should convince the 
 world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. Before 
 a sinner can repent he must be convinced of sin ; 
 both of its existence and its nature ; that it is, and 
 what it is. Until he is thus convinced he is irrespon- 
 sible. He is without law; and ''sin is not imputed 
 where there is no law." Jesus says, "This is the 
 condemnation, that light is come into the world and 
 men love darkness rather than light because their 
 deeds are evil." If the light had not come there 
 would have been no condemnation. He told the 
 Pharisees if he had not come and spoken unto them 
 as no other man had spoken they had been without 
 sin. Man is lost, but he is not responsible for being 
 lost until God shows him that he is lost, and that 
 Christ has come to find and save him. Men have 
 been taught that they are sinners and that Christ is 
 the Savior of sinners, but they never kjww either 
 truth until they are Divinely convinced of it. Man 
 is by nature dead in trespasses and in sins. He is 
 dead to all Spiritual things. " The natural man re- 
 ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they 
 
IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, 
 for they are Spiritually discerned." He can no more 
 see Spiritual things than a blind man can see colors. 
 Faith is then a divine conviction or apprehension of 
 unseen or Spiritual things. If man is to live in the 
 Spiritual kingdom, he must have some means of cor- 
 respondence with the things of that kingdom. Man 
 is in correspondence with the natural world, through 
 the medium of the five senses. Deprived of these 
 senses or faculties, man can have no knowledge or 
 apprehension of the natural world. He would be 
 practically dead to the world of sense and would soon 
 become really dead. Life could not be supported 
 without the use of, at least, some of the senses. Each 
 sense brings him into correspondence with some de- 
 partment of nature. Sight, if not defective, gives 
 him a knowledge of light and colors; hearing of 
 sounds ; smelling of odors, etc. And when all the 
 senses are perfect, there is not a department of nature 
 that he is not made alive to. But the natural senses 
 fail to give him an apprehension of things Spiritual. 
 It is not of their province. They can no more do so 
 than sight can give a knowledge of sounds, or hear- 
 ing enable him to detect odors. A man is as dead 
 to odors, if deprived of the sense of smell, as if he 
 were destitute of all the senses. To detect and 
 recognize odors is out of the province of the other 
 four senses. So a man, though possessing all the 
 physical senses, still remains ignorant of Spiritual 
 things, because of having no faculty for apprehending 
 
FAITH. II 
 
 them. Now faith, that Divine evidence of unseen 
 things, bears the same relation to the Spiritual world 
 that the senses do to the natural world. It makes it 
 possible for us to discern the things of the Kingdom 
 of God. It brings us into correspondence with 
 " those things which are not seen, which are eternal." 
 To faith, eternal things become realities. They are 
 not things merely heard of " with the hearing of the 
 ear;" they are seen and known. 
 
 "Faith lends its realizing light, 
 
 The morning breaks, the shadows fly; 
 The invisible appears in sight, 
 
 And God is seen with mortal eye." 
 
 Faith is the eye of the soul. It is to the soul 
 what the five senses are to the body. It gives us 
 ah apprehension of all Spiritual things. " He that is 
 spiritual judgeth (discerneth) all things." This fact 
 gives us to understand the vital importance of faith 
 in the Christian system. So the Christian stands by 
 faith, walks by faith, overcomes by faith. Unless 
 Spiritual things are as real to us as natural things, we 
 cannot forsake the one for the other. How can I 
 give up the things of sense, which are so real to me, 
 for other things of which I have no knowledge ? To 
 ask me to do so would be to ask me to surrender 
 substance for shadow, the real for the imaginary. I 
 cannot do this. I may imagine I am doing so, but 
 lam mistaken. Here is where so many professors 
 have trouble. They try to love God but they can- 
 not do it, for they do not know him. They strive to 
 
12 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 set their affections upon eternal things but they con- 
 fess their failure. Their affections cleave to the dust 
 despite their utmost efforts, and they sing in their 
 discouragement : 
 
 "Look how we grovel here below, 
 
 Fond of these earthly toys, 
 Our souls how heavily they go 
 
 To reach eternal joys. 
 In vain we tune our formal songs, 
 
 In vain we strive to rise; 
 Hosannas languish on our tongues, 
 
 And our devotion dies." 
 
 Is it possible that these earthly toys are so 
 much more desirable and alluring to the soul, than 
 those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, 
 nor human heart conceived, but which are now re- 
 vealed to believers by God's Spirit? Is it possible 
 God has nothing to offer that can eclipse the things 
 of sense? The Greek bard represents the siren's 
 song as being irresistible. Her music was so sweet 
 to the ear that the hearer forgot home and friends 
 and native land. Has God no music sweet enough to 
 wean us from this world of illusions and disappoint- 
 ments? One would be led to think not by the diffi- 
 culties many professed Christians experience in di- 
 vorcing themselves from the world. The trouble is 
 the same with them as with the Jews, to whom Jesus 
 said : " Ye have neither heard his voice nor seen his 
 shape." God and eternal things have never been 
 revealed to them, or if revealed at all, they have but 
 seen " men as trees walking," and nothing clearly. It 
 
FAITH. 13 
 
 is impossible that those who have once tasted of the 
 milk and honey of God's promised land of rest, 
 should ever again have a longing or liking for the 
 leeks and garlics of Egypt. Those who have tasted 
 of the good Word of God, and the powers of the 
 world to come, even if they fall away, can find no 
 delight in the former things. Much less will they 
 have a longing for earthly things, while they are in 
 the enjoyment of the things Heavenly and Divine. 
 The poet has not overstated the matter where he 
 says: 
 
 "As by the light of opening day 
 
 The stars are all concealed, 
 So earthly pleasures fade away 
 
 When Jesus is revealed. 
 Creatures no more divide my choice, 
 
 I bid them all depart. 
 His name, His love, His gracious voice, 
 
 Have fixed my roving heart." 
 
 If this is not our experience, it is because Jesus 
 has never been revealed to us. We have never ap- 
 prehended him by faith. St. Paul says : " But when 
 it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's 
 womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his son 
 in (to) me, immediately I conferred not with flesh 
 and blood." A revelation of Christ to the soul always 
 has this effect. To those who have not seen Him by 
 faith, He is a " root out of dry ground." To those 
 who have seen Him, He is " altogether lovely." To 
 those who believe, He is precious. To the unbeliever, 
 He is "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." 
 The Lord does not propose to tear people from the 
 
14 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 love of this world, but to draw them from it. He 
 does not ask us to surrender these things of sense, 
 until He shows us something so superior to them that 
 we cannot but be drawn away from them. In order 
 that we might seek the things above, He shows them 
 to us. As Caleb and Joshua brought back to the 
 camp of Israel the grapes of Eschol, as a sample of 
 the fruits of Canaan, so God shows us the fruits of 
 the Heavenly Canaan, that we may be encouraged and 
 persuaded to choose our portion therein. It is by 
 faith, then, that the unseen becomes real to us, as real 
 as the things that are seen. God becomes a reality, 
 sin becomes a reality, righteousness becomes a reality. 
 The blessed Spirit convinces the world of sin, of 
 righteousness, of judgment. He opens the interior 
 eye so that these things become living realities to us. 
 We can no longer remain indifferent to them. All 
 these things men have heard of before, but they 
 were mere abstractions ; they have for them no real 
 existence. By faith they become living entities. 
 And, as when Spiritual things are seen, their infinite 
 importance cannot but be perceived, men must be 
 moved to action concerning them. Indifference is 
 no longer possible. When the sinner's eyes first be- 
 gin to open, men say he is under conviction for sin. 
 That is, the true nature of sin is becoming apparent 
 to him. Much of that which is called conviction for 
 sin is misnamed. Men are persuaded that sin will be 
 punished. It is natural to dread punishment or suf- 
 fering. It is equally natural to seek to avoid suffer- 
 
FAITH. I i 
 
 ing. The man who simply seeks to avoid the future 
 consequences of sinning, gives no proof of genuine 
 conviction. If he is persuaded that the danger is 
 imminent, he will be moved to greater efforts. So, 
 when it is desired to move men to action on the sub- 
 ject of religion, where there is no genuine conviction 
 for sin, the thought of death becomes a very impor- 
 tant factor. In proportion as men are dominated by 
 the fear of death, will their efforts be stimulated. 
 Their whole thought is of future danger. Against 
 this they wish to be insured. But where genuine con- 
 viction takes place, the sinner is made sensible not so 
 much of the danger of sin as the nature of sin. Men 
 naturally look upon sin as a pleasant thing, but fear 
 its consequences. When the Holy Spirit shows sin 
 to them, when by faith they apprehend it, they see it 
 to be abominable in itself. It appears loathsome to 
 them. They turn from it in abhorrence. When they 
 really see sin as it is, when they see it in the light of 
 God, they hate it as God does. 
 
 " Sin is a monster of such frightful mien 
 That to be hated needs but to be seen." 
 
 The man who does not hate it, does not see it. 
 When a man sees sin, his soul's desire is to be rid of 
 it. He cries out with the Apostle, " O, wretched man 
 that I am, who shall deliver me." His effort is to be 
 rid of the thing itself. He " abhors that which 
 is evil," because it is hateful to him. He "cleaves to 
 that which is good," because it is lovable and desir- 
 able. He does this without reference to the result 
 
1 6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of his choice. He is moved by the nature of the 
 things between which his choice lies. Because he 
 hates sin, he seeks to be delivered from it. Because 
 he hungers after righteousness, he strives after it. It 
 is sin he fears rather than punishment. It is right- 
 eousness he longs for, not reward or mere happiness. 
 He would rather suffer and be right, than to be re- 
 warded and be wrong. The desire for happiness is 
 natural ; it has its root in selfish human nature. The 
 desire for righteousness is supernatural ; it comes 
 from God. It is wrought in us by the Blessed 
 Spirit. To the man whose eyes are opened to see 
 things in God's light, holiness is infinitely desirable. 
 To the natural man it is hateful. Unless the eye of 
 faith is opened, then we never can either hate sin or 
 love holiness. We will put evil for good and good 
 for evil. How impossible is it, then, that we should 
 please God without faith. The things that please God 
 will never seem desirable to us, till we apprehend 
 them by faith. Without faith we can know nothing 
 about them, no more than a deaf man knows about 
 music. It is not an arbitrary arrangement that faith 
 is made the condition of spiritual life. It must be so 
 in the nature of things. In this state of existence we 
 cannot possibly know anything about eternal things, 
 except by means of faith. We cannot trust God un- 
 less we see Him, that is, unless He is as real a person 
 to our souls, as those men are that we see with our 
 natural eyes. Moses endured, because he saw Him 
 Who is invisible. So must we do if we shall endure. 
 
FAITH. iy 
 
 If God is not a reality to us, how can we trust Him, 
 either for soul or body? If His promises are not at 
 least as real and reliable to us as the promises of 
 men, how can we rely on them ? Many men imagine 
 they have faith in God who fail to stand in the time 
 of trial. While no evil threatens and no danger im- 
 pends, they get along comfortably. But when they 
 get into peril, and their way seems hedged up, they 
 are in despair. They are like Elisha's servant when 
 the Syrian army encompassed Dothan. (II. Kings : 
 vi.) When the servant arose in the morning, and 
 saw the city shut in by the Syrian host, he exclaimed, 
 "Alas ! Master, what shall we do ?" He saw the 
 danger, but saw no help. He saw things only as 
 natural men see them. Not so, Elisha. He said, 
 "Fear not ! For they that be with us are more than 
 they that be with them." This statement seemed 
 incredible to the servant. So Elisha prayed and said : 
 " Lord, I pray thee, open the young man's eyes." It 
 was not his natural eyes that needed opening. They 
 saw clearly what was open to them. It was the in- 
 terior eye that needed opening. And when his eyes 
 were opened, " He saw, and behold ! the mountain 
 was full of horses and chariots of fire round about 
 Elisha." To the eye of faith, God is a wall of fire 
 round about the believer ; without faith, he appears 
 defenseless. Since God is thus present to the con- 
 sciousness of the believer, he can trust Him in all 
 emergencies and under all circumstances. But if 
 He is not thus present to the consciousness, it is 
 
 S. F. S.— 2 
 
1 8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 impossible to trust Him. The person in danger will 
 seek some other help, some other security. The mere 
 fact that a man seeks help from other sources, proves 
 that he does not realize God to be his helper. If he 
 felt that God was his helper, he would feel no need 
 of any other, for 'He that was for him would be more 
 than all that could be against him. If we realize Di- 
 vine protection, we can say in confidence : 
 
 "Jesus protects, my fears begone! 
 
 What can the Rock of Ages move; 
 Safe in His arms I lay me down, 
 His everlasting arms of love." 
 
 Not only does faith give the power to discern that 
 which is good, but also power to discern the evil. 
 The man whose Spiritual eyes are opened, can discern 
 both good and evil. He sees the enemies with whom 
 he must contend and is' able to penetrate all their 
 disguises. Satan becomes a recognized foe. His 
 presence is immediately detected. This is absolutely 
 essential to his safety. For if there be such a being 
 as the Apostle describes, going about seeking whom 
 he may devour, how could the believer resist him, or 
 be on his guard against him, if he could not discern 
 him. For he does not usually come in his proper 
 person, but generally in disguise. He personates an 
 angel of light ; he simulates good ; he comes with 
 professions of great concern for our interests, great 
 anxiety for our welfare. The blind multitude are de- 
 ceived by him. They do not recognize his presence 
 or influence at all. They see no further than second 
 
FAITH. , 19 
 
 causes. They are led captive by him at his will. 
 But faith discerns his wiles. Faith unmasks him, and 
 thus prevents his getting any advantage. Faith gives 
 discernment of spirits. It makes the believer exceed- 
 ingly sensitive to good or evil purposes in others. It 
 enables him to detect what spirit they are of. It does 
 not render him suspicious, or captious, or ready to 
 think evil of others, but he as naturally shrinks from 
 the approach of evil, as a sensitive plant withers at 
 the rude touch of man. How necessary this is to the 
 Christian in this wicked world, filled with influences 
 antagonistic to all good. How would he be at the 
 mercy of every evil power, if he were not thus 
 guarded ? We must remember that the most danger- 
 ous things do not appear so to the natural man. The 
 things that are highly esteemed among men, are an 
 abomination in the sight of God. They are also in 
 the sight of faith. The believer is in much more 
 danger from those things that have the appearance 
 of good, than from those having the appearance of 
 evil. Faith enables him to see things in their true 
 light, in their true nature. "The prudent man fore- 
 seeth the evil and hideth himself; but the simple 
 pass on and are punished." One has faith, the other 
 is without it. Faith gives us a view of heavenly 
 things. It makes them present to our consciousness. 
 We have an earnest, a foretaste of them. As Moses 
 from Pisgah's top viewed with delight the earthly 
 Canaan, so the believer, by faith, looks over beyond 
 death's narrow stream, and sees with rapture, the 
 
20 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 "sweet fields" and " generous fruits" of that "beauti- 
 ful shore" which shall never be cursed by "chilling 
 wind nor poisonous breath." These glories are 
 present to him, as Charles Wesley expressed it : 
 
 "By faith we are come to our permanent home." 
 
 Some persons confound faith and imagination. 
 When they speak of seeing with the eye of faith, they 
 see only with the eye of fancy. We can see, in im- 
 agination, Christ hanging on the cross, but this is 
 not seeing him by faith. There is no real connection 
 between imagination and realities. It mostly deals 
 with fictions. In fancy we can see that which has 
 no real existence as easily as that which is real. But 
 faith sees only realities. Those things which faith 
 apprehends are much more real than the things of 
 sense. These are ephemeral and will soon pass 
 away. Those are eternal, and will never pass away. 
 Faith sees a kingdom which cannot be moved, which 
 will live and flourish when earth's empires are lost to 
 memory. Men sometimes say that they will believe 
 nothing they cannot see ; Spiritual things seem fanci- 
 ful to them. They do not know that the things that 
 faith discovers are immeasurably more substantial 
 than anything their eyes ever beheld. God does not 
 ask us to believe anything we never saw. He reveals 
 them to us. He makes us conscious of their exist- 
 ence. He asks us to believe nothing on hearsay 
 alone. If we receive " the witness of men," he gives 
 us the " witness of God," which is greater. There is 
 
FAITH. 2 1 
 
 no evidence so absolutely convincing as the view of 
 eternal things which God gives us. As the interests 
 at stake are the most weighty, so the testimony 
 adduced is the most overwhelming ; so that we may 
 act with the greatest assurance. Of course it follows 
 that the man who acts with reference to a world 
 which others are ignorant of, and with regard to 
 facts they know nothing about, will appear foolish 
 and wild. They will not be able to understand his 
 conduct. They will honestly think him beside him- 
 self. Thus faith has made fools of its votaries in all 
 ages in the eyes of unbelievers. It must always do 
 so, so long as there are believers and unbelievers. 
 No doubt Balaam thought the conduct of the ass 
 very strange, but when Balaam saw what the beast 
 saw, he no longer wondered. A faith that does not 
 make our conduct appear foolish and fanatical in the 
 eyes of the world, is evidently a faith that shows us 
 nothing that they do not see. Christ's own relatives 
 laid hands on him, charging him with insanity, and 
 the most religious people of the day openly made 
 the same charge ; and if our faith does not so openly 
 influence our conduct, as to cause men to speak of 
 us and insane asylums in the same breath, then we 
 are not at all like the Master. But the Christian can 
 afford to be misunderstood and misjudged. He 
 knows that he is right ; and that all men will finally 
 be convinced of the fact. So he patiently and con- 
 fidently waits for vindication. It will then be seen 
 who were the wise and who were the foolish. 
 
22 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Faith enables us to discern good and evil. This 
 is one characteristic of the Spiritual man according 
 to the Apostle Paul. (I. Cor. 11:15.) (Heb. v: 14.) 
 Not good, only, but also evil. This is one of the 
 powers of faith which is much abhorred by hypo- 
 crites. They wish to cover up evil both in them- 
 selves and in others. When evils which faith 
 discovers are pointed out, how ready they are to ex- 
 claim, " Judge not that ye be not judged." " But he 
 that is Spiritual, judgeth all things." Christ's lan- 
 guage when thus quoted is misunderstood and mis- 
 applied. It is not a prohibition of judging, for in 
 other Scriptures judging is enjoined and approved. 
 Unrighteous judgment is forbidden, but that judg- 
 ment to which we are willing ourselves to submit, is 
 not forbidden. What hypocrites object to is the 
 calling things by their right names. Faith gives 
 such discernment that hypocrisy is unmasked and 
 corruption is uncovered and sin is exposed. Men 
 who are destitute of Spiritual sense may be living in 
 the midst of corruption without being sensible of it. 
 What is stench in God's nostrils is no offense to 
 them, for they are ignorant of its existence. And 
 when men who become spiritually awakened begin 
 by faith to recognize these offensive things, and show 
 a strong disposition to avoid them and escape from 
 their contagion, they think they are supersensitive, 
 finical, making a great ado about nothing. For 
 themselves they can notice nothing wrong. They 
 are not inconvenienced by these vile sights and foul 
 
FAITH. 23 
 
 odors about which the others talk so much, and they 
 doubt their existence. And they are sincere in their 
 opinions, too. Foul odors do not trouble the man 
 who is destitute of smell. He will be poisoned to 
 death by them and not know what killed him. God 
 has so arranged the physical world that most things 
 that are dangerous to the health are offensive, so that 
 we may be warned, and moved to escape them, even 
 though ignorant of their power of infection. So it is 
 in the Spiritual world. When men become alive to 
 Spiritual things, they are moved to action by these 
 offensive things, for all sin is offensive to the Spiritual 
 man, as they are to God. This produces disturbance 
 and commotion. They cannot sit quietly down in a 
 charnel-house and consent to be made companions 
 of the Spiritually dead. They make efforts to escape 
 from such company. They wish to be separate and 
 not to touch the unclean. Therefore they go out 
 from them, as they are commanded to do. This 
 conduct is resented by those who are thus discrimi- 
 nated against. They do not allow others the right 
 to protect their Spiritual health. They accuse them 
 of turning the world upside down as they did 
 formerly. Nevertheless the duty of Spiritual men is 
 clear. They must not risk their lives to avoid clamor 
 and accusation. Their Spiritual discernment is given 
 them to protect them and warn them, and they refuse 
 to heed the warnings at their peril. 
 
 We conclude then that the grace of faith is a 
 Divine conviction of unseen things. That it is that 
 
 
24 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Spiritual faculty or sense that gives us apprehension 
 and cognizance of the things belonging to the Spiritual 
 kingdom of God. That we are all destitute of it 
 until it is given to us through the hearing of the 
 gospel, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
 the word of God. 
 
FAITH 
 
 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
 ness." — Rom. x:io. 
 
 A S we explained in the preceding sermon, faith 
 * is both a grace and an act of the creature. 
 
 As a grace it comes from God, the author of all 
 grace. As grace must precede the act of the crea- 
 ture, so the grace of faith must precede the act of 
 faith. The grace of faith particularly affects the 
 understanding. It is the opening of the eyes of our 
 understanding, as expressed by the Apostle. In mat- 
 ters of the understanding we have no choice, no free- 
 dom. Produce sufficient evidence of a fact, and I must 
 believe it. Produce certain impressions on the brain 
 through the eye or ear, and the mind is correspond- 
 ingly affected invariably and inevitably. The under- 
 standing cannot act without the stimulus, nor fail to 
 act with it. Our mental natures are fixed, and act 
 only as they are acted upon. We have no control 
 over our mental actions no more than over the action 
 of the sympathetic nervous system. We may avoid 
 the occasion of mental action, but given the occasion, 
 the action follows of necessity. It follows then that 
 no command can be addressed to the understanding, 
 or rather, no command can have respect to the ac- 
 tion of the understanding. For a command implies 
 
 (25) 
 
26 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the power of choice. It is unnecessary to command 
 what cannot be avoided, and useless to command 
 what cannot be performed. But if I may or may not 
 do a thing as I choose, then a command is appropri- 
 ate and reasonable. The faith of which we have 
 spoken in the preceding sermon being the enlight- 
 enment of the understanding, is not commanded. It 
 is done for the sinner unconditionally. His under- 
 standing is enlightened through the truth by the 
 Spirit without his consent being asked. But there is 
 a faith that is commanded. The Apostle said to the 
 Philippian jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
 and thou shalt be saved." This faith then is com- 
 manded. It is that faith which is : 
 
 The act of the creature : In this command the 
 grace of faith is presupposed. It is only given to 
 those who hear the gospel which opens blind eyes and 
 turns men from darkness to light. This grace of 
 faith which is sometimes called " conviction," some- 
 times "awakening," is absolutely essential to the act 
 commanded. It cannot take place without the pre- 
 vious awakening. Since then the sinner is com- 
 manded to believe, the act must be one which he 
 may, or may not, perform, as he chooses. Now there 
 is but one part of the man that is free, and that is the 
 will. So Pope has said of God that he : 
 
 " Binding Nature fast in fate. 
 Left free the human will." 
 
 The mental powers and the affections are not 
 under the control of man ; they are not free. They 
 
FAITH. 27 
 
 act as they are acted upon. That faith then which is 
 commanded by the Lord is an act of the will rather 
 than of the intellect. It is something that a man can 
 do if he chooses. It is something in which a man 
 acts freely and from choice. It may be objected that 
 men are commanded to love God, and that love is an 
 act of the affections. The law commanded to love 
 God with all the heart and soul and mind and 
 strength, and the law of Christ requires the same 
 love ; but when love is commanded, it is an act and 
 not a sentiment that is required of us. " This is the 
 love of God that we keep his commandments, and his 
 commandments are not grievous." The act of love 
 is the keeping of his commandments. It is true that 
 this cannot be done in the absence of the sentiment 
 or grace. But that is a matter over which we have 
 no control and cannot therefore be held responsible 
 for. The sentiment of love to God is awakened in 
 us by a sense of His love to us, and can be produced 
 in no other way. So when God is pleased to give us 
 a sense of His love to us, we spontaneously love Him 
 because He first loved us. God's commandments 
 are addressed to us as free agents and they respect 
 only those things in which we act freely and of 
 choice. It follows then that both the faith and love 
 which God commands, are acts of the free will. 
 The great and general mistake on this point is the 
 teaching that saving faith is an act of the mind or in- 
 tellect. It may not be taught in so many words, but 
 it is so taught in effect. 
 
28 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Such a conception of saving faith is radically and 
 fatally wrong. It puts the penitent on the wrong track 
 and entirely misleads him. I care not what the propo- 
 sition may be that the mind is endeavoring to credit ; 
 how true it may be, how much in accordance with the 
 teachings of Scripture ; the belief of that proposition 
 is not saving faith. One direction given to penitents, 
 which is very common, is this, "Just believe that the 
 Lord saves you and you are saved." This in effect 
 makes saving faith an act of the understanding. The 
 effort is to accept a proposition as true. How many 
 have struggled for weeks and months to believe a fact 
 of which they have no evidence. If the evidence of 
 the truth of that proposition had been sufficient, they 
 could have believed it in a moment. In fact they 
 could not have avoided believing it. Without that 
 evidence they could not believe it in an age. Such 
 an effort, if successful, would not be faith but pre- 
 sumption. Presumption is the acceptance of a fact 
 without evidence ; faith is the acceptance of a fact on 
 evidence. The same end is attempted by means of 
 argument. Men must be forced into salvation at 
 the point of a syllogism. "Does not Christ say, 
 ' Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out? ' ' 
 "Yes." "Do you now come unto Him?" "Yes." 
 "Does He cast you out?" "No!" "Then you are 
 saved ! " " But," says the penitent, " I do not feel 
 anything different." They are told they have God's 
 word to stand on, and they must stand there by 
 naked faith. If they had actually come to Christ 
 
FAITH. 29 
 
 they would not need to stand by naked faith ; they 
 would have assurance. Just there is the defect of 
 this plan of salvation by syllogism. The penitent has 
 not come to Christ. If he had, there would be no 
 need of further question. Men imagine they have 
 come to Christ when they have not done so. A pre- 
 sumption in the minor premise leaves a presumption 
 in the conclusion. The syllogism would stand thus : 
 (Major.) Christ will cast out no one who comes to Him. 
 (Minor.) I (presume I) come to Him. (Conclusion.) 
 Therefore! I (presume I) am saved. The danger of 
 this theory of faith consists in the fact that it distracts 
 the attention of the seeker from the essential matter. 
 It blinds his eyes to the real point that is lacking. 
 He supposes that he has really surrendered himself 
 to God, and that the trouble is that he does not 
 believe something that he ought to believe. So he 
 wastes his time in vain endeavors after the impossible, 
 or substitutes presumption for faith and thus deceives 
 himself. How often you will hear persons say : " The 
 great trouble with me is I cannot believe. I strive 
 and strive but seem to have no faith." We see in the 
 light of what has been already written what the trouble 
 is with this seeker. He is on the wrong track. Either 
 he is not truly awakened, or being awakened, he is not 
 wholly given up to the will of God ; and with the 
 understanding which he has of the subject, his efforts 
 will end in presumption or despair. What the seeker 
 after God needs to concern himself about is the sur- 
 render of himself to God. We imagine that we are 
 
30 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 consecrated when we are not ; that we intrust all to 
 God while we are yet fearful and unbelieving. But 
 the moment we really do cast ourselves upon God, 
 we will have evidence of that fact ; God will testify 
 to the gift, and assurance of God's favor and of our 
 adoption and sonship will immediately spring up in 
 our souls ; and we will, by this spirit of adoption, 
 call God our father. Saving faith then is that act 
 of the will by which the shiner wholly abandons him- 
 self to the will of God, and casts himself upon the 
 mercy of God in Christ Jesus. The moment he does 
 this God saves him, accepts him in the Be- 
 loved, and gives him the spirit of adoption which 
 seals him a child of God. The act of aban- 
 doning himself to God's will is the strong- 
 est possible proof of confidence in God's promises. 
 He cannot do this, unless he believes that God is and 
 that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. To say 
 that we are trying to believe God, is an insult to Him, 
 as it is an insinuation against His veracity. The Lord 
 convinces our understanding, the hindrance to sal- 
 vation is in the will alone. When we say that saving 
 faith is the act of surrender to God, it must be un- 
 derstood that we mean that this is the faith com- 
 manded and required of the sinner ; but the grace of 
 faith is a necessary part of saving faith, but it is not 
 commanded but freely given, and must precede the 
 act. The two are complements of each other. In 
 them God and man work together to the one end. 
 This faith which saves the sinner in the beginning is 
 
FAITH. 3 1 
 
 the faith by which the Christian lives. The faith 
 which first, as a condition, produces life, perpetuates 
 it. As the Christian begins to live by faith and not 
 by works, so he continues to live. The faith that 
 purifies the heart works by love. It is the root from 
 which good works spring. It is a living principle 
 and must through love produce obedience. The 
 faith which does not produce works of obedience is 
 dead. It is of the understanding merely and not of 
 the heart. To put the sinner to doing something in- 
 stead of trusting God, would be to teach him to seek 
 salvation by the law instead of by grace. "For the 
 law saith, he that doeth these things shall live by 
 them." Everyone, therefore, that does anything, any 
 work, in order to gain or retain God's favor is under 
 the law, for that is what the law teaches ; " do and 
 live." But grace teaches " believe and live," and let 
 your doing be a result of life, but not its cause. 
 Good works in a Christian are fruit, and fruit is 
 always a result of life. To teach then that works are 
 a means of grace is to teach the law instead of the 
 gospel. A " mean " is that which stands between 
 two things and unites them. A means of grace is 
 that by which, or through which, grace is communi- 
 cated. Says the Apostle, " It is of faith that it might 
 be by grace." Faith then is the only means of 
 grace. No work can be a means of grace. Neither 
 prayer nor reading the word, nor preaching, nor fast- 
 ing are therefore means of grace, and to call them 
 such, is to mislead the mind. But says one "we do 
 
32 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 not suppose these works to be means of grace unless 
 they are done in faith." It is the faith, then, that conveys 
 the grace. But is not faith a means of grace when I 
 keep still as well as when I pray? Why then not call 
 silence a means of grace? Faith also brings grace 
 when we work in the field or in the shop, when we 
 buy and when we sell. It is just as proper to call 
 every act of a Christian a means of grace as any one 
 of them, for they are all done in faith. " For what- 
 soever is not of faith is sin." This may seem to some 
 as an unimportant point, but thousands have been 
 misled by this error. They have been led to trust in 
 a few works, which have thus been distinguished as 
 " means of grace." Faith is the one only means of 
 grace. It is the work of God. To direct a con- 
 vert to pray regularly in secret, read the Scriptures 
 daily, and to hear preaching statedly in order to 
 keep Spiritually alive, is to put that convert under the 
 law, as much as if you taught him to be circumcised 
 and to keep the law, of Moses in order to be saved. 
 
 There is but one condition of salvation, and that 
 is faith. To retain the grace of God there is but one 
 condition — to believe. He that believeth hath ever- 
 lasting life. Obedience will always spring from faith. 
 Works done in order to secure God's favor are dead 
 works. They are " our own righteousness, " which is 
 to God as " filthy rags." God saves us from these 
 dead works, this religion of "opus operatum," doing 
 things for the sake of doing them. Any act of wor- 
 ship done with the idea of securing or retaining God's 
 
FAITH. 33 
 
 favor, instead of being a means of grace to the doer, 
 is a means of condemnation. Those who do such 
 things for such a purpose put themselves under the 
 law and are fallen from grace, as the Apostle tells the 
 Galatians. Christians pray not from a sense of duty, 
 but from a sense of need. It is not done to give 
 anything to God, but to secure something for them- 
 selves. Saints do not live because they pray ; they 
 pray because they live. It is as natural for God's 
 children to go to Him with their cares, their sorrows 
 and their needs as it is for our children to come to 
 us. And they feel no more sense of duty in the mat- 
 ter. It is their blessed privilege. I am satisfied that 
 though it is the generally accepted theory that 
 Christians live by faith, it is contradicted by nearly 
 all the teachings respecting Christian practice. The 
 theory is generally ignored in practice. How often 
 you have heard some professor say, in giving his 
 experience, "I have all the religion I live for." Such 
 an expression is a practical denial of the doctrine of 
 salvation by grace. Grace comes by faith, not by 
 " living for it. " A man lives all the religion he has. 
 He lives it because he has it, he does not have it 
 because he lives for it. They get such false notions 
 from their teachers. They tell them, " If you want 
 grace, go to work. " 
 
 I have heard religious teachers, generally sup- 
 posed to be evangelical, tell their flock that if they 
 felt cold and dead Spiritually to go to work for others, 
 
 and they would themselves receive life and warmth 
 s. f. s.— 3 
 
34 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 from the Lord. They might as well tell a physically 
 dead man to go to work in order to become alive. 
 So if we want the beam out of our own eyes we must 
 go to work pulling motes out of other people's. 
 Jesus says to such a one, "Thou hypocrite." If such 
 a teacher were asked the question, "What must I do 
 that I might work the works of God," his answer 
 would be quite different from the one the Saviour 
 gave, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on 
 Him whom He hath sent." This is the work of God, 
 because all other works spring from it. To believe 
 is to live, to live is to work. We can only work out 
 what God works in us, "To will and (power) to do 
 His good pleasure." The saint is saved then every 
 moment of his life on precisely the same condition 
 upon which he was saved the first moment of his 
 Christian experience — simply by faith in Christ 
 without any account being taken of his obedience. 
 The greatest saint and the greatest sinner come to 
 God on exactly the same conditions. In the matter 
 of their salvation, they stand upon the same platform. 
 The obedience of the Christian counts no more in 
 saving him than the disobedience of the sinner. 
 Whatever their past lives may have been, they 
 depend, for God's favor, upon the merits of Christ 
 alone. Their good works or evil works, their deserv- 
 ings or undeservings do not count in the matter. 
 Each one comes to God saying: 
 
 " I have no other hope beside, 
 
 Lord, I am damned, but Thou hast died." 
 
FAITH. 35 
 
 The man who has served God faithfully for years, 
 who in the slightest degree trusts to that obedience 
 for recognition and favor, will go to his house as the 
 Pharisee did, who trusted in his own righteousness, 
 while the sinner, conscious of nothing but evil doing, 
 who trusts in the merits of Christ alone, like the poor 
 Publican, will go to his house justified. Charles 
 Wesley beautifully expresses this truth in one of his 
 hymns where he says ■ 
 
 " Not one good word or thought 
 I to thy merits join ; 
 But freely take the gift unbought 
 Of righteousness Divine. " 
 
 While God has graciously promised to reward the 
 good works of His people, they constitute no part of 
 their righteousness, nor are they any part of the con- 
 dition of salvation. "Not by works of righteousness 
 that we have done, but according to His own mercy, 
 He saved us." Salvation is by grace from beginning 
 to end. It is a free gift, and not the reward of 
 good works. If the Lord shows us favor because of 
 anything we do, it would be a matter of debt and not 
 a free gift. But eternal life is the gift of God ; the 
 free, unmerited gift of God. For the saint, then, 
 to imagine that the Lord would bless him because of 
 his obedience or his faithfulness, would be to sup- 
 pose that he had made God his debtor, a matter of 
 which he might boast. But boasting is excluded by 
 the law of faith. " It is of faith," then, " that it might 
 be by grace." 
 
36 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 "Grace all the work shall crown, 
 To everlasting days; 
 It lays in heaven the topmost stone, 
 And well deserves our praise." 
 
 If faith is a condition of salvation, it is the only con- 
 dition. If works are a condition of salvation, they are 
 the only condition. They cannot both together be con- 
 ditions of salvation, for the reason that they build upon 
 entirely different foundations. What one would build 
 up, the other would pull down. What one would 
 claim, the other would disown. One comes as a 
 pauper, the other as a creditor, and no one can be 
 both these at the same time. To teach, then, as 
 some do, that both faith and works are conditions of 
 salvation, is just as reasonable as to claim that a per- 
 son is both earning his living, and depending on 
 charity at the same time. If salvation is by works, 
 it is simple justice, for it is nothing but justice that 
 we should receive what we earn. If it is by grace 
 through faith, it is pure mercy, for we have deserved 
 nothing. It is not our obedience that satisfies the 
 law, but Christ's obedience. We are saved by His 
 life, as well as by His death. He fulfilled the law in 
 every jot and tittle, and delivers His people from 
 under it. When the law was thus fulfilled it passed 
 away, so far as they are concerned for whom it was 
 fulfilled. They are not under the law, but under 
 grace ; though the righteousness of the law is fulfilled 
 in all believers. They have nothing to do with 
 obedience to the law. To them love is obedience; 
 
FAITH. 37 
 
 love is the fulfilling of the law. They cannot live by 
 doing ; as to offend in one point, in one jot, would be 
 death to them in such case. Their ignorance and 
 their infirmities make it impossible thus to live. So, 
 casting away all hope for life from such a source, 
 they believe and live, they live and love, and faith 
 working by love produces the fruit of a holy life. 
 Christian faith is a practical thing. It is not an 
 opinion, it is a conviction. An opinion maybe inert; 
 it may exert no influence upon the practice of the 
 possessor. A conviction is a moving force ; it nec- 
 essarily affects the conduct of the possessor. A 
 man's opinions and practice may be completely at 
 variance, but his convictions will always dominate 
 and control his conduct. Evangelical faith, then, be- 
 ing a conviction, is all-powerful in determining the 
 life of its possessor. So far then from Christian faith 
 and practice being opposed to each other, they are 
 the complements of each other; they cannot exist 
 independently of each other. The certain way to 
 promote Christian practice is to inspire Christian 
 faith. Some imagine that to establish faith as the 
 condition of salvation is to discourage good works. 
 In other words, that "we make void the law through 
 faith." This the Apostle Paul denies, and experience 
 corroborates him. Faith "establishes the law." 
 That is, by means of salvation by grace through 
 faith, the things required by the law, love to God 
 and man, and such conduct as necessarily flows from 
 that love, are in the most eminent degree possible, 
 
38 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 secured and established. So that instead of abolishing 
 good works through salvation by grace, we preserve 
 them. By discarding works as a means of salvation, 
 they are secured as a result of salvation. And thus 
 truly good works are secured ; works flowing from a 
 good and pure source ; works which God can ap- 
 prove and reward. We unite, then, with Wesley, in 
 praying : 
 
 " Save us by grace through faith alone; 
 A faith Thou must Thyself impart: 
 A faith that will by works be shown: 
 A faith that purifies the heart. 
 
 " A faith that will the mountains move: 
 A faith that shows our sins forgiven: 
 A faith that sweetly works by love, 
 And ascertains our claim to Heaven." 
 
REPENTANCE 
 
 " Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a 
 Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel 
 and forgiveness of sins." — Acts v:3i. 
 
 But now commandeth all men, everywhere, to re- 
 pent." — Acts xvii:30. 
 
 ■""THE Greek word usually translated "repentance" 
 * in the Scriptures, signifies literally " a change 
 of mind." It is used in much the same sense by the 
 inspired writers, although, as in the case of many 
 other terms used, its meaning is extended to fit the 
 subject it stands for. We notice from the texts 
 quoted above that it is used to represent a gift of God 
 as well as an act of man. And as in all cases, the 
 gift or grace is first and the act afterwards. The 
 grace of God must always precede the act of the 
 creature in the matter of salvation. A common defi- 
 nition of gospel repentance is that it is "A Godly 
 sorrow for sin and a forsaking of the same." This 
 seems to pretty correctly express the scriptural idea. 
 The doctrine of repentance is a fundamental one, and 
 is reckoned by the Apostle as one of the "first prin- 
 ciples of the doctrine of Christ." It is not only a 
 fundamental doctrine but is also a fundamental ex- 
 perience, and like all fundamentals it is of the first 
 
 (39) 
 
40 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 importance. A good foundation is of the greatest 
 importance to the stability of the building erected 
 upon it. There is no part of the building more essen- 
 tial to its security than the foundation, as, if that gives 
 way, the whole building will be wrecked. The man 
 who built upon the sand may have erected as beau- 
 tiful and expensive an edifice as the one built upon 
 the rock. But its foundation was fatally defective, 
 and the storm soon demonstrated this fact. It was 
 a good fair weather house, and afforded shelter when 
 it was not much needed, but when the tempest came 
 and shelter was absolutely necessary to comfort, if 
 not to life, it utterly failed its occupant, and became 
 a source of danger rather than a means of protection. 
 The Christian life must encounter storms and floods, 
 and it is of the utmost importance that its foundation 
 should be secure. But on this very point men are 
 likely to be most careless. They are in haste to see 
 results of their labor, and have not the long patience 
 that becomes the husbandman ; they cannot wait for 
 the early and the latter rain. They hurry to the birth 
 the subjects of their solicitude and produce Spiritual 
 abortions rather than living healthy children. This is 
 upon the supposition that their converts have really 
 been begotten of the Lord. For it is to be feared 
 that in many instances they have not been begotten 
 of the Lord at all. And if that is lacking they never 
 can become the children of God. While the laying 
 of the foundation of a building is a very important 
 part in its construction, it is a slow and laborious 
 
REPENTANCE. 4 1 
 
 part, and does not make much show of results. To 
 dig deep, does not look much like building up. But 
 it is utterly unsafe to begin building until the rock is 
 reached. This delving down into the corruption of 
 the depraved heart, and uncovering the ungodliness 
 and dishonesty of the past life, is what human nature 
 objects to. It is very averse to such a procedure. So 
 that those who are satisfied to deceive men with a 
 slight healing, do not insist upon such an unpopular 
 work, which will so materially hinder their success in 
 gaining converts. They do not insist upon the fruits 
 of a genuine repentance, but at once encourage men 
 to begin building a Christian experience by believing 
 on Christ and claiming his favor. They say little or 
 nothing about confession of sin which they have com- 
 mitted against their fellowmen, or restitution of that 
 which has been wrongfully taken from others. So far 
 from insisting on these necessary things, they are 
 scarcely mentioned, but the first exhortation to sin- 
 ners yet impenitent is to believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. This of course they cannot do, as it is im- 
 possible for anyone to come to God who has not 
 entirely forsaken sin. But they imagine they believe, 
 and imagine themselves saved, and the results are 
 what might be expected. They have no power to 
 forsake sin ; no power to resist temptation. When 
 the storms of temptation blow, and the floods of evil 
 example sweep around them, they are carried onward 
 by them to open denial of Christ by their wicked 
 conduct. 
 
42 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 They cannot stand alone against evil, nor stem the 
 tide of this wicked world, which constantly sets 
 toward hell. The large percent of the converts in 
 modern revivals who soon cease to make even a pre- 
 tense of religion, shows that the work is not genuine. 
 The foundation was entirely lacking, and a very 
 slight storm overthrows the work. And not much 
 more can truthfully be said of the small percent left 
 still with a show of religion. They do not even claim 
 to have power over sin, but profess generally that sin 
 has dominion over them so that they cannot forsake 
 its service. I shall endeavor to show what a genuine 
 repentance will do for a sinner, according to the teach- 
 ings of the Scriptures. 
 
 i st. In the first place, Repentance is a Godly sorrow 
 for sin. The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to 
 the Corinthians, informs them that there are two kinds 
 of sorrow for sin ; a Godly sorrow and a worldly sor- 
 row. " For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to sal- 
 vation ; but the sorrow of the world worketh death." 
 One of the proofs that their sorrow was Godly is, that 
 they sorrowed to repentance. Godly sorrow always 
 worketh repentance, that is, reformation of iife. It 
 brings men to where they " cease to do evil " and be- 
 gin to " learn to do well." A Godly sorrow for sin, is 
 such a sorrow as produces in us the same attitude 
 toward sin that God occupies. God hates sin. He is 
 in eternal opposition to it. " He is of too pure eyes 
 to behold iniquity and He cannot look upon sin ! " A 
 genuine or Godly sorrow for sin, then, is a feeling of 
 
REPENTANCE. 43 
 
 hatred for sin, an abhorrence of it, so that it cannot 
 be tolerated. But in order that men may thus feel 
 toward sin, they must be able to see it in its true light, 
 to see it as God sees it. Unless they thus view sin, 
 they never will hate it. They never can. So one of 
 the works of the Holy Spirit is to convince men of 
 sin. " And when he is come he shall reprove the 
 world of sin!" (John xvi:8.) The marginal read- 
 ing is, " convince the world of sin!" Men have 
 learned by tradition to acknowledge themselves sin- 
 ners, but they do not know what that means until 
 enlightened by the Blessed Spirit. Until men are 
 convinced by the Holy Spirit, they have no real sense 
 of sin. While they may think of sin as evil, they do 
 not feel it to be so. Its enormity and soul-destroying 
 properties they have no conception of. It seems to 
 them to be desirable in itself, but they fear its conse- 
 quences, its wages. This is the view that the natural 
 man takes of sin. He has an affinity for it and he 
 loves it. If he could persuade himself that there was 
 no danger of punishment for sin, he would take his 
 fill of it. He imagines it would give him great hap- 
 piness to live in sin. Until he sees it differently he 
 never will forsake it. He may try various expedients 
 for escaping its consequences, but the thing itself he 
 clings to. The most of the religion in the world is an 
 effort to escape the consequences of sin while still 
 practicing it. But these efforts will be found to be 
 vain in the end. Men naturally desire happiness now 
 and in the future, and they will do many things to 
 
44 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 assure themselves that future happiness is theirs. They 
 will do almost anything but surrender sin. They never 
 will be able to relinquish sin while they love it. They 
 must then be taught to hate sin. When by the Holy 
 Spirit they are made truly acquainted with it, when 
 by His light they see it as God sees it, they will 
 begin to fear it and desire to be delivered from 
 it. And when in their wills they give it up, God 
 will begin to give them repentance. When they 
 first see the absolute necessity of giving it up 
 lest it destroy them forever, they will find it hard to 
 let it go. It will seem very dear to them though so 
 destructive. But when they resolve to let it go, to 
 separate themselves from it, they then will feel their 
 feelings toward it rapidly changing. It will begin to 
 appear dreadful to them as well as dangerous. The 
 sight of it will excite repugnance and abhorrence. Un- 
 less God granted them this Godly sorrow, they never 
 could actually give up sin however much they might 
 wish to do so. Their love for it would make futile all 
 their efforts. The first difference then between Godly 
 sorrow and worldly sorrow is that the latter is fear of 
 the consequences of sin, while the former is abhor- 
 rence of sin itself without respect to its consequences. 
 "The sorrow of the world worketh death," but not 
 reformation. It may seem to produce reformation 
 for a short time, but its apparent good effects are not 
 lasting, and the result is to harden the sinner and to 
 confirm him in his evil ways. The sorrow of the 
 world is a purely natural emotion produced by the 
 
REPENTANCE. 45 
 
 fear of punishment. There is nothing gracious in it. 
 Consequently it is not lasting. It grows fainter and 
 fainter as the prospect of punishment is lessened. 
 When the danger seems imminent, the sorrow is 
 great and demonstrative, but just in proportion as the 
 danger recedes, the sorrow subsides. The sorrow of the 
 Jews as they were again and again punished for their 
 backslidings, is a sample of this worldly sorrow. (Ps. 
 lxxviii : 34-37.) "When he slew them, then they 
 sought him ; and they returned and inquired early 
 after God, and they remembered that God was their 
 rock, and the high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless 
 they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied 
 unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not 
 right with him, neither were they steadfast in his 
 covenant." God says their " goodness was like the 
 morning cloud and like the early dew." Nothing but 
 God's judgment produced this worldly sorrow and 
 consequent attempts at repentance. But the good- 
 ness of God leadeth us to true repentance as says the 
 Apostle, "The goodness of God leadeth thee to re- 
 pentance." (Rom. ii : 4.) Most of the professions of 
 repentance at the present day are of the worldly sort, 
 and the fruits that follow prove this statement. But 
 the blame for this state of things is not wholly with 
 the penitents themselves. Probably the most of the 
 blame rests upon the men who profess to preach the 
 gospel. It takes the real gospel, which is the power 
 of God, to bring men to a true repentance. But in 
 many instances a gospel is preached which is devoid 
 
46 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of Divine power, and depends for its success upon 
 human influence and persuasion alone. These can 
 never awaken the sinner to a sense of his real condi- 
 tion. He is convinced of the danger of continuing in 
 sin, without doing something to avert the wrath of 
 God. He is persuaded that his future happiness is 
 jeopardized. He is not convinced of a present evil, 
 but of a future danger. This danger he seeks to es- 
 cape. It is future loss he wishes to be insured 
 against. The whole drift of the teaching he hears is 
 that it is future evil that is to be dreaded. And as 
 death will end his opportunity for insuring against 
 this evil, and as death is liable to come at any time, 
 it seems to be the part of prudence to attend to the 
 matter at once. If the time to die was fixed, the 
 matter might safely be postponed ; and if he were 
 never to die or change his place of residence, it would 
 not be necessary to repent at all. That would be the 
 legitimate inference from the teaching he hears. So 
 having his attention fixed upon the future conse- 
 quences of sin, and not upon sin itself, he seeks to 
 avoid those consequences instead of seeking to be 
 saved from sin. There is no more evidence of grace 
 in this effort, than there is in the insurance of his 
 house against the contingency of loss by fire. If he 
 were sure his house would not burn, he would never 
 insure and waste his money in paying premiums. 
 But as he knows that his house is always in danger 
 of being burned, and that it may happen at any time, 
 he parts with his money to secure future safety, or 
 
 
REPENTANCE. 47 
 
 rather to provide against future loss. So the sinner who 
 is moved by such prudential considerations, agrees to 
 part with some things he loves that he may secure 
 immunity from future punishment, and the promise 
 of future bliss. Such teachers, in order to move men 
 to action, do not preach against sin, and endeavor to 
 convince men of its deadly nature. They preach about 
 death, and relate deathbed scenes to arouse fear ; and 
 then talk of the joys of meeting friends in heaven, 
 friends who may never have reached there, to inspire 
 hope and to excite the natural sensibilities and affec- 
 tions. By these natural means they hope to move to 
 action those whom God does not move, and whose 
 hearts he has not touched. So did not Jesus. He dis- 
 couraged every attempt to appeal to the natural affec- 
 tions in religious matters. When one said " I will 
 follow thee, but suffer me first to go bury my father," 
 He replied " Let the dead bury their dead." When 
 his mother and his brethren appealed to their natural 
 relation to him that they might gain an audience 
 while he was preaching he said, " Who is my mother, 
 and who are my brethren ? He that doeth the will of 
 my Father in Heaven, the same is my mother and 
 sister and brother." Neither Christ nor His Apostles 
 ever appealed to the fear of death, or the hope of 
 meeting friends in glory, as a motive to repentance. 
 To rouse the natural sensibilities is to hinder, not to 
 aid, the work of salvation. Instead of talking to men 
 about meeting their friends, Jesus talks to them of for- 
 saking them. Instead of stirring up natural affections, 
 
48 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 He would inspire Heavenly affections. The one 
 leads to a religion that is earthly, sensual and devilish, 
 the other to one that is " first pure and then peace- 
 able, etc." Men need to repent, not because they are 
 mortal, but because they are sinners. If they never 
 were to die, they would, all the same, need to repent. 
 What sinners need deliverance from is a present evil, 
 sin, not a future danger, hell. If there were no sin, 
 there would be no hell, and there can be no hell to 
 him who is free from sin. The consequence can be 
 removed only by the removal of the cause. To be 
 afraid of hell but not afraid of sin, is not much of an 
 improvement on the character of Satan, and a man 
 whose efforts spring from such a motive will always 
 remain a child of his father, the devil. Genuine re- 
 pentance then is founded upon an apprehension of sin 
 produced by the Holy Spirit in those who hear the 
 gospel. Until the sinner is thus convinced of sin, he 
 can do nothing toward saving his soul. But this 
 Divine conviction of sin brings with it the power to 
 give it up in our wills. As we decide in our own minds 
 to surrender it, the Godly sorrow for sin is given to 
 us and we learn to loathe it. We " abhor that which 
 is evil." Genuine repentance saves us from the love of 
 sin. We cannot have a Godly sorrow for sin and 
 feel toward it any other way than God feels toward 
 it. If we attempt to forsake sin for fear of the conse- 
 quences of sinning, we will return to it as soon as we 
 imagine we can escape those consequences, or when 
 the danger of punishment seems distant. This is the 
 
REPENTANCE. 49 
 
 reason why professions of repentance in the face of 
 death are so soon forgotten when the danger passes. 
 Fear of the consequences of sin is no doubt well 
 founded and may well cause the sinner to stop and 
 consider, but that fear alone will never bring him to 
 repentance. It may hamper him in sinning, and 
 restrain his conduct to some extent, but it cannot 
 save him from the love of sin. The thief in view of 
 the state's prison may bitterly repent his crime be- 
 cause of the apparent certainty of the punishment. 
 But if he should make his escape from the officer, or 
 break jail, he would soon repeat the crime. But if 
 after having committed the crime, though having 
 escaped detection, he should be seized with remorse 
 for the wrong done his neighbor and should so detest 
 the idea of being a thief, that he should go to the 
 man he had wronged, confess his crime and restore 
 the stolen property, it is scarcely supposable that he 
 would commit another theft. This illustrates the dif- 
 ference between false and genuine repentance. 
 
 " Repentance is to leave 
 
 The things we loved before, 
 And show that we in earnest grieve, 
 By doing so no more." 
 
 In a sham repentance produced by the "sorrow 
 of the world," men see great difference in sins. Some 
 seem great, some small. Some heinous, some trivial. 
 Unpopular sins are detested ; popular sins tolerated. 
 In genuine repentance these distinctions vanish. In 
 the light of the Holy Spirit there are no venial sins ; 
 
 S .F. S.-4 
 
50 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 all sin is mortal. It is deadly. However trivial sin 
 may seem to the unawakened, the true penitent sees 
 that it springs from a rebellious heart. It is only a 
 symptom, whether slight or pronounced, of a deadly 
 disease within. There is no difference in the im- 
 portance of the symptoms, if they show unmistakably 
 the presence of the disease. Consequently he hates 
 all sin. He renounces all sinful practices of every 
 kind and degree, because they all alike show the 
 existence of the dread evil which he fain would be 
 delivered from. The Apostle describes in the verses 
 following the text, the effects of a Godly sorrow. 
 "For behold what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, 
 what clearing of yourselves, etc." These effects are 
 always produced by the same cause. The professed 
 penitent who is not anxious to escape from every- 
 thing wrong, who is not ready and willing to be 
 reproved for and convinced of the smallest matter, 
 gives convincing proof of the falsity of his pro- 
 fessions of penitence. The true penitent hates sin 
 because it is sin ; not because it is expensive, or in- 
 jurious, or degrading, but because it is sinful. He 
 hates it just the same if it brings gain or honor or 
 success. His great desire is to be right. He is not 
 asking happiness, present or future, but righteousness. 
 If he secures righteousness, happiness will take care 
 of itself. The false penitent says, if I were sure of 
 future happiness I would be all right. The true 
 penitent says, if I were only all right, I would be 
 sure of present and eternal bliss. To be right is the 
 
REPENTANCE. 5 1 
 
 height of his aspirations. He exclaims with the 
 poet: 
 
 "I ask no higher state; 
 Indulge me but in this. 
 And soon or later then translate 
 To my eternal bliss." 
 
 It is not a future hell that worries him, nor the fear 
 of it, but the hell of present unholiness ; of not loving 
 God. He exclaims in the language of Scripture " O 
 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from 
 the body of this death?" It is "this death" that 
 troubles him, not future death. This death to God 
 and holiness. His soul cries out in "vehement de- 
 sire " for deliverance from sin, that he might love and 
 serve God alone. It is a present deliverance from a 
 present evil that he seeks after, as in salvation he ex- 
 periences a present possession of a promised good. 
 He " hungers and thirsts after righteousness." The 
 desire for happiness is purely natural ; the desire for 
 righteousness is supernatural. It comes directly 
 from God. If the sinner seeks only for happiness, 
 or what amounts to the same thing, to escape from 
 misery, he gives no evidence of a work of grace. But 
 if he seeks after holiness, or to escape from sin, he 
 gives full proof of a gracious state of mind ; for this 
 can be nothing less than the work of Divine grace. 
 You will often hear persons in giving religious ex- 
 perience say that they have a strong desire to make 
 their way to Heaven. That proves nothing; every 
 sinner wants to go to Heaven because he imagines it 
 
52 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 would secure his happiness. To ask a congregation 
 to express their desire to go to Heaven when they 
 die, is to learn nothing regarding their Spiritual 
 state. If they should vote for the proposition 
 unanimously, it would not show that one of them 
 was moved by the Blessed Spirit. But if you 
 were to ask them how many of them wished to 
 be right just now, something might be learned. 
 To teach men, then, to be looking for future hap- 
 piness, when they ought to be seeking present 
 righteousness, is to substitute for the pure, steady 
 light of the Gospel, an ignis fatuus, a fool's light, 
 which can lead only to the quagmire of destruc- 
 tion. The sure way to miss happiness is to seek 
 it for itself alone. But to seek holiness for itself 
 alone, is to secure it, and the true happiness which 
 cannot be divorced from it. The desire for happi- 
 ness has no reference to the will or glory of God, 
 but is purely selfish. The desire for righteousness 
 has respect to God's will ; for it springs from a sense 
 of the fact that righteousness is what pleases God. 
 Men want to be right, because they feel God wants 
 them to be right. Men are often heard to say that 
 they like a religion that "happifies the soul." The 
 expression is as questionable in its spirit, as it is false 
 in its syntax. It shows that the matter of happi- 
 ness is uppermost in the mind of the person who uses 
 it. Thus men often reveal their inmost motives by 
 the turn of an expression. With every subject of 
 God's grace, the matter of righteousness is always 
 
REPEXTAN'CE. 53 
 
 uppermost. It is not "what will make me happy" 
 but "what will please God," that concerns him most. 
 While he looks out for this, God will look out for 
 that. To recapitulate, then, this Godly sorrow for sin 
 is based on a Divine conviction of the nature of sin, 
 and a consequent turning of the mind away from 
 sin, accompanied by change of feeling toward sin so 
 that it becomes hateful to those who once loved it. 
 They hate it for what it is, consequently they hate it 
 always and everywhere. This abhorrence of sin is 
 accompanied by a vehement desire after righteous- 
 ness. This " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto 
 salvation." It works entire change of life. 
 
 It causes the sinner to face about and start in the 
 opposite direction from the one he has been pursu- 
 ing. It produces an entire abandonment of sin, so 
 that in outward things the life becomes reformed. 
 Mr. Wesley, in the general rules for his societies 
 which have been incorporated into the Methodist 
 discipline, says that it is expected of those who pro- 
 fess a desire for salvation that they evidence that 
 desire, first, "by doing no harm." That is a fruit of 
 genuine awakening and sincere repentance. They 
 "break off their sins by righteousness and their 
 iniquities by turning unto the Lord." One of the first 
 fruits of genuine repentance is confession of sin. " He 
 that covereth his sins shall not prosper ; but whoso 
 confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy." 
 Our sins against God must be confessed to God ; our 
 sins against our neighbor, to our neighbor. God's 
 
54 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 requirement is: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar 
 and there rememberest thy brother hath aught against 
 thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, first go 
 and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and 
 offer thy gift." Genuine repentance signifies real 
 honesty. If I have any desire to keep what I have 
 obtained by fraud or any dishonest means, I show 
 that I have no Godly sorrow for sin. I must be 
 honest with God and man before I can find the Divine 
 favor. " If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord 
 will not hear me." There must be open confession 
 of wrongdoing. It is not enough to restore what I 
 have dishonestly taken. I must be willing to ac- 
 knowledge the sin. Many would be willing to 
 restore stolen goods but they dislike the shame of 
 confession. They do not wish others to know how 
 wicked, or how contemptible their conduct has been. 
 But the Lord will never cover our sins until we 
 expose them. If we cover them he will expose 
 them. He says " there is nothing covered that shall 
 not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be made 
 known." Thus what men uncover He will cover, so 
 that it will never be exposed again. But what men 
 cover up in this world, God will uncover in the great 
 judgment day. The Lord will never be a party to 
 the concealment of unconfessed sin. He is glorified in 
 having it exposed. He has never concealed the sins 
 of His most faithful servants. Peter's shameful denial 
 of Christ and his cowardice and dissimulation after- 
 ward, as told by the New Testament writers, are 
 
REPENTANCE. 5 5 
 
 exposed relentlessly without apology or excuse for 
 them. If God would not hide his sin, He will not be 
 a party to hiding yours. He expects nothing less of 
 you than confession and restitution. You cannot be 
 an honest man otherwise, and He will not be a par- 
 taker with rogues. '* If we confess our sins, He is 
 faithful and just to forgive us our sins." To* wish to 
 appear better than we really are, is the veriest 
 hypocrisy. The man who really hates sin, hates it 
 in himself more intensely than in anyone else. The 
 hypocrite opposes everybody's sin but his own. 
 That he allows. The honest man denounces his own 
 sin first, and has no tolerance of it. The genuine 
 penitent is willing that angels and men should know 
 him just as he is. To be credited with virtues 
 he knows himself destitute of, is painful to him. 
 Real penitence makes a man sincere. There is 
 nothing kept back in the dark. He is transparent 
 like strained honey; "sine cera," without wax. 
 You will feel this sincerity when you talk with him ; 
 it is so apparent that it seems to surround him 
 like an atmosphere. It makes him, frank, candid, in- 
 genuous. It drives all the guile and subtlety out of 
 him ; all the sham and pretense ; and makes him 
 simple as a little child. This true awakening, ac- 
 companied by this Godly sorrow, gives a man clear 
 vision to discern sin, as well as honesty to confess it. 
 No wonder there is joy in the presence of the angels 
 of God over one sinner that repenteth ! It is a 
 wonderful work ! A good foundation upon which a 
 
56 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 consistent exemplary Christian life can be built. It 
 is far above the common standard of conversion as 
 usually taught. Far superior to much that is called 
 " Sanctification." The man who has once truly re- 
 pented of sin is not likely ever to fall into it again. 
 While his fall is possible, so long as he is on proba- 
 tion, it is far from probable. Those who so easily 
 and frequently relapse into sin, are those who have 
 never been real penitents. Those who imagine that 
 the Christian life is a succession of backsliding and 
 repenting, are living under the wrong dispensation. 
 That was characteristic of Judaism, but is not of 
 Christianity. Then God was married to the back- 
 slider, but now his bride is a chaste virgin, not a re- 
 formed harlot. Judaism was fitly represented by the 
 moon because it was so inconstant, alternately waxing 
 and waning like much of what is called Christianity; 
 but real Christianity is represented by the sun which is 
 unchangeable, and not subject to such variations. In 
 conclusion we repeat : repentance is such a sorrow 
 for sin that it causes the soul to feel toward sin as 
 God feels toward it. The attitude of the soul toward 
 sin is completely changed from that of love to one of 
 hatred. This abhorrence of sin causes a great care- 
 fulness to avoid it, and be divested of it. It leaves 
 no tolerance of sin. This intolerance of sin is fol- 
 lowed by an outward abstention from it, a ceasing to 
 do evil ; so that true repentance saves from all volun- 
 tary transgression. This hatred of sin not only pre- 
 serves the soul from present transgression, but fills 
 
REPENTANCE. 57 
 
 it with a determination to repair, as far as possible, 
 all past wrongdoing, by confession and restitution. 
 It makes the man honest and sincere. It also pro- 
 duces an intense desire to be right, so that right 
 hands are unhesitatingly cut off, and right eyes 
 plucked out. Nothing seems of value to the peni- 
 tent soul that stands in the way of righteousness. 
 This is the pearl of great price for which it cheerfully 
 sells all, that it may purchase it. Such repentance 
 brings the soul to the feet of Jesus in unconditional 
 surrender. It is " repentance unto salvation not to 
 be repented of." 
 
REGENERATION 
 
 "Except a man be born again he cannot see the 
 kingdom of God." — John iii:3« 
 
 ""PHIS subject, like that of Faith and Repentance, 
 * has nothing novel about it. And it might seem 
 that all had been said and written upon it that could 
 be said. Admitting this to be so, it may be profita- 
 ble to write it again. Possibly some new light may 
 be thrown upon this important Christian doctrine 
 and experience. The first thing that strikes the 
 reader of this conversation between Christ and Nico- 
 demus is the fact that the subject of their conversa- 
 tion is entirely new to the Jewish ruler. This would 
 not be so surprising if Christ had been talking to the 
 Samaritan woman or even to a Jewish publican. They 
 might be supposed to be ignorant of Jewish doctrine. 
 But certainly this Jewish ruler would be likely to be 
 thoroughly acquainted with the Jews' religion. But 
 the doctrine of the New Birth was one with which 
 Nicodemus was wholly unacquainted. It was incom- 
 prehensible to him. If our Lord had spoken to him 
 of repentance or forgiveness of sins, he would have 
 understood him at once. John the Baptist had been 
 preaching repentance and promising pardon of sin, 
 and no one was startled or confused by his preaching. 
 They saw nothing novel in the things taught, though 
 (58) 
 
REGENERATION. 59 
 
 the manner of teaching was original. The dress of 
 the preacher, the meat he ate, the place of his preach- 
 ing, were strange and calculated to strike the imagina- 
 tion, but the doctrines he taught, and the rite he ad- 
 ministered were not new. They recognized at once 
 the appropriateness of his call to repentance, and he 
 became at once one of the most successful preachers 
 the world has seen. But when Christ broached the 
 subject of the New Birth to this intelligent and enquir- 
 ing Jew, he excited surprise and incredulity. "How 
 can these things be," said Nicodemus, " How can a 
 man be born when he is old." His question showed 
 his complete ignorance of Christ's meaning. He had 
 no conception of the Spiritual change of which Christ 
 spoke. The reason of this is that the subject spoken 
 of was entirely outside of Jewish teaching and ex- 
 perience. It is the " mystery which was hidden from 
 ages and from generations." It is that thing which 
 eye had not seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered 
 into the heart of man, because God had kept it for 
 those that love Him. And, mirabile dictu ! though the 
 mystery was made known more than eighteen hun- 
 dred years ago, the experience is almost as uncom- 
 mon now, and apparently as impossible to this genera- 
 tion, as it was to Nicodemus. Yet it is the central 
 thought of Christianity, the keystone of the Gospel 
 arch, so that if it be taken away the whole fabric falls. 
 Without it Christianity is but a name, an empty shell, 
 a "barren ideality," of no practical value, and no 
 improvement upon the dispensation which it displaces. 
 
60 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 It is the experience which distinguishes Christianity 
 from Judaism, the Church of Christ from the Church 
 of Moses, the inward and Spiritual from the outward 
 and typical. It is the distinguishing characteris- 
 tic of a child of God. It is paradise regained. It 
 brings men into possession of that image of God 
 which they lost in the fall. It is the full realization 
 in us of the travail of Jesus' soul, so that he is satis- 
 fied. He is not ashamed to call such, brethren. It 
 is that radical, universal change which takes place in 
 the moral nature of a sinner to which God refers when 
 He says : " Old things are passed away, behold ! all 
 things are become new." I shall proceed to consider : 
 First. The necessity of this experience — why 
 must a man be born again? The obvious answer is, 
 because he is wrong in his first birth. So he needs 
 to be born again ; that is, once more. The marginal 
 reading is " born from above." In the cortext, he is 
 said to be " born of the water and of the Spirit." 
 This cannot mean two different births as he needs to 
 be born but once more. " Again" means "once 
 more." So the second birth must be either of water 
 or of the Spirit, but not of both, unless they are the 
 same. Some have suggested that but one birth is 
 meant but that the water represents the mother and 
 the Spirit the Father. This is too absurd to merit 
 serious consideration. What would the offspring be 
 if it partook of the nature of both parents ? The fact 
 no doubt is that Christ here brings together in one 
 view the type and the antetype, as is so often done 
 
REGENERATION. 6 1 
 
 by ihe New Testament writers. In all such cases the 
 Greek conjunction, kai, should be translated "even" 
 instead of "and." We would then read " of water 
 even of the Spirit." "The Holy Ghost even fire." 
 "The washing of regeneration even the renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost." " God, even the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ" etc. There were various wash- 
 ings under the law which are all typical of this Spirit- 
 ual cleansing, in this place called the New Birth. 
 Jesus is here speaking of an experience which is abso- 
 lutely essential, without which the Kingdom of God 
 cannot be seen. There is no such a necessity for any 
 emblematical birth. The want of it cannot hinder, 
 nor the possession of it help, in seeing the Heavenly 
 Kingdom. It is a Spiritual birth then of which Christ 
 is speaking, which will correct the deficiences of the 
 first. In our first birth we derive our moral nature by 
 natural generation from fallen Adam. So, " That which 
 is born of the flesh is flesh." That cannot mean that 
 only the flesh or body is born in our natural birth. 
 For the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, is born 
 into the world at birth. If that were Jesus' meaning 
 the passage would read, " That which is born of the 
 flesh is the flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit 
 is the Spirit." This would mean that the body is born 
 in the first birth and the spirit is born in the 
 second birth. As has been already said, that state- 
 ment is not true to fact, as the whole man is born in 
 the first birth. The words "flesh" and "Spirit" are 
 used here, as in so many other places in the inspired 
 
62 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 writings, to express moral qualities. They are used 
 as adjectives, as if Christ had said : That which is born 
 of the flesh is fleshly, that is, unholy ; and that which 
 is born of the Spirit is Spiritual, that is, holy. These 
 words are used by our Lord as elsewhere by the New 
 Testament writers, to describe the moral states of the 
 regenerate and the unregenerate. The reason, then, 
 why we need to be born again is because we are 
 fleshly in our first birth. We are born unholy. After 
 Adam lost God's moral image he could not com- 
 municate it to his offspring. So we all come into 
 the world destitute of that image. Natural depravity 
 is a fact so emphatically taught by experience and 
 observation, that he must be bold indeed who denies 
 it. It is not taught in God's word only, but all his- 
 tory and experience proclaim it. The natural bent 
 of man toward evil is so apparent that the pagan 
 writers speak of it as an undoubted fact. How much 
 more ready children are to follow evil example than 
 good. If there is no bent to sinning how can we 
 account for the fact of the universal departure from 
 right living? Why do all men know better than they 
 do, if they are as free to move in one direction as the 
 other? The evil example of one child will infect the 
 children of a whole community ; but how little effect 
 will one good example have. I know that the doc- 
 trine of human depravity is becoming more and more 
 unpopular at the present time, but that does not in 
 the least change the fact. Man is just as corrupt by 
 nature as ever he was, however opinions may change. 
 
REGENERATION. 63 
 
 There are thpse who object to the phrase, "total de- 
 pravity," as expressive of the natural state of man. 
 They ask if man is totally depraved at birth how he 
 can ever become any worse than that. He certainly 
 never can become any more depraved. But the ob- 
 jection arises from a misunderstanding of the meaning 
 of the term " total depravity." It is negative in its 
 meaning and expresses nothing positive. It simply 
 expresses what man has not, and not what he has. 
 It means that he is totally deprived or destitute of 
 something. It says nothing as to what he has or 
 is. The thing he is totally destitute of is goodness, 
 righteousness. To affirm then that man by nature is 
 totally depraved, is to assert that by nature he has 
 no goodness, no righteousness. These words teach 
 that man is lost, ruined, separated from God. That 
 all men of every age, condition, clime, are under sin, 
 slaves to an evil nature. That they are evil trees that 
 can produce nothing but evil fruit. They teach that 
 God has concluded all men under sin that he may 
 have mercy upon all. That salvation is the free gift 
 of God because man can do nothing to merit or earn 
 it. That all efforts on his part to merit God's favor 
 are obnoxious to God. That all their righteousness 
 is "filthy rags" in His sight. The poet has not 
 overdrawn the picture when he says : 
 
 " Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin; 
 We're born unholy and unclean; 
 Sprung from the man whose guilty fall 
 Corrupts his race and taints us all." 
 
64 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 I shall cite but one passage of Scripture to prove 
 the doctrine of human depravity and its totality. 
 (Rom. vii : 18.) " For I know that in me (that is, in 
 my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." That is a plain 
 statement of the doctrine. It is not necessary to go 
 to the hyperbolical expressions of the Old Testament 
 to prove the doctrine. Here it is literally set forth. 
 If there dwelleth no good thing in a man while in his 
 natural state, then he is totally destitute of good, that 
 is, totally depraved. But some one may object that 
 the Apostle is speaking of his body, and simply 
 asserts that there is nothing good in it. But if there 
 is anything good in a man it is in his body. The 
 same Apostle tells us that our " bodies are the tem- 
 ple of the Holy Ghost." But, says the objector, I 
 mean that there is no good in the substance of the 
 body. Certainly not ; for the substance of the body 
 is matter, and moral quality cannot be predicated of 
 matter. The Apostle might as well have stopped to 
 declare that there was no good thing in a stock or a 
 stone. Who ever supposed there was? The Apostle 
 uses this same term " flesh" frequently, in this epistle, 
 as well as in his other writings, always to signify the 
 natural state. So we are to suppose he uses it in 
 the same sense in this place, if it will bear that sense, 
 as it certainly will. He states then that in him, in his 
 natural unregenerate state, there dwelleth no good 
 thing. He was also speaking of himself as a repre- 
 sentative man ; he was proving a general proposi- 
 tion, and his illustrations are used to that end. If, 
 
REGENERATION. 65 
 
 then, this was true of the Apostle and he was speak- 
 ing of himself as a representative of the race, it is 
 true of every man, that in him naturally dwelleth no 
 good thing. That is total depravity. In his first 
 birth, then, man inherits a fallen depraved moral 
 nature. His propensities and affections are wrong. 
 He naturally loves evil and hates good. " He loves 
 darkness rather than light."" The Apostle Paul tells 
 us that "The carnal mind is enmity against God." 
 Enmity against God is the essence of the carnal 
 mind, the natural heart of man. He tells us further 
 that "It is not subject to the law of God, neither in- 
 deed can be." It cannot be subject to God's law. 
 So then men in their natural state, who " are in the 
 flesh," cannot please God. This " law of sin in the 
 members" makes them slaves to sin, so that while they 
 may will to do right, they have no power to carry out 
 their good resolutions. We are told in the first of 
 the seventh chapter of Romans, that God's people 
 were first married to the law, but they "brought 
 forth fruit unto death." The result of this union was 
 that the offspring was unholy. This was not the fault 
 of the law for "The law was holy and just and good." 
 The fault lay in the wife, not in the husband. But 
 the first husband is declared dead, that another union 
 may take place, that we may "bring forth fruit unto 
 God." But this change of husbands can do no good 
 unless there is a change in the wife. But what the law 
 could not do, Christ the sin offering does. He "con- 
 demns this sin in the flesh," dooms it to destruction, 
 s. f. s.— 5 
 
66 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 so that the righteousness of the law may be ful- 
 filled in us, his people. "They that are Christ's have 
 crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts." " Our 
 old man is crucified with him that the body of sin 
 might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not 
 serve sin." Unless this were done, we would still 
 serve sin, as thousands can testify. The reason why 
 men cannot serve God and produce the fruits of 
 obedience, is because they have unholy natures, 
 averse to God, which cannot be subject to his law. 
 Until this is changed men can never have fellowship 
 with God, nor "bring forth fruit unto holiness." The 
 reason why men need to be born again is that they 
 are wrong in their first birth. They do not need to 
 be born again because they have sinned against God. 
 They need pardon for their past offenses but that 
 will not give them any power to change their lives. 
 They needed to be born again before they sinned 
 the first time, and to forgive those offenses would at 
 best but place them back where they began ; and 
 the cause that produced transgression in the past 
 would still produce it, unless it be removed. This 
 cause is the evil heart of unbelief. Until the tree is 
 made good, removing the fruit will have no corrective 
 effect. As soon as the tree fruits again, it will still 
 produce the same kind of fruit as before. What is 
 wanted is to make the tree good by changing its 
 nature. This, regeneration accomplishes. 
 
 Second. We consider in the second place the nature 
 of regeneration: "That which is born of the Spirit is 
 
REGENERATION. 6j 
 
 Spirit," or Spiritual. Jesus uses the word "Spirit" 
 here in the same sense in which he uses it in John 
 vi : 63, "The words that I speak unto you they are 
 Spirit and they are life." The word is here used 
 adjectively, and not as a substantive. So it is in the 
 former passage. Those who are born of the flesh, 
 who derive their moral nature from fallen Adam, are 
 fleshly, carnal, unholy. Those who are born of the 
 Spirit, who derive their moral nature from God, are 
 Spiritual, holy, pure. They are recreated as to their 
 moral nature. They are " Created in Christ Jesus 
 unto good works." They are " Born again, not of 
 corruptible seed, but of the Word of God, who 
 liveth and abideth forever." When a soul is awakened, 
 it is said to be begotten, and if it does not resist God 
 it will surely be brought to the birth. The change 
 brought about in the New Birth is from natural to 
 Spiritual. From the moral image of Satan to the 
 moral image of God. From being an evil tree which 
 can produce nothing but bad fruit to a good tree 
 which can produce nothing but good fruit. This 
 change is from its nature instantaneous. As it is im- 
 possible that we should be at the same time the 
 children of God and the children of the Devil, there 
 must be a place where and a time when we cease to 
 be the one and become the other. The approach 
 may be more or less protracted, since it depends to 
 a great extent upon the subject of grace. But the 
 work of recreation is God's work, and " He speaks 
 and it is done." As a rule in experience, this moment 
 
68 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 is very clearly marked in the consciousness of the 
 person born again. There may be exceptions to the 
 rule, as to the realization of this experience, but there 
 must be a time when the fact of sonship is first 
 realized, and this must be the time when the relation 
 begins. The more swift the -approach to this ex- 
 perience, the more powerful is the impression likely 
 to be that is made upon the consciousness, in this 
 wonderful change. In analyzing this experience, 
 there are two separate works to be considered, 
 though they are not separate in the consciousness. 
 First, the destruction of the old nature, and, second, 
 the bringing in of the new nature. The second is 
 conditional upon the first. That is, the new nature 
 cannot be brought in until the old nature is taken 
 away. The promise is, " I will take the stony heart 
 out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." The 
 first work is, then, the removal of the stony heart. 
 The Apostle agrees with the prophet as to the order 
 of procedure. He says (Eph. iv: 22-24): " That 
 ye put off concerning the former conversation the old 
 man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful 
 lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your 
 mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which 
 after God is created in righteousness and true holi- 
 ness." And again (Col. iii : 9-10) : " Seeing that ye 
 have put off the old man with his deeds ; and have 
 put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, 
 after the image of him that created him." Again 
 in Rom. vi, we are taught that the old man is cruci- 
 
REGENERATION. 69 
 
 fied with Christ, and buried with Him, and the new 
 man is raised up from the dead to walk in newness of 
 life. Again in II. Cor. v : 17, we read, "Therefore 
 if any man be in Christ he is a new creature : old 
 things are passed away ; behold ! all things are be- 
 come new." I am thus explicit on this point be- 
 cause, though the order set forth in what has been 
 said is both Scriptural and philosophical, it is denied 
 by some who entirely reverse it in their teachings. 
 They teach that the new man is first put on and then 
 after a time the old man is put off. This certainly 
 seems like doing things backwards. Not only is this 
 order contrary to nature and to all the types, but it 
 has not one passage of Scripture to stand on. It 
 was invented in the first place to fit some people's 
 experience, and then authority for it was sought in 
 the Scripture, and some passages which at first sight 
 might seem to favor the theory were seized upon and 
 used to bolster up the theory. That they are thus 
 made to contradict other passages, is either overlooked 
 or disregarded. The passage in Corinthians, quoted 
 above, ought to settle the question at once. "If any 
 man be in Christ he is a new creature : old things are 
 passed away; behold, all things are become new." 
 Mr. Wesley in his sermon on "sin in believers," says 
 of this passage: "All things are become new; but 
 not wholly new." From the prejudices of early edu- 
 cation and from reading his works, I have great rev- 
 erence for John Wesley. He had great logical 
 acumen. But he ought to be ashamed of that 
 
JO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 statement. It is unworthy of both his honesty and his 
 ability. Its casuistry is worthy of the old Catholic 
 theologians. How can a thing be new and not 
 wholly new ? Is an old implement worked over and 
 having some old parts replaced by new, a new imple- 
 ment? If a carriage maker, for instance, were to 
 sell an old vehicle with some if its parts new, and the 
 whole repainted and revarnished, as a new carriage, 
 would he not be liable to indictment for fraud ? But 
 the Lord says "Old things are passed away." What 
 remains then must be new. How could the passage 
 more clearly express an entirely new creation? 
 This work is called a creation. It is said we are 
 " Created in Christ Jesus." How can a new creation 
 have old material in it? The Lord evidently be- 
 lieves his work will bear close inspection, for he calls 
 special attention to it. " Behold," He says, " All things 
 are become new." Upon the man who denies this, 
 lies the burden of proof, to show that God does not 
 mean what he says, and uses language calculated to 
 deceive. We will still understand Him, when He de- 
 clares that old things are passed away and, behold ! all 
 things are become new, to mean that an entirely new 
 creation has taken place ; that the old man is cruci- 
 fied and destroyed, dead and buried, and the new 
 man has risen to walk in newness of life. When 
 we are instructed to put off the old man and put 
 on the new man, we will not endeavor to put the 
 new man on over the old, and then put the 
 old man off afterward. If we should succeed 
 
REGENERATION. 7 1 
 
 in doing such a strange thing we would pre- 
 sent the anomaly, after putting the new man on, 
 and before putting the old man off, of having two 
 distinct moral natures, diametrically opposed to 
 each other: the one hating God, the other lov- 
 ing Him; the one in obedience to His law, the 
 other in open rebellion. t The believer would have at 
 the same time, the carnal mind and the mind of 
 Christ. If such a thing is possible there certainly 
 could be no difficulty in serving two masters, because 
 the converted man would love the one and hold to 
 the other, both at the same time. But it may be sug- 
 gested that the new man would keep the old man 
 under. Under what? Under obedience? This is 
 declared by the Apostle to be impossible. It is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. If 
 the carnal mind could be subjected to the law of God 
 so that it would not disobey it, then it would not be 
 necessary to take it away in order to the bringing 
 forth of good fruit. There is not one word in the 
 Scripture about keeping the carnal mind under. Much 
 is said about crucifying it, destroying it, putting it 
 off, but not one word about keeping it down. That 
 idea had its origin in man's imagination. God is not 
 responsible for it. The Apostle says (Rom. vi) : 
 " Knowing this that our old man is crucified with 
 him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that 
 henceforth we should not serve sin." If the old man 
 is crucified and destroyed in order that we might not 
 serve sin, the necessary inference is that until it is 
 
J2 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 destroyed we will serve sin. Upon the supposition 
 of two moral natures in us at once, not only would 
 it be possible to serve two masters, but it would be 
 impossible to do otherwise. Evidently Jesus knew 
 nothing of such a state of things as this. He conceived 
 of a good tree and a bad tree, but of one both good 
 and bad at the same time he seems to have been 
 ignorant. The supposition of two opposite moral 
 natures at the same time is an absurdity. As well 
 might we suppose that an apple might be both sweet 
 and sour at the same time, or water both fresh and 
 salt. But whether the supposition is admissible or 
 not, no such theory is taught in the Scriptures, but 
 just the opposite is plainly taught. I hold, then, that 
 in regeneration the carnal mind, the flesh, the old 
 man, the body of sin, is first destroyed, crucified, put 
 off, buried, and then the new man is put on. As it 
 is true that so many as have been baptised into Jesus 
 Christ have been baptised into his death, as to the 
 old man, it is also true that as many as have been 
 baptised into Christ have put on Christ, that is, the 
 new man. This new man is said to be righteousness 
 and true holiness. It is the mind of Christ. It is the 
 image of God. And as God is love, the new man is 
 love ; love to God and man. Love to God that pro- 
 duces universal obedience. For, says Christ, " If 
 any man love me he will keep my words." Love to 
 man that worketh no ill to his neighbor. As the old 
 sinful nature is destroyed, the man who is born 
 again finds himself *at liberty to serve God. Sin 
 
REGENERATION. 73 
 
 has no dominion over him ; no compelling power. 
 There is nothing in his nature that hinders him 
 in the service of God, for the old things that 
 once hampered him are passed away. The new 
 nature just as naturally produces the fruit of 
 obedience as the old nature did the fruit of 
 sin. He has no inclination to go away from God. 
 Gravitation is turned the other way and he is drawn 
 toward God, but repelled by sin. He is in a new 
 kingdom of which God is the center, and all things 
 are drawn toward the center. He feels no proneness 
 to leave God. The evil heart of unbelief, in depart- 
 ing from the living God, has been taken out of him, 
 and a new one of another bent has been given him. 
 When the old man died out of him, he lost his bent 
 to sinning. He no longer complains of his heart, for 
 God has given him a new heart, perfect and pure. 
 He is at liberty to serve God with all his ransomed 
 powers. The Son has made him free, and he is free 
 indeed. If he committed sin, he would be the slave 
 of sin, but, being made free from sin, and become 
 the servant of God, he has his fruit unto holiness and 
 the end everlasting life. He is tempted to sin, but 
 has grace to resist the temptation, so that he need 
 not enter into it. He is enabled by the grace of 
 God to keep under his body, all its appetites and 
 propensities, so that he only gratifies them lawfully, 
 and then in moderation and temperance. As he is 
 born from above, born of God, he has assurance of 
 this new relation given him. 
 
74 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Third, I will consider in the third place the 
 evidences of regeneration. These are two: the tes- 
 timony of our own spirit, or consciousness ; and 
 the testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is not to be 
 supposed that such a change could take place in 
 the affections of any human being, and he be un- 
 conscious of it. The transition from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of Satan unto God, is too 
 stupendous a change to permit anyone to remain 
 in ignorance of it, who is the subject of it. It 
 is as easily known as the change from pain to 
 pleasure, from labor to rest, from thirst to satiety, 
 from anxiety to indifference, or any other change, 
 either mental or physical. To assert, then, that any- 
 one could become a child of God and not know it or 
 be clearly conscious of it, is to assert an absurdity. 
 It cannot be conceived how such a change could take 
 place without powerfully arresting the attention. And 
 so clear and certain would this testimony of con- 
 sciousness be, that it might be supposed that it 
 would be amply sufficient to prove the event beyond 
 a doubt. And in natural things it is. There can be 
 no testimony more convincing than the testimony of 
 consciousness. It outweighs a thousand opposing 
 arguments. It is a fact that cannot be gainsaid. Yet 
 consciousness may deceive us, not as to the fact of 
 its existence, but as to its origin or cause. It may 
 seem to us to proceed from a certain cause, when in 
 reality it proceeds from an entirely different cause. 
 But this deception so seldom occurs that in natural 
 
REGENERATION. 75 
 
 things we are left to ascertain the truth of the matter 
 as best we can, or rest in the deception. These mat- 
 ters are not of so much importance that we should 
 be furnished with any testimony concerning them 
 higher than reason or consciousness. But the mat- 
 ter of our relation to God is of such paramount im- 
 portance that no human being can afford to be mis- 
 taken concerning it. If there remains the possibility 
 of a doubt in our minds as to the certainty of our 
 acceptance with God, the mind would be continually 
 racked with suspicion and fear, and confidence and 
 assurance would be impossible. The most tender 
 conscience, and the mind most thoroughly imbued 
 with a sense of the infinite importance of the ques- 
 tion of its relation to God, would be most tormented. 
 Like Noah's dove, it would find no rest on the 
 turbulent sea of doubt and terror. Nor could 
 any quiet be reached except in indifference or 
 despair. The reason why men are content to 
 rest without assurance is because they are so in- 
 different respecting the matter of their acceptance 
 with God. But the truly awakened soul who is 
 enabled to look at all things in the light of eternity 
 cannot be indifferent on the subject. For him the 
 question must be answered, the uncertainty must end, 
 and he must know whether God is his father or not. 
 Nothing short of absolute certainty can quiet his fear 
 and banish all his doubts. If there were no testi- 
 mony that would effectually settle the controversy, 
 the awakened soul, the submissive soul, would be 
 
j6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 most miserable of all. Fortunately for the repose of 
 sincere souls, God has provided a witness whose 
 credibility and veracity are unimpeachable. "The 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit that we are 
 the children of God." (Rom. viii:i6.) " Hereby 
 we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which 
 he hath given us." (I. John iii : 24.) "After that 
 ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
 promise." (Eph. i:i3.) We cannot trust to the 
 testimony of our own spirit alone, however clearly it 
 may speak. We cannot but be conscious of the 
 emotions that fill our souls, but we fear they may 
 come from some other source than the Spirit of God, 
 unless God himself speaks to us and tells us we are 
 His. We must have His word for it. But 
 
 " When Jesus shows his mercy mine 
 And whispers I am his," 
 
 then every fear is lulled, every doubt is banished, and 
 assurance and certainty take the place of distrust. 
 "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
 Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, 
 Father." (Gal. iv:6.) God's word settles the 
 question forever. No place is left for doubt or fear, 
 and the soul rejoices in the Divine Spirit of sonship 
 and heirship. It approaches God in full assurance 
 of faith, with a blessed sense of its new relation to 
 Him. Not the testimony of men and angels could 
 give such assurance as does the testimony of the 
 Holy Spirit. But it may be asked, "How can the 
 
REGENERATION. J 7 
 
 soul know that God is speaking?" Certainly God 
 can so reveal Himself to the soul as to satisfy it of His 
 identity. If finite man can satisfy his fellowman of 
 his identity, certainly the Infinite God can communi- 
 cate with His creatures in such a way as to assure 
 them of His identity. How He does it I cannot ex- 
 plain ; that He does it I am absolutely certain. When 
 God speaks to man he is as sure of the fact as of 
 his own existence. He can no more doubt the one 
 than the other. He may imagine that God speaks 
 to him when He does not speak, as I may imagine I 
 am awake when I am dreaming. But when God 
 does speak to him he knows it, just as when I am 
 awake I know it, and that I am not dreaming. In 
 conclusion, we repeat that the necessity of regenera- 
 tion lies in the fact that man is unholy in his birth ; 
 totally lost from God and destitute of all goodness ; 
 having an unholy nature and wrong affections, hating 
 God and loving sin. That the nature of regenera- 
 tion is a radical, universal change of that moral na- 
 ture, so that the "old man," the " carnal mind," "the 
 flesh," is "crucified," "destroyed," "put off," 
 " buried," and the " new man," "Christ," "the mind 
 of Christ," is "raised up" and "put on," so that the 
 regenerated person walks in "newness of life," " brings 
 forth fruit unto holiness," has " the righteousness of 
 the law fulfilled " in him, so that he loves God with 
 all his heart and his neighbor as himself. The evi- 
 dence of this great change is found, first, in the testi- 
 mony of his own spirit, or consciousness, and, second, 
 
J. \ 
 
 78 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 in the testimony or witness of the Holy Spirit with 
 his spirit. These two witnesses conjoined give the 
 believer full assurance of his sonship, enable him to 
 call God his father with confidence, and forever set- 
 tle all doubts and fears as to his acceptance with 
 God. Reader, have you this indubitable witness? 
 
JUSTIFICATION 
 
 "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? 
 It is God that justifieth." — Rom. viii : 33. 
 
 ""THE original Greek word which is sometimes trans- 
 * lated ''justification" is also often translated 
 "righteousness," and it seems that the context alone 
 determines which word more properly represents the 
 original. The two words then must be very closely 
 related in their meaning. The original word is a legal 
 term, and is used in judicial decisions. It represents 
 the verdict rendered and sometimes means condem- 
 nation, though the root meaning is acquittal. In all 
 judicial decisions there must be some standard of 
 judgment, some law or custom with which the con- 
 duct of the person on trial must be compared. If, 
 upon comparison, the conduct of the accused is found 
 to be in harmony with the standard, he is acquitted 
 of blame and is pronounced right, as to the standard 
 of judgment. That is, he is justified. The same per- 
 son may be acquitted as to one standard and con- 
 demned as to another. A man may be right in law, 
 but wrong in equity ; because the standards are dif- 
 ferent. If we bear in mind that all justification must 
 have respect to some standard of judgment, it will 
 help to keep the subject clear to our understanding. 
 It will follow then that the justification is different as 
 
 (79) 
 
80 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the standard is different. Heathen justification, if 
 there be such a thing, will differ from Christian justi- 
 fication, for they are judged by different standards. 
 St. Paul says that " They which have not the law, are 
 a law unto themselves, etc." The Old Testament be- 
 lievers must have been judged by a different standard 
 from those under the new covenant, as they were jus- 
 tified while doing things that would instantly con- 
 demn a Christian. For instance, they were polyga- 
 mists, they hated their enemies, were slaveholders, 
 etc. In fact it is clear that the same life was neither 
 required nor expected of them as is both required 
 and expected of Christians. Because no provision 
 had yet been made for their cleansing, it was not ex- 
 pected that they would be free from sin, in their con- 
 duct. The moral law, God's standard of perfection 
 in heart and life, has ever been the same ; but Old 
 Testament believers were expected to measure up to 
 the standard in neither heart nor life. The condition 
 of justification has been the same in all dispensations, 
 and that condition is faith. So in this respect Abra- 
 ham's justification is a sample of all justification. He 
 " believed God and it was counted unto him for right- 
 eousness" or justification. The subject for our con- 
 sideration is not heathen justification or justification 
 under the law, but justification under the Gospel, or 
 Christian justification. 
 
 One of the most common mistakes made with ref- 
 erence to this subject, is the confounding justification 
 with pardon of sin. Pardon is an act of clemency in 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 8 1 
 
 passing by offenses. Justification is a proclamation 
 of innocence, of righteousness. Pardon has reference 
 to the past, justification to the present. It is true 
 that the New Testament writers do not use the term 
 precisely, sometimes using it, apparently, for the 
 whole work of salvation, as in the text of this dis- 
 course. But I do not know of a single instance 
 where it is used specifically to mean pardon of sin. 
 Pardon of sin is always presumed in justification, but 
 so is regeneration in the justification of a Christian. 
 And we have no more warrant for confounding it 
 with the one than with the other. Justification is 
 neither pardon nor renewal, but is predicated upon 
 both of them. That justification is not synonymous 
 with pardon, is clear when we recollect that it is 
 applied to God. In Ps. li : 4 David says, " Against 
 thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in 
 thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou 
 speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." It is 
 evident pardon is not meant there. In I. Tim. iii : 16 
 we read : " God was manifest in the flesh, justified in 
 the Spirit," etc. Neither can pardon be meant here. 
 I think it will clearly appear from what has been said 
 that those who in their teaching confound justifica- 
 tion with pardon make a grievous mistake and falsely 
 interpret the Scriptures. A sinner must be pardoned 
 before he can be justified, for he cannot be clear 
 while there are offenses unatoned for. He can 
 become clear in but two ways ; either he must suffer 
 the penalty of the violated law to the end, or he must 
 
 S. F. S.-6 
 
82 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 be pardoned. In either case the law would have no 
 further hold upon him, and he can be pronounced 
 clear, or justified. But pardon is no more his justi- 
 fication than the suffering of the penalty would be. 
 It is a necessary preliminary to it. He cannot be 
 justified until either the punishment or the pardon 
 has taken place. 
 
 In the Christian sense, justification is that act of 
 God our Judge, by which He acquits us of all guilt, 
 and pronounces us free from the condemnation of, 
 and in harmony with, the holy law of God. It is 
 God's verdict as to our relation to His law. 
 
 In the beginning God gave man a law that he 
 might live by obedience. No doubt all holy intelli- 
 gences live by obedience to a holy and perfect law. 
 Man in his pristine state of holiness and human per- 
 fection was able to keep God's law both in its letter 
 and spirit without mistake or fault. The require- 
 ments of the law were suited to man's abilities. No 
 doubt this is also true of the angels and whatever 
 other holy intelligences there may be in the universe. 
 They need no grace but are periectly able to main- 
 tain their standing by obedience to the law. But 
 man failed to do this. Through the solicitations of 
 a tempter, the woman fell, and the man through the 
 solicitations of his wife. They were free to stand by 
 obedience or to fall by disobedience. They chose to 
 do the latter, and became involved in guilt and sin. 
 They lost both the favor and image of God. The 
 law of God condemned them for what they had done 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 83 
 
 and what they had become. They lost their God- 
 likeness and their innocence, and also their ability to 
 keep the law. They were in a desperate condition. 
 For even had the past been blotted out they had no 
 power to stand for the future, and could they have 
 kept the law for the future they had no way of aton- 
 ing for the past. Thus they were doubly lost. But 
 God, Who is rich in mercy, though He had never had 
 the opportunity of showing it, devised a plan for man's 
 redemption and restoration to His favor and image. 
 As they could not keep the law He provided a Re- 
 deemer who could ; and as they were obnoxious to 
 punishment, He provided a Substitute, who should be 
 wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for 
 their iniquities. Without entering into the question 
 of the exact nature of the atonement made by the 
 Redeemer, we understand that His sufferings were 
 vicarious, and of such a nature that they satisfied the 
 requirements of the Divine law, so that God can be 
 just in passing by the offenses of the sinner who be- 
 lieves in the Redeemer. This Redeemer, Jesus 
 Christ, the Divine Son of God, the incarnate Word, 
 suffered and died for all men, in the sense, first, that 
 all men are delivered by Him from the guilt of the 
 first transgression, so that no man shall suffer in the 
 future life for any sin but his own. Second, that he 
 is the possible Savior of all men, the merits of His suf- 
 ferings being available for the salvation of every lost 
 descendant of Adam. But He is the actual Savior of 
 such only as appropriate to themselves these merits 
 
84 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 by faith. The law required that suffering should be 
 undergone as the penalty of transgression. This suf- 
 fering, sufficient to vindicate the law and satisfy its 
 claims, our Substitute underwent. And God can, in 
 justice, accept His sufferings in lieu of ours and let us 
 go free from punishment upon our acceptance of the 
 Substitute. But the law also requires perfect obe- 
 dience in thought, word and deed. This we are as 
 unable to render as to atone for our past sins. But 
 the law must be perfectly kept by some one. So in 
 this respect also Christ is our Substitute. He kept 
 the law in every jot and tittle ; without mistake and 
 without infirmity ; in its spirit and in its letter. He 
 magnified the law and made it honorable by His per- 
 fect obedience to it, as well as by undergoing its pen- 
 alties. God's law requires us to be right as well as 
 act right. It respects the affections and intentions as 
 well as the outward conduct. Jesus tells us that all 
 the law and the prophets hang upon loving God with 
 all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is 
 the essence, the righteousness, of the law. As long 
 as we fail to do this, we are violators of the law of 
 God as much as if we were guilty of murder or theft. 
 And as this is the law by which we are judged, the 
 standard by which we are tried, we must measure up 
 to it before we can be acquitted, or our Substitute 
 must do it for us. Now if, as the Antinomians teach, 
 Christ suffered just exactly what the law would have 
 required of all those for whom He died, and rendered 
 obedience to the law equal to all that could have been 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 85 
 
 required of them, then this suffering and this obe- 
 dience could not justly be required twice, and those 
 atoned for need neither suffer nor obey. But this is 
 not the teaching of Scripture. Christ's sufferings and 
 obedience are sufficient to satisfy the requirements of 
 God's law, so that God can pardon the sins of those 
 who trust in Jesus, and cover those transgressions and 
 shortcomings which are the necessary results of our 
 present imperfect state. But it is not proposed that 
 our Substitute shall render for us the love that the 
 law requires. He does for us only what we cannot 
 do for ourselves. We cannot atone for our guilty 
 past, so He does it for us. We cannot divest ourselves 
 of the imputed guilt of Adam's sin, so He takes it 
 away, that sin of the world. We cannot, while our 
 bodies are still under the curse, and all our faculties 
 weakened and disordered, keep the letter of the law 
 perfectly. So, since God does not see fit to restore 
 us to human perfection till the resurrection, He 
 covers these technical defects in our obedience with 
 the merits of His own- perfect obedience. But we can 
 be brought to love God with all our hearts and our 
 neighbors as ourselves, so He restores us in our 
 moral nature to that purity and uprightness which 
 we lost in the fall, and causes the righteousness of 
 the law to be fulfilled in us. Spiritually we are re- 
 deemed, though physically we are not, but will be 
 after while. It is required of us that love shall in- 
 spire all our conduct. To us, love is the fulfilling 
 of the law. Now as the law requires, not only the 
 
86 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 canceling of past guilt, but the love of God and our 
 neighbor, and provision has been made so that we 
 may fulfill this requirement, it follows that we can- 
 not be pronounced clear of guilt and transgression 
 unless we do these things. We cannot be justified 
 in the sight of God unless we measure up to the re- 
 quirements of His law, so far as it is possible for us 
 to do. It is possible for us to love God with all our 
 hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. Provision is 
 made that we may be thus saved. Consequently it 
 follows that until we do this we cannot be justified 
 before God. 
 
 It is quite a common practice among some re- 
 ligious teachers to contrast justification and sancti- 
 fication to the disadvantage and discredit of the 
 former. They teach that sanctification is a much 
 higher state of grace than justification. This teach- 
 ing is wholly unwarranted by Scripture. These two 
 experiences are never so compared by any of the 
 New Testament writers. The one is never repre- 
 sented as being higher or greater than the other. 
 When the Apostle holds up the Christian for universal 
 inspection and challenges the universe to lay any- 
 thing to his charge, he bases his confidence upon the 
 fact that God justifies him. It is very true that he is 
 sanctified also, but this the Apostle does not mention. 
 His argument is, if God justifies him there can noth- 
 ing wrong be discovered in him. Neither the demons 
 in Hell nor the angels in Heaven can find any fault 
 in him. That certainly does not argue a low state of 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 87 
 
 grace. Can there possibly be a higher gracious state 
 than this? This comparison of sanctification and 
 justification is not only unscriptural, it is unphiloso- 
 phical and absurd. We can only compare things of 
 the same kind or class. But these two works of grace 
 do not belong to the same class. The one is moral, 
 the other legal. Sanctification is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit in making us new creatures. It is a 
 moral change, from inward defilement to inward 
 purity. It is done in us. Justification is God's' ver- 
 dict upon that work, on the man who is the subject 
 of it. It is just as reasonable to compare God's work 
 in creating man holy, and His work when He pro- 
 nounced him very good. How could one of these 
 be higher than the other? Nor is it proper to speak 
 of pardon of sin and sanctification as being higher or 
 lower. The sanctified man who was unforgiven 
 would be equally lost with the pardoned man who 
 was unsanctified. But to have both is certainly 
 higher than to have but one, and in this the 
 Christian's preeminence consists. To speak slight- 
 ingly then of a state of justification is a most foolish 
 and unwarranted proceeding, and simply convicts the 
 person who does it of ignorance. It is very true of 
 many others than the Sadducees, that they do greatly 
 err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of 
 God. The mistake of such persons is that they are 
 comparing a supposed state of present salvation with 
 a past state of disobedience and condemnation, in- 
 stead of a past state of justification. To maintain 
 
88 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 that the Lord justified in such a state as they claim 
 to have been in, is to charge God foolishly and to 
 discredit His judgment. They themselves cannot 
 justify what they accuse God of justifying. 
 
 The Scripture writers evidently know nothing of 
 low state and high state in Christian experience. In 
 Rom. v. the Apostle Paul speaks of justification 
 by faith, and does not mention regeneration or 
 sanctification, but his language shows that he pre- 
 sumed the justified person to be also sanctified. In 
 the fifth verse he says, "And hope maketh not 
 ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in 
 our heart by the Holy Ghost given unto us." Here, 
 then, the justified person is said to have received the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. And it is agreed on all hands 
 that the gift or baptism of the Holy Spirit results in 
 the sanctification of the recipient. This is what they 
 received at Pentecost, and those who make the dis- 
 tinction controverted, themselves teach that at Pente- 
 cost men were sanctified. But those of whom the 
 Apostle speaks as being justified had that also. So 
 far as I can learn, this invidious comparison between 
 these two works was never known until the eighteenth 
 century. Mr. Wesley is responsible for it; but he 
 never in his writings or teachings carried it to the 
 absurd length that others have since. Mr. Wesley 
 was a minister of the Church of England and a high 
 churchman. He was indebted to the Moravians for 
 his first instruction in experimental religion. But he 
 afterward differed from their leader, Count Zinzen- 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 89 
 
 dorf, on this very point. Zinzendorf held only one 
 degree in Christianity. Mr. Wesley would have been 
 compelled to unchristianize the whole English Church 
 and most of his own followers if the standard were 
 held so high. It is true he had done this for many 
 years, but afterward changed his opinions. He, him- 
 self, bases this change of opinion upon the experience 
 of certain of his followers who had professed to have 
 reached a higher plane in their experience. This 
 led him to revise his theology. And he aftenvard 
 taught two paths to Heaven, a high and a low one. 
 (See his sermon on "The More Excellent Way.") 
 The low one was called justification, the higher one 
 sanctification. Now there is no doubt that the Scrip- 
 tures teach the experience commonly called the 
 higher life, sanctification, holiness, etc., to be a 
 Christian experience, but there is no warrant in them 
 for the lower one. The man who is not holy in heart 
 and life is no Christian at all. No man can be justified 
 in living in sin, or with sin in him. He might have 
 been, before the fountain of cleansing was open, be- 
 fore the Holy Spirit was given as our Sanctifier, but 
 not since then. It was about the time I have spoken 
 of above, that Mr. Wesley wrote "We saw that men 
 were justified before they were sanctified." I do not 
 know where he saw it, unless in the supposed ex- 
 perience of his disciples, for most assuredly he did not 
 see it in the Scriptures. It seems to have been a new 
 discovery, but it was a mistake. Mr Wesley, though a 
 great and good man, was not infallible in his teachings, 
 
90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 and unless they accord with the only and sufficient 
 rule of faith and practice, we must reject them. We 
 see, then, from the nature of justification, and from the 
 teachings of the Scriptures, that in order to be justi- 
 fied a Christian must measure up to the requirements 
 of the law of Christ. He must, first, be free from the 
 guilt of actual transgression ; and, second, have the 
 righteousness of the law fulfilled in him, that is, he 
 must love the Lord with all his heart, might, mind 
 and strength, and his neighbor as himself. This law 
 of love is the law of Christ. It is substituted for the 
 law of perfect obedience which requires perfection in 
 the act as well as in the motive. To the Christian, 
 love is the fulfilling of the law. If all his conduct 
 flows from love to God and man, the law of Christ is sat- 
 isfied, though there may be a thousand failures in 
 the outward conduct, a thousand mistakes and ig- 
 norances. Christ is the end of that other law, which 
 makes no allowance for ignorance and infirmity, yet 
 His people are "Not without law to God," but are 
 "Under the law of Christ." This is the law under 
 which the Christian lives and the standard by which 
 he is judged. If he were judged by the law which 
 requires perfection in his conduct, he could never be 
 justified, as says the Psalmist, "If thou, Lord, 
 shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand ? " 
 But we have an High Priest who knoweth how to have 
 "compassion on the ignorant, even those that are out 
 of the way," that is, through ignorance. Christ's law 
 has respect to the motive and not the act, so that if 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 9 1 
 
 the motive is wrong there is guilt even without any 
 act. " He that hateth his brother is a murderer." 
 "Truth in the inward parts" is what God requires. 
 This law of love under which the Christian lives, and 
 by which he is judged, is said to be "written in his 
 heart." Christ's law is written in us, and if not written 
 there we cannot keep it. This law of love written in the 
 heart and corresponding to the teachings of Scripture, 
 is the standard of righteousness to the Christian, 
 by which he is justified or condemned. Unless he 
 measures up to the requirements of this law, he can- 
 not be justified. Unless he loves God with all his 
 heart, by this standard he is condemned ; and if he 
 does thus love God, he will keep His commandments. 
 "For this is the love of God that we keep his com- 
 mandments and his commandments are not grievous." 
 Unless he love his neighbor as himself, by this law 
 he is condemned ; and if he does thus love his 
 neighbor, he will do him no intentional harm. But 
 asks someone, " Can not a man be a Christian in some 
 sense without this love above mentioned?" Let the 
 Scriptures answer. (I. Cor. xiii.) ''Though I speak 
 with the tongues of men and angels and have not 
 love, I am become as sounding brass and tinkling 
 cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy 
 and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and 
 though I have all faith so that I can remove moun- 
 tains, and have not love, I am nothing." If it be true 
 that without love I am nothing, then I cannot be 
 in any sense a Christian without it. I have no 
 
92 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 standing in the Christian scheme, unless I have this 
 love. This love is said by Paul to be shed abroad in 
 our hearts by the Holy Spirit given us. We can never 
 have it until it is shed abroad in our hearts, and we 
 cannot have it thus shed abroad, without the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost. It follows, then, incontrovertibly, 
 that we cannot be justified without the purification of 
 our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Unless 
 Christ sends upon us the "promise of the Father " as 
 he did upon His Disciples at Pentecost. Tried by the 
 standard of the law of love, the law of Christ, God's 
 people are clear; they are guiltless. Measuring them 
 by this standard, they are "Blameless and harmless, 
 the sons of God without rebuke." Though they may 
 be ignorant of many things, their judgments may be 
 very imperfect, their memories infirm, though they 
 may easily be convicted of a thousand follies and ten 
 thousand errors and faults in their conduct, yet 
 judged by the standard of Christ's love they are 
 found to be without fault. No one can condemn 
 them. They may be accused as their Master was, 
 but the accusations are groundless. They cannot be 
 proven; the false charges cannot be substantiated. 
 The devil, the accuser of the brethren, may traduce 
 them as he did Job, and all his children may be ready 
 to give currency to his slandrous charges ; but upon 
 examination these falsehoods will be exposed, and 
 the malice that prompted them will be made clear. 
 God's judgment will stand and they will be vindicated 
 before the universe. 
 
JUSTIFICATION. 93 
 
 Being thus justified by faith, "We have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The con- 
 troversy that sin brought is forever ended. Justice is 
 satisfied and drops the lifted thunder. The sinner is 
 subdued and throws down the weapons of rebellion. 
 An everlasting peace is established, and thence on- 
 ward forever, man is pleased with God, and God is 
 pleased with man. 
 
PERFECTION 
 
 " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in 
 Heaven is perfect."' — Mat. v: 48. 
 
 " I 'HERE is much prejudice against the doctrine of 
 * Perfection as taught in the New Testament, and 
 the experience of it as enjoined by the Lord Jesus 
 Himself. Yet it cannot be denied that the doctrine 
 is taught and the experience enjoined. Some of the 
 prejudice arises from a misapprehension of the sub- 
 ject, but more perhaps arises from the natural re- 
 pugnance of the human heart to holiness. If the 
 world, the religious world, saw nothing desirable or 
 pleasing in the character of the Son of God, it 
 could not be expected that they would be at- 
 tracted toward any doctrine or experience that 
 tended to make men like Him. Consequently it 
 is not surprising that those who preach and those 
 who experience Christian perfection, in all ages 
 have encountered the scorn and derision of a 
 sinful world and a false church. Satan, the enemy of 
 all righteousness, has endeavored to scandalize the 
 doctrine by every means ; and most successfully by 
 setting up pretenders to the experience, who have 
 outraged morality and decency in the excesses which 
 they have committed in the name of Christ. This 
 has been seized upon by the enemies of Christ as an 
 (94) 
 
PERFECTION. 95 
 
 excuse for blackening the reputation of those who 
 most thoroughly repudiate all such teachings and 
 practices. By these and kindred means the devil 
 has succeeded in attaching such reproach to the pro- 
 fession of purity in heart and life, that only those 
 who are ready to sacrifice their reputations will dare 
 openly to confess Christian perfection, and to ex- 
 hibit a life in consonance with such a profession. 
 This is not an unmixed evil, for its tendency is to 
 frighten away false pretenders to Christianity, and to 
 promote deadness to the world among those who 
 are genuine Christians. John Wesley says of him- 
 self and his brother Charles, that God could use them 
 to no purpose until their names became a proverb of 
 reproach. Reproach for the name of Christ, is not a 
 matter to be deprecated, but rather a subject for 
 thanksgiving. Peter says, " If ye be reproached for 
 the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of 
 glory and of God resteth upon you." To be 
 reproached for the name of Christ is to be placed 
 in good society, as the prophets found to their cost 
 what fidelity to God meant, and the Apostles were 
 counted as the filth and offscouring of all things for 
 the same cause. 
 
 In order to make clear what is taught in the Scrip- 
 tures concerning the nature of perfection, we shall 
 endeavor to distinguish what it is not from what it is. 
 Two kinds of perfection are spoken of in the New 
 Testament which may be distinguished by the terms 
 "perfection of the moral nature" and " perfection of 
 
96 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the will." The first is the perfection almost always 
 referred to by those who teach upon the subject and is 
 the kind of perfection enjoined in the text. This is 
 properly called Christian perfection, because it dis- 
 tinguishes the character of the Christian from that of 
 all other men. It distinctively belongs to him. It 
 may be remarked in passing, that Christian perfec- 
 tion differs from the perfection of the Old Testament 
 believers. For though some of them are expressly 
 declared to be perfect, Job for instance, we are told 
 in the nth of Hebrews that these faithful souls of 
 former dispensations " Having obtained a good report 
 through faith received not the promise ; God having 
 provided some better thing for us, that they without 
 us should not be made perfect." From which it ap- 
 pears that the perfection which the Christian enjoys 
 is one which they were destitute of. 
 
 I . WHAT It Is Not. — Christian perfection is not, 
 firstly, human perfection, that is perfection of the whole 
 man. It is not a restoration of the whole man, body, 
 soul and spirit, to primeval perfection. The body is 
 not yet redeemed. It is still under the dominion of 
 Satan who has the power of death. The Lord will 
 " destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the 
 devil," after while ; and ransom the bodies of His 
 saints from under his dominion. Consequently, 
 Satan will foreclose his mortgage on our bodies, 
 sooner or later, and bring them in dishonor to the 
 grave, unless Jesus comes in the meantime. But our 
 Redeemer says : " I will ransom them from the power 
 
PERFECTION. 97 
 
 of the grave." Then, and not till then, will our bodies 
 be made like unto His most glorious body. As a 
 consequence of this fact that our bodies are not yet 
 ransomed, Christian perfection is not, secondly, freedom 
 from disease and death. There are those who teach 
 that it is a shame for a Christian to be sick, and that 
 sickness can only result from sin committed. There 
 are few who have so far departed from reason as to 
 teach that a Christian cannot die. Reasoning would 
 be lost on such, and we leave them to the logic of 
 events. But is not their claim a logical sequence 
 from the teaching that Christians need not be sick? 
 For death is usually produced by disease, and surely 
 will be unless accident intervene. It may be the 
 disease of senility alone, but old age is decay, and 
 decay is death in the end. So to be free from disease 
 we must be free from decay ; and if we are free from 
 decay, we may live forever, barring accident. But it 
 is objected that the devil is the author of disease, and 
 certainly Christians are not under the dominion of 
 the devil. They are, as to their bodies, or they would 
 never die ; for the devil has the power of death as 
 well as of disease and accident. Accident is the result 
 of man's imperfect state, which makes it impossible 
 for him perfectly to adjust the means to the desired 
 end. No doubt sickness might often be avoided by 
 careful observance of natural law, but it cannot al- 
 ways be. It is a disgrace to be sick if sickness has 
 manifestly been brought on by excesses of any kind, 
 for the Christian is exhorted to temperance and 
 
 S. F. S .— 7 
 
98 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 moderation. But the germs of disease are in our 
 bodies, as well as in the earth, air and water about us. 
 We inherit the tendencies to it,- and its occasions can- 
 not be avoided. Sickness and weakness, infirmity 
 and death, are no honor to us, but they are the re- 
 sults of the first sin from which we, as yet, are not 
 redeemed, and so are not exempt. 
 
 Christian perfection is not , thirdly, perfection in 
 conduct. 
 
 Perfection of conduct is impossible because of 
 physical and mental infirmity. So long as the body 
 is not redeemed, but remains under the curse, and 
 subject to natural evil, the faculties of the body are 
 so impaired that perfect mental and physical action 
 cannot be expected of any man. It is not proper, 
 perhaps, to say that there is any impairment of the 
 immaterial substance, the mind or spirit. But the 
 mind acts through the brain and nervous system, as 
 an instrument. The instrument being weak and im- 
 perfect, perfect mental action cannot be looked for. 
 As man's conduct depends not only on his motives, 
 but also on mental states and actions, such as judg- 
 ment, memory, etc., however perfect the motive may 
 be, the action will be imperfect because of the faulty 
 workings of the mind. I may make a promise with 
 the best of intentions, but may fail to keep it through 
 forgetfulness. Thus, my conduct is exceptionable. 
 In my attempt to do my neighbor good my motive 
 may be pure, but owing to fault of judgment I may 
 succeed only in doing him harm. Here, again, my 
 
PERFECTION. 99 
 
 conduct is faulty. It follows, then, that so long as 
 man is subject to infirmity and ignorance, his conduct 
 can never be wholly unexceptionable, however pure 
 his intentions may be. This lameness, though a 
 source of sorrow to the Christian, does not prevent 
 his pleasing God who regards the intention rather 
 than the act. Though lame he takes the prey; and 
 he can sing with Charles Wesley : 
 
 " Lame as I am I take the prey, 
 
 Sin, earth and hell with ease o'ercome; 
 I shout for joy, pursue my way, 
 
 And like a bounding hart fly home." 
 
 Christian perfection is not, fourthly, freedom from 
 temptation. The most persevering and determined 
 assaults of the adversary are made against the man 
 who has wholly renounced the devil and all his 
 works, and identified himself with the cause of Christ. 
 Satan tempts all men, mostly by seductions to evil, 
 but he most cruelly assails the man who has turned 
 his back upon him, and who has dared to challenge 
 him in Jesus' name. The stronger he becomes, the 
 more fierce the assaults. Temptation resisted be- 
 comes a means of growth to him. It is a part of 
 God's plan, and is to be neither sought nor avoided. 
 No doubt Satan will follow the child of God to the 
 very last moment if permitted to do so. But the 
 Christian has the promise that the temptation shall 
 never exceed his strength, and that a way of escape 
 will always be provided. 
 
IOO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 ii. What It Is. — First. Christian perfection is 
 renewal in righteousness into the moral image of God. 
 As has been shown in the sermon on Regeneration, 
 man's nature is averse to God and holiness. Its bent 
 is toward evil instead of good. Perfection is such a 
 change in the moral nature that all its inclination is 
 toward God. The bent to sinning is removed. It is 
 perfection of heart, so that all that flows from that 
 heart is good and acceptable to God. It is the good 
 tree producing nothing but good fruit. 
 
 Second. It is loving God with all the heart and 
 soul. The law of God, which is the perfect law of 
 love, is written in the heart of the saved man ; and 
 all feelings, purposes and conduct flow from that 
 principle of love. His perfection is the perfec- 
 tion of love. The perfection under the law was the 
 perfection of fear. Solomon says: "Fear God and 
 keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty 
 of man." (Eccl. xii : 13.) It is said of Job that he 
 was "perfect and upright and (even) one that feared 
 God and eschewed evil." Here then we see that his 
 perfection consisted in fearing God and eschewing 
 evil. But Christian perfection consists in loving God 
 and a consequent keeping of His commandments ; and 
 to him " His commandments are not grievous." It is 
 not necessary to say more on this head, as what is 
 said of the New Birth applies to this subject as well, 
 as the Christian's perfecton is received in his birth. 
 
 in. Christian Perfection the Common Sal- 
 vation.— -It is a popular error that perfection, if it is 
 
PERFECTION. 1 01 
 
 found at all upon the earth, is peculiar to a few emi- 
 nently pious people. That the great mass of God's 
 people are without it, and it is something after which 
 they should be constantly striving, and toward which 
 they should continually aspire. This is a mistake 
 arising from ignorance of the teaching of the Scrip- 
 ture. It makes no difference how many good and 
 wise men may have taught this fallacy, we are to go 
 by the Word of God as our rule of faith. "To the 
 law and the testimony." The reason given by our 
 Lord why His people should be perfect, is that their 
 Father in Heaven is perfect. They are to love their 
 enemies, bless them that curse them, and do good to 
 those that despitefully use them and persecute them, 
 that they may be the children of their Father in 
 Heaven. The love that extends even to enemies is 
 the perfection Christ means ; as He gives the same 
 reason for both, their relation to God as His children. 
 The idea most evidently is, that if they are God's 
 children they will be like Him. God is love ; so will 
 they be. God is perfect ; so will they be. If they 
 have not this love, this perfection, they give evidence 
 against any claim of being God's children. The 
 duty of loving an enemy was never required of any 
 one under any former dispensation. It was said to 
 them, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine 
 enemy." It was not required of them because it was 
 impossible for them to obey the requirement. It is 
 not in fallen human nature to love an enemy. That 
 is the difference between God's children and others. 
 
102 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 If men are the children of God, they will have His 
 moral nature, which is love, and they will be able to 
 love their enemies, because God loves His enemies. 
 "The love of God is shed abroad in their hearts 
 by the Holy Ghost given to them." And this love 
 of God is the same in its nature in their hearts as in 
 God's heart. Thus Peter says that God's children 
 are "made partakers of the divine nature." (II. Peter 
 i:4.) The Divine nature is love, and they are made 
 partakers of that love. If we possess this love, this 
 perfection, because of our relation to God as His 
 children, it follows that all His children possess this 
 perfection. The idea that God has two classes of 
 children, one class, the larger one, composed of im- 
 perfect children, and another small class of perfectly 
 developed children, is an idea which has no support 
 in the Scripture. It is certainly not according to the 
 type. It is true that in nature some children are 
 born who lack some of the members of a perfect 
 human being. A finger or an arm, or several limbs 
 may be lacking. Or there may be redundancies, 
 and the child may have too many limbs. This is 
 considered to be abnormal, a freak of nature, an 
 accident. But according to the theory we are speak- 
 ing of, all God's children are born that way ; they are 
 all imperfect, incomplete, crippled. They needed to 
 be born again because of the imperfection of their 
 first birth, but the second birth seems to be a small 
 improvement upon the first, and it would appear as 
 if there would need to be several more births before 
 
PERFECTION. IO3 
 
 the child would look like its Father. These freaks 
 and monstrosities in nature which are such wide 
 departures from the type, the normal, are attributed 
 to sin. They happen in consequence of natural evil, 
 which has marred God's work. If sin had not thus 
 impaired God's work, they would never happen. 
 God's law of reproduction, that like produces like, 
 has been interfered with, and the responsibility for 
 the freak cannot be laid at the door of the Creator. 
 But the Christian is God's direct work. "We are 
 his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 
 ii: 10.) Is it possible that God can be the Father of 
 imperfect children? Can He be the author of im- 
 perfect workmanship? "He is the Rock, his work 
 is perfect." (Deut. xxxii:4.) Both Scripture and 
 reason repudiate such a conclusion. We will also 
 repudiate it, and will not insult God by charging 
 Him with imperfection in His work. We under- 
 stand the Scriptures to teach a perfection that belongs 
 to the Christian, because he is a Christian. That it nec- 
 essarily arises out of his relation to God as His child. 
 That it is essential to his likeness to his Father. That 
 imperfection in his heart or moral nature, disproves 
 his claim to sonship. All God's children are perfect 
 specimens of the genus Christian ; all are normal and 
 according to the type. There is no difference in 
 them in respect to this nature. They all have cruci- 
 fied, and put off, the old man, and have put on the 
 new man who is renewed in knowledge after the 
 image of Him that created them. Being in Christ 
 
104 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 they are new creatures ; old things have passed away 
 and, behold ! all things are become new. We shall 
 not argue the point that the old man is put off before 
 the new man is put on. We have said enough on 
 that point in the sermon on Regeneration. The 
 Scriptures just quoted are sufficient to establish that 
 fact to our satisfaction, unless our opinions have more 
 authority with us than the Word of God. There are 
 however several Scriptures quoted to establish the 
 theory that God has two kinds of children, some 
 holy and some unholy. We shall not rest satisfied 
 with quoting other passages which clearly teach the 
 contrary, setting up one Scripture against another, as 
 though there was conflict of authority in their teach- 
 ings. We are fully convinced that the Scriptures are 
 all inspired by the same Holy Spirit, and that there 
 is unity in their teachings. They do not contradict 
 themselves really, though they may seem to do so 
 sometimes at first sight, and are often interpreted so 
 that they fail to harmonize. This is a wresting of the 
 Scriptures, which St. Peter says is done to the de- 
 struction of those who are guilty of the evil practice. 
 It is certainly showing great disrespect to the Holy 
 Spirit to make Him contradict Himself in His testi- 
 mony. We shall endeavor to show that He is con- 
 sistent with Himself and with sound reason, in all 
 His words. It is a small matter whether my pre- 
 conceived notions and opinions stand or fall, but it is 
 all-important to know what God says. Let us come to 
 the study of the Scriptures then with a sincere desire 
 
PERFECTION. IO5 
 
 to know what they teach, that we may believe and 
 obey, and not with a desire to bolster up our own 
 theories. The first passage we will consider is I. Cor. 
 iii : 1 — 4. "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you 
 as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto 
 babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not 
 with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, 
 neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal : 
 for whereas there is among you envying and strife, 
 and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 
 For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am 
 of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" The conclusion 
 drawn from the above passage by those who hold to 
 the opinion that there are two classes of believers, is 
 that the babes declared to be yet carnal and not 
 Spiritual, are the lower class of Christians, while 
 those who are Spiritual constitute the higher class. 
 They claim that these persons so described are God's 
 children, because they are called " babes in Christ." 
 The first objection to this interpretation of the pas- 
 sage is, that it contradicts Christ. No one can be a 
 child of God unless he were born of God, and Jesus 
 says " That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," that 
 is, Spiritual. To show that I am not giving a new 
 interpretation to the word " Spirit," in making it mean 
 Spiritual, I quote from Dr. Adam Clark's commentary 
 on this verse. " This is the answer to the objection of 
 Nicodemusin verse four. Can a man enter the second 
 time into his mother's womb and be born? Our Lord 
 here intimates that were even this possible, it would 
 
106 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 not answer the end. For the plant will ever be of the 
 nature of the seed that produces it; like will be- 
 get like. The kingdom of God is Spiritual and 
 holy : and that which is born of the Spirit resem- 
 bles the Spirit. For as he is who begat, so is 
 he who is begotten of him." Jesus says expressly 
 that those who are born of God are Spiritual. 
 But these babes are just as expressly declared 
 to be carnal. Therefore if Jesus' word stands, they 
 cannot be children of God. The second objec- 
 tion is, that it makes St. Paul contradict himself. 
 In Rom. viii : 6, he tells us that "To be carnally 
 minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life 
 and peace." But these interpreters would have him 
 say in Corinthians that these carnally minded persons 
 are the living children of God. Both statements can- 
 not be true. If they are dead, they are not the chil- 
 dren of God. The third objection is that it makes St. 
 Paul contradict St. James. Paul charges these 
 Corinthians with envy, strife and divisions. James 
 says in the third chapter of his epistle, 14th verse, to 
 the end, "But if ye have bitter envying and strife 
 in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the 
 truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but 
 is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and 
 strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. But 
 the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then 
 peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of 
 mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without 
 hypocrisy." St. James seems to have a poor opinion 
 
PERFECTION. IO7 
 
 of the religion of those who indulge envy and strife. 
 He says it does not come from above. God's children 
 are born from above. He says it is earthly, sensual 
 and devilish, originating partly in fallen human 
 nature, and partly in hell. He says that where envy 
 and strife are, there is confusion, and every evil work. 
 Can the Heavenly Jerusalem be built of such 
 material? Confusion is Babylon, not the Church of 
 Christ. He tells us further that the wisdom from 
 above is first pure, then peaceable and gentle. Not 
 first carnal and full of envy and strife. It is plain to 
 the most casual observer that the conception of 
 Christianity which James has, and the one that these 
 theorists have, are as wide apart as the antipodes. 
 But is it necessary to so interpret the Scripture under 
 consideration? Is there not some way of explaining 
 it that it will not produce so many antagonisms ? 
 It cannot certainly mean what these interpreters say 
 it does. Let us examine the passage in the light 
 which similar passages may throw upon it. In Heb. 
 v: 12-14 we have something similar. Here are 
 persons described as babes, and they are urged to go 
 on unto perfection in the following chapter. These 
 babes also had to be fed with milk and not with 
 strong meat. But we are told some things about 
 them which are not said of the other babes, though 
 no doubt true of both. In Corinthians they are said 
 to be carnal, but that is not said here. In both places 
 they are said to be incapable of understanding Spirit- 
 ual truth. In fact it is because of that circumstance 
 
108 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 they are called babes. But here we are told they 
 needed to have the first principles of the Gospel 
 taught them again. We are also informed that they 
 lacked Spiritual discernment to enable them to dis- 
 tinguish good and evil. These marks ought to 
 enable us to fix their Spiritual status. The latter 
 characteristic is spoken of in I. Cor. 11:14-15. 
 " But the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; 
 neither can he know them because they are Spirit- 
 ually discerned. But he that is Spiritual judgeth all 
 things, yet he himself is judged by no man." Here 
 we find that this want of discernment is characteristic 
 of natural men. The Greek word here translated, 
 "natural," is " psuxikos." The word in the next 
 chapter translated, "carnal," is " sarkikos." It is 
 held by those who understand these babes to be 
 children of God, that they are carnal because they 
 yet retain the old nature, though possessing the new 
 nature also. But we find that they possess the 
 characteristics of natural men, to whom the things of 
 God are foolishness. This certainly cannot be true 
 of any child of God. They not only are natural men 
 but are declared to "walk as men." This they do 
 because "they that are after the flesh do mind the 
 things of the flesh." It has been generally supposed 
 that in the various places where the natural and 
 carnal is compared with the Spiritual that the con- 
 trast was between saved and unsaved men ; between 
 the children of God and the children of the devil. 
 
PERFECTION. IO9 
 
 But according to the theory under consideration, the 
 comparison is between different classes of God's 
 children. It seems to me that a theory that leads to 
 such absurdities is too foolish for serious considera- 
 tion. But not only does it appear that these " babes " 
 are natural men, but they are such as need to be 
 taught again which be the first principles of the 
 oracles of God. 
 
 What are the first principles of the Gospel? We 
 are informed in the next chapter. "Not laying 
 again the foundation of repentance from dead works 
 and of faith toward God." Repentance and faith are 
 the foundation principles of Christian experience. 
 But it is the sinner who is commanded to repent, 
 not the Christian, no, not even the " justified." For 
 "There is more joy in the presence of the angels of 
 God over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety 
 and nine just persons that need no repentance." We 
 find that these " babes " needed to be taught again 
 repentance and faith. But the just need no repent- 
 ance. Therefore, these persons called babes were 
 not just, or justified. They were unsaved sinners, for 
 they needed to repent. They had once been taught 
 these first principles, but they needed to be taught 
 them again. They had failed to improve the advan- 
 tages they had enjoyed, and had lost the light and 
 power of the truth out of their hearts, and needed a 
 second call lest they should wholly relapse into un- 
 belief and indifference. While the Apostle speaks 
 hopefully of them, he warns them of their danger by 
 
110 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the parable of the field bringing forth thorns and 
 briers after having been once dressed and cleared. 
 We find the same to be true of these carnal babes at 
 Corinth. The Apostle wrote them a very sharp let- 
 ter, which, he says in his second epistle, made them 
 sorry. But he rejoices that it was sorrow to repent- 
 ance ; that they sorrowed after a Godly sort. For, 
 says he, " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto 
 salvation not to be repented of." These "babes" at 
 Corinth needed repentance also. Therefore they 
 were sinners, as none but sinners need repentance. 
 Their Godly sorrow wrought repentance to salvation. 
 They also went on to perfection. As to the term 
 "babe" (nepios) the Apostle Paul uses it in a pe- 
 culiar sense. With him it is a term of reproach. Not 
 so with Peter. He says, "As new-born babes desire 
 the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow 
 thereby." He here refers to the appetite which a 
 new-born babe manifests for the nourishment which 
 nature has provided. He commends this desire for 
 milk. But Paul deprecates the appetite for milk. 
 To him, instead of being a sign of vigorous life, it 
 is a sure sign of weakness. The fact is they are 
 using the same object, a babe, to illustrate entirely 
 different things. Peter uses the appetite of the babe 
 to show the desire of God's children for the truth. 
 In this respect they are always babes. They never 
 outgrow this love for, and longing for, the sincere 
 milk of the word. Paul uses the babe to illustrate 
 weakness of understanding. The digestive powers of 
 
PERFECTION. 1 1 1 
 
 the babe, which are not able to grapple with any but 
 the most simple and most easily assimilated sub- 
 stances, represent to his mind the weakness of under- 
 standing of the unregenerate in Spiritual matters. 
 Instead of receiving the strongest viands and digest- 
 ing them with ease, they must be fed with a spoon, 
 with great care, lest their digestive powers be over- 
 charged. What Peter calls "sincere milk," Paul calls 
 "strong meat." One has in mind the nourishing 
 qualities of the food, the other, the digestive powers 
 of the recipient. When Paul speaks of babes, babes 
 in Christ, he refers entirely to the state of their un- 
 derstanding. Peter does not speak of those he ad- 
 dresses as being new-born babes. He exhorts them 
 to have the appetite of new-born babes. Some of 
 them may have been long in the service of Christ. 
 Still they needed the appetite for the truth. The 
 same object, a babe, for instance, may be used to 
 illustrate many different things. It may represent 
 ignorance, helplessness, sonship, an " organized appe- 
 tite." We are not to suppose the same thing is al- 
 ways meant when the same object is used as a figure. 
 Christ holds the child up before us as an example. 
 He says, " Be like it." Paul says, " Be not children 
 in understanding." There may be in the same ob- 
 ject some things to commend, and some things to 
 deplore. Jesus and Peter refer to that in the child 
 which they commend as symbols for our imitation. 
 We see from all that has been said, then, that these 
 babes, so far from being children of God, justified, are 
 
112 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 natural men, persons needing to repent in order that 
 they may be saved ; that they are babes in Christ 
 only in reference to their ignorance of Spiritual things, 
 and the weakness of their understanding in the things 
 of God. In other words, they are babes in Christ 
 with respect to the state of their understanding, and 
 not in respect to their relation to God as their father. 
 In I. John iv : 1 8 we read " There is no fear in love, 
 but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath 
 torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in 
 love." From this it is argued that there is a perfect 
 love, and one that is imperfect. There is no men- 
 tion made of an imperfect love, but it is supposed to 
 be implied. The statement is made that there is no 
 fear in love. Not, no fear in perfect love, but no fear 
 in love. It is impossible that anyone should love an 
 object or person and be afraid of the person or thing 
 at the same time. We will hate that which produces 
 in us tormenting fear. It will necessarily become an 
 object of aversion to us. The Apostle Paul declares 
 that "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of 
 power and of love and of a sound mind." (II. Tim. 
 i:7.) And, again (Rom. viii : T 5 ) , "We have not re- 
 ceived the spirit of bondage again to fear." Tor- 
 menting fear will produce bondage wherever it 
 exists. Slavish fear and love are incompatible, 
 and the man who has the fear is destitute of the 
 love. The inference that there is an imperfect love, 
 because perfect love is mentioned, is unwarranted 
 therefore. 
 
PERFECTION. 113 
 
 Again, the measure of our love is often determined 
 by the object of it; and our love is more or less ar- 
 dent as the object is more or less worthy and perfect 
 in its character and attributes. Is it possible that 
 any man can know the God of infinite beauty and 
 perfection in all His character, and not love Him with 
 all the heart? Not to love Him thus argues ignor- 
 ance of Him. But what is the origin of the love of 
 God in the Christian? Where does it come from? 
 "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by 
 the Holy Ghost given unto us." This love comes 
 from God and is shed abroad in our hearts. It is not 
 a human product. Does the Holy Spirit give us an 
 imperfect love? If so, who is responsible for the im- 
 perfection of our love? God cannot be the author 
 of an imperfect love. But what is the nature of this 
 love? It is "The love of God." The same love that 
 glows in the heart of Deity is put into our hearts. It 
 is a part of the Divine nature imparted to us. To 
 say the Christian's love is imperfect, is to impugn 
 the nature of God's love. But we will show from 
 this same epistle that there is no love but perfect 
 love. (I.John ii 14.-5.) " He that saith I know him 
 and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the 
 truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word in 
 him, verily is the love of God perfected." The man 
 who does not keep His commandments is a liar if he 
 claims to know God. The man that keepeth His 
 commandments has perfect love. All professors are in 
 one or the other of these classes. Either the truth is 
 
 S. F. S.— 8 
 
114 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 not in him or he has perfect love. Here we rest the 
 case. The Apostle seems to have had in mind the 
 perfections of the two dispensations ; the one a per- 
 fection through fear, the other a perfection through 
 love. We are driven to the conclusion then that all 
 Christian love casts out fear, and that all Christian 
 love is perfect in its nature. 
 
 In I. Thess. v:23 you will find by reference this 
 passage: "And the very God of peace sanctifiy 
 you wholly." It is inferred from this petition that 
 these saints, for whom the Apostle prays, were par- 
 tially sanctified already, and needed to be fully sanc- 
 tified. In some sense this is probably true; for we 
 have no proof that these persons were unconverted. 
 Of course we might infer because they needed to be 
 wholly sanctified, that their souls were only partially 
 sanctified, but as there is no collateral proof to 
 strengthen such an inference, we will not draw the in- 
 ference. The language might apply to the congre- 
 gation as a whole, and we might infer that some 
 received among them, as at Corinth, were not yet 
 sanctified, and the Apostle has reference to their 
 sanctification as being necessary to a complete 
 work in the Church as a whole. But what follows 
 seems to affix to the passage a different meaning 
 from either of the preceding. "And I pray God 
 that your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
 served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." The sanctification of which we have been 
 speaking, is the purification of the heart or moral na- 
 
PERFECTION. 1 1 5 
 
 ture alone. The Apostle here prays for the sanctifi- 
 cation of the whole man, body and soul as well as 
 spirit. Now we know that sanctify means to set 
 apart to holy use, to consecrate, as well as to purify. 
 Now, while the soul, or animal life, and the body can- 
 not be said to be purified in the sense in which the spirit 
 is purified ; yet they can be consecrated wholly to the 
 service of God. Our bodies may be made "instruments 
 of righteousness unto holiness." The Apostle does 
 not pray for the entire sanctification of their moral 
 natures, but for the sanctification of the entire man, 
 soul and body as well as spirit, so that the whole 
 man may be blameless, and preserved so, to the 
 coming of Christ. The same thought is expressed 
 in Rom. xii:i, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, 
 by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies 
 a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is 
 your reasonable service." The bodies offered under 
 the law were dead sacrifices, but we are to offer our 
 bodies a living sacrifice. They are a sacrifice in the 
 sense that they are devoted to God's service. The 
 same thought is found also in II. Cor. vii:i, "Let 
 us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit, perfecting holiness in the sight of God." The 
 cleansing here is enjoined upon the believer ; he is 
 to cleanse himself. There is to be an outward as well 
 as an inward cleansing. The Lord makes the one, we 
 must make the other. Holiness of heart is perfected 
 by carrying it out in the life. In this passage in 
 Thessalonians, then, we find no support for the theory 
 
Il6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of partial sanctification of the moral nature. Nor do 
 I find any passage of Scripture that, when properly 
 understood, lends any support to the theory. We 
 conclude, then, that the perfection commanded by 
 Christ is the birthright of every child of God, and 
 that anything short of this disproves the claim to 
 sonship. In Heb. ii : 1 1 we read, "For both he 
 that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all 
 of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call 
 them brethren." Because Christians as to their 
 moral nature, have the same Father as the Lord 
 Jesus has, and consequently the family features, 
 Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren. But if 
 they were carnal and unholy, having the image of the 
 devil rather than of His Father, He would, no doubt, 
 be ashamed to acknowledge them as belonging to 
 the family. 
 
 We recapitulate in conclusion. The perfection 
 enjoined by our Lord is not : first, Human perfection ; 
 nor, second, Perfection of conduct ; nor, third, Freedom 
 from temptation ; nor, fourth, Deliverance from natural 
 evil, as sickness, accident and death. 
 
 But is, first, An entire renewal of the moral nature 
 into the image of God. Second, Loving God with all 
 the heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor 
 as ourself. It is, third, The common experience of 
 God's children so that he who is not perfect has no 
 claim to sonship. Such is Christian perfection, ac- 
 cording to the teachings of Scripture. 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT 
 
 "And these all, having obtained a good report through 
 faith received not the promise." — Heb. xi : 39. 
 
 H? UT little information is vouchsafed us by theolog- 
 *-^ ical writers upon the interesting subject of the 
 condition of believers before Christ's Advent. It used 
 to be a matter of wonder and conjecture to me when, 
 as a boy, I mused upon these subjects. Were these 
 men converted? If so, when? Were they made 
 holy in heart? When did this change take place? 
 Was it while they lived or when they died ? These 
 were questions that forced themselves upon my atten- 
 tion even in youth. And after I reached manhood, 
 and became a religious teacher, the enigma was as 
 far from solution as ever. About the only informa- 
 tion I ever received on the subject, was that they 
 believed in a Savior to come, and we believed in a 
 Savior that had come ; that they looked forward to 
 the Savior, and we looked backward to see Him. 
 This was spoken of as the principal difference be- 
 tween believers before the Advent and since then. 
 The difference seemed to be rather in their favor, as 
 it is more easy to look forward than backward. Of 
 course, those who lived at the time of Christ's Advent, 
 on this theory, had an advantage over both them 
 and us, as they saw the Savior among them, and were 
 
 (117) 
 
Il8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 compelled to look neither forward nor backward. 
 But that view of the case does not harmonize with 
 Christ's language when he says : " It is profitable for 
 you that I go away;" for then they could look at 
 Him no more, and their advantage would be gone. 
 It was patent to me, even in the ignorance of youth, 
 that these Old Testament believers did not measure 
 up to the Christian standard of living, and they were 
 guilty of things I could not conceive a converted man 
 to be guilty of, such as lying, murder, adultery, 
 polygamy, hatred of their enemies. It seemed to me 
 that they must be changed before they could dwell 
 with God. But I could see no information upon the 
 subject as to when they were changed. The trouble 
 with the explanation given above, that the principal 
 difference between believers before Christ and since 
 is the standpoint from which they viewed Christ, is 
 that it does not harmonize with the teachings of the 
 Scriptures. They teach that the New Testament 
 believer has great superiority over those of former 
 dispensations. That the glory of the former dispen- 
 sation is entirely eclipsed by the glory of Christianity. 
 That the mystery which is now made manifest to the 
 saints was hidden from ages and from generations. 
 Jesus tells His Disciples that many prophets and 
 righteous men desired to see the things which they 
 saw, and did not see them, and this, too, before He 
 went away to send them greater things. He further 
 says that John the Baptist was not surpassed by any 
 that preceded him, but that the least in the kingdom 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 119 
 
 of Heaven is greater than John. These and kindred 
 statements give us to understand that the position of 
 believers under the present dispensation is far higher 
 and grander than that of former believers. The 
 prophet promises that under the new covenant there 
 is to be a great change made in the privileges of 
 God's people. He is to write His law in their hearts, 
 as one difference. Then they do not need to be taught 
 the knowledge of God by one another, because all 
 of them, even the least, shall know the Lord for him- 
 self. All these things show a greater difference 
 between the state of believers formerly and now, than 
 merely a difference with respect to time. If the least 
 believer now is superior to the greatest prophet then, 
 there has been a wonderful improvement in their 
 spiritual condition. The experience of God's peo- 
 ple under the Gospel is far higher, and the life 
 required of them is far better than under preceding 
 ages. A new relation with God and a new relation 
 toward each other, is established among God's peo- 
 ple through the Gospel. They are made sons of 
 God, and brethren in Christ. The old law permit- 
 ting easy divorce and polygamy was a concession on 
 account of the hardness of their hearts. Jesus says : 
 "Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses gave 
 you this commandment." 
 
 But under the Gospel, provision is made to take 
 the stony heart out of our flesh, and to give us 
 hearts of flesh. Christians have circumcision of the 
 heart; they are " circumcised with the circumcision 
 
120 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 made without hands, in putting off the body of the 
 sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." 
 Those under the law were uncircumcised in their 
 hearts, as we read in Jer. ix:26: "For all these na- 
 tions are uncircumcised ; and all the house of Israel 
 are uncircumcised in heart." Their hearts were not 
 right with Him ; they did always err in their heart. 
 But under the Gospel His people receive a new heart 
 and a right Spirit. In short, believers before Christ's 
 death and resurrection, were servants not sons. They 
 were not born again ; they were destitute of the per- 
 fection which characterizes God's children ; His 
 people under the Gospel. They had the promise of 
 salvation but not the enjoyment of it. Do not under- 
 stand me to mean the Israelites in general, for they 
 were not all Israel who were of Israel. Those who were 
 of faith were children of the promise. The mass of the 
 Jewish nation never had faith. They were the Lord's 
 people only in an outward, figurative sense. But there 
 was a remnant who had faith, and these were the ones 
 who were the children of the promise. It was to them 
 the promise was made. We are told in Heb. xi: 13 
 that the persons previously spoken of, particularly 
 Abraham and Sarah, "All died in faith, not having 
 received the promises;" but in the 39th verse only 
 "the promise" is mentioned. Two promises were 
 made to Abraham, one to his natural seed, the other 
 to his Spiritual seed. He had at his death received 
 the fulfillment of neither. But those mentioned in 
 the latter part of the chapter, had seen the promise 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 121 
 
 made to his natural seed fulfilled. They had pos- 
 sessed the land which God promised to Abraham. 
 So there remained but the one promise to be fulfilled ; 
 the one made to his Spiritual seed. These faithful 
 souls were heirs of the promised salvation though not 
 possessors of it. In Gal. iv : I we are told something 
 of the condition of the heirs before Christ's coming. 
 " Now we know that the heir as long as he is a 
 child differeth nothing from a servant, though he be 
 Lord of all ; but is under tutors and governors until 
 the time appointed of the father." The heir is 
 treated as a child while he is a minor. The father 
 appoints in his will when he shall be old enough to 
 inherit. If he does not appoint the time, then the 
 law provides that he shall attain his majority at 
 twenty-one years of age. But while a minor he has 
 possession of none of the property. He has to use 
 just what his guardian may dole out to him; When 
 he reaches his majority, the authority of the guardian 
 ceases and the whole estate belonging to him is 
 turned over to him. So says the Apostle, "Even so 
 we, when we were children, were in bondage under 
 the elements of the world." That is under Judaism. 
 We see, then, the condition of those who were heirs 
 under the law. They could not be distinguished 
 from the servants ; the remainder of the Jews who 
 were not heirs at all. They differed nothing from 
 the servants. Jesus himself was made under the law, 
 and took upon Himself the form of a servant. But 
 He did it to " redeem us from under the law, that we 
 
122 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 might receive the adoption of sons." The Father 
 had appointed a time when His people might become 
 of age ; when they could no longer be treated as 
 minors. So when the fullness of that time was come 
 He sent His Son to redeem His people from under 
 the law, and to put them in possession of the prom- 
 ised inheritance. He adopts them as His children, 
 brings them into one family, and establishes the new 
 relation of brethren in Christ. Out of this new rela- 
 tion grow new duties, and these find expression in 
 a new commandment. " A new commandment I 
 give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have 
 loved you." These Old Testament believers were held 
 in bondage as servants under the law until the time 
 came for them to attain their majority, that they 
 might come into possession of the inheritance 
 promised. But what was the inheritance promised, 
 and when did they first possess it? 
 
 The Apostle in Heb. xi : 40 intimates that it was 
 perfection. " God having provided some better thing 
 for us, that they without us should not be made per- 
 fect." The expression "the promise" is peculiar. It 
 seems to refer to something special. It is not a 
 promise, but the promise. In Luke xxiv : 49 we read 
 of something similar: "And, behold, I send the 
 promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye at 
 Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on 
 high." In Acts 1 : 4-5 it is written : "And being as- 
 sembled together with them commanded them that 
 they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 1 23 
 
 promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard 
 of me. For John truly baptised with water, but ye 
 shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days 
 hence." Here we are plainly told what "the promise 
 of the Father" is; namely, the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost. That Old Testament believers were without 
 it, is very manifest from many considerations. John 
 the Baptist acknowledged himself to be in need of it. 
 He said to Jesus, " I have need to be baptised of 
 Thee, and comest Thou to me." He realized that 
 he was in need of Christ's baptism, which is the 
 baptism of the Holy Spirit. This was the promise of 
 the Father, which those who died in faith previous to 
 Christ's coming did not receive. It was this that was 
 necessary to their perfection. They were just men, 
 justified by faith, and would have received the adop- 
 tion of sons in answer to the same faith, if the time 
 had come for them to be declared of age. But as the 
 time was not come, they were minor heirs, waiting 
 for their majority that they might inherit the promise. 
 This was the better thing provided for us, that they 
 could not have until the new covenant was made. 
 They could not be made perfect. We have already 
 explained in a previous sermon, that this perfection 
 is the result of the new birth, an experience peculiar 
 to this dispensation. The Apostle tells us that be- 
 cause we have received the adoption of sons, " God 
 hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, 
 crying, Abba, Father." This witness of the Spirit 
 then is also an experience belonging exclusively to 
 
124 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 this dispensation. The mystery that was hidden from 
 ages and from generations was Christ in us the hope 
 of glory. This mystery or doctrine they were igno- 
 rant of ; it was hid from them. The prophets who 
 inquired and searched diligently concerning these 
 things, could learn only that it was not for themselves 
 but for us these blessings were available. (I. Peter 
 i: io, 12.) This work of making sinners children of 
 God, that even the angels were desirous of looking 
 into it, is such a wonderful work that the prophet 
 declared, men would not believe it when it was told 
 to them. The Old Testament believers died without 
 this experience, but they saw it afar off as for them, 
 and by faith they embraced it and confessed that 
 they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth. They 
 had the promise of these blessings when they should 
 become available, and no doubt at the first oppor- 
 tunity they pressed into the kingdom. The doors 
 were not opened until Pentecost when the kingdom 
 was set up. There the heart of the first living man 
 was purified by faith, and as they received this per- 
 fection no doubt all those of faith, some of whom had 
 been waiting for ages the fulfillment of the promise of 
 the Father, were brought into the same grace, and 
 were made partakers, with the one hundred and 
 twenty, of the saving power of God. There is an 
 unusual thing mentioned as occurring at that time : 
 "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as 
 of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the 
 house where they were sitting." Might not this 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 1 25 
 
 have been the coming of the spirits of just men who 
 were waiting to be made perfect? I see nothing 
 unreasonable in the supposition. We are told that 
 when we come to Mount Zion, the City of the 
 living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, that we 
 come to the spirits of just men made perfect. This 
 evidently refers to disembodied spirits of just men 
 which have been made perfect. They are in the 
 Church of Jesus Christ to which all Christians come. 
 From this we learn that the Church of Christ is com- 
 posed, not only of all the faithful since Christ's Ad- 
 vent, but it also contains all the faithful who lived 
 previously to that. Abraham looked forward to the 
 enjoyment of membership in the Church of Jesus 
 Christ. Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abra- 
 ham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it and was 
 glad." And we are told in the eleventh of Hebrews 
 that Abraham "looked for a city which hath founda- 
 tions, whose builder and maker is God." What city 
 could that have been? It was not Heaven, for 
 Heaven is never called a city. God's people are 
 said to be " built upon the foundation of the 
 apostles, and prophets, Jesus Christ himself be- 
 ing the chief corner stone." In Rev. xxi we have 
 the description of a glorious city. In the four- 
 teenth verse we are told, "And the wall of the 
 city had twelve foundations, and in them the names 
 of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Here we find 
 a city with foundations, no doubt the one for which 
 Abraham looked. This is popularly supposed to be 
 
126 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 a description of Heaven, but there is no foundation 
 for this supposition. The invitation of the angel was, 
 " Come and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife." The Revelator tells us that he showed him 
 "That great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out 
 of Heaven from God." The city was not Heaven, for 
 it was descending out of Heaven. It was the bride, 
 the Lamb's wife. Heaven is never called the bride 
 of Christ, but the Church of Christ is His bride, and 
 after the resurrection she is His wife. We are told 
 that there is to be a marriage supper, when Christ 
 and His Church are to be united never more to be 
 separated. "And so shall we be forever with the 
 Lord." When Abraham was looking for a city hav- 
 ing foundations, he was looking for the Church of 
 Jesus Christ. And he did not look in vain. He found 
 that Church and was admitted to membership in it- 
 And Jesus declares that when they come from the 
 East and from the West and from the North and 
 from the South, and sit down in the Kingdom of 
 God, they will find Abraham and Isaac and Jacob 
 already in the Kingdom. The expression, " King- 
 dom of God," and "Kingdom of Heaven," always re- 
 fers to the Christian dispensation or age, and never to 
 the succeeding age, or future glory. So when the 
 Gentiles come from all directions and sit down with 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God, 
 it is in the Church of Christ that they find them. 
 We conclude, then : First. That the Old Testament be- 
 lievers were heirs of salvation. Second. That they 
 
BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST S ADVENT. 1 27 
 
 were minor heirs, and not yet possessors of the inher- 
 itance. Third. That they were as minors under the 
 bondage of the law, and differed nothing from 
 the servants or slaves (doulos), so far as their treat- 
 ment was concerned. Fourth. They were just men 
 but not yet made perfect, nor could they be made 
 perfect until the new dispensation came. Fifth. God 
 declared His people to have attained their majority 
 at Pentecost, when He gave them the promise of the 
 Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost. As these just 
 men could not be made perfect without us, they in- 
 herited with the remainder of the family, when the 
 fullness of the time came. They then received that 
 which was theirs by promise. Sixth. Thus all who 
 were of faith in all ages of the world's history are 
 brought into the one brotherhood, and are all united 
 in the one bond of love, and there is one fold and one 
 Shepherd. Since the Holy Spirit was given there 
 are no more minor heirs, but all God's children in- 
 herit at birth the great salvation, the glorious per- 
 fection, that was made available for them through 
 the redemption of Christ. By the one Spirit they 
 are all baptized into the one body, and are all made 
 to drink into the one Spirit. 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW 
 
 " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us 
 unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." 
 
 — Gal. iii : 24. 
 
 ""THERE are few subjects of more practical impor- 
 A tance than the one under consideration. And it 
 is probable that there are few subjects less clearly 
 understood by religious teachers in general. In fact, 
 but few of the most learned have had well-defined 
 ideas upon this subject. The result has been a mix- 
 ing of the law and the Gospel in such a way as to 
 neutralize the good effects of both. Paul tells Tim- 
 othy that the law is good if it be used lawfully. And 
 the first proposition he lays down concerning the law- 
 ful use of it is, that it is not made for a righteous man 
 but for sinners. This is a fact that must always be 
 kept in mind if we expect to hold to a proper use of 
 the law. By the law, as the Apostle Paul uses the 
 expression generally, is meant the moral law, or such 
 an expression of that law as is found in the two tables 
 given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It might include 
 any moral precepts found in ceremonial law. 
 
 It is often supposed that this law was given to the 
 Jews that they might live by keeping it ; that it was a 
 means of salvation to them. That, at least, its ten- 
 dency was in the direction of salvation and life. In 
 (128) 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. I 29 
 
 fact, the general conception of its intention is quite 
 hazy and indefinite. I have heard preaching con- 
 tinuously since my childhood, and I must testify that 
 I never heard any man declare plainly the design of 
 the law. And yet the Scriptures are very explicit on 
 this point. The Apostle, in the chapter in which our 
 text is found, asks the question, " Whence then serv- 
 eth the law?" and then answers his own question. It 
 is true that the translators have so rendered his lan- 
 guage as to obscure his meaning. " It was added 
 because of transgression 'til the seed should come to 
 whom the promise was made." The phrase, " because 
 of transgression," is likely to give the reader a wrong 
 understanding of the Apostle's meaning. The Greek 
 word (charin) here translated "because of," accord- 
 ing to the Greek lexicon, means "on account of" or 
 "for the sake of." The meaning here is, that it was 
 added in order to produce transgression ; as we are 
 told by the same Apostle in another place (Rom. v: 
 20), "Moreover the law entered that the offense 
 might abound." The meaning is the same here; the 
 law was added for the sake of offenses, that they 
 might abound. It could not mean that the law 
 was added because of transgressions already com- 
 mitted, for there could be no transgression where 
 there was as yet no law. For "where there is no law 
 there is no transgression." The intention of the law, 
 then, was to produce transgression. It was given for 
 that express purpose, to produce transgression ; or, in 
 other words, that the offense might abound. God's holy 
 
 S. F. S— 9 
 
130 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 law was not given to sinners that they might keep it, 
 but that they might break it. Certainly God knew 
 that they could not obey it ; He did not expect it of 
 them, nor did He punish them for not keeping it, ex- 
 cept in so far as it was possible for them to keep it ; 
 that is, in an outward, formal sense. The Jews were 
 punished as a nation principally for apostatizing into 
 idolatry, a matter they could avoid. They were pun- 
 ished individually for blasphemy, adultery, murder, 
 etc., as men are under the civil law nowadays, but 
 they broke the law against murder and adultery 
 daily without committing the overt act. So long 
 as they remained true to their vows, and made 
 effort to keep the law, they were not visited with 
 punishment. But when they burst His bands 
 asunder and repudiated their vows and ran into 
 idolatrous excesses, they were visited with punish- 
 ment, more particularly to bring them to a sense of 
 their sin, and to produce reformation. But the law has 
 its most important use under the Gospel dispensation, 
 for, through the enlightening influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, its depth and breadth are more clearly seen. 
 In this light it is seen to respect every thought as well 
 as every act. It takes cognizance of the intentions and 
 motives rather than of the outward manifestation as 
 seen in the actions. The dispensation of the law is 
 called the " ministration of condemnation," because 
 the whole intent of the law was to condemn men, not 
 to save them. Jesus says that he came to save and not 
 condemn. (John Hi: 17.) "For God sent not his 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 131 
 
 Son into the world to condemn the world, but that 
 the world through him might be saved." And, again 
 (xii:47), "And if any man hear my words and be- 
 lieve not, I judge (krino) him not; for I came not 
 to judge the world but to save the world." The same 
 word in the original is here translated " judge" that 
 was in the preceding quotation translated " condemn." 
 Christ tells the Jews in v:45 that they have one that 
 accuses them, even Moses, in whom they trust. The 
 law was given to men, then, to condemn them, but 
 Christ was sent to save them. If we always keep 
 this contrast in mind, it will make many things plain 
 and clear. The law was given to sinners that they 
 might disobey it and so bring condemnation upon 
 their consciences ; not that the Lord was pleased to 
 condemn them, but condemnation was a necessary 
 prelude to their salvation. They could never be 
 saved until they were first condemned. "God hath 
 declared them all in unbelief, that he might have 
 mercy upon all." By means of the law " every mouth 
 must be stopped and the whole world become guilty 
 before God." The law is God's instrument for con- 
 vincing men of sin. Says the Apostle (Rom. vii : 7), 
 " Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had 
 not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt 
 not covet." While the Blessed Spirit is the agent in 
 the conviction of sin, the law is the instrument. Bear 
 this in mind then, that the law is God's special 
 chosen instrument for producing in men the knowledge 
 of sin. There is no other means by which we can 
 
132 • SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 know it. Someone may ask, "If the Lord knew 
 that men could not keep the law he gave them, why 
 did he not give them a law that they could keep?" 
 Because that would not have accomplished the end he 
 had in view ; to convince them of sin. They were no 
 worse for breaking the law ; the evil was in them before 
 the law was given. The law of sin in their members, as 
 Paul calls it, was in them, and a law of righteousness 
 was given them to develop and bring to light what 
 was in them. Outward transgression is only a symp- 
 tom of the inward disease. But the disease is insidi- 
 ous and men are unconscious of it until the symp- 
 toms are manifested. All men have the disease 
 alike, and unless there is some standard of health by 
 which to measure themselves, they will never become 
 aware of their diseased condition. If only a part 
 were sick, and the remainder were normally healthy, 
 the one class could compare itself with the other. 
 But all are alike infected, and are liable to consider 
 their diseased, weakened condition to be the normal 
 state of Spiritual health, unless they are taught dif- 
 ferently. If God had given them a standard of health 
 on a level with their condition, or, in other words, a 
 law they could keep, they would have only been con- 
 firmed in their mistaken estimate of themselves. In- 
 stead, he gave them a standard of Spiritual health 
 which was on an exact level with their normal state, 
 the state in which man was created, in the begin- 
 ning. The standard he gave them was just and 
 holy and good. He convinces men of this fact, 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 33 
 
 so that they consent unto the law that it is 
 good. They see they ought to measure up to this 
 standard ; they ought to obey this holy law. But 
 when they attempt to obey it in their diseased con- 
 dition, sin that is in them revives in opposition to the 
 holy law, and through enforced disobedience it brings 
 them into condemnation. As says the Apostle Paul 
 in Rom. vii, "For sin, taking occasion by the com- 
 mandment, deceived me and by it slew me." What was 
 the intention of this? " But sin, that it might appear 
 sin, working death in me by that which is good (the 
 law) ; that sin by the commandment might become 
 exceeding sinful." The whole intent of the law was 
 to make sin manifest. The sin that was hidden, the 
 sin of the heart. The object of making man an out- 
 ward transgressor was to reveal to him the sin of his 
 nature. The essence of sin is in the heart, in the 
 moral nature, in the intent. Man was unholy and 
 consequently lost from God and happiness. This 
 unholiness, this sinfulness, must be discovered to 
 him, or he would never feel the need of a Savior. 
 So long as he thought himself whole he would feel no 
 need of a physician. He must be convinced that he 
 was sick, and desperately sick, before he would ap- 
 ply for a remedy. The disease, though deadly, was 
 not realized because the symptoms did not show. 
 The law was given to develop the symptoms of the 
 disease. Transgressions of the law are these symp- 
 toms, and so long as the symptoms continue, it is 
 plain that the disease is not eradicated. To remove 
 
134 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the symptoms and leave the disease uncured, would 
 be to deceive the patient, who would imagine him- 
 self well or greatly improved, when his case was as 
 desperate as ever. Consequently, God is opposed to 
 all efforts to reform the life that do not change the 
 heart. If the tree remains corrupt, he would have 
 the fruit remain corrupt, that the nature of the tree 
 might plainly appear. God is no party to any at- 
 tempt that may be made to make men appear better, 
 while the fundamental difficulty, the sin of their 
 hearts, still remains. He would apply his law to 
 them, that law which worketh wrath, until the bot- 
 tom of the difficulty is reached. He would use the 
 law, as the surgeon his probe, to reach the deepest 
 part of the wound that sin has made, that no corrup- 
 tion should remain undiscovered and unremoved. 
 He pronounces a curse upon those who heal slightly 
 or deceitfully, and who are in a hurry to cry peace 
 before there is peace. There is no peace to the 
 wicked. And who is the wicked man but the man 
 who hates God ; whose nature is in rebellion against 
 Him ; the essence of whose nature is enmity against 
 God, and not subject to His law. To promise such 
 an one peace is to deceive Him cruelly. So long as 
 the moral nature of the man and the moral nature of 
 God are in antagonism, peace is impossible. It is 
 the province of the law to expose and condemn so 
 long as there is anything to be exposed and to be 
 condemned. The law of the Lord is a perfect instru- 
 ment to that end, and used by the Holy Spirit, it will 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 35 
 
 accomplish a perfect work. ''The law of the Lord 
 is perfect, converting the soul." (Ps. xix:7.) The 
 law is first to do its work, and then the Gospel be- 
 gins. In the text the law is said to be our school- 
 master. The original word is " Paidagogos " from 
 which our word pedagogue is derived. This is often 
 used in the sense of schoolteacher, but the literal 
 meaning of it is one who guides the child ; and it is 
 applied to teachers because in an intellectual sense 
 they guide the child. But it is probable that the 
 Apostle uses it in its literal sense. Dr. Adam Clarke 
 in his comment on this passage tells us that the ped- 
 agogue is not the schoolmaster, but the servant who 
 led the child to the school and from it, and had the 
 care of it out of school hours. No doubt this is the 
 sense of the word here, from what is said of the 
 pedagogue. He is not here said to teach us any- 
 thing, but to bring us to Christ. Christ is the great 
 teacher, and He advises us to take His yoke upon us 
 and learn of Him. The law is not the teacher, but 
 the servant, to bring us to the teacher that we might 
 be His disciples or pupils. Children are sometimes 
 unwilling to attend school, and must be forced to go. 
 This is true of sinners with reference to Christ's 
 school. No one attends of his own choice. We 
 would be everlasting truants if no force was used. 
 Of course the force used is moral force, that 
 may be successfully resisted, and we may, and the 
 great majority do, refuse to yield to it. It is not a 
 pleasant thing for the man who supposes himself 
 
136 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 whole to be forced to learn that he is sick of a mortal 
 disease. It is an unpleasant experience for the man 
 who is full of complacency as was the Pharisee in 
 Christ's parable, to learn that all his own goodness, 
 in which he prides himself, is filthy rags in God's 
 sight. But these unpleasant things must be learned 
 before we can be saved. By means of the law, God 
 exposes our weakness and vileness until no hope is 
 left us in our own efforts. The law comes to us as 
 God's standard of living. We can find no fault with 
 it. Our judgments approve of it. We "consent 
 unto the law that it is good." We then make efforts 
 to obey it, and in surprise we find ourselves coming 
 short. We fail to come up to our conceptions of 
 right living. We resolve to try again, hoping for 
 better results next time. We make another failure. 
 We try again and again with the same results. We 
 find at length that the power to will is ours, but the 
 power to perform our vows and carry out our good 
 resolutions, is wanting. "To will is present with us, 
 but how to perform that which is good, we find not." 
 We see that it is what we ought to do, but we do the 
 very things we would not do, and leave undone the 
 things we would do. "The good that I would I do 
 not, but the evil which I would not, that do I." Be- 
 sides, the light is continually increasing, and the dis- 
 crepancy between our conduct and God's law is con- 
 tinually increasing, so that instead of gaining ground, 
 we seem to be constantly losing. We become dis- 
 couraged and are tempted to call the Lord a hard 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 37 
 
 Master, taking up where He laid not down, and gath- 
 ering where He has not strown. Again, we make 
 desperate efforts to live, so as to preserve a clear 
 conscience, but our failure is signal and overwhelm- 
 ing. We delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man, but we find another law in our members, war- 
 ring against the law of our mind and bringing us into 
 captivity to the law of sin in our members." We 
 have found what the Lord intended we should find ; 
 what He gave us the law to enable us to discover. 
 We have found the law, or power, of sin. We 
 have found that the difficulty is not with our 
 knowledge or understanding: We "consent unto the 
 law that it is good." It is not with our choice, 
 we "delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man." It is not with our wills: "To will is present 
 with us." Our purposes are to please God, but the 
 result is to disobey Him. But by means of the law 
 of God we have developed another law or power, the 
 law of sin ; and this law is located within us. It con- 
 strains and controls our conduct in spite of resolu- 
 tions and efforts. It makes slaves of us ; it holds 
 us in a bondage from which we can see no es- 
 cape. When we would do good, evil is present with 
 us. We are under the control of a power we have 
 learned to hate, and from which there is no escape, for 
 it is located within us. If this power were ex- 
 ternal to us, we might hope for escape from 
 it, but it is within us, and we take it with 
 us wherever we may go. In our extremity we 
 
I38 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 cry out: " Oh ! wretched man that I am, who shall 
 deliver me ? " We have reached the end of our own 
 strength and found it to be perfect weakness. There 
 is no help in the law, for it can only condemn us. 
 We are now ready to receive the glorious news that 
 "when we are without strength, Christ died for the 
 ungodly." That, though we cannot save ourselves, 
 He is able to save us ; " to save unto the uttermost 
 all who come unto God by Him." That He has 
 condemned our enslaver to destruction that hence- 
 forth we should not serve sin. The law has done its 
 work. It has forced us to Christ as the only hope of 
 lost men. It has robbed us of all our goodness so 
 that not a rag of it is left. It has stopped our 
 mouths so that we can but become guilty before 
 God. It has given us the "sentence of death in our- 
 selves not to trust in ourselves, but in God that 
 raiseth the dead." Having been " weighed in the 
 balance of the law, and found wanting" in every par- 
 ticular, we despair of ourselves. The refuges of lies 
 have been swept away and we find ourselves without 
 a refuge and without a shelter. The law has pur- 
 sued us and driven us from one hope to another 
 until all hope is exhausted, and we are brought to 
 Christ as the only refuge for lost sinners, the only 
 hope for perishing men. The law has been our 
 pedagogue and has brought us to Christ that we 
 might be justified by faith. We cannot escape from 
 the law, nor from its condemnation until we get to 
 Christ, So long as there is anything about us to be 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 39 
 
 condemned, any sin to be exposed, any want of con- 
 formity to the will of God to be brought to our 
 knowledge, we need the law, since by it is the 
 knowledge of sin. We cannot know sin but by the 
 law. I have heard persons affirm that they have 
 been converted and in the favor of God, free from 
 condemnation, and while in this state have been con- 
 vinced of sin ; the sin of their hearts. No doubt they 
 were sincere in their statements, but they must have 
 been mistaken. When the Apostle says, "Nay, I 
 had not known sin but by the law," he does not refer 
 to outward sin, but to inward sin. This is apparent 
 from the example he gives : " For I had not known 
 lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." 
 Covetousness is acknowledged to be an unholy 
 affection, and to belong to the carnal mind. In fact, 
 the law was given expressly to convince men of 
 original sin ; that was its whole design. It was de- 
 signed to produce outward transgression only as a 
 symptom of the inward disease. It was no ad- 
 vantage to lost men to give them a law they could 
 not keep if they did not learn the lesson of the sin of 
 their hearts. They were no better off with a law 
 than without it, if nothing but infractions of the law 
 was to be seen. Since it is undeniable then that the 
 whole design of the law was to bring men to a 
 knowledge of the carnality of their natures, would it 
 not be strange, indeed, that the Lord should first de- 
 liver them from the law and then convince them of 
 the very thing the law was provided to convince 
 
140 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 them of ? The supposition is absurd, and is founded 
 in ignorance of God's plan of salvation. The ab- 
 surdity of the supposition is shown further in that it 
 implies that the law condemns sinners for their unholy- 
 conduct, but does not condemn them for the unholy 
 nature from which that conduct necessarily springs. 
 That it condemns men for rebellion in their lives, but 
 not for rebellion in their hearts. Which is the more 
 to be condemned, the effect or the cause from 
 which it springs? It moreover assumes the absurdity 
 that this rebellious nature is so subject to God's law 
 that it submits to it and does not bear its necessary 
 fruit, when the Apostle says it is not subject to God's 
 law neither indeed can be. Instead of submitting to 
 the law, the Apostle represents the law as stirring it 
 up. " When the commandment came, sin revived 
 and I died." The Scriptures teach that the law is 
 provided to give the sinner no peace until he is fully 
 convinced of his lost, sinful condition, of his inability 
 to keep God's holy law because of the flesh, the old 
 man, the carnal nature in him ; until he cries out in 
 his extremity for deliverance from " the body of this 
 death !" The absurd claim that we have been con- 
 sidering is that God gives the sinner peace, takes 
 away all the symptoms of Spiritual disease, outward 
 transgressions, delivers him from the claims of the 
 law, and then in some mysterious way, never ex- 
 plained, convinces him of the sin of his nature. On 
 this supposition there was no need of the law at all. 
 These persons with no condemnation but full of orig- 
 
THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 141 
 
 inal sin are in exactly the same condition as sinners 
 were before they had any law to transgress. And if 
 God can convince them of their lost condition be- 
 cause of their carnality, without the law, then the 
 giving of the law was a superfluity ; it was entirely 
 unnecessary. The work of conviction could have 
 been accomplished just as well without it. But 
 the Apostle disposes of this claim by saying, "I 
 had not known sin but by the law." If the Apostle 
 Paul needed the law to convince him of sin, so 
 does every other person. If he could not know 
 lust except through the prohibition of the law, 
 neither can any other person. If he needed the law 
 to show him the covetousness of his carnal mind, so 
 does every other person. And those who claim to 
 have been convinced of inbred sin without the 
 condemnation of the law are simply mistaken. 
 When they were thus convinced of sin they were not 
 justified, they were not free from condemnation, they 
 were not out from under the law as they imagined ; 
 but were still under wrath ; for the law worketh wrath. 
 How did they know covetousness was sinful but by 
 the law? The Holy Spirit used the law as the in- 
 strument of their conviction. If covetousness is con- 
 trary to the law, then the law condemned them for it. 
 But "there is no condemnation to them that are in 
 Christ Jesus." Why? Because the law of the Spirit 
 of life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the 
 law of sin and death. If they were not free from 
 this law of sin and death which was in their members, 
 
142 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 they would still be under condemnation. It is not 
 then because the law does not condemn inbred 
 sin, that those who are in Christ have no condemna- 
 tion, but because Christ has made them free from 
 inbred sin. That is the reason the Apostle gives and 
 we presume it to be the correct one. We conclude, 
 then, that so long as men need to be convinced of sin, 
 they are left under the law which was given to men 
 for that purpose. When by the law they are brought 
 to Christ and to salvation by faith, they are no longer 
 under the pedagogue, for they have no further need 
 of his services. " But after that faith is come, we 
 are no longer under a schoolmaster." 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW 
 
 " For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to 
 everyone that believeth." — Rom. x: 4. 
 
 H^HE relation of Christians to the law of God is a 
 * subject of prime importance in practical Godli- 
 ness. While it has not engaged the attention of the- 
 ologians in recent times, it was formerly a much 
 mooted question. Even in the first centuries of the 
 Christian era, the subject produced controversy in 
 the Church, and various opinions were advocated. We 
 are told by Church historians that the Gnostics, a 
 sect which arose in the first century of this era, so 
 emphatically repudiated the law of Moses as to deny 
 that it originated with the God of the new dispensa- 
 tion, but held it to be the work of an inferior Deity, 
 whom they called the Demiurge. We are told that 
 they treated the law with great contempt, and some 
 of them are said to have proceeded to such extremes 
 as to counsel the breaking of the law as a Godly act, 
 and one which showed their zeal for Christianity. 
 Thus they fell into immoralities in the excess of their 
 zeal for Christianity. Some commentators think the 
 Apostle John had this sect in mind in writing his first 
 general epistle, as they are said to have flourished in 
 that part of Asia Minor where the Apostle lived. The 
 
 (H3) 
 
144 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Jews were at the other extreme and depended upon 
 obedience to the law for justification and salvation. 
 " Being ignorant of God's righteousness and going 
 about to establish their own righteousness, they did 
 not submit themselves to the righteousness of God." 
 That is, being ignorant of God's plan of justification, 
 they endeavored to establish their own justification, 
 by their works of obedience. Between these extremes 
 lies the truth in the matter, and this truth we shall 
 endeavor to find. Certain persons even at the pres- 
 ent day hold opinions closely allied to those of the 
 Gnostics, though they have not carried them to such a 
 dangerous extreme. They hold that as Christ obeyed 
 the law for believers, the obligation to obedience has 
 been fully satisfied, and that there is no obligation 
 upon the Christian, whatever, to obey the moral law. 
 That, consequently, His conduct is a matter of indif- 
 ference, as it can have nothing to do whatever with 
 the question of His salvation. That Christ's obedience 
 is imputed to the believer, and the believer's disobe- 
 dience is imputed to Christ; and that, consequently, 
 the believer's conduct is not taken into consideration ; 
 it is entirely covered. The Father looks at Christ's 
 obedience only, and never at the disobedience of the 
 believer. This tends to destroy all incentive to good 
 works. In fact, good works become a matter of no 
 consequence in such a scheme. Yet there is much 
 truth mixed up with some error, in this view of the 
 Christian's relation to the law. People who hold to 
 the views above described are usually called Antino- 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 45 
 
 mians ; that is, those opposed to the law. They have 
 been accused of teaching that the more a believer 
 sins, the more he magnifies the grace of God ; for 
 where sin abounds, grace does the more abound. But 
 the Apostle Paul answers that suggestion where he 
 asks, " Shall we continue in sin that grace may 
 abound? God forbid." There are two principles 
 laid down by the Apostle Paul that present opposite 
 sides of this subject and at first sight may seem an- 
 tagonistic. First, that Christ is the end of the law, 
 and second, that grace establishes the law. 
 
 The two propositions are true, but manifestly not 
 true in the same sense. The law is not abolished in 
 the same sense in which it is established. We will 
 inquire in the first place in what sense the law is 
 abolished. We are not to understand that the moral 
 law is absolutely set aside. This cannot be true. 
 The moral law is that law which grows out of and is 
 established upon the relations of responsible beings 
 to one another, and to those they are dependent 
 upon, and to those dependent upon them. So soon 
 as the relation begins, the duty begins. And so long 
 as the relation continues, the duty continues. The 
 duty is not dependent upon any statute or declara- 
 tion. For instance : man is related to God as his 
 creator. Out of this relation grow duties toward 
 God encumbent upon man. So soon as man was 
 made, these obligations began. And so long as man 
 remains God's creature, they will continue. The 
 first table of the Decalogue is founded upon these 
 
 S. F. S.— 10 
 
146 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 relations. Man also owes duties to his fellows, because 
 of his. relation to them. The second table of the 
 Decalogue relates to these duties. Man also has 
 some relation to the lower animals, and there are 
 some duties growing out of these relations though 
 they are not mentioned in the Decalogue. Parents 
 owe duties to their children,- and though the duties 
 of children to parents are enjoined in the Decalogue, 
 the duties of parents to their children are not men- 
 tioned. I speak of these things to show the differ- 
 ence between the moral law and the Decalogue, a 
 distinction which is often overlooked. They are 
 generally confounded though they are by no means 
 the same. There is a civil law called the common 
 law. This is an unwritten law growing out of the 
 civil relations of men in civilized society. Then 
 there is statute law produced by legislative enact- 
 ment. The first has gradually grown up as men's 
 civil rights have been understood. The other is 
 made and changed by legislators. The common law 
 cannot be repealed because it grows out of the 
 nature of things and changes only as that changes 
 out of which it grows. Statutory law on the other 
 hand, though a partial expression of the same rights 
 and duties, is continually changed by legislative 
 authority. The common law is irrepealable. Statute 
 law is subject to repeal or change at the option of 
 the power that made it. The same relation exists 
 between the moral law and the Decalogue. The 
 moral law is an unwritten law. The Decalogue is 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 47 
 
 statutory. It is a partial expression of the moral 
 law, but is not the moral law. The moral law cannot 
 be changed unless the nature of the relations change 
 out of which it grows. The Decalogue, being a 
 statute, may be set aside, and can be obligatory only 
 upon them for whom it was made. Common law is 
 equity. The only question under the common law 
 is: What is right? Statute law defines a crime and 
 imposes a penalty. Under it the question is : What 
 does the law say? If it is violated the penalty must 
 be imposed. So the moral law is righteousness. It 
 respects the intentions rather than the act. The 
 Decalogue, on the other hand, condemns every viola- 
 tion, whatever be the intention. It says : "Thou shalt 
 not kill. " Every man who kills, violates that law, 
 whether it was his intention or not. Unless the 
 homicide could get out from under the dominion of 
 the law, the avenger of blood had a right to kill him, 
 though the act was the result of accident. The law 
 made no allowance for ignorance or mistake. As 
 God made man he was not subject to mistake. 
 His judgment was perfect ; his powers were equal 
 to the demands the law made. If through his 
 own fault he had lost those powers, the law could 
 not be lowered to suit his weakness. I have said the 
 moral law primarily respects the intention rather than 
 the act, yet as man was made, his conduct would 
 have been as perfect as his intentions, and his obedi- 
 ence would have been as perfect outwardly as in- 
 wardly ; and so every error in conduct is a technical 
 
148 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 violation of the moral law, and makes the culprit sub- 
 ject to the penalty. All perfect intelligences stand by 
 obedience and fall by disobedience. Man so stood 
 in the beginning. But when he sinned he lost the 
 power to obey. As he could keep the moral law 
 neither in intention nor practice, there was no hope 
 for him in the law. It could do nothing for him but 
 to condemn him. A partial transcript of this law 
 was given him in the Decalogue, as a means of mak- 
 ing him acquainted with his lost condition, as we have 
 shown in the preceding sermon. But it is plain, and 
 soon becomes plain to the awakened sinner, that on 
 the footing of the law there is no hope for lost man. 
 He can do nothing but transgress it. Even where he 
 seemed to keep the law, he soon sees there was no 
 real obedience. If lost man is ever saved it must be 
 on some other plan than by obedience to law. Hence 
 arises the necessity of salvation by grace. In this 
 scheme, faith in Christ is accepted in place of obedi- 
 ence to law, as a ground of acceptance with God. 
 " Christ is the end of the law for justification to every 
 one that believeth." Not that the law ever was a 
 means of justification to any sinner. " By the deeds 
 of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight ; for 
 by the law is the knowledge of sin." We are not to 
 understand, then, that the law ceased to be a means 
 of justification, and that Christ came in its place as 
 a source of justification. Christ is the end of the law, 
 and is for justification to the believer, but not in 
 place of the law as a justifier, since the law never was 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 49 
 
 a justifier. It was intended to condemn and to do 
 nothing else ; and as long as a sinner needs to be 
 condemned, he needs the law to condemn him. If 
 there were sin in believers they would still need the 
 law to condemn them, and to give them the knowl- 
 edge of that sin. And as John Wesley taught the 
 doctrine of sin in believers, he also taught that 
 Christians needed the law to develop that sin. He 
 was vehemently accused of being legal by the Cal- 
 vinists of his day, and in this teaching he most surely 
 laid himself open to the charge. Since faith is come, 
 we are no longer under the schoolmaster, says the 
 Apostle. Whatever, as a pedagogue, the law was in- 
 tended to do for us, we need it in that office no 
 longer. Mr. Wesley states truly that the law was 
 intended to condemn, and to give the knowledge of 
 sin. Then in these offices we need it no longer, for 
 we are no longer under the pedagogue since faith is 
 come. 
 
 First. Christ is the end of the law, then, as a source 
 of condemnation, because he has become to the be- 
 liever a source of justification, and these two states 
 are incompatible. No one can be justified and con- 
 demned at one and the same time. It is the office of 
 the law to condemn, and expose sin, and the office of 
 Christ to justify and cover sin. " Blessed are they 
 whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are cov- 
 ered." We cannot have them both at the same time ; 
 one evidently excludes the other. Thus when the 
 law has done all it can do for us, and has brought us 
 
150 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to Christ, its office ceases, and Christ becomes the 
 end of it. The very fact that Christ's office as justi- 
 fier has begun, is certain evidence that the office of 
 the law as prosecutor has ceased. Another proof 
 that the law is nothing to a Christian, is found in 
 St. Paul's declaration in Rom. iii : 1 9. "Now we 
 know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them 
 who are under the law, that every mouth may be 
 stopped, and all the world may become guilty before 
 God." In Rom. vi: 14 he says, "For sin shall not 
 have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law 
 but under grace." Since, then, Christians are not 
 under the law, the law says nothing to them ; for 
 whatsoever it saith, it saith to them that are under it. 
 Furthermore in his letter to Timothy the Apostle uses 
 the following language (I. Tim. i : 8—9) , "But we 
 know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully; 
 knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous 
 man, but for the lawless and disobedient," etc. It 
 seems plain, then, that to apply the law to the use of 
 a righteous man, for whom it was not made, would be 
 using it unlawfully. Christ is, then, the end of the 
 law as a means of condemnation. In that office 
 the believer has no use for it, and it says nothing 
 to him. 
 
 Second. Christ is the end of the law as a means of 
 justification. The law, given to holy and perfect 
 creatures, was intended to be a means of justification, 
 and answers that end among perfect and pure intel- 
 ligences. But sinful man finds it only an instrument 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. I 5 I 
 
 of condemnation. But even after man has been 
 restored to that moral image of God which he lost in 
 the fall, he is not yet where he can be justified by the 
 law, for the reason that his weakness and infirmities 
 resulting from the unredeemed condition of his body 
 make it impossible to keep the holy and perfect law 
 of God without fault. While the Christian does keep 
 the law of God in motive and intention, he cannot 
 keep it in deed and fact. He will be constantly vio- 
 lating it in its letter, though not in its spirit. So as he 
 cannot perfectly keep the law, he cannot be cleared 
 by it. He is an involuntary transgressor of it, day by 
 day. On account of his weakness and ignorance, he 
 needs that allowance should be made. But there is 
 no mercy in law. It is justice and nothing else. It is 
 manifest, then, that as every jot and tittle of the law 
 is sacred, and no abatement of its demands is possi- 
 ble, that there is no possibility that imperfect men 
 should live by it. The least violation means death. 
 The believer can no more stand by obedience, then, 
 than the unbeliever, as a single error would work his 
 condemnation. In the Gospel scheme it is proposed 
 that the believer should stand by faith and not by the 
 works of the law. As in the case of the penitent 
 sinner, his faith is imputed to him for righteousness, 
 so in the case of the converted man. He stands by 
 faith, and not by obedience. If he were justified by 
 the law, he would live by doing, but as it is of grace, 
 he lives by believing. The law says, " He that doeth 
 these things shall live by them," But grace says, 
 
152 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 " He that believeth hath everlasting life." To teach 
 a man to work in order to live, is to put him under 
 the law, and to cause him to fall from grace. To 
 teach him to use the " means of grace" in order to 
 live, is to deceive him, as there is but one means 
 of grace, and that is faith. No work, however good, 
 can be a means or condition of grace. It is faith that 
 communicates or conveys grace to our souls, and 
 there is nothing else that will do it. Prayer is not a 
 means of grace ; fasting is not ; reading the word is 
 not; hearing preaching is not. Faith in prayer, 
 fasting, reading, hearing, is a means of grace, and it 
 is acknowledged that none of these things are means 
 of grace without faith. It is the faith exercised in 
 the doing of these things that conveys the grace, and 
 it will be equally efficacious in conveying grace when 
 we are not doing them. To call these exercises 
 means of grace, is misleading, for prayer is no more a 
 means of grace than labor in field or shop is. The 
 one condition of life is faith. There is no justifica- 
 tion by the law. Yet the whole universe is under the 
 domain of God's law, as the law is only a manifesta- 
 tion of the principle of eternal righteousness. The 
 believer then needs a refuge from the demands of the 
 law, where grace can be extended to him. The Lord 
 Jesus Christ is this refuge. How can the law be vindi- 
 cated, and yet grace be shown to the infirm and weak ? 
 The law can only be vindicated by obedience, full 
 and perfect. So the law maker, himself, who was not 
 subject to law, put himself under the law and fulfilled 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 53 
 
 every jot and tittle of it. He vindicated it and made 
 it honorable. He obeyed it, not for himself, but for 
 believers. And the Father accepts His obedience in 
 place of ours, so that the holy law of God has no de- 
 mands upon the man who has accepted for himself 
 the benefits of Christ's obedience. He not only took 
 the chastisement of our peace upon Himself and bore 
 our sins, but He fulfilled the law for us and satisfied 
 its demands. Jesus himself declared that not one jot 
 nor tittle of the law should pass away until all was 
 fulfilled. The intimation is that these shall pass 
 away after its fulfillment. But they pass away only 
 for the man who takes refuge under Christ's vicarious 
 atonement and obedience. He is our city of refuge 
 to which we can flee with confidence. The cities of 
 refuge which God commanded the Jews to set apart 
 in the tribes of Israel, were types of Christ. The 
 law against murder was in full force all over the land 
 except in these cities. The law provided that he 
 should have his blood shed by man, who shed the 
 blood of his fellowman. No exception was made. 
 Sometimes men shed the blood of their fellows from 
 malice ; usually it was done intentionally, but some- 
 times it was accidental. But the law made no allow- 
 ance for mistake or accident. There can be no such 
 thing in the universe while it remains as God made 
 it. The avenger of blood was in duty bound to spill 
 the blood of the manslayer, however the killing may 
 have occurred. But in order that the involuntary 
 transgressor might not suffer with the real criminal. 
 
154 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 cities of refuge were appointed in all the tribes to 
 which the homicide might flee. But as the malicious 
 slayer would be likely to take advantage of this merci- 
 ful provision, it was ordered that an inquest should be 
 made concerning the crime. The slayer was brought to 
 the gates of the city and the circumstances of the case 
 scrutinized. If it appeared that the person was killed 
 intentionally, the criminal was no longer permitted 
 the rights of asylum in the city, but was turned 
 over to the executioner. But if it appeared that the 
 killing was accidental, the unfortunate victim of cir- 
 cumstances was allowed to remain in the city of refuge. 
 But he was compelled to remain there, or if he chose 
 to go out of the city, he did so at his peril. Justice re- 
 mained on the outside of the city walls ; in the city 
 alone was mercy dominant. He must remain in the city 
 of refuge until the death of the high priest. Then he 
 might again go abroad without danger. Just as the 
 accidental criminal was safe in the city of refuge, but 
 nowhere else, so the believer is safe in Christ, but no- 
 where else. Out from under the shelter of Jesus' 
 merits, the law would doom him to death. But as the 
 voluntary transgressor found no security in the city 
 of refuge, just so the voluntary transgressor finds no 
 asylum in Christ. He is not the minister of sin ; He 
 does not protect voluntary transgressors from the pen- 
 alties due their transgressions. It is from the effects 
 of involuntary infractions of the holy law of God, re- 
 sulting from weakness and ignorance, that Christ 
 shelters us. It is true that He frees us from 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 55 
 
 all the demands of the holy and perfect law, 
 but He substitutes in its place another law that 
 leaves no place for voluntary transgression. We 
 are "not without law to God," but are "under 
 the law of Christ." Christ is the end of the law 
 as a means of justification, which it never has 
 been to sinners, but which it is to all perfect in- 
 telligences. 
 
 Third. Christ is also the end of the law as to its 
 dominion. We are not under the law but under 
 grace. We are no longer answerable to it. It is no 
 more to us than the law of retaliation was to the in- 
 voluntary murderer in the city of refuge. To us it is 
 a dead letter. The law is not destroyed ; it reigns 
 over the whole universe except in one place ; and that 
 place is "in Christ." As the law of retaliation pre- 
 vailed over all the land of Israel except in the city of 
 refuge, but was there inoperative, so the holy law of God 
 is inoperative in Christ Jesus. There another standard 
 obtains. For the law of perfect obedience is substi- 
 tuted the law of love. To those who are in Christ, 
 "love is the fulfilling of the law." The law of love, 
 the law written in their hearts, supersedes, for the 
 time being, the law of perfect obedience. This is a 
 law which believers can keep. It respects the inten- 
 tion, alone, and not the act. If the intention is pure, 
 proceeding from love, the act is not considered ma- 
 terial. If the act is not good, considered by itself, it 
 is because ignorance or infirmity has interposed to 
 prevent it; and these defects are unconditionally 
 
156 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 covered by Christ's perfect vicarious obedience. 
 There must be perfect obedience and conduct some- 
 where, and as it is not in us it must be in our substi- 
 tute. As to us, mercy reigns, and the pure intention 
 is accepted in place of perfection in conduct. So 
 while the Christian's nature and intentions are ac- 
 ceptable to God, complying with the demands of His 
 holy law, his conduct needs to have constant allow- 
 ance made for it, and can be acceptable and reward- 
 able only for Jesus' sake. We are, consequently, 
 continual debtors to grace ; we stand in need of mercy 
 all the time. Boasting is forever excluded, for our 
 best works need the atoning merits of Christ. The 
 law has lost its dominion and grace reigns trium- 
 phantly over us. 
 
 "Grace first contrived a way 
 To save rebellious man, 
 And all the steps that grace display 
 That formed the wondrous plan." 
 
 Fourth. The holy and perfect law is no longer 
 the rule of his life, or he could never possess a good 
 conscience. Love is the standard by which he 
 measures himself and by which he is measured. 
 Love is the touchstone by which all his feelings and 
 conduct are tested. It is the law written in his 
 heart, not on tables of stone. If all his feelings 
 and actions proceed from love to God and man, 
 then he stands acquitted and nothing condemna- 
 tory can be laid to his charge. Anything in ac- 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. I 57 
 
 cordance with love is right. Anything contrary to 
 love is wrong. 
 
 "That perfect law of thine, 
 
 Savior to me impart ; 
 The Spirit's law of life Divine, 
 
 O, write it on my heart. 
 Implant it deep within 
 
 Whence it may ne'er remove 
 The law of liberty from sin 
 
 The perfect law of love." 
 
 We shall consider, next, how faith establishes 
 the law. The Apostle says (Rom. lil 131), "Do we 
 then make void the law through faith? God forbid; 
 yea, we establish the law." First, faith, or salvation 
 by grace through faith, establishes the law as to the 
 intent of it. The spirit of the law, or as the Apostle 
 Paul expresses it, the righteousness of the law is es- 
 tablished. Rom. viii 14, "That the righteousness of 
 the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after 
 the flesh, but after the Spirit." The whole intent of 
 the law was loving obedience. I. Tim. i : 5, "Now 
 the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure 
 heart," etc. When Jesus was asked what was the 
 great commandment in the law, he replied (Matt, 
 xxii 137-40), "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy mind. This is the first and great command- 
 ment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two com- 
 mandments hang all the law and the prophets." Love 
 
158 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to God and man is, then, the essence of the law, and 
 this is established by salvation by grace through 
 faith. This is the law, which, according to promise, 
 is written in the heart of every believer. It becomes 
 the moving power of his life, the source of every 
 affection and of every act. Christ fulfilled the law 
 in letter and in spirit, but the whole spirit of the law 
 is fulfilled in every child of God. Each true believer 
 has the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the 
 Holy Ghost given unto him. Consequently each 
 believer loves God with all his heart, and his neigh- 
 bor as himself. Nothing else avails with God. "For 
 in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any- 
 thing nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by 
 love." " If any man love me, he will keep my 
 words," said Jesus. He does not say that he ought 
 to keep them, or will try to keep them, but he will 
 keep them. " This is the love of God, that we keep 
 his commandments, and his commandments are not 
 grievous." The spirit of loving obedience is in every 
 Christian heart, and if he fails in his conduct to carry 
 out this spirit, it is through ignorance or infirmity. 
 A faith that does not infallibly produce a cheerful 
 obedience to God, a life flowing from love to God 
 and man, is a faith that does not unite men to God ; 
 it is a dead faith such as devils have. The intent, 
 the spirit, the righteousness of the law, are estab- 
 lished by faith. . 
 
 Second. In the end the law will be established in 
 its entirety through salvation by faith. Faith and 
 
CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 59 
 
 hope will ere long have accomplished their benign 
 purposes, and will pass away. When that which is 
 perfect is come and we shall know as we are known, 
 we will no longer need faith. As is sometimes said, 
 "Faith will be sweetly lost in sight," though love will 
 endure forever. Salvation by grace is a temporary 
 arrangement, and was introduced in order to accom- 
 plish a glorious purpose. If it pleased the Lord to 
 make His people complete in soul and body at once, 
 they would no longer need grace, but could stand by 
 obedience to the holy law of God as the angels do. 
 But it has pleased God, for a wise purpose, to have 
 His people here in this world, for a longer or shorter 
 time, to be tried and proved. They are not yet per- 
 fect, since they have not attained to the resurrection 
 of the dead. So they need the grace of God. They 
 need Christ, a city of refuge, from the literal demands 
 of the law. But when human nature, through the 
 redemption which is in Christ Jesus, has been restored 
 to its original perfection, human beings will be able to 
 obey the law in spirit and in letter, and will once more 
 stand by obedience, and the reign of the holy, perfect 
 law will be universal. So grace will finally establish the 
 law over those who now, for a time, are excepted from 
 its sway. Then that Divine order which sin so rudely 
 interrupted, will be established among all pure intel- 
 ligences, and redemption's scheme will have become 
 a glorious reminiscence. 
 
 In conclusion we will recapitulate the points al- 
 ready set forth : 
 
160 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 I. First. Christ is the end of the law so far as its 
 office of condemning is concerned. Believers do not 
 need it in this office as there is no condemnation to 
 them that are in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Second. Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
 ness or justification. Not that any sinner was ever 
 justified by the law, but all pure and perfect intelli- 
 gences are, and it is the standard of justification or 
 condemnation everywhere except in Christ. > 
 
 Third. Christ is the end of the law as to domin- 
 ion. Believers are not under its sway and it does 
 not speak to them but to those alone who are under it. 
 
 Fourth. Christ is the end of the law to the be- 
 liever as a rule of life. He is not judged by it but 
 by the law of love alone. 
 
 II. First. Faith establishes the law as to its spirit 
 and intent. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled 
 in believers. 
 
 Second. Faith establishes the law in that it will 
 eventually bring believers under its dominion again 
 when the whole design of grace is accomplished. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT— ITS GIFT, AND 
 OFFICES 
 
 "And behold I send the promise of my Father upon 
 you." — Luke xxiv : 49. 
 
 HPHE peculiar work of the Holy Spirit is the dis- 
 * tinguishing mark of the Christian age, or dis- 
 pensation. Without the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
 Christianity would differ from previous ages in but a 
 few unimportant particulars. When professed Chris- 
 tians are destitute of the Holy Spirit, they are desti- 
 tute of all that characterizes Christianity. Whatever 
 else they may have is, at best, but a mere circum- 
 stantial of Christianity, if it be, indeed, any part of it 
 at all. Yet in the strife of sects and parties, and 
 their various claims to orthodoxy, how little stress is 
 laid upon the essential thing. As Charles Wesley 
 has so pertinently written : 
 
 "Ye different sects, who all declare 
 Lo ! here is Christ, or Christ is there — 
 Your stronger proofs Divinely give, 
 And show me where the Christians live. 
 Your claims, alas ! ye cannot prove — 
 Ye lack the genuine mark of love. " 
 
 This love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
 Ghost given unto us. Without the Holy Spirit we 
 are destitute of the love. This fact shows how wide 
 
 S.F.S.-ll (!6i) 
 
1 62 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of the truth the common conceptions of Christianity 
 are ; how much stress is laid upon the accidental, and 
 how little upon the essential. 
 
 When Jesus speaks of sending the Comforter, the 
 Holy Spirit, into the world, we are not to suppose 
 that up to this time the Holy Spirit had never been 
 in the world at all. This is far from being the truth. 
 We are told that in the beginning the Spirit of God 
 brooded upon the face of the waters, making them 
 prolific of animal life. We are also told that the 
 holy men of old who wrote Scripture, wrote as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost. He inspired the 
 prophets, and they spoke, under his Divine guidance, 
 many things which they, themselves, did not under- 
 stand. We are given to understand that the Holy 
 Spirit strove with the antediluvians of whom the Lord 
 says : " My spirit shall not always strive with man." 
 No doubt every good thought, every good desire and 
 impulse, from the fall of man to the present day, has 
 been the work of the Holy Spirit. He has always 
 been in the world, just as the eternal Word has 
 always been in the world. As He is God, He is 
 everywhere present. But as the Word was made 
 flesh and dwelt among men, as He was sent on a 
 special mission, and accomplished a special work, so 
 the Blessed Spirit was specially sent into the world to 
 accomplish a special work. The work of the incar- 
 nate Word was to procure salvation for men; to- make 
 it available. The work of the Holy Spirit is to work 
 this salvation in men; to make it a fact of their 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 63 
 
 experience. The one is just as important and neces- 
 sary in the salvation of men as the other. We can 
 no more be saved without the work of the Holy 
 Spirit in us, than without the work of the Son of God 
 for us. To deny this work of the Holy Spirit, then, 
 is just as fatal to Godliness as to deny the vicarious 
 atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we find 
 some persons who lay great stress upon the work of 
 Christ for us, who deny or ignore the work of the 
 Holy Spirit. They would call anyone an infidel 
 who denied the essential Divinity of the Lord Jesus 
 and rejected his Atonement ; but they are equally in- 
 fidel who deny the Holy Ghost. The work of the one 
 is the necessary complement of the other. Without 
 the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus died in vain. To 
 provide the price of redemption, and to make no pro- 
 vision for applying it to the actual emancipation of 
 the enslaved, would be a waste of labor. Jesus pro- 
 vided salvation; He paid the price of redemption; 
 He provided the remedy. It is the work of the Holy 
 Spirit to accomplish that salvation in us, to apply 
 the provision to our needs. It was absolutely as 
 essential for the salvation of men that the Holy Spirit 
 should come, as that Christ should come. Nothing 
 could be done to wash men from their sins until the 
 Spirit was sent. 
 
 Jesus says He was straitened until His baptism was 
 accomplished. "I have a baptism to be baptized 
 with ; and how am I straitened until it be accom- 
 plished." (Luke xii : 50.) He could perform works of 
 
1 64 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 mercy upon the bodies of men, but could not save 
 their souls. He could tell men the truth but could 
 not give them understanding of that truth. That was 
 not His work. The vail was on their hearts but it 
 was not His office to take it away. He was the Light 
 of the World, but the darkness did not comprehend 
 the light, and it was not His work to give compre- 
 hension. He gave sight to those who were born 
 blind to natural things, but it was not His work to open 
 the eyes of their understanding. All these things be- 
 long to the office of the Comforter, the Paraclete. 
 The Lord Jesus lived and died misunderstood. Not 
 one human being during His whole stay upon earth 
 ever understood Him, or comprehended His mission. 
 Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, He never would 
 have been understood. His life and death would 
 have remained an enigma to this day. But though 
 Jesus was so straitened while here, when He ascended 
 on high " He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto 
 men." He expressly declared that the Comforter 
 would not'come unless He went away. And though 
 the Disciples were so reluctant to give Him up, he told 
 them that it was for their profit that He should go 
 away. Not that it would be good for them to remain 
 orphans, but that they needed something done for 
 them that it was not His office to do. It was hard 
 for them to understand how it could be better for 
 them for Him to be absent, yet He assured them that 
 it was the truth. The great work of purifying and 
 sanctifying men was held in abeyance while He 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 65 
 
 remained on earth. The great work of restoring men 
 to the favor and image of God, of bringing them back 
 again to their pristine state of holiness and innocence, 
 of recovering them, soul and body, from the results 
 of the fall, is committed to the Holy Spirit proceed- 
 ing from the Father and the Son. 
 
 The offices of the Holy Spirit are various and man- 
 ifold, and we shall endeavor to recount them in a 
 general way. 
 
 First. The first office of the Spirit is to convince of 
 sin. This we have already spoken of in another 
 place, but will repeat briefly. By nature man is blind 
 to Spiritual things because they are Spiritually dis- 
 cerned. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to open 
 blind eyes and turn men from darkness to light. Jesus 
 says of the Comforter, "And when He is come He 
 will reprove (convince) the world of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment." No doubt there was an in- 
 fluence of the Spirit in the world previous to the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, that gave men some sense 
 of sin and wrong, in all times and in all lands. It 
 produced in men a sense of guilt, and of wrath be- 
 cause of guilt. But as the time had not come to save 
 men from sin, they were not given a full and distinct 
 knowledge of sin. It was unnecessary, and would have 
 been cruelty and not mercy. It was not necessary 
 for man to know how terribly he was lost, until res- 
 cue was provided. But when the salvation was made 
 available then it was necessary for man to see these 
 things in their true light; in the light of God. It is 
 
1 66 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the office of the Holy Spirit, through the law, to give 
 men a knowledge of sin. He removes the vail of 
 ignorance from their hearts and enables them to see 
 sin as God sees it. Without this work of the Spirit, 
 men could never know sin. The law, the standard of 
 righteousness, could impart no knowledge to a blind 
 man. The Spirit opens our eyes and enables us to 
 measure ourselves by the standard. 
 
 Second. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to give 
 repentence or penitence. This Godly sorrow for sin 
 which follows our voluntary relinquishment of it, is 
 the work of the Blessed Spirit. We never could 
 actually forsake sin, as we resolve to do, unless this 
 sorrow was wrought in us. Many resolutions to do 
 better are never carried out for lack of this help. We 
 never can really forsake one sin unless we forsake all 
 sin ; for so long as we hold on to one iniquity, the Lord 
 will give us no help. Says the Psalmist, "If I regard 
 iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." 
 But when we resolve to forsake every sin in the light 
 of God's Spirit, then the Godly sorrow is wrought in us 
 by the blessed Spirit. This enables us to put our 
 good resolutions into practice. When we have learned 
 to abhor that which is evil, we can easily refrain from 
 evil. 
 
 Third. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to renew 
 our natures ; to cleanse us from our unholiness, and 
 to baptize us into the one body of Christ. The old 
 man is by Him destroyed and the new man is pro- 
 duced. In conviction for sin we are said to be 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 67 
 
 begotten of God, and in this change from sin to holi- 
 ness we are said to be born of God. But we are 
 begotten by the Spirit and born of the Spirit. It is 
 all His work. This wonderful change from nature to 
 grace is also called a baptism. So we are said to be 
 baptized by the Spirit into the body or Church of 
 Christ. This burial of the old nature, and the raising 
 up of the new nature is called a baptism. I am well 
 aware that there are those who deny that the baptism 
 of the Holy Spirit is the privilege of all believers, 
 but this denial is made in the face of all the evidence. 
 Their claim is that there were but two instances of 
 the baptism of the Holy Spirit; one at Pentecost and 
 the other at the house of Cornelius. That to all 
 Christians is promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 but not the baptism. This is making a distinction 
 where there is no difference. John the Baptist evi- 
 dently did not understand the matter in that way for he 
 promised the baptism of the Holy Ghost to all those 
 whom he baptized. He said to those whom he bap- 
 tized, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repent- 
 ance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
 whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall 
 baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire" (Mat. iii : 
 11.) As John baptized all Jerusalem and Judea, and 
 the regions round about Jordan, he promised this 
 baptism of the Holy Spirit to thousands. Now 
 either John was misinformed, or these objectors are 
 mistaken. Further, it is evident that this distinction 
 between the gift and baptism of the Holy Spirit was 
 
1 68 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 unknown to Peter. For in the account he gave to 
 the brethren at Jerusalem of his preaching to Cor- 
 nelius, he uses this language: "Then remembered I 
 the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed 
 baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch as God gave them the 
 like gift, as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand 
 God." (Acts xi: 16, 17.) Here he quotes Christ's 
 promise of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and calls 
 it a gift in the case of those at Pentecost and also at 
 the house of Cornelius. Again in Acts x:45 we read, 
 "And they of the circumcision which believed were 
 astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that 
 on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost." So as Cornelius got the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost and that is promised to as many as the Lord 
 our God shall call (Acts ii:39), and Peter says it 
 was the like gift they received at the beginning, it fol- 
 lows as that gift was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 
 that baptism is for all believers. 
 
 Fourth. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to witness 
 with the Spirit of the believer to the fact of his son- 
 ship. While the transition from nature to grace, 
 from the power of Satan to the Kingdom of God, can- 
 not but be very apparent to the consciousness, yet 
 there is a possibility of deception in the matter. 
 That is, persons who have not the experience of re- 
 generation are liable to imagine they have. There 
 are other spirits instead of the Spirit of God that 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 69 
 
 will assist in this deception. Great changes in the 
 feelings may take place from causes natural or dia- 
 bolical, and these changes of feeling may be mis- 
 taken for God's work by those who are without ex- 
 perience of Spiritual things. We sometimes see 
 manifestations of violent emotions, and of an ecstatic 
 kind, that manifestly do not come from God, though 
 it may not be clear where they do originate. We 
 know that they do not come from God because of 
 the subsequent fruits, and have reason to think so 
 from appearances at the time. Yet the subjects of 
 these experiences are prone to ascribe them to the 
 Spirit of God, and think them the fruits of conver- 
 sion. If we were infallible in our judgments, our own 
 consciousness, that is, the testimony of our own 
 spirit, would be conclusive and satisfactory evidence 
 of our Spiritual state. But this not being the case, 
 in a matter of such an extraordinary nature, and of 
 such transcendent importance, we cannot trust to the 
 testimony of our own spirit alone. There is a pos- 
 sibility of mistake, and that we cannot afford. In 
 temporal matters, though the testimony of con- 
 sciousness may sometimes lead us astray, yet the re- 
 sults of mistake or deception are not lasting, or of 
 such grave moment. So in these things conscious- 
 ness is the highest evidence. But in eternal things 
 the interests at stake are so great that we are fur- 
 nished infallible testimony to the fact of our salvation. 
 We are to be so assured of our acceptance with God 
 and of our filial relation to Him that no room is left 
 
170 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 for doubt or uncertainty. In order to give us this 
 full assurance of faith, the Holy Spirit is given to us 
 to witness to our adoption. (Gal. iv : 6.) " Because ye 
 are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into 
 your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Rom.viii: 16.) 
 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
 we are the children of God." (I. John v: 6.) "And it 
 is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit 
 is truth." (10th verse.) "He that believeth on the 
 Son of God hath the witness in himself." The wit- 
 ness of the Spirit is called the "earnest of our inher- 
 itance." (Eph. i: 13, 14.) "In whom also, after that 
 ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
 promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until 
 the redemption of the purchased possession." (II. Cor. 
 i : 22.) "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earn- 
 est of the Spirit in our hearts." (II. Cor. v : 5 .) " Now 
 he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, 
 who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit." 
 The witness of the Spirit is also called the seal of God. 
 It is God's testimony of genuineness. Only those 
 are His children, His representatives, who have this 
 seal set on them. (Eph.iv:30.) " And grieve not the 
 Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the 
 day of redemption." (Eph. 1 :i3.) "In whom, also, 
 after that ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy 
 Spirit of promise." It is generally understood that 
 a seal is an attestation of genuineness. Without this 
 seal we are but pretenders to sonship ; we are count- 
 erfeits. The Holy Spirit was the seal of Christ's 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 171 
 
 sonship. It was said to John, "Upon whom thou 
 shalt see the Spirit descending and remain on him, 
 the same is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." 
 And he declares, "I saw and bear record that this is 
 the Son of God." (John i: 31, 32.) It is true that 
 upon God's children generally the Spirit does not 
 visibly descend, but the fruits of the sealing are 
 plainly manifest in their lives. God's people are all 
 anointed ones. They have an unction from the Holy 
 One. The fact of the witness of the Spirit is plainly 
 taught in the Scriptures ; the manner of it is revealed 
 only to those who experience it. "The wind blow- 
 eth where it listeth and thou heareth the sound there- 
 of, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it 
 goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
 The witness of the Spirit is God's testimony to our 
 own consciousness that we are born of God. 
 
 " The Spirit answers to the blood 
 And tells me I am born of God." 
 
 It is the voice of God in our hearts. Sometimes 
 men's imagination is so affected that they seem to 
 hear an audible voice speaking to them at the same 
 time they realize the voice within. It is a conscious 
 manifestation of God to the soul. We call it a speak- 
 ing to us, though it is not addressed to the outward 
 ear. But by the Blessed Spirit, the Lord does give 
 us assurance of our sonship, and such an assurance 
 as excludes all doubt at the time. But someone may 
 ask, " How can we know it to be God speaking?" I 
 
172 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 do not know that I can answer that. The fact, I 
 know. But if God desires to manifest Himself to His 
 creatures for their assurance and comfort, can He not 
 do so? And if so, can He not make Himself known 
 to the soul so that certainty is produced? infallible 
 certainty? If creatures can communicate with each 
 other to the exclusion of all doubt as to their identity, 
 certainly the Almighty God can do as much. Yea, 
 He can do more. When God speaks to us, we always 
 recognize Him. We may imagine that He speaks 
 when He does not, but there can be no mistake when 
 He really speaks to us. 
 
 " The opening heavens around me shine 
 With beams of sacred bliss 
 When Jesus shows His mercy mine 
 And whispers, I am His." 
 
 The witness of the Spirit is necessary to as- 
 surance. Without it the believer is left a prey to 
 doubt, and to the assaults of the adversary of his soul. 
 Conscious of his own faults and infirmities, his weak- 
 ness and failures, under the accusations of Satan, 
 the accuser of the brethren, the believer would soon 
 be persuaded to cast away his confidence, if the Spirit of 
 God did not give him the assurance of the Divine favor. 
 He could not hold out without this Heavenly succor. 
 When a sense of his own unworthiness oppresses him, 
 this Divine assurance is to him like life from the dead. 
 It lifts his fainting spirits up ; it fills him with all joy 
 and peace. It nerves him for the conflict before him, 
 and he goes forth to the battle like a giant refreshed 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 73 
 
 with new wine. With the Psalmist, he can say, "by 
 my God and I can run through a troop ; by my God 
 and I can leap over -a wall." Having the earnest of 
 the Spirit we are always confident, and willing 
 rather to be absent from the body and present with 
 the Lord. It is this assurance of sonship and favor 
 that robs death of its sting, and makes Heaven pres- 
 ent to the believer. In the language of Charles 
 Wesley, 
 
 "We more than taste the Heavenly powers 
 
 And antedate that day. 
 We feel the Resurrection near — 
 
 Our life in Christ concealed ; 
 And with His glorious presence here 
 
 Our earthen vessels filled." 
 
 Through this indwelling witness, 
 
 " Heaven already is begun — 
 Opened in each believer." 
 
 Fifth. Another office of the Holy Spirit is to guide 
 His people into all truth. John xvi : 13, "Howbeit, 
 when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he. will guide 
 you into all truth." He is to abide with the Church 
 forever as its teacher and guide. Under this dispen- 
 sation the promise is fulfilled, "And they shall be all 
 taught of God." It was promised that under the new 
 covenant, that "they shall not teach every man, his 
 neighbor, and every man, his brother, saying, Know 
 the Lord," for all should know Him. And John says 
 to the disciples of his day, "Ye have an unction from 
 the Holy One, and ye know all things ; and ye need 
 
174 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 not that any man teach you, but the same anointing 
 teacheth you." Jesus declares himself to be the truth, 
 and one man can no more communicate Spiritual truth 
 to another, than he can communicate Christ to an- 
 other. He may do either one instrumentally, but 
 neither one actually. God may use man as an in- 
 strument for the communication of truth, but he 
 must be the agent in the work. As the Holy Spirit is to 
 be the teacher of God's people, and their guide into 
 the understanding of the truth, the foundation is laid 
 for unity of faith. Those who have the same teaching 
 learn the same things. If men have different teachers 
 they will probably learn a variety of things. Jesus 
 has expressly prohibited His Disciples from receiving 
 any other teacher. He says, " Call no man, Rabbi." 
 Unity among God's people is a vital matter. Jesus 
 makes it the proof of His mission. Unity of spirit is 
 necessary to unity of faith. The Apostle says : " En- 
 deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
 of peace, 'til we all come into the unity of the 
 faith." The reason why unity of faith is not found 
 among the professed people of God is that they have 
 not the unity of the Spirit. If they were all taught by 
 the one Spirit they would all learn the same things, 
 and so would be able to "speak the same things" and 
 to be "perfectly joined together in the same mind 
 and the same judgment." Without this unity of teach- 
 ing, unity of faith is impossible. The Blessed Spirit 
 is always ready to impart to us such knowledge 
 of Spiritual things as is profitable for us. It is 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 75 
 
 said: "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of 
 God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not, 
 and it shall be given him." Jesus promises concern- 
 ing the Comforter, " He shall teach you all things, 
 and bring all things to your remembrance." And, 
 again, " He shall receive of mine and shall show it 
 unto you." And, again, "He shall show you things 
 to come." Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
 the Scriptures are sealed to us. We cannot under- 
 stand them. We are in the same condition as the 
 disciples were while Christ was with them. He 
 wished to tell them many things, but they could not 
 understand them. They needed the light of the 
 Spirit. So do we. There is a natural craving for 
 infallibility in Spiritual teachings. We want the truth 
 without mistake. We want certainty, not the opinion 
 of the scribes. We want authoritative teaching, some- 
 one to speak with authority, and not as the scribes. 
 This desire for authoritative teaching is perfectly 
 reasonable. The Romanists claim to offer this infal- 
 libility. They formerly taught that it resided in a 
 general council. Now they ascribe this infallibility 
 to the Pope of Rome. They call him, Father, "and 
 Rabbi. When he speaks "ex cathedra," his teach- 
 ings are infallible truth, so they claim. But we want 
 the proof of this. We recognize the necessity for the 
 infallible teacher, but where is the truth to substan- 
 tiate the claim of the Pope? The Protestant replies, 
 "The Scriptures are infallible truth." Admit it; 
 where is the infallible interpreter of Scripture? 
 
176 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 No two sects interpret it alike. Have we no ora- 
 cle that gives us reliable and infallible answers to 
 our questions? The ancients had oracles. The 
 prophets afforded means of communication between 
 God and man. The Aaronic priesthood were also 
 oracles. The priest with the ephod on received and 
 gave out answers from God to questions asked. Cer- 
 tainly it is as necessary now to know God's will as 
 it ever was. God certainly has not shut himself off 
 from all communication with His people. No, not by 
 any means. We may yet be taught of God, and the 
 Christian has much the advantage of the Jew in this 
 respect. Their oracles were often distant and inac- 
 cessible, but ours is always present, always accessi- 
 ble. The Holy Spirit is the oracle of the Christian. 
 He teaches us the truth, and guides us to the under- 
 standing of it. He is the infallible interpreter of 
 Scripture ; He takes the things of God and shows 
 them unto us. "As many as are led by the Spirit of 
 God, they are the Sons of God." (Rom. viii : 14.) 
 He gives us the true understanding of Spiritual 
 truth, and He interprets it alike to all. He directs 
 our minds in worship, so that we, "sing with the 
 Spirit" as well as with the understanding. He teaches 
 us how to pray; "likewise the Spirit also helpeth 
 our infirmities ; for we know not what we should 
 pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh in- 
 tercession for us with groanings which cannot be 
 uttered." (Rom. viii: 26.) There are many things 
 about which we cannot know God's will except 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 77 
 
 through the intercession of the Spirit, but " He mak- 
 eth intercession for the saints according to the will 
 of God." (Rom. viii : 27.) There can be no real prayer 
 without the intercession of the Spirit. If He indite 
 our petitions we can offer them in confidence that 
 they are according to God's will. He must lead us 
 in all our worship or it will be simply " will worship." 
 He must give us the spirit of praise or our attempts 
 at praise will be the offering of strange fire to God. 
 In times of trouble and persecution He has promised 
 to be mouth and wisdom to us. All genuine Gospel 
 preaching is done under the leading of the Holy 
 Spirit. Preaching done without Divine leadings is 
 robbed of its meaning. Who can know the needs of 
 the hearers and adapt his discourse to the satisfac- 
 tion of those needs? This is beyond human knowl- 
 edge or wisdom. The Spirit knoweth every heart 
 and all its secret motives, all its hopes and fears, and 
 He can so lead the mind of the preacher that each 
 shall receive his portion, whether it be rebuke, ex- 
 hortation, or comfort, that is needed. If the preacher 
 really has a message from God, how exalted is his 
 mission ! He that heareth him, heareth God. But if 
 he hath no message from God, he can be neglected 
 with impunity; no loss can be sustained. Not only 
 does the Holy Spirit lead God's people in acts 
 of worship and to an understanding of Divine truth, 
 but even in the everyday affairs of life we can look 
 to him for direction where our wisdom fails. The 
 Psalmist says, "The steps of a good man are ordered 
 
 S. F. S — 12 
 
178 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of the Lord." We are also exhorted to acknowledge 
 the Lord in all our ways and not to lean unto our 
 own understanding. No doubt if our ways are com- 
 mitted unto the Lord, He directs them a thousand 
 times without our being conscious of His influence. 
 We are not to look for conscious direction in all the 
 trivial affairs of life. The Holy Spirit is not given to 
 supersede reason and common sense, but to assist 
 them. We are to use our reason in the affairs of life 
 but to expect the Lord to assist our reason, and to in- 
 fluence our judgment by the illumination of the Holy 
 Spirit. We have a perfect right to expect the 
 Spirit's guidance in all our affairs, since the Lord has 
 invited us to ask for it. Though we may seem to 
 reach our conclusions simply in the exercise of our 
 reason, we know it is very easy for the Lord to in- 
 fluence our choice. Sometimes His interposition is 
 very manifest, sometimes completely hidden, never- 
 theless He guides His people by. His Spirit. " He 
 will show you things to come," says Christ. He en- 
 ables us to foresee the evil that lies in our pathway, 
 that we may avoid it. He enables His people to 
 understand the signs of the times in which they live, 
 so that "the wise shall understand." It is the mark 
 of a purblind generation that they do no know the 
 signs of their time or age. They do not know what 
 the Lord is doing. Jesus says to his Disciples, "Hence- 
 forth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth 
 not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you 
 friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 79 
 
 I have made known unto you." (John xv : 15.) It is 
 the privilege of Jesus' friends to know what He is 
 doing. 
 
 Sixth. The Holy Spirit is to raise our bodies 
 from the dead. We are told that the body of Christ 
 was quickened by the Spirit. And the Apostle Paul 
 tells us in Rom. viii : 11, that, "If the Spirit of him 
 that raised up Jesus from the dead be in you, he that 
 raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken 
 your mortal bodies by the Spirit which dwelleth in 
 you." Our Spiritual bodies are to be the work of 
 the Holy Spirit. Through His agency are soul and 
 body to be again united at the second coming of the 
 Lord. It is His work to prepare the Bride for pres- 
 entation to the Husband, and through His offices she 
 is to be without spot or wrinkle, but wholly accep- 
 table to the Lord and Master. No earthly soil, no 
 mark of age, is to mar her Heavenly beauty, but 
 eternal innocence and youth are to characterize her, 
 the chosen of the Lord. This glorious work is ac- 
 complished by the Holy Spirit. We conclude by 
 asking the pertinent question, put to some ancient 
 Disciples, " Have ye received the Holy Ghost since 
 ye believed ? " 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST 
 
 "Upon this rock I will build my church." — Luke xvi: 18. 
 
 THE subject, upon the consideration of which we 
 * are about to enter, is one of vast importance, 
 and also one concerning which there is much misun- 
 derstanding and confusion. It seems reasonable to 
 suppose that if Christ founded a Church on earth, it 
 ought to be easily distinguished from all other insti- 
 tutions. It certainly would be unlike institutions be- 
 longing to this world. But so many claimants to the 
 name have arisen, who loudly declare themselves to 
 be the Church of Jesus Christ, that the ordinary ob- 
 server is confused and thrown into doubt upon the 
 subject. He can scarcely decide which has the best 
 claim or whether any of their pretensions are well 
 founded. We shall endeavor to view the subject in 
 the light of reason and Scripture. The English 
 word " Church " is a corruption of the Greek word 
 "kuriake" which means, the house or household of 
 the Lord. It is not a translation of the Greek word, 
 " ekklesia " which means, a called out, or chosen 
 out people ; yet it is the word used in the English 
 translation where the word '• ekklesia " occurs in the 
 original. The basic meaning of the Greek word, ren 
 dered "church" is that of calling, or choosing, out. 
 The Church is, then, above everything else, a chosen 
 out people ; a people separate from the remainder of 
 (180) 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. l8l 
 
 mankind. The nature of that separation depends 
 upon the nature of the Church. The old covenant 
 Church was a carnal institution, earthly and typical. 
 It was composed also of a chosen out people. That 
 Church was called out in a natural sense from the 
 nations, put into a land by itself, and distinguished 
 from the other nations by carnal ordinances, meats 
 and drinks, that were to continue until the time of 
 reformation. They were literally taken out from 
 among the nations of the earth, and their distinguish- 
 ing marks were fleshly. But the Church of Christ is 
 the antetype of this. It is Spiritual and Heavenly ; 
 it is the Heavenly Jerusalem in contradistinction to 
 the earthly Jerusalem ; consequently, its choosing out 
 is a Spiritual, and not a literal or outward, separation 
 from the world. Its distinguishing marks are not in 
 the flesh or of a fleshly nature, but of a Spiritual 
 nature, not visible to the fleshly eye. Jesus prayed 
 for His people, not that they should be taken out of 
 the world, but that they might be kept from the evil. 
 In a Spiritual sense, they are taken out of the world, 
 but in a literal sense they are left in the world. It is 
 not necessary, then, to the existence of Christ's 
 Church, that it should be separated from the world 
 in any literal or outward sense, but it is essential to 
 its existence that it should be separated from the 
 world in a Spiritual sense. It must be altogether 
 different from the world in its spirit. The com- 
 mon mistake, made almost universally, is that the 
 line of demarkation between the Church and the 
 
1 82 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 world is one of a fleshly nature ; that it is something 
 outward and cognizable by the natural man. The 
 remark is often made that this line of separation is 
 becoming obliterated and scarcely distinguishable. 
 This is a grand mistake. The separation between 
 the Church of Christ and the world is just as wide 
 and deep, just as clearly drawn, as it ever was. When 
 Jesus takes a man out of the world, it is just as dis- 
 tinctly and completely done as it ever was. The 
 separation consequent upon that choosing out is as 
 perfect as it was in the beginning. No outward forms 
 nor human organizations are necessary to the separa- 
 tion of the Church from the world. The boundary 
 line between the Church and the world is not marked 
 by creeds nor confessions of faith, but her walls are 
 called salvation and her gates praise. Isa. Ix:i8, 
 "But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy 
 gates Praise." Isa. xxvi:i, " Salvation will God ap- 
 point for walls and bulwarks." While the Church is 
 Spiritually out of the world, it is literally in the 
 world, and does not need to seek to isolate itself from 
 the world. It needs no hermit's cell nor monk's 
 cloister to gain perfection, nor to avoid contamina- 
 tion. She says in the language of Wesley: — 
 
 "To the desert or the cell 
 
 Let others blindly fly; 
 In this evil world I dwell 
 
 Unhurt, unspotted, I. 
 Here I find a house of prayer, 
 
 To which I inwardly retire, 
 Walking unconcerned in care, 
 
 And unconsumed in fire." 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 83 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ is called His body, and 
 as that cannot be understood to mean His physical 
 body it must mean His Spiritual body. It is a Spir- 
 itual organism and is, therefore, distinct from the 
 Church founded in the family of Abraham. It was 
 not a Spiritual body but an earthly one. It was one 
 nation by natural birth, just as other nations are. In 
 no respect did it differ from other nations except in 
 ceremonials. The Church of Christ is also one nation, 
 but not -by natural, but by Spiritual, birth. It is 
 called a holy nation. It was not one people natur- 
 ally, but by a Spiritual birth it has become the peo- 
 ple of God. There is no more identity between the 
 Abrahamic Church and the Church of Christ, than be- 
 tween the annual sacrifices offered in the one, and the 
 sacrifice of Christ. One was a type of the other, in 
 each case. All conclusions based upon that identity, 
 and all inferences drawn from it thus fall to the 
 ground. They cannot be identical as they differ 
 totally in nature, one being carnal, the other Spiritual. 
 Jesus speaks of His Church as not being yet built. He 
 says, "I will build my church." It is said to be 
 " built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cor- 
 ner stone." (Eph. ii : 20.) But if Abraham, Isaac, 
 Ishmael and Jacob, were built into this edifice, then 
 they were built into a house without any foundation, 
 as they were before all the prophets, to say nothing 
 of Christ and the Apostles. It is common in archi- 
 tecture to lay the foundation first, as being the only 
 
1 84 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 sure way of securing the permanency of the structure. 
 We take it for granted, then, that the corner stone was 
 laid before the Church was erected. One of the doc- 
 trines deduced from this supposed identity of the two 
 bodies is " Infant church membership" and conse- 
 quently, " Infant baptism." The argument is, " God 
 put infants into the Abrahamic Church, and as it is 
 identical with the Church of Christ they must still 
 have a right of membership in the Church ; and if so 
 they have a right to the initiatory rite, water bap- 
 tism." The premise being false the conclusion 
 is false. The Apostle Paul's illustration of the 
 olive tree, though at first sight it may seem to 
 prove this identity, does not do so. If the two 
 bodies are identical, then membership in the one 
 is membership in the other. But the Jews were 
 never members of the Church of Christ and were 
 never "broken off" from it. They were "the natural 
 branches " in the sense that they were members of 
 the then existing Church, and were called Christ's 
 " Own." " He came unto his own, and his own re- 
 ceived him not." They were the people who would 
 be naturally supposed to receive Christ and His Gos- 
 pel, as they had been under special training for ages 
 looking to that end. As they were His typical 
 people it was to be expected they would become 
 His real people. In that sense they were natural 
 branches of a tame olive tree, one that had been 
 cultivated. The Gentiles were wild, uncultivated, but 
 still of the same genus. They were wild olive trees. The, 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 85 
 
 Jews had the privilege of Church membership for- 
 merly, the Gentiles had not. The Jews, because of 
 their unbelief, were cut off from this privilege under 
 the Gospel, and the Gentiles were grafted into the 
 privilege. If the Church of Abraham had continued, 
 the Jews would have still been members of that, as 
 unbelief would not have excluded them from that 
 communion. But the Abrahamic Church passed 
 away with the other types and shadows. As faith 
 was not a condition of membership in the Abrahamic 
 Church, unbelief would not have cut anyone off from 
 its communion. But as faith is an essential condi- 
 tion of membership in the Church of Christ, unbelief 
 prevents membership. As the Church of Christ is 
 not the same institution as the one founded in the 
 family of Abraham, it has been founded since that 
 one was, as it is the antetype of the latter ; for that 
 is first which is natural, and afterward that which is 
 Spiritual. As Christ speaks of the founding of His 
 Church as something in the future, it follows that it 
 was not yet established when He thus spoke. But in 
 Acts ii : 47 we are told that the Lord added to 
 the Church daily, the saved. So the Church must 
 have been founded some time between the time Christ 
 spoke of building His church and the time this verse 
 in Acts refers to. In verse 41 of the same chapter, 
 we are told that three thousand souls were added, but 
 it is not stated to what they were added. The trans- 
 lators have supplied the words " unto them." No 
 doubt these three thousand souls were added to the 
 
1 86 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Church. The Church of Christ was in existence, 
 then, on the day of Pentecost. We do not read of 
 its being in existence before that; and as the first 
 baptism of the Holy Spirit took place on that day, 
 and it is by this one Spirit that all are baptized into 
 the one body, the Church must have been founded at 
 that precise time. Having ascertained, then, that the 
 Church of Christ, as an institution, is distinct from 
 the Jewish Church, and that it was founded at Pente- 
 cost in the city of Jerusalem, we shall proceed to in- 
 quire as to the characteristics of this Church, as to 
 its membership, organization, initiation, means of 
 recognition, etc. 
 
 i . We will consider its membership — who com- 
 pose it. We are told in the Scripture already quoted, 
 that the Lord added to the Church the saved. In 
 the authorized version the words are " such as should 
 be saved." But that is not what the Evangelist wrote. 
 The original is "tous sozomenous," which Dr. Adam 
 Clarke translates " Those who were saved." Liter- 
 ally it is "the saved ones." And the Doctor adds 
 "The Church of Christ was made up of saints ; sinners 
 were not permitted to incorporate themselves with it." 
 It is plain, then, that in the beginning the Church was 
 composed of saints only, those who were saved from 
 their sins. It is sometimes said in apology for an 
 impure Church, that even among the twelve Apostles 
 there was one devil. Yes, and one who denied his 
 Lord with curses, and a number who, through cow- 
 ardice, forsook their Lord and Master and ran away 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 87 
 
 from danger. None of them was converted, none of 
 them in the Church of Christ. Now as it is plain 
 that none but saved persons were in the Church orig- 
 inally, is it the Lord's design that this state of purity 
 should continue to the end? We are told that the 
 Church is to be presented to Christ as a chaste virgin ; 
 that it is to be without "spot or wrinkle or any such 
 thing, but that it should be Holy and without blem- 
 ish." (Eph. v.27.) We here see what the Church 
 was in the beginning and what it is to be in the end. 
 If it is holy in the beginning and is to be spotless in 
 the end, it certainly must continue in the same con- 
 dition all the time, or be reformed before the end, if 
 it falls from this condition of purity. But would a 
 fallen Church, reformed, answer the description? Is 
 a reformed fallen woman a virgin? Christ's bride 
 must be a virgin. In his first letter to the Corin- 
 thians the Apostle Paul gives the Church to understand 
 that they must not fellowship sinners. That if a 
 man was called a brother who was a fornicator, or 
 covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, 
 or an extortioner, they were not to eat with him. 
 And the reason he gives why they should not fellow- 
 ship sinners is, " Know ye not that a little leaven 
 leaveneth the whole lump?" If they continued in 
 fellowship with sin, they would all become defiled. 
 Just as certainly as a little leaven will infallibly leaven 
 the whole lump with which it is kept in contact, so 
 certainly will one sinner kept in fellowship defile a 
 whole Church. If Satan could get one sinner into 
 
1 88 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the Church and keep him there, he would prevail 
 against it to its destruction. Any professed Church 
 which knowingly and willingly fellowships sinners, 
 gives unmistakable evidence of being a fallen Church, 
 if it ever was a true Church. But, says one, How are 
 sinners to be kept out of the Church ? I might ask in 
 reply, How are they to get into it? We are told that 
 the Lord added the saved to the Church. Does he ever 
 add any unsaved to the Church ? Certainly not. Can 
 anyone else add an unsaved man to the Church ? I see 
 no way that he can do so. God "hath set the members 
 in the body as it hath pleased him." (I. Cor. xii : 18.) 
 This is spoken of the natural body to illustrate 
 Christ's Spiritual body, and in verse 27 we read, 
 " Now ye are the body of Christ and members in par- 
 ticular." We learn that the Lord sets the members 
 in the body; He places them there and gives each 
 one his proper place. Again it is only by the bap- 
 tism of the Spirit that men get into the body of 
 Christ. As the Lord has retained that power in His 
 own hands and has delegated it to no one, no person 
 can get into that body without God's approval. But 
 may not a sinner be fellowshiped by Christians, 
 through mistake? No doubt of it, particularly a sin- 
 ner who is himself deceived into believing himself 
 a Christian. But to be received by Christians, 
 does not constitute a man a member of Christ's 
 Church. But while men's judgments are fallible and 
 they can be imposed upon, God has promised His 
 Spirit to dwell with the Church forever ; and when 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 189 
 
 His Spirit has free course, such cases will be searched 
 out. I do not think a designing hypocrite can im- 
 pose himself upon the real people of God. As God 
 is interested in the purity of His people, He will ex- 
 pose and uncover such base pretenders. The mem- 
 bers of Christ's Church have great discernment of 
 spirit, not to say discernment of spirits. The holy 
 anointing teacheth them. If they cannot be imposed 
 upon by false teachers, which Christ declares to be 
 the fact, why should they be by any other false pre- 
 tender. Jesus says His sheep know His voice and 
 they follow Him, and a stranger they will not follow 
 but will flee from him. He further declares that He 
 knows His sheep and they know Him. Salvation 
 makes people very sensitive to the spirit of those 
 around them. It makes men quick to recognize a 
 kindred spirit. And if the people of God keep under 
 His direction and give His Spirit free course, they 
 will be preserved from unholy fellowship. But if 
 they neglect or refuse to do this, they will become 
 the prey of the enemy. While it is true, then, that 
 the real Church may, through ignorance, fellowship 
 some unworthy persons and, which is less likely, re- 
 fuse to fellowship some worthy of recognition, they 
 always do so at their peril, and are expressly ex- 
 horted to look diligently lest any man fail of the 
 grace of God ; lest any root of bitterness springing 
 up trouble them and thereby many be defiled. So 
 while the Church itself is always pure, it is the con- 
 stant endeavor of God's people to have the bounds 
 
I90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of their fellowship coincide with the limits of the 
 Church. They well know the danger of doing other- 
 wise. To voluntarily receive sin is to voluntarily re- 
 ject Christ. It is the repetition of the old choice of 
 Barabbas instead of Christ. The Church of Christ 
 then is composed of saved persons alone ; of those 
 who have received the washing of regeneration even 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost. The roll of mem- 
 bership is kept in Heaven. We are told that we are 
 not come to a tangible mountain, but "We are come 
 unto Mount Zion even unto the city of the living 
 God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
 company of angels, to the general assembly and 
 church of the first-born which are written in heaven." 
 (Heb. xii : 22, 23.) No one has any authority to keep 
 the Church roll on earth. Jesus tells us that His 
 Father is the husbandman who prunes the vines and 
 does the cutting off where it is necessary. God's peo- 
 ple can receive men as Christians, or reject them ac- 
 cording to their judgment in the case ; but God alone 
 can put men into His Church or exclude them from it. 
 It is true that God confirms what the Church does, 
 under the direction of the Holy Spirit. This seems 
 to be included in the power of binding and loosing. 
 If they should act under any other influence, it would 
 not be confirmed in Heaven. But no power in earth 
 or hell can keep a believer out of Christ's Church, 
 and no power can put an unbeliever into it. To 
 profess to open or shut the door of Christ's Church 
 is blasphemy, for it is arrogating God's prerogative. 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 19I 
 
 It is the work of the man of sin spoken of by the 
 Apostle in II. Thess. ii : 3 , 4. The Lord declares 
 that he opens and no man can shut, and he shuts 
 and no man can open. It would be a great calamity 
 to mankind if the Pope of Rome or any other eccle- 
 siastical power had the power of opening and shutting 
 the Church, as there is no salvation outside of the 
 Church. We know not what God's uncovenanted 
 mercies are, but all covenanted mercies are the heri- 
 tage of those, alone, who are in the convenant. These 
 constitute the Lord's people or Church. But some- 
 one may suggest that it is acknowledged on all 
 hands that these things are true of the invisible 
 Church but not of the visible Church. I should 
 like to know how anyone can know what is true 
 of an invisible Church. It is safe to assert any- 
 thing of an invisible object, for though we may 
 not be believed we cannot be successfully contra- 
 dicted. So when the Lord says His Church is holy, 
 it is replied, yes, the invisible Church is holy. When 
 He declares there is no schism in the body but that 
 it is one, that too is ascribed to the invisible Church. 
 Christ declares that the unity of His people is the 
 proof of His Divine mission ; but when that unity 
 characterizes an invisible people, and so cannot be 
 seen, the proof cannot be very striking. The world 
 will not be very much convinced by it. We are told 
 about an invisible Church, but where is the proof of 
 its existence? Where have we any mention of it in 
 the Holy Scriptures, the rule of faith and practice? 
 
192 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 I have searched for some mention in vain. There is 
 not one particle of proof of the existence of such a 
 Church. We read of a Church which cannot be hid, 
 but not of one which cannot be seen. The doctrine 
 of an invisible Church had its origin in the imagina- 
 tion of man, and ranks along with the doctrine of 
 purgatory, in truth and authority. It has not so 
 much foundation in Scripture as auricular confession, 
 extreme unction, or priestly absolution. But it is not 
 a popish superstition. Romanists do not teach it. 
 It originated among Protestants. It is the Protestant 
 reply to the Romanist charge of want of unity and 
 Catholicity. They acknowledge that the visible 
 Church is not one and not Catholic, but they affirm 
 that the invisible Church is both, and who can deny 
 it? But the Scriptures speak of but one Church and 
 that is spoken of as being visible, "a city set on a 
 hill which cannot be hid." A Church which is the "light 
 of the world ; " which is composed of " living epistles, 
 known and read of all men." The catechism informs 
 us that the visible Church of Christ is a congregation 
 of faithful men, among whom the pure Word of God 
 is preached, and the sacraments duly administered 
 according to Christ's ordinance. The definition is 
 very good except that the latter clause is superfluous. 
 Christ ordained no sacraments r The Church is a 
 congregation of faithful men ; and this cannot exist 
 without the pure word of God. But a congregation 
 of faithful men would include no unbeliever, for such 
 a one is not full of faith. But if one were to apply 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 93 
 
 this definition to the congregations claiming to be 
 Churches of Christ, he would find few who answered 
 the description, according to their own confession. It 
 would be difficult to find one that does. While by 
 their acknowledgment they have hypocrites and 
 sinners among them, the best of them confess to great 
 unfaithfulness. But the Church is a congregation of 
 faithful men, not unfaithful ones. We will find upon 
 inquiry, that the great majority of professed Churches 
 of Christ have no valid claim to the title, but are 
 rather synagogues of Satan, since they have envy and 
 strife and division, instead of love and unity, and 
 where these are, St. James says, is confusion and 
 every evil work. And he further affirms that their 
 wisdom, or religion, cometh not from above, but is 
 earthly, sensual, and devilish. Such organisms are 
 visible, but not as Churches of Christ, but the con- 
 trary. Christ's Church is visible, but not by virtue 
 of anything of human invention. Not by reason of 
 any carnal organization, or mutual compact. Not 
 because of any charter by which it becomes a 
 citizen of human government, capable of owning 
 property, or of suing and being sued. A worldly 
 corporation does not constitute the visibility of Christ's 
 Church. It is the light of the Church that makes it visi- 
 ble. Whatever constitutes its light, constitutes its visi- 
 bility. A human organization does not constitute the 
 light of the Church. If it did, a congregation of sin- 
 ners thus organized would have as much light as a 
 congregation of saints. "That which maketh manifest 
 
 S. F. S.— 13 
 
194 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 is light." Jesus says to the Church, "Let your 
 light so shine that they may see your good works, 
 and glorify your Father in Heaven." It seems, then, 
 that " good works " are the light of the Church, are 
 that which makes it visible. But what are good 
 works? Not the giving of alms, or praying, or fast- 
 ing ; for these things are forbidden to be done in the 
 sight of men, to be seen of them. But our good 
 works are to be seen, that men may be brought to 
 glorify our Father in Heaven. Our good works are 
 of such a nature as to be convincing ; they prove us to 
 be children of God. Hypocrites may fast, give alms, 
 and make prayers. The Christian's good works 
 are such that none but a Christian can perform them ; 
 they are inimitable. They proceed from the Spirit 
 of God dwelling in him, and so are called the 
 fruit of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is 
 love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
 faith, meekness, temperance." (Gal. v 122-23.) Con- 
 duct flowing from these holy tempers, and character- 
 ized by them, shows the true Christian and convinces 
 the gainsayers. These are the good works that are 
 seen when the Church lets her light shine. They 
 constitute the mind of Christ, the spirit of the Mas- 
 ter. Wherever the Church of Christ is, these holy 
 affections and tempers are manifest, and prove the 
 genuineness of the claim. This is what makes the 
 Church visible. Its holy living, its Divine comform- 
 ity, its Heavenly Spirit. Where these are wanting, 
 there may be form and ceremony, human organism, 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 95 
 
 loud claims to orthodoxy, sound theology, anything 
 else you please, but there is no visible Church of 
 Christ. Each separate congregation is a local Church, 
 but a component part of the general assembly and 
 Church of the firstborn. They are separate only 
 because they are in different localities. They are 
 one in spirit and purpose. The number necessary 
 to constitute a local Church is put by Christ as two 
 or three ; for he says where two or three are gathered 
 together in His name, He is there in their midst. 
 This constitutes a Church ; for where Christ and two 
 or more disciples are, there are the head and mem- 
 bers. While the Lord is present with His people in- 
 dividually, everywhere and always, yet He is specially 
 present where two or three are gathered in His 
 name. This is not only according to His prom- 
 ise but according to their experience ; for they 
 realize special manifestations of His presence at such 
 times. "He hath made us to sit together in 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. ii:6.) The 
 surroundings may be poor and mean, the place un- 
 consecrated by priestly office, but if Christ and His 
 people are there, the place is Heavenly in conse- 
 quence. It is for the time being a consecrated, a 
 sacred place. Jesus consecrated a stable once by 
 being born in it, and He can consecrate such a place 
 again, by manifesting Himself to His people there. 
 These are the only sacred places known to Christian- 
 ity, those consecrated by the presence of Christ and 
 His people ; and these are sacred only so long as 
 
I96 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 they continue there. No Jewish rites, no popish 
 mummery, no baptism of "holy water," can conse- 
 crate any place. 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ, being a Spiritual 
 organism, can be brought into being by Spiritual 
 agencies only. The first Church at Jerusalem was 
 thus originated. When the one hundred and twenty 
 in that upper room in Jerusalem were baptised with 
 the Holy Ghost, they became a Church, the Church. 
 They could not have organized the Church by any 
 means of their own invention. If they had called a 
 meeting and appointed a chairman, and passed a 
 unanimous resolution to organize a Church, adopted 
 a confession of faith, and prepared a discipline, there 
 would still have been no Church made. They might 
 have called it the Church of Christ, but it would not 
 have been the Church of Christ. But when by the 
 power of the Holy Spirit they were baptized into the 
 one body, at once Christ had a Church there. It 
 takes the same Divine power to make a Church, yet. 
 If in any locality two or more persons are by the one 
 Spirit baptized into the one body, they constitute the 
 visible Church in that community, and nothing they 
 can do can make them any more truly the Church 
 of Christ. Nothing further is needed. We do not 
 read that the Church at Jerusalem made any organi- 
 zation further than was made at Pentecost. They 
 appointed deacons when they saw the need of them, 
 but they were no more a Church after that than they 
 were before. The Church of Christ is a Divine 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 97 
 
 organism, and can be produced only by Divine 
 power. No man or body of men can any more make 
 a Church than they can create a world. The pre- 
 rogative of adding to or dividing from His Church, 
 God has retained in His own hand. He uses men as 
 instruments in this work, but the building is the 
 Lord's. Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but 
 God, alone, gives the increase. If anything is added, 
 God adds it. It is by His baptism men are brought 
 into the Church, and he has never delegated the 
 power to administer that. The body of Christ is 
 Divinely produced, it is also Divinely preserved. It 
 is not only true that " Unless the Lord build the house 
 they labor in vain who build it," but it is also true, 
 "that unless the Lord keep the city the watchman 
 waketh in vain." There is nothing more dear to God 
 in this universe than His Church. He has purchased 
 it at infinite cost. He has redeemed it with His own 
 blood. He that toucheth it toucheth the apple of 
 His eye. It is His jewel case where His gems are 
 kept. His people are graven on the palms of His 
 hands. The hairs of their heads are all numbered 
 before Him. Everything concerning them is of 
 interest to Him. The angel of the Lord encampeth 
 round about them. The angelic hosts are minister- 
 ing spirits to them. 
 
 "Millions of bright cherubic bands 
 Sent by the King of Kings, 
 Delight to bear us in their hands 
 And shield us with their wings. " 
 
198 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 As Abraham gave portions to his other children 
 but made Isaac his heir, so God may give a portion 
 to other of His creatures, but His people are heirs of 
 all things. These things being true, God is infinitely 
 interested in them; in their purity, their security, 
 their fidelity, their victory. He so tempers them 
 together that there may be no schism in his 
 body. Men cannot do this. They cannot so or- 
 ganize men together that divisions will be avoided. 
 This can be done only by taking away freedom 
 of thought, and the right of private judgment, or 
 by uniting them in one spirit so that they freely 
 speak the same things and are perfectly joined 
 together in the same mind and the same judgment. 
 It is sometimes asked, what holds the members of 
 Christ's body together, if no human bonds are put 
 around them ; if no external pressure is exerted to 
 secure unity? What ignorance the question exposes. 
 What holds any man's body together? Is it some 
 power outside of him? We may not be able to ex- 
 plain what holds the parts of a human body together ; 
 but it is something within the body itself. We call 
 it life or the life principle. So long as that exists in 
 the body, it coheres and can only be separated by 
 great force. If that is absent, cohesion loses its force, 
 and dissolution sets in. Then the body can be kept 
 together only by external pressure. The same is true 
 of the Spiritual body of Christ, the Church. It is 
 held together by a force within itself, and not by any 
 external pressure, or force exerted from without. 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 99 
 
 This power, or force, is brotherly love. This is the 
 most powerful bond that exists. The Apostle calls 
 it a perfect bond. He says, "Above all these things 
 put on charity (love), which is a bond of perfectness." 
 (Col. iii : 14.) Where this bond exists, no need is 
 felt for any other. As it is a perfect bond, nothing 
 can be added to it. To add any human device to this 
 Divine love, would be more foolish than to bind the 
 sturdy oaks with wisps of straw. This love of the 
 brethren is produced in us by the love of God shed 
 abroad in our hearts, and it cannot be lost while that 
 love of God remains in us. To separate us from the 
 love of God, is to separate us from the love of the 
 brethren ; and " Who shall separate us from the love 
 of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu- 
 tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?" 
 This brotherly love is a new thing in the world, be- 
 longing to the new dispensation. It is the new com- 
 mandment given us by Christ. It is the test of 
 discipleship. " By this shall all men know that ye 
 are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." 
 (John xiii : 35.) This love is a new factor in human 
 society. Nothing like it was ever seen before the de- 
 scent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It surpasses 
 the love of David and Jonathan ; that was human, this 
 is Divine. It unites those who have no natural affin- 
 ity or predilection for each other, as well as those 
 who have. It knits together the members of Christ's 
 body here, and will continue to unite them forever; 
 since love never faileth. Where this love exists, then, 
 
200 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 there must be unity. Unity can be destroyed only 
 by the expulsion of love. Then the forces that make 
 for dissolution will have the mastery, and the body 
 will dissolve into its original elements. Love is the 
 life principle of the body of Christ; it is dead with- 
 out it. When that is wanting, it ought to fall to 
 pieces ; anything else is unnatural. But the ancient 
 Egyptians discovered a process by which the dead 
 body might be made to retain its form, and the ten- 
 dency to dissolution might be arrested. No good end 
 was served by this process, however, but it has fur- 
 nished the moderns with curiosities called mummies. 
 This embalming process was effected by wrapping 
 the body with bandages of linen cloth prepared in a 
 manner now unknown. So the moderns have learned 
 a process of embalming dead Churches by means of 
 external bonds of union after the life of brotherly love 
 has gone out of them. They may thus be kept above 
 ground for centuries possibly, but they are too com- 
 mon for curiosities, and are nothing but rubbish. 
 They can serve no possible good end, unless it is to 
 emphasize the difference between a dead Church and 
 a living one. It is only when the life principle is ex- 
 tinct that such unnatural means must be resorted to, 
 to hold a body together, and preserve the unity of its 
 component parts. On a living body these bonds 
 would only serve to hamper and prevent freedom of 
 action. Their tendency would be to weaken and de- 
 stroy. Thus external bonds are not only useless but 
 positively injurious. They are marks of infidelity, as 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 201 
 
 they show want of confidence in God's means of pro- 
 ducing and preserving unity. We conclude, then, that 
 mutual love in the membership, is the source of unity 
 in the body of Christ, and not anything external to it. 
 Much more might profitably be said on this point, 
 did the limits of a sermon permit. 
 
 The government of the Church of Christ is another 
 subject of controversy, and it is generally claimed 
 among Protestants that no form of government was 
 instituted for the Church, but that it is left to the re- 
 quirements of time and place to determine this mat- 
 ter. That is a most extraordinary fact, if it is a fact. 
 It certainly taxes credulity to believe that Christ 
 should have provided no form of government for His 
 kingdom on earth ; for His Church which He has 
 bought with His own blood. That He should leave the 
 government of His own body to the caprice of men. 
 It is more easy to credit the claim of the Papists than 
 such a theory. It is more easy to believe that he con- 
 fided the government of his Church to Peter and his 
 successors than that He provided no government at all. 
 So various forms of government have been proposed, 
 patterned after civil governments. There is govern- 
 ment by the Pope, or absolute monarchy ; Episco- 
 pal government, limited monarchy ; Presbyterian, or 
 representative government; and Congregational, or 
 pure democracy. These specific forms are variously 
 combined by different sects. The Pope of Rome 
 claims to be Christ's vicar on earth, and if he could 
 establish his claim, we would have a theocratic 
 
202 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 government, to which all loyal subjects would feel 
 bound to submit. The bishops also claim Divine au- 
 thority to rule. The other forms derive their authority 
 from the body governed. In the Papal and Episcopal 
 forms, Christ is supposed to govern His Church by 
 agents or viceroys Divinely appointed. In the other 
 forms the body is supposed to govern itself. Of 
 course they speak of Christ as the great Head of the 
 Church, but as the governing power is in the body, 
 He can be nothing more than a figurehead, having 
 no authority or power. If the power to "change 
 times and laws" is vested in the general conference or 
 general assembly, or general synod, and Christ, the 
 supposed Head, has not even a veto power, it is difficult 
 to see where His Headship lies. It seems to be a ful- 
 fillment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah iv : I, "In 
 that day seven women shall take hold of one man 
 saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own 
 apparel ; only let us be called by thy name to take 
 away our reproach." As to those who claim to be 
 Christ's vicars, let them establish the claim and we 
 will submit to their authority. There seems to be no 
 authority for the claim, but tradition and presump- 
 tion. Christ claims to be the head of His own body, 
 and of course the governing power and authority. As 
 He is not here personally, He has a viceregent, but 
 this is not the Pope of Rome, nor the bishops, 
 Roman or Anglican, but the Holy Spirit. Christ 
 governs the Church by His Spirit, the Comforter, the 
 Paraclete. Each member is in direct connection and 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 203 
 
 correspondence with the head of the body. And 
 though some are appointed leaders and shepherds, 
 they have no authority except as it is recognized 
 that they speak as oracles of God. Unless Christ is 
 recognized as speaking through these teachers by 
 His Spirit, their words have no authority. Thus 
 Christ, the head, governs and guides his own body, 
 and the government of the Church is a true theoc- 
 racy. Without this Divine guidance and control, there 
 could be no security, and the gates of Hades might 
 easily prevail against it. It is this Divine inspiration 
 that makes the Church infallible and invincible. 
 Since the Church of Christ is a theocracy, all author- 
 ity in the Church comes directly from Christ. He 
 places the members in the body as it pleases Him. 
 As He called the first ministers, He still calls them; 
 and they have no authority to run until He sends 
 them. When men without express direction of the 
 Holy Spirit say to their fellows, Take thou authority 
 to preach the gospel, they are arrogating to them- 
 selves God's prerogative and show themselves to be 
 apostates. 
 
 The Church has no authority to commission min- 
 isters. They are Christ's ambassadors and must get 
 their commission from Him, and to Him, alone, they 
 are responsible. The Church must recognize Christ's 
 ambassadors by their fruits. If they do not show the 
 proper credentials, they are to be rejected as impos- 
 tors. It is their imperative duty to see that those who 
 come to them as ambassadors for Christ are properly 
 
204 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 accredited. The Lord gives his ministers credentials 
 easily recognized by Spiritual men. The Church at 
 Ephesus was commended for trying them who said 
 they were Apostles, and finding them liars. Gospel 
 ministers are accredited from Christ, and recognized 
 and received by the Church, and to reject one so ac- 
 credited is, in effect, to reject Christ who sends him. 
 Many of these truths are theoretically acknowledged 
 by those sects called evangelical, but they are practi- 
 cally ignored and set aside by their human ecclesias- 
 ticism. They find them impracticable, and they 
 certainly are so, where the Holy Spirit does not lead 
 and govern. But where the answer to Wesley's peti- 
 tion is realized, 
 
 " Lead and actuate and guide, 
 Divers gifts to each divide;" 
 
 there these truths are found to be perfectly practi- 
 cable. 
 
 This Spiritual Divine organism is the Holy Catho- 
 lic Church of Jesus Christ. It is Holy because each 
 member of it is Holy. It is Catholic, because it in- 
 cludes all true believers. It is the Church because it 
 is chosen out of the world, separated from it in 
 spirit. It is "elect according to the foreknowledge 
 of God the Father, through sanctification of the 
 Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 
 Jesus Christ." It is the Church- of Christ because he 
 founded it, builds it, purifies and cleanses it, protects 
 and defends it, calls it His bride and will finally 
 glorify it. Within its walls is certain salvation, with- 
 
 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 205 
 
 out it is danger, condemnation, ruin. It is not your 
 Church nor my Church, but Christ's Church. Your 
 Church may be nearest right, but Christ's Church is 
 right. Nearest right, is the best executed counter- 
 feit. It is the same Church on earth and in paradise. 
 
 " One company we dwell in him — 
 One church above, beneath." 
 
 Though in obscurity now, her claims disallowed, 
 her pretensions mocked at, persecuted, hated of men, 
 for Christ's sake, a false pretender taking her place 
 in the public recognition ; she shall yet come up out 
 of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her beloved, 
 fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
 army with banners. 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING 
 
 "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 
 to save them that believe." — I. Cor. i: 21, 
 
 A KNOWLEDGE of God has been recognized as a 
 * * very important attainment by thinking men, in 
 all ages. In consequence, the philosophers, the wise 
 men among all nations, have endeavored after this 
 knowledge. Some have striven to gain a knowledge 
 of God through contemplation of His works. This 
 may give us some conception of His power and wis- 
 dom, and a consequent sense of man's comparative 
 insignificance, as expressed by the Psalmist: ''When 
 I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the 
 moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, Lord 
 what is man that Thou are mindful of him, or the son 
 of man that Thou visitest him." But such contem- 
 plation and study can give us a knowledge of God's 
 natural attributes only, and leave us still in ignorance 
 of His moral character. But it is His moral nature 
 that we are most interested in. Since we learn that 
 He is all-powerful, we are interested to know how He 
 will use that power, whether for our good or for our 
 harm. Is that power directed by benevolence, or 
 malevolence, or is He totally indifferent toward His 
 creatures? The works' of nature cannot answer this 
 (206) 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 207 
 
 question. Others sought by quiet contemplation and 
 introspection to learn something of God. They hoped 
 by these means some revelation of God would be made 
 to their souls. They hoped by means of their philo- 
 sophical inquiries, and their prying into the nature of 
 things, to arrive at the first cause of all things. But 
 all their efforts were vain and abortive. The world 
 by wisdom knew not God. They did not hope to 
 gain a knowledge of God that would be for all hu- 
 manity, but supposed that it would be for the learned 
 and wise alone. The common people, the mass of 
 humanity, were doomed to perpetual ignorance of 
 God in their conception of things. Such knowledge 
 was too high for the ignorant masses. But though 
 these philosophers did not find out God, their knowl- 
 edge puffed them up and caused them to view with 
 contempt the remainder of mankind. Pagan super- 
 stitions were good enough for the vulgar, though they 
 discarded many of these superstitions, themselves. 
 They could not conceive that anything worthy of 
 their consideration could come from any source out- 
 side of their schools of philosophy, and least of all 
 from poor illiterate men. This pride of opinion made 
 them inimical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. " The 
 Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wis- 
 dom," wrote the Apostle Paul, " but we preach Christ 
 crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the 
 Greeks, foolishness." No wonder that those who im- 
 agined that they had a monopoly of all the wisdom 
 there was, should regard as the merest folly that 
 
208 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Gospel which offered a knowledge of God to all, to the 
 most ignorant and illiterate. God's plan of saving 
 men by means of a preached Gospel was an absurd- 
 ity to them. For this reason it is called "the foolish- 
 ness of preaching." But "the foolishness of God is 
 wiser than men." Another reason for which it may 
 be called the foolishness of preaching is, that the ap- 
 parent means are so inadequate to the end proposed. 
 When we consider that men are dead to Spiritual 
 realities, without any power to apprehend them, it 
 would seem folly to speak to them of such things. It 
 is like the prophet preaching to the valley of dry 
 bones. How foolish it would seem to see a man ad- 
 dressing himself to a mass of scattered skeletons, that 
 had been for years exposed to the action of the ele- 
 ments. What effect could His voice have upon such a 
 lifeless audience? Sinners are as dead to Spiritual 
 things as these bones were to natural things. They 
 have no sight, and to give them light is futile, unless 
 they can be made to see. What would the loftiest 
 eloquence, the greatest power of persuasion, the most 
 consummate logical powers, avail a man in a cemetery, 
 addressing the sleepers there? No more will they 
 avail in Gospel work, unless some power arouses men 
 from the death of sin, that they may hear and feel 
 Spiritual truth. If the word preached, then, has no 
 element of power in it, except what is derived from 
 the natural gifts of the speaker, men will sleep on in- 
 sensible to the awful or glorious truths they hear, 
 unawakened, unsaved. 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 209 
 
 The apparent means, preaching, seems totally 
 inadequate to the end proposed — to awaken and 
 save sinners. For this reason, also, then, it may be 
 termed "the foolishness of preaching." But the 
 apparent means is not the only means used. More 
 is taking place than the natural senses recognize. 
 For the Gospel is not in word only, but in power, and 
 in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. The 
 human element is only the instrument through which 
 Divine power acts ; and unless God does act through 
 the instrument, nothing good can be accomplished. 
 The real Gospel is the power of God. The human 
 element is only the instrument through which Divine 
 power is brought into contact with the souls of 
 men. God could communicate Himself to men with- 
 out the interposition of this human instrumen- 
 tality, but He has not seen fit to do so. He has 
 seen fit to use men in the work of saving their fel- 
 lowmen. No doubt this is better for the sinner 
 needing to be saved, as well as for the man who is 
 privileged to be a coworker with God. But some- 
 how the soul of the sinner must come into contact 
 with Divine power, or its sleep will be eternal. Wis- 
 dom and Love has chosen the preached Gospel as 
 His means of communication with the souls of lost 
 men. He speaks through His ministers, His am- 
 bassadors, and He says to them : " He that heareth 
 you heareth Me." If to hear Christ's ministers is to 
 hear Him, and to reject them is to reject Him, it is 
 all-important that men should be able to know 
 
 S. F. S.— 14 
 
2IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Christ's ambassadors. We are told that Satan, him- 
 self, is transformed into an angel of light, and that 
 His ministers likewise appear as ministers of Christ. 
 We are also admonished to beware of false prophets 
 who come to us in sheep's clothing, though inwardly 
 they are ravening wolves. How are the false to be 
 distinguished from the true? While there are several 
 marks by which they are to be distinguished, we 
 shall not speak of them in detail, but remark that 
 God's ministers cojne accredited from Him. He calls 
 them, He qualifies them, He commissions them, and 
 they always carry their commissions with them. The 
 fruits of their labors are to be taken as the proof of 
 their Divine commission. If they really bring men 
 from sin to holiness, from the power of Satan unto 
 God, they are Divinely commissioned. No man can 
 so preach as to save a soul unless he be sent of God. 
 For unless God speaks through him, nothing can be 
 done ; and God will work only with those whom He 
 has sent. However wise or reputable a man may be, 
 he has no authority to speak for the government at a 
 foreign court, unless the government has sent him. 
 So no man can speak for God with authority, unless 
 God sends him. Christ gives every one of His am- 
 bassadors such qualifications that those to whom he 
 is sent may be assured that Christ sends him. To 
 send an ambassador without credentials such as 
 could be easily recognized by those to whom he is 
 sent, would be folly. Christ is not guilty of this folly. 
 His ministers commend themselves to every man's 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 211 
 
 conscience in the sight of God. Men feel that God 
 speaks through His ministers to their consciences, and 
 they recognize the word He speaks to be a discerner 
 of the thoughts and intents of their hearts. As men 
 felt concerning the Master, that He taught with 
 authority, so they feel concerning those whom the 
 Master sends. They cannot deny the power and 
 authority of his preaching. They may refuse to 
 acknowledge it, but they feel, as they hear one of 
 Christ's ministers, that God speaks to them. I£ 
 they do not feel this, they have no proof of His 
 commission from God. When God sent Moses to 
 deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, he 
 gave him credentials that would convince them that 
 God sent him. When Christ sent out the seventy 
 evangelists to preach to the lost sheep of the house 
 of Israel, he gave them as credentials, power to work 
 miracles. When Christ sent the Apostles after Pen- 
 tecost, he gave them a power still- greater ; power to 
 rouse dead souls to life, to open the eyes of their 
 understanding, and to turn them from Satan unto 
 God. He did not take away the power to work 
 miracles upon the bodies of men, but gave them the 
 greater power to heal their souls, according to His 
 promise in John xiv:i2, "He that believeth on me, 
 the works that I do shall he do also, and greater 
 works than these shall he do ; because I go to the 
 Father." The power to heal the body is far inferior 
 to the power to heal the soul. And the man who is 
 God's instrument in performing the greater work is 
 
212 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 able to do the smaller when God pleases to so use 
 him. The power to heal the body is not the test of 
 a Gospel commission, as men did that who were not 
 yet qualified to preach the Gospel. But the man 
 who preaches the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent 
 down from Heaven, gives proof of a Gospel commis- 
 sion. It is true that the Egyptian magicians imi- 
 tated Moses' credentials for a short time, but they 
 soon gave proof of their folly. So the credentials of 
 a Gospel minister are imitated, and false teachers 
 claim to be under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; 
 but their claims are easily discredited. Men under 
 their labors are not really raised from the death of 
 sin to a life of holiness. For a short time they are 
 galvanized into a semblance of life, but this appear- 
 ance is brief and spasmodic. God has declared that 
 the folly of these imitators shall be manifest to all 
 men as was that of Jannes and Jambres. And this 
 prophecy seems to be fulfilled at the present time, as 
 the people in general have lost confidence in this 
 false work, and do not expect honesty in business 
 transactions, nor right conduct in any particular, as a 
 result of such work. They have learned that it has 
 very little influence upon the life of those who are 
 the subjects of it. I think it can be safely said that 
 a profession of conversion under the prevalent phase 
 of Christianity inspires little or no confidence in the 
 honesty or probity of the professor. Thus, the folly 
 of superficial religion has been made manifest unto 
 all men. But when men become the subjects of 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 213 
 
 saving grace through the preaching of a true Gospel, 
 men expect a life in accordance thereto, and are 
 ready to condemn any departure from the letter or 
 Spirit of the Gospel, in those who are thus saved. 
 They have a right to expect holy living from God's 
 children. A preached Gospel, then, is God's chosen 
 means of saving men. Foolish as it seemed to the 
 Greeks, and little as it is esteemed at the present 
 day, it is still God's plan. Still, "Faith cometh by 
 hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Still it is 
 true, " How shall they believe on Him of whom they 
 have not heard ; and how shall they hear without a 
 preacher ; and how shall he preach, except he be 
 sent?" Nothing can take the place of the preached 
 word ; nothing can be successfully substituted for it. 
 Of course a printed Gospel is much cheaper than a 
 preached Gospel, and though it may be an auxiliary, 
 it cannot supply its place. When the Gospel was first 
 preached, nothing else was needed to bring men to 
 salvation. Nor is anything more needed now. But men 
 have lost faith in the power of the Gospel, and feel 
 the need of something more to get men saved. 
 It is most true that a Gospel, which is in word only, 
 will fail to do the work desired ; and because the 
 Gospel generally preached, is dead and formal, empty 
 of the Spirit, men have invented other means to give 
 effect to it. Since it has no Divine power in it, the 
 power of human sympathy and human persuasion is 
 seized upon to supply the lack of the drawing of the 
 Father. Jesus says "No man can come to me 
 
214 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 except my Father which hath sent me draw Him." 
 If God draw a man by the influence of His Spirit, he 
 needs no other persuasion, and if God do not draw 
 him, all the saints and angels cannot bring him to 
 salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always ac- 
 companied by God's drawings, and by these the sin- 
 ner is sweetly drawn away from sin and self-will, 
 toward holiness and Heaven. The Gospel that de- 
 pends on any other influence for success, is a false 
 Gospel and dangerous to the souls of men. Men are 
 compelled to come in, not by physical force, or the 
 influence of friendship, but by the power of the truth 
 alone. The man who has influence over another in 
 natural or temporal matters can do no more for that 
 person's salvation, than one who has no worldly in- 
 fluence can do. We often hear professed ministers 
 of the Gospel urge those under their pastoral care to 
 endeavor to persuade their friends to become reli- 
 gious. They are told that there is no one but has an 
 influence over some other person ; and that it is 
 their duty to use that influence in bringing others 
 to Christ. The religious teacher who gives such 
 advice, gives evidence of an entire ignorance 
 of the Gospel of Christ. That is good advice 
 in politics or in any worldly matter, but is value- 
 less and wholly mistaken in Spiritual affairs. We . 
 may, and should, so live before our friends and 
 acquaintances as to convince them of the reality of 
 God's work and the truth of the Gospel, but we can 
 go no farther in the affair. It then becomes a mat- 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 215 
 
 ter between their souls and God. No exhortation, 
 no persuasion of ours, can bring them to Christ. The 
 Father must draw them, if they come at all. Much 
 of the religious labor of the day is not only useless, 
 but a positive hindrance to God's work. It is the re- 
 sult of ignorance and unbelief. Religious laborers 
 are not satisfied to go out and preach the Gospel to 
 men and leave the results with God and the people. 
 They are not willing, like the husbandman, to have 
 long patience and wait for the early and latter rains. 
 They must see immediate results of their labor. They 
 want a birth before there is a real begetting. So 
 other influences are set at work to insure results at 
 once, s Excitement must be produced somehow, not 
 much matter how; the end seems to sanctify the 
 means in their eyes. Well, the excitement is pro- 
 duced, the revival is " got up," souls are per- 
 suaded that they are converted, and the work 
 runs "like fire in dry stubble," one catching it 
 from another, until the whole community is some- 
 times involved. The revival becomes epidemic; 
 it rages for a time, as if it never would cease. But 
 it reaches its maximum and begins to decline, and it 
 is seen to wane as surely and swiftly as it waxed, un- 
 til nothing but the ashes and other residuum is left. 
 The community resumes its usual quiet state, things 
 are seen to be in the same condition as before. Now 
 what has been accomplished ? A few have been per- 
 manently deceived ; the majority soon find them- 
 selves where they were before. The whole affair was 
 
2l6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the result of natural causes alone, and God's Spirit 
 had nothing to do with it. It was a religious de- 
 bauch, in which the .whole community was, for a 
 while, more or less intoxicated, but they have sobered 
 off again. It was a diseased condition of the natural 
 religious feelings and sympathies, which became epi- 
 demic, and raged for a while at fever heat, and then 
 cooled off and finally reached a normal state again. 
 Sometimes these epidemics affect only small com- 
 munities. This is the case generally. Sometimes 
 whole regions or states are affected, as was the case 
 of the Flagellants in Italy. 
 
 Sometimes even numerous countries are affected 
 at once, as in the case of the Crusades in Europe. 
 Disease is contagious and sometimes becomes epi- 
 demic. Health is never either the one or the other. 
 When the brother prays that the revival may run 
 like fire in dry stubble, he shows that his conception 
 of the nature of the work is precise and true. God's 
 work never runs that way; Christ's religion is not 
 contagious ; one person never catches it from another. 
 Each one is saved independent of any other one. 
 Each person gets his fire direct from Heaven. The 
 reason why persons who desire to produce such re- 
 sults do not depend on the Gospel alone, is because 
 it will never produce such results. They must wait 
 for the results of the Gospel. I do not mean to say 
 that the results may not be immediate, but they are 
 not usually so. Even the work at Pentecost was the 
 result of years of preparatory labor. We may see 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 217 
 
 immediate results of our labor in preaching the Gos- 
 pel, not only in the conviction of sinners, but some- 
 times in their genuine conversion to God. But we 
 are not to endeavor to hurry the work. We must 
 tell men the truth and then wait for results. A false 
 Gospel must have immediate results or none at all. 
 Not so with the real Gospel. Its effects are lasting. 
 It is true that upon some hearers it makes no impres- 
 sion at all. There are some to whom the Gospel is hid- 
 den. " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
 lost ; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the 
 minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glori- 
 ous Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should 
 shine unto them." Others are so nearly blinded by the 
 same means that they see but faintly, but when the 
 voice of God is heard, it is not easily forgotten. Men 
 will often retain the impression made by one Gospel 
 sermon for years. It is common to go back to the 
 vicinity where the Gospel has been preached months 
 previously, and find the impression deepened by 
 time, and more interest manifested than at the time 
 the Gospel was heard. If God awakens a sinner he 
 will never let him rest until he either surrenders or 
 resists unto his own undoing. It is intimated in 
 God's word that we have but one awakening. If we 
 relapse into insensibility again we are lost. This can 
 only be done by grieving God's Spirit entirely away. 
 If God, who has once awakened us, lets us alone, it 
 is because there is no hope for our salvation. The 
 Gospel is the power of God unto salvation ; and if it 
 
2l8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 fails to save us, there is no further or more powerful 
 means in reserve. To so sin against the Holy Spirit 
 that He ceases striving with us, is the sin beyond 
 forgiveness ; since it is the sin which cannot be re- 
 pented of. Nothing that man can do can deepen the 
 impression made by the truth, since that impression is 
 made by Divine power. As I have heard it remarked 
 in homely phrase, pushing the gun will not make it 
 shoot the harder. If we have faith in God and in 
 His appointed means for saving sinners, we will be 
 satisfied to use the means and rest contented with 
 that. 
 
 As we have already intimated, it is absolutely 
 necessary that the preacher should be sent of God. 
 It is just as necessary now as it ever has been. The 
 fact, if it be a fact, that the Gospel is prevalent, does 
 not change the situation. Though all the present 
 generation were saved, the next would be just as 
 dead in sin, and would be in need of the same means 
 for their awakening as any generation ever was. So 
 the minister would need to be sent of God, as much 
 as did the first ministers. " How shall they preach 
 except they be sent?" is just as pertinent a question 
 now as when it was first asked. And here I would 
 notice a common error : the confounding of a call 
 from God with a commission from him. They are 
 not by any means the same. It is one thing to be 
 called and quite another thing to be sent. Moses 
 seems to have been mistaken in this thing, supposing 
 that God's call was sufficient without anything 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 2IO, 
 
 further. But in his feeble attempt to deliver his 
 brethren, he found that they did not recognize his 
 call, and would not listen to his counsel. The result 
 was that he fled in fear from Egypt and waited forty 
 years after he felt God's call, until Jehovah said at 
 the burning bush, " Come, I will send thee to deliver 
 my people." When he was sent of God his mission 
 was successful, and both the Israelites and the Egyp- 
 tians were convinced of his Divine commission. No 
 doubt many are called to preach the Gospel who are 
 never sent because they never become qualified. 
 Christ called his Apostles several years before he 
 sent them to preach the everlasting Gospel, and if 
 they had not waited for the baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit they would never have been sent. They were 
 commanded to tarry until they were endued with 
 power from on high. Without that they could have 
 done nothing for God or man. No more can any man 
 preach the Gospel now, unless endued with the same 
 power. But the majority of teachers, even if they 
 have a call, run before they are qualified and sent. It 
 may be true of preachers as well as others, that many 
 are called but few chosen. It is not enough, then, to 
 have a vocation from God, the Gospel preacher must 
 have a commission also. God calls men who are not 
 qualified, but he never sends a man until he has 
 qualified him for the work. If he fails to become 
 qualified, he never receives his commission. It would 
 be well for those who feel a call to be a messenger for 
 God, to apply to themselves Joab's question to 
 
220 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Ahimaaz (II. Sam. xviii:22), " Wherefore wilt thou 
 run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?" 
 Nevertheless he ran so swiftly as to outrun the quali- 
 fied herald, but when he reached the presence of 
 King David, he could give him no information of the 
 battle. David asked, " Is the young man Absalom 
 safe?" His answer was "I saw a great tumult but I 
 knew not what it was." He was either ignorant of 
 what David wished to hear about, or was afraid to 
 tell him the truth, because he saw it would not be 
 welcome news. How many such messengers there 
 are at the present day : either ignorant of the truth 
 or afraid to tell it. Their manner of preaching seems 
 to be an answer to the question of the Apostle, " How 
 shall he preach except he be sent?" Unless men are 
 sent of God, they may preach so as to confuse and 
 deceive souls but not so as to save them. 
 
 The sects who profess to believe in a Divine call 
 to the ministry, allow God to call men but they arro- 
 gate to themselves the authority to commission them. 
 But God has never delegated such authority to any 
 man, or body of men. He calls, He qualifies, He 
 sends out His ambassadors, and furnishes them with 
 their credentials sufficient to accredit them to those 
 to whom they are sent. All man can do in the 
 matter is to recognize God's work and receive His 
 ministers in his name. No human call, no ecclesias- 
 tical commission, no imposition of priestly hands, 
 either of presbyter or bishop, can supply the place 
 of Christ's work. And where vocation and com- 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 221 
 
 mission are received from Christ, no other is needed. 
 They need no human indorsement. Very probably 
 the persons referred to by the Apostle Paul as need- 
 ing epistles of commendation, were the false teachers 
 against whom he contended. He needed none be- 
 cause he had living epistles of commendation, known 
 and read of all men." 
 
 The work of preaching the everlasting Gospel is 
 the most solemn and the most exalted of all human 
 employments. No other work can compare with it. 
 All other callings deal with the temporal interests of 
 men, and these can be of importance but during this 
 brief life. The Gospel minister deals with eternal 
 interests. And when all temporal interests shall have 
 been swallowed up in the final cataclysm, the signifi- 
 cance of his work will but begin to be developed. 
 The man who would lightly or hastily take upon 
 himself this office, has no conception of its responsi- 
 bilities. To stand as a mouthpiece for God, to say 
 what He says, nothing more or less ; to stand as a 
 watchman, responsible for the souls of those under 
 His care, knowing that a failure to warn them of 
 danger, is to have their blood required at His hand ; 
 to be intrusted with the delicate task of providing a 
 suitable and acceptable bride for the Lord Jesus, 
 pure and spotless : this is a task at once of the great- 
 est weight and the greatest glory. Well may the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles exclaim: "Who is sufficient 
 for these things?" No one, then, who understands 
 the nature of the ministerial office, and who appreciates 
 
222 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 its grave responsibilities, will volunteer for the 
 work. The woe must be upon him, from which he 
 cannot escape, and the love of Christ must constrain 
 him, before he will undertake, the awful yet glorious 
 task. No desire for worldly honor, no love of filthy 
 lucre, no craving for power or authority, can have 
 any place in the heart of the man who is fitted for 
 this sacred calling. But his sufficiency is of God 
 who alone can make a feeble man an able minister of 
 the New Testament. Yet though the responsibilities 
 are so transcendent, the reward is correspondingly 
 glorious. "They that be wise shall shine as the 
 brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many 
 to righteousness, as stars forever and ever." When 
 the chief Shepherd shall appear, they shall receive a 
 crown of glory that fadeth not away. 
 
 But the reward will be for faithfulness not for suc- 
 cess, real or apparent. God's ministers must obey in- 
 structions, whether men hear or forbear. They have 
 nothing to do with results. Noah was probably the 
 most successful preacher the world ever saw, though 
 he could show but seven souls as the result of one 
 hundred and twenty years' preaching; and these all 
 in his own family. But his preaching condemned a 
 world, and made him heir of righteousness by faith. 
 Not one wotd of God is lost. Not one 'sermon 
 preached in the Spirit is in vain. It accomplishes 
 God's purpose in one way or another. It is a savor 
 of life or death in them that believe and in them that 
 perish. Go forth, then, in Jesus' name, thou herald 
 
THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 223 
 
 of the Cross, called and commissioned from Heaven. 
 Let no danger deter thee, no labor discourage thee. 
 Fear not them that kill the body only, but cannot 
 harm thy soul. Let the trumpet give no uncertain 
 sound. Keep back nothing that is profitable for men ; 
 all Gospel truth is profitable. Stop not to number 
 thy foes, for God Almighty arms thee. Cry aloud 
 and spare not ; lift up thy voice like a trumpet. En- 
 dure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
 Endure the cross and despise the shame. Count 
 nothing dear unto thyself so that thou mayest finish 
 thy course with joy. Fight the good fight and keep 
 the faith. In all things be an ensample to the flock. 
 And when thy triumphant Master shall appear, He 
 will pronounce, "Well done: thou hast been faithful 
 over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
 things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
TEMPTATION 
 
 "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation." 
 
 — James 1 : 12. 
 
 T'HE Scripture account of the creation and fall of 
 * man suggests many problems, the solution 
 of which has taxed the ingenuity of learned men in 
 all ages. Some of these problems have never been 
 satisfactorily solved, and it is probable that a knowl- 
 edge of them is included among the secret things 
 which belong to the Lord. Others may be compre- 
 hended by man even in this partial state of knowl- 
 edge. One of the questions that excites human 
 curiosity is, Why did the Lord subject innocent 
 and inexperienced man to the temptations of a wily 
 and malicious adversary? The result was likely to 
 be disastrous to man. While the result which fol- 
 lowed was not inevitable, it was probable. We 
 cannot believe that this result was unknown to that 
 God Who knoweth the end from the beginning. It 
 could not have been a Divine experiment, the result 
 of which was conjectural. Such a supposition dis- 
 honors God. Taking it for granted, then, that 
 Omniscience perfectly foresaw all that followed, He 
 must have had a wise design in it all. And as God 
 is love, the design must also have been benevolent, 
 and contributory to the highest good of all con- 
 (224) 
 
TEMPTATION. 225 
 
 cerned. Since God foresaw that man would fall, He 
 must have seen that the fall would be an advantage 
 to the race as a whole, if not to each individual of 
 the race. If this were not true, evidently the history 
 of the race would have ended with the first offenders. 
 But since He allowed them to live and propagate 
 their species, Eternal Wisdom must have foreseen that 
 it is better for the whole number of individuals con- 
 stituting the human race to derive their existence 
 from a fallen progenitor, than to stand for themselves 
 individually as Adam did, or as the angels did, and 
 do, stand. For God always chooses that which is 
 best. The fall of man, then, was not an interruption 
 of God's plan, and a defeat for Omnipotence, but was 
 a part of the Divine plan from the beginning. The 
 fall of the angels had shown that the absence of 
 temptation does not insure security. I do not mean 
 that it taught the Allwise a lesson, but it teaches us 
 one. Probably they were not subjected to tempta- 
 tion, because there was no tempter. Nevertheless, 
 they fell, that is, some of them, and their fall was 
 final. A knowledge of the fate of the fallen angels 
 may have been sufficient to secure and insure the 
 fidelity of those who remained obedient. But God 
 in His infinite wisdom, delighting in the happiness 
 and the praise of His creatures, saw fit to add to the 
 number, by creating a new race. And since freedom 
 from temptation and ignorance of evil did not afford 
 security from falling into sin, and thus God's holy intel- 
 ligences were forever in danger of losing their felicity ; 
 
 S. F. S.— 15 
 
226 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 and since through Satan's defection, evil now existed, 
 and a temper to evil was at hand, God determined to 
 use him for the education of the new race which He 
 was about to create. And though the result would 
 no doubt be eternal wretchedness to some, yet prob- 
 ably not a greater number than under the other plan ; 
 and those who stood the test would be forever se- 
 cure from any possibility of falling. In the case of 
 the angels, the common understanding is, that one- 
 third fell into irremediable destruction, and it is prob- 
 able that, taking into consideration the vast propor- 
 tion of the race who die in childhood, that more than 
 two-thirds of the human race are finally saved, and 
 secure beyond a peradventure. Thus, the added se- 
 curity of the faithful is all clear gain. Their security 
 would result from their experience of the danger of 
 disobedience. And if, after experiencing the results 
 of sin, having once been ruined by it, and securing 
 deliverance from it through the mercy of God, they 
 are enabled to resist temptation, and maintain their 
 fidelity to God in a world where there is so much to 
 seduce to evil, there is no possibility of their defec- 
 tion in a world where everything encourages 
 obedience. Not that they lose the freedom of choice, 
 but it is inconceivable that they should ever again 
 choose to disobey God. Temptation is intended, 
 then, as a discipline to establish men in virtue. It is 
 not an accident, but is a part of God's design, for the 
 eternal good of mankind. It is significant, therefore, 
 that the new race was planted in a world where Satan 
 
TEMPTATION. 227 
 
 ruled. Milton in his ''Paradise Lost," represents Satan 
 as being an intruder into this world. He represents 
 him as escaping from Pandemonium and forcing his 
 way up to earth because of his knowledge of God's pur- 
 pose to people this planet with a new race. But I 
 think this is a misconception. The probability is 
 that Satan was here before man was. We are told 
 that the angels who kept not their first estate were 
 cast down to hell (Tartarus), and are reserved unto 
 the judgment of the great day. We do not know 
 certainly where Tartarus is, but as the fallen angels 
 are said to be kept in chains of darkness, it would 
 seem that their liberty is restrained to their prison 
 house. And as we find them in this world, on this 
 planet, it is reasonable to conclude that it is not 
 necessary to look to any other world to find their 
 abiding place. Demons seem to be at home here. 
 In the language of Charles Wesley : 
 
 " From thrones of glory driven — 
 By flaming vengeance hurled — 
 They throng the air and darken heaven 
 And rule this lower world." 
 
 It was in this lower world, inhabited by demons, 
 full of hatred and malice against God and His creat- 
 ures, that the Creator placed the first human pair. 
 We do not know that demons inhabit any other 
 world. How significant the fact, then, that God 
 chose for man's abode the only world known to be 
 peopled by demons. We do not know how long the first 
 pair were preserved from temptation. So far as the 
 
228 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Scripture history gives information, they seem to 
 have yielded to the first solicitation to evil, and to 
 have fallen under the power of Satan. Thus, the cur- 
 tain falls after the first act of the drama, upon man 
 ruined and Evil triumphant. But the scene changes 
 somewhat, as a promise of a deliverer is given. 
 Hope for the race springs up. And though physical 
 death and natural evil are introduced as new factors, 
 and a cursed earth makes unremitting toil the por- 
 tion of mankind, yet out of these forbidding acces- 
 sories Eternal Wisdom designs to educe future good 
 to the sufferers. These things are necessary to pre- 
 vent fallen debased man from becoming completely 
 wedded to this present state. The earthly, sensual 
 life must be made hard and disappointing, if earthly 
 minded men are ever to be detached from it. 
 
 The Lord now begins a revelation of Himself to 
 man, and gives him some knowledge of His will and 
 of man's duty to Him. In doing God's will, man was 
 continually beset by temptation to disobedience, and 
 thus began to learn the lesson of preferring God's will 
 to his own. But Satan's dominion over mankind was 
 so great, and the power of temptation so strong, that 
 disobedience was the rule, and obedience the excep- 
 tion. Yet Enoch walked with God shortly after the 
 fall, and had the testimony that he pleased God. And 
 all along from righteous Abel down to the time of 
 the Advent of Christ, there were those who success- 
 fully resisted temptation and died with the assurance 
 of Divine favor. Yet they did not have such victory 
 
TEMPTATION. 229 
 
 over temptation as it is the privilege of the new cov- 
 enant believer to have. They were not so delivered 
 from the power of darkness. But in Christ a com- 
 plete victory over Satan is assured to every faithful 
 soul. It is under the Christian system that the pur- 
 pose of God is fully made known, and the design of 
 temptation is fully accomplished. It is true that 
 Satan tempts unsaved men, but while men are in His 
 power, the object of temptation is not secured. 
 Temptation can serve no good end, unless it is suc- 
 cessfully resisted. Consequently, the disciplinary ef- 
 fects of temptation are realized fully by the saved 
 soul only. To such it becomes an occasion of 
 growth, a means of Spiritual education. As in the 
 natural world, the inherent inertia of material things 
 becomes an occasion of growth to the muscular 
 system of him who grapples with them ; so in the 
 Spiritual world, increase of strength is acquired by 
 contending with the powers of darkness that are in- 
 imical to Spiritual well being. The Christian's life is 
 purposely one of conflict. God's people are not in 
 this world simply to have a good time. While the re- 
 ligion of Christ gives men peace with God and peace 
 in their hearts, it brings them into immediate antag- 
 onism with the system of things around them. In 
 this respect, Christ came not to bring peace, but a 
 sword. The child of God is in an enemy's land. He 
 is in a world where the powers of darkness have con- 
 trol. He must fight if he would reign. But "we 
 wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 
 
230 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 principalities and powers, against the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world ; against wicked spirits in the 
 heavenly places." With these he must try conclu- 
 sions. Against these he must wrestle unceasingly. 
 By these he will be continually assaulted. He can 
 look for no relief from Satan's onslaughts, until pro- 
 bation ends. 
 
 "Ne'er think the victory won, 
 Nor lay thine armor down. 
 The work of faith will not be done 
 Till thou obtain the crown." 
 
 It is not the business of the Christian to endeavor 
 to escape temptation or to run away from the devil. 
 He is commanded to resist the devil, that he may flee 
 from him. He cannot run away from the adversary, 
 but may cause his adversary to run away from him. 
 No more is it his part to seek temptation. Enough 
 will come to him without solicitation, to tax all his 
 powers of resistance. Divine wisdom manages this 
 matter. God has promised that no child of His shall 
 be tempted above that he is able. Though Satan 
 seems to have a free field in his efforts to corrupt 
 man, yet so far as believers are concerned, his powers 
 are limited. He can assail them no further than their 
 powers of resistance extend. Otherwise, no doubt, 
 they would be overwhelmed. There is, therefore, no 
 excuse for yielding to temptation, since they are 
 never tempted above their power to resist. However 
 weak saints may be in themselves, God's strength is 
 made perfect in their weakness, and His grace is 
 
TEMPTATION. 23 1 
 
 always sufficient for them in every trial. Severe temp- 
 tation is not a proof of weakness, nor an indication of 
 depravity. Jesus, Himself, was tempted, and that in 
 every point, yet without sin. It is to be presumed 
 that Satan will most severely assault the soul that is 
 most bold in renouncing His service, and most zeal- 
 ous in attacking sin. So that we may " count it all 
 joy when we fall into divers temptations," knowing 
 that it is for the trial of our faith. 
 
 As Christ was tempted in all points as we are, we 
 may learn from His temptation in the wilderness, how 
 we are likely to be assaulted. He was first tempted 
 to distrust God. He was hungry, and far from 
 human habitation, and Satan suggested that He should 
 make use of His miraculous powers to provide for 
 himself. He had not gone into the wilderness of His 
 own motion, but was led there by the Spirit. Satan 
 tempted Him to think that the Father had left Him 
 to shift for Himself. He had no commission to make 
 bread out of stones. It seems that the devil did not 
 attack Him until after long fasting had much ex- 
 hausted the powers of nature. We may learn from 
 this that the devil is quick to take advantage of any 
 weakness of ours, either physical or mental, to tempt 
 and try us. Jesus did not get into an argument with 
 Satan, which the adversary evidently desired, and en- 
 deavored to provoke by his insinuation, " If thou be 
 the Son of God." Disregarding his sneer, Jesus met 
 him with a quotation from Scripture, " It is written, 
 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
 
112 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 word of God." How often since then has Satan used 
 the same tactics with Christ's disciples. Happy are 
 they if they use the same weapon in resisting him, 
 the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Satan will 
 get the child of God into an argument if he can, for 
 he would rather parley than fight; knowing that the 
 Christian is off his own ground while parleying with 
 the devil. He will insinuate that God has forsaken 
 us and that we would better be looking out for our- 
 selves. But God has said : " I will never leave thee 
 nor forsake thee." Give him this promise and stand 
 by it, and his mouth is stopped. Never parley with 
 him a moment. A parley is a truce, and what right 
 has a saint to make a truce with Satan ? Enemies 
 parley because they hope to find some ground for 
 compromise, and reconciliation. But in this war we 
 must conquer or be conquered. No quarter is given 
 or taken, and compromise is defeat. 
 
 As Satan failed to persuade our Lord to distrust 
 His Father, he next tempted Him to presumption. 
 He took Him up to a pinnacle of the temple in 
 Jerusalem and said, "If thou be the Son of God, 
 cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his 
 angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall 
 bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot 
 against a stone." In this case the devil shows his 
 ability to quote Scripture. It has been charged that 
 Satan left out part of the passage he professed to 
 quote. The passage should read "to keep thee in 
 all thy ways. " This might have been intentional on 
 
TEMPTATION. 233 
 
 Satan's part, and may change the sense somewhat. 
 But the devil does not always garble Scripture, 
 though he always misapplies it, as he did in this case. 
 Because the angels were to keep Him, was no reason 
 why He should recklessly and for no good cause, ex- 
 pose himself to danger. Consequently Jesus perti- 
 nently replied, "It is written thou shalt not tempt the 
 Lord thy God." God has given His angels charge 
 over His people also. They are their constant 
 guards, their attendants by day and by night. 
 Charles Wesley has beautifully expressed this angelic 
 guardianship in language as follows : 
 
 "Which of the monarchs of the earth 
 Can boast a guard like ours, 
 Encircled from our second birth 
 With all the heavenly powers ? 
 
 " Myriads of bright cherubic bands, 
 Sent by the King of Kings, 
 Rejoice to bear us in their hands, 
 And shade us with their wings. 
 
 "Angels, where'er we go, attend 
 Our steps, whate'er betide ; 
 With watchful care their charge defend, 
 And evil turn aside. 
 
 " Our lives those holy angels keep 
 From every hostile power ; 
 And, unconcerned, we sweetly sleep, 
 As Adam in his bower. 
 
 "And when our spirits we resign, 
 On outstretched wings they bear, 
 And lodge us in the arms divine, 
 And leave us ever there." 
 
234 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 In Heb. i: 14 we read, "Are they not all minis- 
 tering spirits, sent forth to minister for them, who 
 shall be heirs of salvation?" But notwithstanding the 
 promise of angelic guardianship, we have no warrant 
 to run into danger unnecessarily, nor to provoke 
 without sufficient cause, the active opposition of the 
 wicked world. Christians are required to be pru- 
 dent, and to beware of men. Foolhardiness has no 
 part in the Christian character. The Christian is al- 
 ways perfectly safe so long as he is in the order of 
 the Lord, being led by His spirit but, outside of that, 
 he has no promise of protection. When he transcends 
 those bounds, he puts himself in the power of the 
 enemy, from which he may, or may not, be delivered. 
 
 This temptation failing of its end, Satan then took 
 our Lord up into an exceeding high mountain and 
 showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the 
 glory of them, and said "All these will I give thee, 
 if thou wilt fall down and worship me." To under- 
 stand the power of this temptation, we must remem- 
 ber that the Father has promised to Christ, as the 
 son of David, all the kingdoms of this world. But in 
 order to obtain this joy set before him, he must 
 endure the cross, despising the shame. In other 
 words, the privilege of reigning, with his people, over 
 the universal kingdom of peace on earth, must be 
 gained through the suffering of death. Satan pro- 
 poses an easier way of attaining the same end. He 
 claimed, which Jesus knew to be true, that he had 
 control over the kingdoms of the world, and could 
 
TEMPTATION. 235 
 
 abdicate his authority if so disposed. Those who 
 teach that the devil laid claim to what he did not 
 possess, very much discredit the intelligence of the 
 Lord Jesus. If these wise men know that the devil 
 could not do as he promised, it is strange that our 
 Lord should not have known it. And if he did know 
 it, then there would have been no temptation in this 
 offer ; for it can be no temptation to be promised 
 what you know cannot be performed. Christ's temp- 
 tation was a bitter reality, and not a farce. Satan's 
 utmost efforts were put forth to corrupt him. All 
 his devilish guile and subtlety, combined with hellish 
 malice, were brought into exercise to defeat God's 
 plan for the salvation of the race. This last tempta- 
 tion was his masterpiece. And those who would be- 
 little it by supposing that the devil was presuming 
 upon the ignorance of his victim, only expose their 
 own ignorance of the whole subject. The essence of 
 the temptation was a solicitation to do evil that good 
 might come. It was implied that the excellence of 
 the end would justify the wickedness of the means 
 used. To do homage to Satan was a small thing in 
 appearance, though a wrong thing. What great 
 good would follow that small act ! But Jesus replied, 
 "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
 and Him only shalt thou serve." It may seem to 
 many that the scheme was transparent, yet many 
 thousand wise and honorable men, since that time, 
 have been caught in a similar net. Probably there 
 is no one deception of Satan that has been successful 
 
236 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 with more well-meaning people than the tempta- 
 tion to arrive at lawful ends by unlawful means. The 
 devil's plan seems so much easier and cheaper than 
 God's plan. It will cost so much less suffering and 
 shame. But it is always found to be a delusion and 
 a disappointment. The success that results from ac- 
 cepting Satan's proposition is the worst kind of fail- 
 ure. It will be found that Satan never relinquishes 
 his suzerainty over those who have done him hom- 
 age. And his victims find themselves involved in the 
 condemnation of those who "do evil that good may 
 come," and that condemnation the Scriptures declare 
 to be a just one. 
 
 All the temptations to which God's people are 
 subject, when reduced to their elements, will be found 
 to be either to unbelief, presumption, or to do evil 
 that good may come. And Satan is diligent in his 
 work, urged on by hellish malice, ever waiting for an 
 opportunity to harm those especially who are in an- 
 tagonism to his kingdom. Not that Satan, himself, is 
 the only invisible tempter, for he is but the leader of 
 an innumerable band of demons. They seem to be so 
 plentiful that there is more than one for each tempted 
 one. Mary Magdalene had seven, and the demoniac 
 of Gadara possessed a legion, according to the teach- 
 ing of the New Testament writers. With these, 
 
 " Our secret, sworn eternal foes, 
 Countless, invisible;" 
 
 we are compelled to contend. They " still in strength 
 excel," are subtle and cunning, have had long 
 
TEMPTATION. 237 
 
 experience in tempting mankind, are thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with man's weaknesses and passions, have 
 great boldness and audacity, and feeble, foolish man 
 is no match for them in his own strength. 
 
 " But shall believers fear? 
 But shall believers fly?" 
 
 No, there is no safety in flight ; as well might we 
 surrender at once. We must fight this good fight 
 that we may lay hold on eternal life. 
 
 '* By all hell's host withstood, 
 We all hell's host o'erthrow; 
 And conquering them through Jesus' blood 
 To further conquest go." 
 
 Jesus hath conquered hell. He hath vanquished 
 Satan single handed, and through Him we may con- 
 quer also, but only through Him. We shall conquer 
 our adversary only because " Greater is He that is 
 in us than he that is in the world." Our one offen- 
 sive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of 
 God, is one that our enemy cannot withstand. It 
 were foolhardiness to trust to any other. Wielding 
 this weapon vigorously, and meanwhile covering our- 
 selves with the broad shield of faith which is effectual 
 in quenching every fiery dart of the enemy, we can 
 surely march to victory. A bold resistance to Satan 
 will always cause him to flee. 
 
 We are here in this state of trial, for the purpose 
 of being tried and tested. Only such as stand the 
 test, are fit material to go into God's glorious temple. 
 God's redeemed host is to be the most eminent 
 
238 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 example of the survival of the fittest. They are to be 
 made perfect through suffering, as the Master was. 
 Temptations and tribulations, are the instrumentali- 
 ties through which they are to attain to excellence. 
 These things being true, it is easy to see how mis- 
 taken the policy is, which seeks to remove men out 
 of temptation, or which amounts to the same thing, 
 which seeks to remove temptation out of the world. 
 It is said that in order to preserve men in virtue, 
 temptation must be driven into hiding, instead of 
 publicly showing itself. Men's virtues are so weak 
 and puny that they cannot resist solicitation to evil. 
 What is a virtue worth that exists only for want of 
 opportunity for vice ; or for want of temptation ? It 
 is not stalwart enough to answer God's purpose. This 
 attempt to escape temptation is directly at variance 
 with God's purpose. There are no more tempters 
 nor temptations in the world than accords with His 
 purpose. He has not said, " Blessed is the man that 
 escapes temptation," but " Blessed is the man that 
 endureth temptation." He tells us to count it all joy 
 when we fall into divers temptations, because the 
 trial of our faith worketh patience. (James i: 2.) 
 Much of the boasted work of modern religion is an 
 attempt to thus remove temptation from men's paths. 
 As a worldly policy this may be praiseworthy, as ; t 
 helps to make the world appear more decent and re- 
 spectable. But this is opposed to God's will. He says, 
 let the corrupt tree bear evil fruit. He is not interested 
 in deceptive appearances, that men should appear bet- 
 
TEMPTATION. 239 
 
 ter than they really are. His design takes in eternity, 
 and it is men's eternal interests he is promoting. 
 These cannot be enhanced by sham or pretense. The 
 realities must appear sooner or later. He is prepar- 
 ing a race of heroes, who have come out of the 
 furnace of affliction and temptation unscathed. Who 
 have stood true where the majority failed ; faithful 
 among the faithless, loyal among the rebellious. A 
 faithful few upon whom all the arts of flattery, all the 
 threats of power intrenched in evil, have been tried 
 in vain, to shake their integrity. Who, with the 
 world under their feet, and the Heavenly crown in 
 view, have fearlessly faced obloquy and reproach, 
 that they might stand with the truth. Whp have 
 gladly acknowledged truth on a gibbet, and denounced 
 falsehood on a throne. Who have dared to be right 
 and do right, in defiance of the scorn of the world 
 and the malice of hell. Who have been valiant for 
 truth in the earth, quitting themselves like men. 
 These tested, tried ones are to constitute the Lord's 
 peculiar treasure, His jewels ; dear to Him as the 
 apple of His eye, graven on the palms of His hands. 
 Other possessions He has that are dear to Him, but 
 none so dear as these. The rich man has many pos- 
 sessions, all of which he values, some more, some 
 less. He will show you his lands, his fine horses, 
 his cattle in the fields. He will show you his beau- 
 tiful furniture, his paintings, his statuary, his library 
 of valuable books. He will show you his stocks and 
 bonds, and other evidence of great wealth. Last of 
 
240 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 all, he will take you into his private room, unlock his 
 safety vault, take out a beautiful casket, find the key 
 in a secret place, unlock the casket and show you 
 his diamonds and rubies, emeralds, sapphires, with 
 strings of beautiful pearls, and tell you these are the 
 most precious to him of all his possessions, and con- 
 sequently the most carefully guarded. "And they 
 shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I 
 make up my jewels." The Church of Jesus Christ 
 is God's jewel case, and the precious contents are 
 peculiarly dear to the Lord. They are purchased 
 with the blood of His dear Son. They have all 
 borne every test, and been shown to be genuine and 
 without flaw. 
 
 There is a perfection that can be attained only 
 through suffering. It may be called perfection of 
 character to distinguish it from perfection of nature. 
 God can give us a perfect nature, but perfection of 
 character can come only as a result of the exercise of 
 free choice. 
 
 Adam had a perfect nature but failed to acquire 
 a perfect character. The will, being free in respon- 
 sible beings, cannot be made perfect at a stroke. It 
 is through a voluntary choice of good, when both 
 good and evil are offered to us, that the will becomes 
 perfected. The whole design of probation is to dis- 
 cipline the will. While man is under the dominion 
 of sin, his will is not free to choose good, until the 
 grace of God comes to his rescue. Without the in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, no sinner could possibly 
 
TEMPTATION. 24 1 
 
 choose the good, for he could not desire it. It is 
 when, by the power of God, man becomes emanci- 
 pated from the slavery of sin, that his probation 
 really begins. Until then he is handicapped in his 
 choosing, by inclinations toward evil. And when to 
 this is added temptation from without, he will find 
 himself engaged in an unequal contest. But when 
 his nature has been purified and his bent toward evil 
 is removed, then he is in a condition to withstand 
 temptation from without. Then, and not till then, is 
 he prepared for trials and tests. Then tribulations 
 and fiery trials for the disciplining of his soul, are in 
 order. It is to this perfection of will the Apostle 
 Peter refers in I. Peter v: 10, "But the God of all 
 grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory by 
 Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make 
 you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Here 
 is a perfection to be attained through suffering. As 
 to what is the nature of this perfection, we may learn 
 from other passages. In Heb. ii : 10 we read: "For 
 it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom 
 are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to 
 make the captain of their salvation perfect through 
 sufferings." It is evident that here no perfection of 
 the moral nature or affections is meant, as Christ was 
 sinless in His birth. In Heb. v:8, 9, it is said 
 "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience 
 by the things which he suffered ; and being made 
 perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto 
 all them that obey him." Here we learn that the 
 
 S. F. S .— 16 
 
242 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 perfection secured through suffering is obedience. It 
 is such a disciplining of the will as causes it promptly 
 and cheerfully to accept the will of the Father as 
 right and good. The whole object of probation, then, 
 is the education of the will. It is to bring the will of 
 the creature into sweet subjection to, and into har- 
 mony with, the will of the Creator. So that the 
 creature will not obey simply because he knows noth- 
 ing but obedience, but because he has learned from 
 bitter experience that obedience is best, as well as right. 
 This experience will so fix his will in the direction of 
 obedience, that disobedience, in the absence of temp- 
 tation, will become a moral impossibility. If it were 
 not for this process of education and discipline of the 
 will, the believer, so far as he is, himself, concerned, 
 might just as well be taken to glory as soon as he is 
 saved. But while he is undergoing this educational 
 process, he is used by the Lord as an instrument for the 
 salvation of His fellowmen. And not only does he enjoy 
 the beneficent results of this training, results which 
 will last eternally, but every choice of God's will 
 instead of his own way, entitles him to a specific 
 reward in the future, so that he is every way the 
 gainer by his sufferings. " These light afflictions 
 which are but for a moment, work out for us a far 
 more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory." What 
 a grand and glorious scheme* is God's plan of redemp- 
 tion ! What a great privilege it is to be admitted to 
 contest for such a prize ! All the ages to come belong 
 to those who are victors in this contest. " These are 
 
TEMPTATION. 243 
 
 they which have come up out of great tribulation, 
 and have washed their robes and made them white in 
 the blood of the Lamb." 
 
 "Therefore are they next the throne, 
 Serve their Maker day and night; 
 God resides among His own; 
 God doth in His saints delight." 
 
 As to those who have failed to measure up to 
 God's just expectations, "Reprobate silver shall men 
 call them, because the Lord has rejected them." 
 Leaving punitive justice out of the question, what an 
 immeasurable loss have they sustained. The future 
 ages will have no hope for them. They have had 
 their chance and failed to improve it. To them eter- 
 nity will be full of regrets for what might have been. 
 
 Let us then take courage and endure the conflict 
 a little longer. 
 
 "Courage your Captain cries, 
 Who all your toil foreknew; 
 Toil ye shall have, but all despise, 
 I have o'ercome for you." 
 
 Your Father hath made you heir of all things, 
 and in a little while you shall come into the whole of 
 your inheritance. Soon ye shall be privileged to lay 
 your armor by, no more to contend and strive, and 
 that peace that your souls delight in shall be given 
 you in full abundance. The trial will be over and 
 the verdict shall be, "Well done thou good and 
 faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few 
 things I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
SPIRITUAL 
 CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD 
 
 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
 stood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I 
 became a man, I put away childish things." 
 
 — I. Cor. xiii :ii. 
 
 "That we henceforth be no more children. " — Eph. iv : 14. 
 
 HHHE Apostle Paul conceived of the Christian dis- 
 * pensation as the age of Spiritual manhood. 
 This idea permeates his writings, and crops out in 
 many places in them. He conceives of former dis- 
 pensations as representing the Spiritual infancy and 
 childhood of the race, and as intended to lead up to 
 manhood by degrees. But little truth was revealed 
 to fallen man in the beginning, but God less and less 
 obscurely revealed himself to man during the progress 
 of the centuries, until in Christianity the truth is 
 clearly brought to light, and God stands clearly re- 
 vealed to man, without a dimming veil between him 
 and the believer. But we "with open face beholding 
 as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed 
 into the same image." "The law came by Moses, 
 but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The 
 Spiritual education of the race began immediately 
 after the fall of man, and a promise of a Redeemer 
 was promptly given to him. In order that the idea 
 of sin and the need of an atonement might be im- 
 (244) 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 245 
 
 pressed on mankind, the practice of animal sacrifice 
 was instituted and with the skins of the slain beasts 
 man was clothed. Some persons among those to 
 whom these rites were given seem at once to have 
 grasped the ideas conveyed by them, while others did 
 not. Thus while Abel offered an acceptable sacri- 
 fice, Cain did not. Abel recognized his sinfulness 
 and his need of atonement, by offering a lamb ; but 
 Cain offered of the first fruits of the ground, a proper 
 thank-offering, but one having no suggestion of sin, 
 or the need of a Redeemer. Cain was furious at the 
 rejection of his offering, and slew his brother who had 
 recognized his need and had been accepted. Hence, 
 the first murder resulted from a religious dispute. 
 Afterward other religious emblems were introduced, 
 such as circumcision, which was intended to intimate 
 to man his need of Spiritual cleansing, until the law 
 of Moses introduced a system of carnal ordinances, 
 all intended to show man, by means of object lessons, 
 his own sinfulness, his need of sin offering, and his 
 need of Spiritual purification. The Apostle Paul 
 tells us that the Mosaic dispensation stood in meats 
 and drinks, and divers washings (baptisms) and car- 
 nal ordinances imposed on men until the time of 
 reformation. None of these things had any value in 
 itself, but was only useful as it served to suggest 
 Spiritual truth. Man's Spiritual understanding was 
 small and his light dim, and only those things which 
 addressed themselves to his outward senses at- 
 tracted his attention at all. The mass of the people 
 
246 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 probably never saw further than the outward emblem, 
 and derived no good at all from the object lesson, 
 but a few in all ages were enabled to look beyond the 
 sign and catch a glimpse of the Spiritual truth signi- 
 fied. Divine Wisdom and Goodness adapted the 
 teaching to man's weakness and ignorance, and en- 
 deavored by means of visible things to lead men's 
 minds up to the invisible and eternal. It is by such 
 means that children are instructed. Children's books 
 have pictures and illustrations, because it is so much 
 easier for the childish mind to grasp an idea sug- 
 gested by something visible and tangible. It is diffi- 
 cult for the child to form a conception of abstract 
 truth. Tell him that two and two make four, and 
 his mind will fail to grasp the thought ; but show two 
 visible objects as apples, and then add two more 
 apples to the number, and he can at once grasp the 
 concrete fact that two apples and two more apples 
 make four apples. Yet in this manner of teaching 
 there is always the possibility or danger of getting 
 the abstract and the concrete mixed together in the 
 child's mind. After having seen the illustration, if he 
 is asked how many two and two make, he will prob- 
 ably answer, "four apples," not separating in his 
 mind the sign and the thing signified. He does not 
 see but that "apples" is a part of the mathematical 
 fact. But if properly taught he will at length learn 
 the difference between mathematical facts, and the 
 material things that illustrate them. The abstract 
 science is eternal and unchangeable, and exists inde- 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 247 
 
 pendently of all material uses. The illustrations of 
 the scientific facts are temporary, and left behind 
 after they have served their purpose. This is equally 
 true of the emblems used to illustrate Spiritual truth. 
 They serve their purpose of education and then are 
 discarded as useless. They belong to the period of 
 Spiritual childhood and are outgrown when the period 
 of Spiritual manhood is reached. But if men are the 
 subjects of arrested Spiritual development, they will 
 never be outgrown, but will always be clung to as 
 necessities. The boy will cherish a hobby horse, and 
 the little girl a doll, which are lifeless representations 
 of living objects, but men and women put away such 
 childish things. The man might be persuaded to ride 
 a hobby horse through a mistaken sense of duty, but 
 he would find no enjoyment in it, and would be in- 
 clined to feel ashamed of it. So Spiritual men feel 
 with respect to those things belonging to Spiritual 
 childhood. Now, as we have already stated, outward 
 emblems and signs belong to the age of Spiritual 
 childhood. All carnal ordinances are of this class. 
 They were imposed on men until the time of refor- 
 mation. They were intended to teach a useful lesson, 
 but are no longer needed when full manhood is 
 reached. " That is first which is natural, and after- 
 ward that which is Spiritual." This being true, it 
 follows that, as the Gospel of Christ brings men into 
 the condition of Spiritual manhood, carnal ordinances 
 have no part in the Christian system. We are told 
 by the Apostle Paul, in Eph. ii : 14, 15, that " he is our 
 
248 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken 
 down the middle wall of partition between us ; hav- 
 ing abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of 
 commandments contained in ordinances." Carnal 
 ordinances belong to a carnal religion such as that 
 the Jews had. They were of the essence of their 
 religion. Take them away and nothing would be 
 left. Their religion "stood in meats and drinks, and 
 divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances." While there 
 were some among the Jews who were heirs of all the 
 promises, yet they were not heirs because of the old 
 covenant, nor because of their membership in the 
 Jewish Church, but because of the faith which they 
 possessed. The old covenant was a state of bond- 
 age to them. All the requirements of that covenant 
 were "imposed" upon men ; that is, they were put on 
 from the outside, and did not spring from anything 
 within them. They were arbitrary requirements, 
 nothing in their nature making them necessary. They 
 depended for their existence entirely upon the will of 
 the one who imposed them, and did not grow out of 
 the nature of things. Such requirements are always 
 yokes of bondage under any dispensation, and though 
 under some circumstances they may be useful, they 
 are irksome always. Under the Gospel, nothing is 
 to be imposed on men, but we have the promise that 
 all the requirements of the Gospel covenant are to 
 be written in men's hearts. In this respect, the new 
 covenant is to differ from the old. The Lord says, 
 "Not according to the covenant that I made with 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 249 
 
 their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead 
 them out of Egypt. But I will put my law in their 
 inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Under 
 the Gospel, then, nothing is imposed on men, nothing 
 arbitrary is required of them, but their whole con- 
 duct is to be governed by those eternal principles of 
 righteousness which are written on their hearts by 
 the Blessed Spirit. Now, carnal ordinances are no 
 part of those principles of righteousness. They are 
 always arbitrary requirements, having no root in the 
 reason of things, and no use except as symbols of 
 that which is real and abiding. But the Gospel dis- 
 pensation is a dispensation of realities. We are no 
 longer occupied with symbols and types, but with 
 substance and antetype. "The Kingdom of God is 
 not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost." Now, while it is gener- 
 ally admitted that the Kingdom of God, the Gospel 
 dispensation, brings us to the experience and enjoy- 
 ment of Spiritual realities, of which carnal ordinances 
 were but symbols and shadows, yet, strange to say, 
 men still persist in holding on to the carnal symbols, 
 too. They admit that the Kingdom of God is right- 
 eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; 
 but insist that it is also meat and drink. But it can- 
 not be both Spiritual and carnal at the same time. 
 The sign loses all its value when it once has led up 
 to the thing signified. The symbol can give us but 
 a partial knowledge of a fact, as the natural cannot 
 perfectly represent the Spiritual. Therefore, we 
 
25O SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 have many symbols of the same truth, giving us 
 glimpses from various points of view, yet all are im- 
 perfect and partial. "But when that which is perfect 
 is come, then that which is in part is done away." 
 (I. Cor. xiii:io.) The religion of types and shad- 
 ows comes first, the religion of realities comes 
 afterward. The two cannot be commingled ; their 
 natures are entirely different. We cherish the por- 
 traits of our friends in their absence, but we have no 
 use for them when they are, themselves, with us. If 
 our friends were always to remain with us, and always 
 to remain the same, without any change from age or 
 the lapse of time, we should never think of desiring 
 their portraits. Were you to see a man fondly gazing 
 upon the portrait of his wife whenever at leisure to 
 do so, you would know of a certainty his wife was 
 absent. If she were present, he would look at her 
 instead. Thus, a fondness for types argues the ab- 
 sence of the Spiritual reality it stands for. A sign 
 on a guidepost may be useful to point out the way 
 to the city we wish to visit, but when once we have 
 reached the city, we have left the guidepost and its 
 sign forever behind us. And, if we should fortu- 
 nately have found our way to the city without seeing 
 the guidepost, it would be preposterous to ask us to 
 go back and read the signboard. But it is no more 
 preposterous than to ask a man who has found Christ 
 and the saving work of the Holy Spirit, to go back 
 to those carnal ordinances which were but guide- 
 posts .to show him the way to Christ. This would, 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 25 1 
 
 indeed, be beginning in the Spirit, and then seeking 
 to be made perfect by the flesh. 
 
 When a man finds Christ, he finds all that he 
 needs for his perfection. " And ye are complete in 
 him which is the head of all principality and power." 
 To look to carnal ordinances to add anything to the 
 man who is in Christ, is the essence of Judaism. It is 
 going backward and not forward. It is a practical 
 denial of the Lord Jesus. It is saying that his salva- 
 tion, his cleansing blood, and the renewing power of 
 the Holy Spirit are not enough to make us perfect, 
 but that we need some outward, carnal symbol to 
 complete the work. But someone may object that 
 he does not consider these ordinances essential to 
 salvation. Then of what use are they? "O, they 
 are commands," is the answer. That is, God has 
 commanded His saved people to do something that 
 does not help save them, that is not essential to their 
 salvation at all. I do not believe it. God's service 
 is a reasonable service. Such requirements would be 
 the same yoke He came to break off. It would be 
 imposing things on His people after the time of ref- 
 ormation. It would be laying a temptation in their 
 way to regard these nonessentials as of importance, 
 to make idols of them, as the majority of professed 
 Christians have done. And to what good end would 
 this be done? They could be saved just as well with- 
 out them. They do not touch their moral character. 
 The time spent on nonessentials is wasted and might 
 have been better employed. If I have no other way 
 
252 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to test the obedience of my child than to require him 
 to do something that is of no use, that does not need 
 to be done, it might be proper to command the un- 
 necessary thing. But if there were a thousand nec- 
 essary things to be done, that would benefit him and 
 be to my advantage also, and would equally test his 
 obedience, what trifling it would be on my part to 
 have him employed about something of no use to 
 him or me. Yet men openly charge God with such 
 trifling. No, there are no nonessentials in Chris- 
 tianity. Righteousness and peace and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost are essentials, and they constitute the 
 Kingdom of God. The Christian is under no cere- 
 monial law. He is under the moral law alone, and 
 there are no nonessentials in the moral law. He is 
 under the law of love, and nothing is nonessential 
 that love prompts to, or that the law of love requires. 
 The law under which the Christian lives is written in- 
 side of him, and all its commands are reasonable and 
 necessary. I think it may be reasonably assumed 
 that, love in the heart never suggested to any man 
 the duty of observing any carnal ordinance. A man 
 might love God with all his heart for forty years and 
 never suspect that it would please God for him to be 
 baptized in water, or with water, unless it was sug- 
 gested to him from without. The idea never orig- 
 inated in God's law in his heart. The suggestion 
 comes from the same source as the one spoken of in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, chapter xv. " And certain 
 men who came down from Judea taught the brethren, 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 253 
 
 and said, Except ye be circumcised, after the manner 
 of Moses, ye cannot be saved." The principle sug- 
 gested is just the same, the necessity of a carnal or- 
 dinance in order to salvation. 
 
 But someone may say, " I see the force of your 
 argument, but are not carnal ordinances commanded 
 in the New Testament?" Not by our Lord nor by 
 His authority. Of course, if it can be shown that 
 Christ instituted carnal ordinances and commanded 
 His people to observe them, what has been said 
 against them should have no weight. The carnal 
 ordinances or sacraments, usually taught as having 
 been instituted by Christ, are two; water baptism, 
 and the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist. Some sects 
 hold to others, such as feet washing, the holy kiss, 
 etc., but these are not generally recognized. The 
 Romanists hold to seven sacraments. I believe they 
 are baptism, the Eucharist, confirmation, ordination, 
 the monastic life, marriage, and extreme unction. It 
 will be seen, then, that there is no agreement among 
 Christian sects as to the number of these carnal 
 ordinances established by our Lord. This would 
 suggest at the first glance that the instituting of these 
 ordinances was not a clearly established fact, or there 
 would be more agreement about the number of them. 
 So far as I know, there was never any controversy 
 among the Jews as to the number of carnal ordi- 
 nances instituted among them, nor as to the time or 
 manner of observing them. Certainly, had Christ 
 instituted ordinances to be observed by His people, 
 
2 54 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 He would have been as explicit as to their number, 
 and the exact time and manner of observing them, as 
 Moses was. That He was not so explicit, but leaves 
 the matter in doubt, is presumptive evidence against 
 the claim that He instituted any such ordinances. 
 Not only do men honestly differ as to the number 
 of the sacraments, but they differ as widely about 
 the nature and design of those they agree were insti- 
 tuted, and the manner of observing them. They can 
 agree about the Jewish ordinances, but differ widely 
 about those they call Christian sacraments. This is 
 astonishing when we remember that Christ came to 
 give us a clearer knowledge of God's will than was 
 ever before experienced. One of two things is cer- 
 tain : either Christ failed to make the will of God 
 clear concerning the sacraments he established, or 
 He did not institute any sacraments. 
 
 Take the ordinance of water baptism. The nomi- 
 nal Church has been rent into fragments over the 
 controversies concerning this rite. Various sects 
 differ as to its nature, design, mode, subjects, and 
 administrators. Some teach that it is a saving ordi- 
 nance, others that it has no saving efficacy. Some 
 teach that it is designed to symbolize the work of the 
 Holy Spirit in cleansing men's hearts. Others teach 
 that it symbolizes the burial and resurrection of the 
 Lord Jesus. Some teach that the only proper mode 
 is by affusion ; others teach that immersion is the 
 only genuine baptism. Some teach that sinners are 
 the proper subjects of baptism ; others teach that 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 255 
 
 saints are the only proper subjects. Some teach that 
 a certain ordination is necessary to qualify anyone 
 to administer the rite ; others claim that any Chris- 
 tian has the right to administer it. Some who teach 
 immersion in water as the only baptism, plunge the 
 subject but once in water, in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity. Others plunge the subject three times, once 
 in the name of each person in the Godhead, and 
 turn the subject face downward as they immerse him. 
 So we have confusion among nominal believers on 
 this ordinance, and they mutually disfellowship one 
 another. Yet we have every reason to think one 
 party as honest as another. It is certainly deplora- 
 ble that our Lord, in instituting this ordinance, did 
 not set it forth with such clearness that, at least, all 
 honest inquirers might agree upon its characteristics. 
 It is most strange that he, taking in future ages at 
 a glance, and seeing the confusion that was to arise 
 among his professed followers over this rite, should 
 not have been more explicit. If it was a Spiritual 
 truth about which they disagree, it might be ex- 
 plained upon the hypothesis that few came to the 
 consideration of it with enlightened understandings, 
 and so could not comprehend it. But it is a carnal 
 ordinance, which requires no Spiritual insight to 
 understand, and which ought to be as easily under- 
 stood as the old covenant ordinances. I cannot be- 
 lieve that our Lord could have been so obscure in 
 His teachings ; therefore I conclude that He never 
 instituted the ordinance of baptism. There is one 
 
256 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 fact that bears upon the subject, that seems to point 
 in this direction. While the Lord Jesus sent His 
 Apostles to baptize with water before Pentecost, He 
 did not baptize anyone Himself. This abstention is 
 significant. It had been said, " He shall baptize you 
 with the Holy Ghost." That was His baptism, and 
 He would administer no other. But says one, "Was 
 not He baptized in water?" Certainly He was; He 
 was also circumcised, and ate the paschal lamb. If 
 we are to be baptized in water because He was, why 
 not be circumcised also ? He took upon himself the 
 form of a servant and was made under the law. 
 Therefore, whatever was required of other Jews, He 
 submitted to. It became Him thus to fulfill all 
 righteousness. But He did not place Himself under 
 the law to put us under the law, but to redeem us from 
 under it. (Gal. iv : 4, 5 .) The opinion that we should 
 imitate His obedience to legal requirements arises 
 out of ignorance. Christ's baptism, then, is no ex- 
 ample for our imitation, except that in a general way 
 it teaches obedience to the requirements of God's 
 will. When, then, did Christ institute the ordinance 
 of baptism in and for His Church? There is but one 
 occasion where he commanded baptism, and that was 
 in His commission to His Apostles, which is gener- 
 ally called the great commission. If in that commis- 
 sion water baptism is commanded, it must be con- 
 fessed that it is an institution of the Church of Christ. 
 According to Matthew xxviii : 18-20, Jesus said 
 to His Apostles just before His ascension to Heaven, 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 257 
 
 "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
 Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
 them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, 
 I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
 world." In Mark xv: 15, 16, it is given, "And He 
 said unto them, go ye into all the world and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature. He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 
 believeth not shall be damned." In Luke xxiv:46- 
 48, it is given thus: "And he said unto them, thus 
 it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suf- 
 fer, and to rise from the dead the third day : and 
 that repentance and remission of sins should be 
 preached in his name among all nations, beginning at 
 Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." 
 As no two evangelists give the commission in the 
 same language, we do not know just what Jesus' 
 words were. He may have said all these things, or 
 each evangelist may give the commission as he re- 
 membered it, giving the substance and not the words. 
 Matthew and Mark more nearly agree in this, as in 
 most other things. Luke says nothing at all about 
 baptism, so we can leave his version of the com- 
 mission out of consideration. It is strange, though, 
 if Christ then instituted a Gospel ordinance, that both 
 Luke and John are silent on that point. They either 
 did not consider the matter important, or it escaped 
 their memory. If the first two Gospels had been lost 
 
 S. F. S.— 17 
 
258 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 and only the two last had survived, we should have 
 had no account of this important matter, supposing 
 Christ did here institute the ordinance of water bap- 
 tism. And bear in mind that the burden of proof 
 rests with those who affirm that the ordinance was 
 instituted, as I have shown that it is contrary to what 
 we should have expected, beforehand, to find in a 
 Spiritual religion, a religion of substance rather than 
 shadow. The presumption is against it. Hence if 
 the language of Christ can be reasonably explained 
 on any other hypothesis, the claim that a carnal rite 
 was instituted, falls to the ground. The silence of 
 two witnesses is presumptive evidence against it. 
 
 We will candidly examine the account of the two 
 witnesses who spoke of baptism. According to Mat- 
 thew, Jesus said, Go teach all nations, baptizing them 
 into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
 Now the question to be decided is, What baptism did 
 Christ mean ? Was it water baptism, or the baptism 
 of the Holy Spirit? Someone may answer, It must 
 be water baptism, as the Apostles could not baptize 
 with the Holy Spirit. But in John xx:22, 23 it is 
 recorded that Jesus breathed on the Apostles and 
 said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose soever sins 
 ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whose 
 soever sins ye retain, they are retained. This is 
 John's account of the commission. The Apostles 
 could baptize with the Holy Ghost in the same sense 
 in which they could remit sins. They could do it in- 
 strumentally. In James v : 20, we are told that, " He 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 259 
 
 which converteth a sinner from the error of his way 
 shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multi- 
 tude of sins." God, alone, can actually save souls from 
 death, but men can do it instrumentally. So it is not 
 necessary to suppose that water baptism is meant in 
 the commission. According to Mark, Jesus said, "He 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he 
 that believeth not shall be damned." Literally trans- 
 lated it would read, He that believeth, being baptized, 
 shall be saved. We shall endeavor to show that the 
 supposition that water baptism is here meant, involves 
 an absurdity. However, one thing is certain ; if 
 water baptism is here meant, it is absolutely requisite 
 to salvation. In other words, whatever baptism is 
 here spoken of, is made a prerequisite of salvation. 
 No one can be saved without it. There is here no 
 promise of salvation made in its absence. The be- 
 liever, being baptized, is saved. The unbaptized be- 
 liever is not promised salvation. But, objects some- 
 one, does not Jesus say that "he that believeth hath 
 everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- 
 tion (damnation) ? He certainly does say so. It 
 must be true the first moment he believes if it is ever 
 true ; for if it is at any moment untrue, it is always 
 untrue. But a man cannot be baptized in a mo- 
 ment after he believes. So, if Jesus tells the truth in 
 one place, he contradicts himself in the other. In 
 one place He tells us that believing and eternal life 
 always exist together. In the other place, if He 
 means water baptism, He tells us that they do not 
 
260 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 always exist together ; but that the believer must 
 wait until someone baptizes him before he has eternal 
 life. But it is objected again : Was not Cornelius, 
 the centurion, baptized with the Holy Ghost, and 
 saved, before he was baptized with water? So Luke 
 tells us in the Acts of the Apostles. But the bap- 
 tism in the great commission must precede salvation, 
 according to Jesus' words, as given by the Evangel- 
 ist. Therefore, it could not have been water baptism. 
 I will now show the absurdity involved in the sup- 
 position that water baptism is meant in the commis- 
 sion given the Apostles. There must, always, a greater 
 or less space of time intervene between a profession 
 of faith in Christ and baptism by water. Now what 
 moral condition is the believer in between the time 
 of believing and the time of being baptized ? He is 
 not condemned, for only those who believe not are 
 condemned. He is not saved, for only the baptized 
 are saved. Therefore, he is neither condemned nor 
 acquitted, saved nor lost. This is an absurdity; as a 
 man must be either in one state or the other. We 
 conclude, then, that to suppose Christ refers to water 
 baptism in his commission to his Apostles, involves 
 both a contradiction of the Scriptures, and an ab- 
 surdity. Therefore, He did not mean water baptism. 
 He did refer to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, His 
 peculiar baptism. The moment a sinner believes on 
 the Lord, that moment he is baptized of the Holy 
 Spirit. No space of time intervenes between faith 
 and baptism. This baptism is absolutely essential to 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 26 1 
 
 salvation, for it is by the Holy Spirit that the work 
 of purifying our souls is performed. As the baptism 
 of the Spirit always accompanies saving faith, it 
 might be thought unnecessary to have mentioned it. 
 But when we remember how much faith there is that 
 does not save, that the great mass of professed be- 
 lievers are unbaptized, notwithstanding what Jesus 
 says, we can see the propriety of Jesus' words. It is 
 not all kinds of faith that saves, but only faith that is 
 accompanied by the baptism of the Spirit. Therefore, 
 it is said, "He that believeth, being baptized, shall be 
 saved." No faith unaccompanied by baptism will save 
 him. 
 
 What St. Paul says about his commission, confirms 
 this view of the great commission. Either St. Paul 
 was acting under the great commission or he was not. 
 
 If he was, what he says about his commission ap- 
 plies to it. If he was not, then no one can claim to 
 to be so acting, and that commission gives us no 
 authority to baptize, if it does not apply to us. But 
 probably no one will deny that St. Paul was acting 
 under the great commission. But he declares there 
 was no command to baptize (with water) in his com- 
 mission. (I. Cor. i: 17.) "For Christ sent men not 
 to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." He confesses 
 that he had baptized a few at Corinth, but is thank- 
 ful that he had done no more of it, as he sees the 
 evil results of the practice. What occurred at Cor- 
 inth is liable to occur anywhere, and if he had been 
 doing just what the Lord sent him to do, to express 
 
262 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 thankfulness that he had done so little of it, would 
 have been impugning God's wisdom. He certainly 
 would not have sent him to do anything that was 
 likely to prove a danger to souls. So the Apostle 
 clears the Lord of all responsibility for the disorders 
 resulting from water baptism, declaring that the Lord 
 did not authorize the practice. If He did not author- 
 ize it in Corinth in the first century, He does not 
 authorize it here and now. 
 
 John the Baptist claimed water baptism as his 
 baptism, saying, "I indeed baptize you with water 
 unto repentance." " He shall baptize you with the 
 Holy Ghost." He did not intimate that Christ should 
 baptize with water and the Holy Spirit also, but con- 
 trasts his own baptism with water, with Christ's bap- 
 tism with the Holy Ghost. He said, " He must in- 
 crease, but I must decrease." It is supposed that in 
 Acts, chapter xix, we have a rebaptism of persons 
 who had been baptized by John the Baptist ; that is, 
 rebaptism in water ; and from this, it is argued that 
 Christ has a water baptism distinct from John's bap- 
 tism. But there is no proof of this. The Apostle 
 was inquiring of these disciples as to whether they 
 had received the Holy Ghost, and does not say a 
 word about any other water baptism than the one 
 they already had. They did not need to be baptized 
 again in water to receive the Holy Ghost, for John 
 the Baptist promised it to those receiving his baptism. 
 It is said (Acts xix : 5), "When they heard this, they 
 were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 263 
 
 There is no proof of a water baptism, and the cir- 
 cumstances are all against the supposition. " But 
 the Holy Ghost came on them afterward upon impo- 
 sition of the Apostle's hands," it is objected. The 
 Apostles had the power of imparting miraculous 
 gifts by the imposition of hands, and that is what was 
 here done. I do not deny the possibility of a rebap- 
 tism in water having occurred, but it is not proven, 
 and will not do to found a doctrine on. The Apostles 
 and Disciples at Pentecost had no rebaptism in water 
 before receiving the Holy Spirit, and I do not see 
 w r hy they should have thought it necessary for others, 
 when it was not necessary on their part ; and I can- 
 not believe that they did so think, without stronger 
 proof than the account in Acts xix furnishes. 
 
 But, says one, after all your arguments against the 
 ordinance, the fact remains that the Apostles did ad- 
 minister water baptism after Pentecost and the de- 
 scent of the Holy Spirit. The fact is not denied. But 
 I unhesitatingly affirm that it was done without 
 Divine authority. I have already shown that the 
 Apostle Paul disclaims any Divine authority for bap- 
 tizing with water, although he, for a time, practiced 
 it. One mistake commonly made, is the supposition 
 that the Apostles w r ere infallible in their teachings 
 and actions. When they wrote what the Lord de- 
 signed should be preserved as Scripture, we admit 
 their plenary inspiration, but there is no proof that at 
 other times they were inspired in any other sense 
 than it is the privilege of all Christians, and especially 
 
264 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Christian ministers, to be inspired. They were prom- 
 ised the Holy Ghost as their teacher and guide, but 
 so are we. He was to guide them into all truth, and 
 this was not learned all at once. They knew the es- 
 sentials of the Gospel, so that they could preach to 
 save souls, but there were many things that they 
 did not understand in the beginning. The knowl- 
 edge of the Gospel grew upon them, and critics claim 
 to be able to fix the dates of the various epistles by 
 the internal evidence of this increase in knowledge. 
 When we call to mind that Peter had preached the 
 Gospel several years before he even suspected that it 
 was intended for any but the Jews, we can see how 
 he might be confused in his mind on the meat and 
 drink question, if he could be ignorant on so impor- 
 tant a point as the extent of his commission. The Lord 
 had to especially prepare his mind for the reception 
 of the invitation to preach to the Gentiles, or he evi- 
 dently would have refused to preach to Cornelius the 
 Roman centurion. The carnal rites, and the arbi- 
 trary distinctions and prohibitions of the ceremonial 
 law, were so grounded in the Jewish mind that it was 
 difficult to emancipate them from its yoke. All 
 Christ's teachings are infallible, and if their teachings 
 or practices conflict with Christ's words, we will fol- 
 low them only as they followed Christ. On this 
 question of water baptism we have conclusive proof 
 that St. Peter was for a long time untaught of God, 
 as well as on the matter of the possible salvation of 
 the Gentiles. The Apostles had for some time pre- 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 265 
 
 vious to their conversion at Pentecost, been baptizing 
 with water, and promising men the Holy Spirit, as 
 John the Baptist did. They administered water bap- 
 tism and preached the baptism of repentance for 
 remission of sins. When at Pentecost the Holy Spirit 
 was given, and Peter in obedience to Christ's injunc- 
 tion arose to strengthen his brethren, and such re- 
 markable results followed the preaching, so that 
 sinners pricked in their hearts cried out : Men and 
 brethren, what shall we do ? Peter told them to do 
 just what he had been telling them to do up to that 
 time, to " repent and be baptized for the remission of 
 sins," but he promised them the immediate reception 
 of the Holy Spirit, which he could not do until then. 
 Before that he could promise the Holy Spirit in 
 the future, now he could assure them of its immediate 
 reception. Now while Peter required that of these 
 persons which God does not require, yet the error 
 was not material, as it could not prevent their receiv- 
 ing the gift of the Holy Spirit, provided their faith 
 was genuine. But, asks one, How do you know that 
 he required more than God requires ? I have already 
 shown that to be a fact, but I will give further proof of 
 the fact. When Peter a long time afterward was, by the 
 advice of an angel, sent for, to preach to Cornelius, 
 after the Lord had by means of a vision softened his 
 Jewish prejudices so far that he consented to go, he 
 at once began preaching Christ to those assembled 
 to hear him. Their minds were in such a prepared 
 state for the reception of Gospel truth, that, as Peter 
 
266 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 preached, they immediately believed the truth they 
 heard, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and their 
 hearts were purified by faith. They asked no ques- 
 tions and gave Peter no chance to tell them to be 
 baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter 
 seems to have been nonplussed, as he does not ap- 
 pear to have been expecting such prompt results. 
 When he saw that these Gentiles had undoubtedly re- 
 ceived the Spirit without water baptism, which he at 
 Pentecost taught to be a prerequisite, he said, " Who 
 can forbid water that these should not be baptized, 
 who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 
 He did not yet see but that water baptism should 
 come in somewhere ; and since he did not get it in as 
 a condition of salvation, he recommends it as a re- 
 sult of salvation. Now it is evident if he was right at 
 Pentecost, he was wrong here ; for water baptism can- 
 not be both a condition of salvation, and a result of 
 it. It cannot be required of us in order to be saved, 
 and also because we are saved. It is clear, although 
 Peter practiced this rite, that he did not know its use 
 nor design, or he would not thus have stultified him- 
 self. If Paul was right, the Lord had not sent Peter 
 to baptize ; and no doubt Paul was right, as the Lord 
 would not send a man to baptize without giving him 
 a clear knowledge of the design of the ordinance. 
 We conclude, then, that the practice of water baptism 
 by the Apostles and first Christians, was unauthor- 
 ized by the Lord, and resulted from their prejudices 
 in favor of fleshly ordinances because of their educa- 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 267 
 
 tion, and their want of full knowledge of the nature 
 of Christ's religion. It is the little leaven introduced 
 by the woman, the Jewish Church, into the three 
 measures of meal, the religion of Christ, destined to 
 leaven the whole lump. Another proof of the want 
 of clear understanding of Christ's religion by the 
 Apostles in the beginning, is furnished by what is 
 called the first Council at Jerusalem. 
 
 The council was called to decide what was to be 
 done with the Gentile converts. After a long dis- 
 cussion, it was decided not to impose the yoke of the 
 Mosaic law on these Gentile saints, but only certain 
 necessary things. These were four : abstention from 
 meats offered to idols, from blood, from things 
 strangled, and from fornication. Now, of these four 
 things which it seemed to them necessary that the 
 Gentiles should abstain from, but one was necessary, 
 as St. Paul afterward teaches. That one was forni- 
 cation. It is a violation of the moral law ; the others 
 are only violations of the Jewish ceremonial law. 
 The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that meat 
 offered to idols will not harm them, as " an idol is 
 nothing in the world." But he tells them to be care- 
 ful in using this liberty, lest it stumble some weak 
 brother, or even the idolater himself. If nothing is 
 said about the matter, they need ask no questions. 
 He tells us, in his letter to the Romans, that he 
 knows and is persuaded by the Lord Jesus that noth- 
 ing is unclean of itself; that these distinctions are 
 arbitrary. That nothing is unclean to anyone only 
 
268 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 as he esteems it so. This agrees with Christ's dec- 
 laration that nothing denies the man which goeth 
 into his mouth, but that which cometh out of the 
 heart. So things strangled, and blood, are hot defil- 
 ing, though these Apostles taught the Gentile con- 
 verts they were. They were mistaken. 
 
 Again Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, tells us 
 that "There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye 
 are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one 
 faith, one baptism." Now, it is never said that Christ 
 shall baptize with water, but it is expressly declared 
 that He shall baptize with the Holy Ghost. This, 
 then, must be His one baptism. Unless, then, water 
 baptism is the same thing, it can have no place in 
 the Christian system. If it were the same we could 
 not have either one, without at the same time pos- 
 sessing the other. This, we know, is not the case, as 
 we can have one and be destitute of the other, so 
 they are not the same. We conclude, then, that the 
 one baptism is that of the Holy Spirit. Much more 
 might be pertinently said upon this subject, if space 
 would permit, but what has already been said may be 
 sufficient. 
 
 With respect to the other usually received sacra- 
 ment, the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, there is less pre- 
 sumptive evidence for it than for water baptism. All 
 the evangelists mention the Last Supper at which the 
 ordinance is supposed to have been instituted, but John 
 says nothing of the breaking of bread. None of them 
 intimate that a new ordinance was then instituted, 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 269 
 
 Three of them give an account of the eating of the 
 Passover Supper by Christ and His Disciples, and of 
 Christ's explanation of the meaning of the elements 
 used at that supper, bread and wine! Jesus said of 
 the supper, "With desire have I desired to eat this 
 Passover with you before I suffer." But he gives no 
 intimation that there was to be anything but a Pass- 
 over Supper. John mentions the washing of the Dis- 
 ciples' feet, the others say nothing of this. Of the 
 three evangelists who mention the breaking of bread 
 and the dividing of the cup, but one of them says 
 anything that can be construed into a command to 
 continue the practice of thus eating and drinking. 
 Luke represents Christ as saying, "This do in remem- 
 brance of me." The others simply tell of what Christ 
 said, and mention no command. They represent 
 it simply as an explanation of the meaning of the 
 Passover Supper. It seems strange that, if Christ 
 here instituted an ordinance, that He did not clearly 
 say so, and tell just what force or meaning there was in 
 it. St. Paul, in I. Corinthians, adds, " For as oft as ye 
 eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the 
 Lord's death till He come." The Romanists gather 
 from this language of Christ, "This is My body," and 
 "This is My blood," that in the Eucharist men do eat 
 the literal body of Christ ; that when the priest blesses 
 the elements, they are changed into the real body 
 and blood of the Lord Jesus ; that the elements of 
 bread and wine are no longer present, but that their 
 substance is changed into the substance of Christ's 
 
27O SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 body and blood, so that Christ's body is really masti- 
 cated and swallowed by the communicant. This 
 Luther maintained in his debate with Zwingle. This 
 is called "transsubstantiation." The Lutherans after- 
 ward adopted the idea that the substance of the ele- 
 ments, bread and wine, were not destroyed, but that 
 the substance of Christ's body and blood exists in the 
 elements after consecration. This is called " consub- 
 stantiation." The Protestants, generally, teach that 
 the substance of the bread and wine remain, and that 
 Christ's body and blood are present only in some 
 Spiritual sense after consecration, or that the 
 elements are only emblems of Christ's body and 
 blood. Some think it a duty to " commune " every 
 day, some every first day of the week, some four 
 times a year, and others twice a year. Some hold 
 that all penitents have a right to the table, 
 the invitation being, "Ye that do earnestly repent of 
 your sins, and are in love and charity with your 
 neighbors, and intend to lead a new life," etc. Others 
 will allow only converted persons to " commune." 
 Still others require a certain mode of baptism to 
 qualify for admission to the Lord's table. There is 
 not as clear evidence that the early Christians prac- 
 ticed this ordinance as there is of the practice of water 
 baptism. They are said to have met on the first day of 
 the week to break bread, but whether this was done as 
 a sacrament or only as a love feast is not clearly estab- 
 lished. Paul's language in his first letter to the Cor- 
 inthians is the strongest proof of such an observance 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 27 1 
 
 of the Lord's Supper, and it is not conclusive. But 
 admitting that this supper was observed as a sacra- 
 ment, the question is whether it was Christ's intention 
 that it should be so observed, or whether it was done 
 without Divine authority. In the proper sense, the 
 whole life of the believer is a sacrament ; everything 
 pertaining to the Christian life is sacramental. If 
 Jesus did, indeed, command us, literally, to eat and 
 drink in remembrance of him, let us see what it 
 means. What were we commanded to eat and drink? 
 "This bread," "This cup." What bread? There can 
 be but two kinds of bread, the material and the 
 Spiritual ; the one nourishing the body, the other 
 nourishing the soul. The bread that Christ broke, 
 and which he gave the Disciples, was material bread, 
 that nourishes the body. This is received into the 
 mouth and goes through a digestive process in order 
 to furnish nourishment. It was used under the law as 
 a type of Christ's body. The other bread is received 
 by faith and nourishes the Spiritual man. There is no 
 third kind of bread. As oft as we eat this mate- 
 rial bread, then, we do it in remembrance of Christ. 
 That is, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we 
 do, we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 We receive this bread several times each day. It is 
 sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (I. Tim. 
 iv: 5.) It is as truly sacramental as it can be made. 
 So if we are to understand the Lord Jesus liter- 
 ally, every believer obeys Him every time he 
 takes nourishment into his body, receiving it with 
 
272 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 thanksgiving. He then eats " this bread " and " drinks 
 this cup." And if he eats and drinks unworthily, he 
 eats and drinks condemnation to himself. 
 
 But I deny that Christ is to be understood in a 
 literal sense when He enjoins upon us the duty of 
 eating His flesh and drinking His blood. In the 
 same connection He commands other observances 
 which are not generally understood literally. It is 
 not usually believed that He intended that the Dis- 
 ciples should literally wash each other's feet. But 
 this is as plain a command as to eat bread and drink 
 wine. He also expressly commands the Disciples 
 to provide themselves with swords, even at the cost 
 of selling their garments. And the Disciples under- 
 stood Him literally, as Peter's words show. And the 
 Lord does not say a word to disabuse their minds. 
 Simon Peter said, "Lord, here are two swords." 
 Jesus replied, " It is enough." No one understands 
 Him to mean that each Disciple must possess a literal 
 sword. Then why should He be understood literally 
 concerning the bread and wine? But we have 
 Christ's express declaration against a literal or meta- 
 phorical interpretation of His language. In John's 
 Gospel, vi:45, 58, we will find Christ discoursing 
 upon the same subject. The gist of it is found in 
 the verses 53 and 54: " Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and 
 drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso 
 eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 
 life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." Here 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 273 
 
 He is talking on exactly the same subject as at the 
 Last Supper. The Jews, generally, and even the Dis- 
 ciples, understood him literally. The former said, 
 "How shall this man give us His flesh to eat?" The 
 Disciples murmured at it, and Jesus felt constrained 
 to give them an explanation of His meaning. He 
 said to them, "Doth this offend you? What and if 
 ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was 
 before? It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh 
 profiteth nothing; the words which I speak unto 
 you, they are spirit and they are life. " He does not 
 say His words are emblem and metaphor. If He 
 had said so, we would understand that we were to 
 eat bread and drink wine as emblems of His body 
 and blood. He tells us He is to be understood in a 
 sense wholly Spiritual. But He tells us something 
 else: "The flesh profiteth nothing." This word 
 "flesh" is evidently used in contrast with the follow- 
 ing words ''spirit and life." In other words, He 
 declares that no eating profits but a Spiritual eating. 
 A literal eating of His flesh and drinking of His 
 blood would not profit; nor would an emblematic 
 eating profit. Nothing but a Spiritual eating profits. 
 The ordinance of the Eucharist is a fleshly ordinance, 
 just as much so as the Passover was, consequently it 
 is pronounced to be without profit by the Lord Jesus 
 Himself. That ought to decide the question. How 
 does eating bread and drinking wine show forth the 
 Lord's death? His death was a death to sin. (Rom. 
 vi:io.) "For in that he died, he died unto sin 
 
 S. F. S.— 18 
 
274 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 once." I can only show forth His death by being 
 dead to sin. No one but a saint can show forth 
 Christ's death. A sinner can eat bread and drink 
 wine, and thus a hypocrite could show forth Christ's 
 death, and just as effectually as a saint. The Chris- 
 tian's death to sin is a positive proof that Christ died. 
 It is a perpetual memorial of that fact. A holy life, 
 showing deadness to sin and the world, is a constant 
 reminder of Calvary. Christ did not institute a 
 spectacle, a dramatic performance, to remind people 
 of His death. Such an institution would be unworthy 
 of Christ. He did not intend to establish an ordi- 
 nance in which His enemies, hypocrites and false pro- 
 fessors, should be on an equality with His friends 
 and followers, in honoring His memory. There is 
 not one command of Christ to His people that can be 
 obeyed by anyone not a child of God. All these 
 outward ordinances, this keeping of days, this dis- 
 tinction of clean and unclean meats, belong to 
 Judaism. They are no part of Christianity. They 
 are the cast-off rubbish of a dispensation of shadows, 
 which once were useful, but now put away, since the 
 substance has been given us. They cannot be 
 successfully conjoined with Christianity, for they are 
 not homogeneous with it. I think I have shown, then, 
 that whatever the practice of the early Christians 
 may have been with respect to outward ordinances, 
 that they were not authorized by Christ, but repudi- 
 ated by Him. That the first Christians used them 
 only because of their Jewish predilection for carnal 
 
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 275 
 
 ordinances and because they yet were not fully 
 taught in the things of the kingdom. All these car- 
 nal rites, these shadows and emblems, these types 
 and object lessons, belonged to the age of Spiritual 
 childhood. Spiritual men have outgrown them. If 
 any Spiritual man still holds on to them, he does it 
 because he is not fully instructed in Gospel truth, 
 and gladly lets them go when he sees it his privilege 
 to do so. They are only a burden to him ; he feels 
 no need of them. He has outgrown them since he 
 has become a man, and would fain put away childish 
 things. But I would not rudely snatch them from 
 anyone. Let children have them so long as they 
 please them. I would not take away the playthings 
 of a child. He will outgrow them and lay them by, 
 himself, after while. So Spiritual manhood will 
 cause us to put away these things, proper only for 
 childhood. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH 
 
 "There remaineth therefore a rest to thepeople of God." 
 
 — Heb. iv:9. 
 
 /^AUITE an amount of controversy has lately arisen 
 ^-^ over the question of Sabbath-keeping. The 
 main point in dispute is as to which is the proper 
 day to observe; some contending for the seventh 
 day of the week, while the great majority hold to 
 the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. 
 Those who hold to the seventh day quote Scripture 
 to prove their position, while those holding to the 
 first-day Sabbath depend principally upon tradition, 
 and the practice of the Church for centuries past, to 
 prove their position. The Scriptures depended upon 
 by the advocates of the seventh-day Sabbath are 
 found in the Old Testament, as there is nothing in the 
 New Testament which can be used that way. They 
 argue that as God originally fixed upon the seventh 
 day as the Sabbath, and has nowhere authorized 
 a change of the day, the seventh day must still be 
 the proper day to observe. It has never been shown 
 where a change of the day has been made by Divine 
 authority. The Emperor Constantine commanded 
 the Christians to observe the great day of the sun as 
 a sacred day, but that can scarcely be considered 
 Divine authority. The advocates of the first-day 
 (276) 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 277 
 
 Sabbath point to the fact of the resurrection of the 
 Lord Jesus on the first day of the week, and to the 
 practice of the early Christians in meeting on the first 
 day of the week to break bread, though this practice 
 is mentioned but once. (Acts xx:/\) In Revela- 
 tions there is mention made of the Lord's Day, but 
 whether the first day of the week is meant is only 
 conjecture. But in no place is the first day of the 
 week called the Sabbath, nor is any hint given of a 
 change of day. Hence, as I said above, the proof of 
 the change rests upon tradition principally, scarcely 
 sufficient proof to produce confidence, or certainty. 
 It seems to me, then, that the advocates of the seventh 
 day have the preponderance of proof, and if Chris- 
 tians are bound to keep any day as the Sabbath day 
 the seventh day is clearly and obviously the proper 
 day to keep. 
 
 But are Christians required to keep any day of 
 the week as Sabbath, to the exclusion of the other 
 days ? Does the Christian Sabbath consist in absten- 
 tion from physical labor on one day in seven? Is 
 the rest (sabbatismos) that remains to the people 
 of God a physical rest ? I am aware that the general 
 answer to these questions would be in the affirma- 
 tive, but truth compels me to take issue with the 
 great majority upon this subject, and to answer in the 
 negative. It will probably be a surprise to many to 
 learn upon what slight foundation some institutions 
 rest, which have so generally been accepted as of 
 Divine appointment. I think it will be found upon 
 
278 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 honest and critical examination that the commonly 
 observed Christian Sabbath is one of these founda- 
 tionless institutions. There is no warrant for it in 
 the New Testament. 
 
 One of the facts that should suggest doubt regard- 
 ing the common teaching is, that there is not one 
 word said, by either Christ or the New Testament 
 writers, about the duty of observing any day as Sab- 
 bath. This may not be thought so strange in what 
 is said or written to the Jews, as they were great 
 sticklers for Sabbath observance, and may not be 
 thought to have been in need of instructions or in- 
 junctions upon this duty. But with the Gentiles it 
 was different. They were unaccustomed to Sabbath 
 observance, and not likely to observe any day as 
 specially holy without a specific command upon the 
 subject. The Apostle Paul was the Apostle to the 
 Gentiles, and wrote a number of letters to the Gentile 
 churches. He gives them minute instructions concern- 
 ing their conduct, even telling them how to eat and 
 drink, and what was proper apparel for them to 
 wear, but says not one word about the duty of keep- 
 ing one-seventh of the time specially holy. In all his 
 practical teaching, he says not one word in favor of 
 such Sabbath keeping. It is true that he speaks of 
 the keeping of days, yes, of the Sabbath days, but 
 he says nothing in their favor, but mentions them 
 only to condemn them. He says to the Gala- 
 tians (iv: 10, 11), "Ye observe days, and months, 
 and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 279 
 
 have bestowed labor upon you in vain." In Col. 
 ii:i6, 17, he says, "Let no man therefore judge you 
 in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, 
 or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days ; which 
 are a shadow of things to come." This would cer- 
 tainly not afford much encouragement to these Gen- 
 tile converts to keep Sabbath, according to the com- 
 mon practice. It would have just the opposite effect. 
 The Apostle surely never would have thus written if 
 he had held the same opinions that are held at the 
 present day. It has always been difficult enough to 
 secure Sabbath observance by professors of Chris- 
 tianity, with every encouragement to such a course ; 
 such teaching would tend to overthrow it. The Lord 
 Jesus, himself, shocked the religious sensibilities of 
 the Pharisees, by his apparent laxity on this point. 
 They found fault with him as a Sabbath breaker. No 
 doubt, however, he kept the Jewish law on that 
 point, though he claimed that he was Lord of the 
 Sabbath day, and that they had exaggerated notions 
 of its importance. He told them that the Sabbath was 
 made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Where 
 vital human interests were concerned, the Sabbath 
 law must give way. 
 
 We claim, then, that the silence of the New Tes- 
 tament writers upon the duty of keeping any day as 
 a Sabbath, is strong presumptive evidence against it ; 
 and that what is said against the keeping of days, is 
 direct evidence against the obligation of Sabbath- 
 keeping in the common understanding of it. In 
 
28o SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Rom. xiv, St. Paul speaks of the practice of keeping 
 holy days. Some of the Christians at Rome es- 
 teemed one day above another ; that is, one day holy 
 above another. Others esteemed every day alike ; 
 that is, alike holy. Now if one day was holy above 
 the rest of the week, it was easy for the Apostle to 
 settle the controversy. But he says only, " Let every 
 one be fully persuaded in his own mind." That does 
 virtually settle the dispute, for if it is a matter of 
 opinion only, the result of education, then there 
 could have been no obligation upon the believer to 
 keep the day. No doubt the Jewish converts con- 
 tended for the day, and the Gentiles against it. Prob- 
 ably for fear of too rudely shocking Jewish prejudice, 
 the Apostle does not directly decide the matter, 
 but only by implication. He puts the keeping of a 
 holy day on precisely a level with the question of 
 distinction of clean and unclean meats. But he tells 
 them on that point, that he is persuaded that there is 
 nothing unclean of itself. It is only unclean to him 
 that so esteems it. As I said, the Apostle actually 
 takes sides with the man who does not keep the 
 day, for if he can refuse to keep any one day holy 
 above another, and be innocent, then there can be no 
 obligation to keep it, and the Old Testament Sab- 
 bath law is no longer in force. It may be objected 
 that the Apostle has no reference to the Sabbath, but 
 to other holy days kept by the Jews. He, no doubt, 
 refers to the same matter spoken of in Colossians 
 already quoted. In that place he includes meat and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 28 1 
 
 drink, holy days, new moons, and Sabbath days ; de- 
 claring them all to be shadows of things to come. It 
 is objected to by Sabbatarians that the Sabbaths 
 here mentioned are not weekly Sabbaths, but some 
 other Sabbaths required by the Mosaic law. But 
 there is no proof of this. The Apostle excepts no 
 Sabbath, nor does he enjoin the keeping of any day. 
 If the keeping of the weekly Sabbath was clearly and 
 unmistakably commanded, then we might seek for an 
 exceptional meaning for his words. But as this is 
 not true, we need not seek for such peculiar mean- 
 ing. As he excepts no Sabbath, we need not except 
 any. 
 
 The doctrine that a weekly Sabbath is required of 
 Christians, is founded upon the claim that it is a part 
 of the moral law. If this claim is valid, there can be 
 no escape from the obligation. The moral law is of 
 everlasting obligation. That is, so long as the rela- 
 tions exist out of which moral duties arise, the obli- 
 gations must continue. Of course the law against 
 adultery will cease in the resurrection, because the 
 marriage relation will cease, and the law grows out 
 of that relation. But so far as I can see, if man's re- 
 lation to God as His creature ever made it obligatory 
 upon him to keep one day in seven especially holy, 
 there is no such change in that relation as to abro- 
 gate the law. If it was a part of the moral law once, 
 it is a part of the moral law still. But " is it not 
 found in the ten commandments?" Surely, it is a 
 part of the fourth commandment. "Then, certainly, 
 
282 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 it is a part of the moral law." Not necessarily so. 
 The ten commandments graven on stone are not the 
 moral law. The moral law began to exist for man 
 so soon as man began to exist. The ten command- 
 ments given by Moses are but a partial transcript of 
 the moral law, and not all things in the ten com- 
 mandments belong to the moral law. The precepts 
 of that law are all moral, but there are some things 
 in it that are not so. Take the fifth commandment, 
 for instance. The precept, " Honor thy father and 
 thy mother," is a moral precept ; it grows out of the 
 relation of parent and child. But the promise fol- 
 lowing is not a part of the moral law. "That thy 
 days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God 
 giveth thee." Wherever the relation of parent and 
 child exists, there the moral duty exists. But the 
 promise is partial, and is to the Jews alone. They 
 were the only people to whom the Lord their God 
 gave a land, and there is no promise of long life to 
 obedient children in any other land. God promised 
 the Jews many temporal blessings if they would faith- 
 fully keep His law. Among other things, were free- 
 dom from disease, long life, victory over their enemies, 
 wealth, abundant crops, etc. So to the obedient 
 child, one of the promises was made in the law of 
 Moses. A disobedient and rebellious child was to 
 be stoned to death. (Deut. xxi : 20, 21.) But there 
 is no such promise to us as children. It is generally 
 said that the good die young, whether it is true or 
 not. That part of the fifth commandment applied to 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 283 
 
 the Jews, and to them alone. Therefore, it was not a 
 part of the moral law which is universal. So it is 
 with the fourth commandment. The first part of the 
 precept " remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," 
 is a moral precept, though the Jews never kept it in 
 that sense. They kept the moral part of the pre- 
 cept only in an outward and ceremonial sense. As 
 they kept it, it was a shadow only. The ceremonial 
 and typical part of the commandment is in the re- 
 mainder of it, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all 
 thy work ; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord 
 thy God ; in it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy 
 son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy 
 maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is 
 within thv ^ates. For in six davs the Lord made 
 heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, 
 and rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord 
 blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it." This 
 part of the command is ceremonial, and typical of the 
 genuine rest to which the Lord refers when he speaks of 
 resting from the work of creation. It is no part of the 
 moral law, as it does not arise out of the relation we sus- 
 tain to God as our creator. Xo one can show how the 
 obligation to rest from physical labor is a necessary 
 result of our relation to God. The requirement is 
 arbitrary, as all ceremonial requirements are, and is 
 one that would never be conceived of as a duty with- 
 out express command. Moral duties are generally 
 apparent, even to those who have never seen or 
 heard of Moses' law. The duty of giving all our time 
 
284 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to God is easily seen ; but the duty of giving Him but 
 one seventh of it, rests upon a positive precept only. 
 Therefore, it is not a part of the moral law. No one 
 can be exempt from the requirements of a moral law. 
 There is no dispensation from its demands. It does 
 not rest upon the Divine will alone, but grows out of 
 the nature of things. We cannot conceive how God, 
 Himself, could make it right to lie and steal, because 
 it is wrong in the nature of things. In that sense, 
 then, God, Himself, does not have dominion over the 
 moral law; He cannot change it nor abrogate it, ex- 
 cept by destroying those relations out of which it 
 springs. But the Lord Jesus claimed to have domin- 
 ion over the seventh-day Sabbath. He says, "For 
 the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day." 
 (Matt, xii : 8.) He does not say, Son of God, but 
 Son of Man. He here claims, positively, to have do- 
 minion over the Sabbath day, so that He can dis- 
 pense with its requirements or abrogate it altogether. 
 It cannot, therefore, be a part of the moral law. But 
 He makes other statements in the same connection 
 which set the matter at rest forever. The Pharisees 
 had found fault with Him for allowing the Disciples 
 to pluck and eat the ears of corn (wheat) as they 
 passed through the fields on the Sabbath. They did 
 this because they were hungry. This was probably 
 a technical violation of the Mosaic law. His reply 
 was, " Have ye not read what David did when he was 
 ahungered, and they that were with him ; how he 
 entered the house of God, and did eat the shew- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 285 
 
 bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither 
 for them that were with him, but only for the priests ? 
 Or, have ye not read in the law, how that on the 
 Sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the 
 Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you, 
 that in this place is one greater than the temple." 
 In this quotation, Jesus puts the violation of the Sab- 
 bath on a level with David's transgression, in eating 
 the shewbread. No one can deny that this was a vio- 
 lation of the ceremonial law only, and, as it was done 
 to preserve life, the ceremonial law was violated to 
 avoid a- violation of the moral law. Men are always 
 justified in violating a ceremonial precept to avoid 
 breaking the moral law. The Disciples were hungry, 
 and were justified in breaking the Sabbath law to 
 satisfy their hunger. This is what Jesus' language 
 means. He did not claim that the letter of the law 
 was not violated, but claims that their hunger made 
 the act justifiable, and that, therefore, their accuser 
 had accused the guiltless. But hunger would not 
 have justified them in lying or stealing to satisfy its 
 demands. It might be supposed by some person that 
 the Disciples were guilty of theft in helping them- 
 selves to grain in another man's field. But according 
 to the law defining property rights in the land of 
 Canaan, they were not transgressors. In Deut. 
 xxiii: 25, it is written, "When thou comest into the 
 standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayst 
 pluck the ears with thine hand ; but thou shalt not 
 move a sickle unto thy neighbor's standing corn." 
 
286 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 The Pharisees, knowing this law, did not accuse them 
 of pilfering, but of Sabbath breaking. It is plain, 
 then, that the Sabbath law was not a moral law, as 
 they were justified in breaking it to satisfy their 
 hunger. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not 
 man for the Sabbath." Therefore, it must give way 
 before man's necessities. But the moral law never 
 gives way. A man would not be justified in lying to 
 save his life. Jesus says, further, "If ye had known 
 what this meaneth, ' I will have mercy and not sacri- 
 fice,' ye would not have condemned the guiltless." 
 From this we learn, that the Sabbath law was a law 
 of sacrifice, and God prefers mercy to man rather 
 than sacrifice ; that the Disciples should with mercy 
 to themselves, appease their hunger rather than offer 
 the sacrifice of Sabbath-keeping. How can we, then, 
 avoid the conclusion that the seventh-day Sabbath, 
 was a precept of the ceremonial law, that must give 
 way before man's necessities and convenience? 
 
 But, once more : Jesus cites the profanation of 
 the Sabbath by the priests in the temple. They were 
 engaged about their ordinary occupations there on 
 the Sabbath, just the same as any other day, and yet 
 they were blameless. There was no absolute neces- 
 sity that sacrifices should be offered on the Sabbath, 
 nor that the other sacerdotal employments should 
 continue on that day. Yet the Lord considers these 
 carnal ordinances and ceremonial rites of more impor- 
 tance than Sabbath keeping. It is absurd to suppose 
 that God would have a moral precept broken, that a 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 287 
 
 ceremonial law should be kept. Let him believe that, 
 who can. Yet He had the Sabbath law broken, that 
 the law of sacrifices should be observed. Hence, it 
 undisputably follows that the seventh-day Sabbath 
 was not only a ceremonial law, but of less importance 
 than the one it gave way before. 
 
 One thing concerning these priests must not be 
 forgotten. Their time was all consecrated time. 
 They were not, while engaged about their duties in 
 the temple, doing their own work six days, as it is 
 said, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work ;" 
 they were doing God's work, rather than their own 
 all the time. Consequently their time was all, in one 
 sense, Sabbattic time. Yet they violated the letter 
 of the law. But it was the kind of work that they 
 were engaged in that raised them above the law of 
 Sabbath observance. But Christ's Disciples are all 
 kings and priests. They belong to a Church com- 
 posed wholly of first-born children, and therefore 
 they are holy and consecrated in their birth. Hence, 
 as the members of an earthly priesthood were ex- 
 empted from the requirements of a ceremonial Sab- 
 bath while in God's service, how much more those 
 who belong to a Heavenly priesthood. We conclude, 
 then, that the law requiring the hallowing of one day 
 in seven, was a ceremonial law and was nailed to 
 the cross with other ceremonial laws, and that Chris- 
 tians are under no obligations to obey such a law. It 
 passed away with the dispensations of shadows, of 
 which it was a part. 
 
288 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 But it may be asked, have God's people, then, no 
 Sabbath? Yes, "there remaineth, therefore, a rest 
 (Sabbath keeping) to the people of God." It was 
 generally supposed that those who observed former- 
 ly, and those who still observe, one day in seven as a 
 day of physical rest, by so doing entered into, or 
 now enter into, God's rest of which He speaks. By 
 reading the last five verses of Heb. iii, and the first 
 eleven verses of Heb. iv, we will learn that this is 
 not the case. We are told (Heb. iii: 18), that God 
 swore in his wrath that certain persons, viz.: all 
 the Jews whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, should 
 not enter into his rest; and we are also told (iv: 6), 
 those to whom the Gospel was first preached entered 
 not in because of unbelief, although, as we read in 
 iv: 3, the works were finished from the foundation of 
 the world. We read in iv : 8 that Jesus (Joshua) 
 did not bring the Jews into the rest of which God 
 speaks when he rested the seventh day, although He 
 did bring them into Canaan. For, says the Apostle, 
 David, a long time after Joshua, still speaks of 
 another day saying, To-day if ye will hear his voice, 
 harden not your hearts. From these quotations we 
 learn that the rest of which God speaks, had never 
 up to David's time been enjoyed or entered into by 
 anyone. Men had kept a Sabbath, but it was not 
 the rest to which God refers, a rest which men might 
 share with God. They had entered into the posses- 
 sion of the land of Canaan, but still they had not en- 
 tered into God's rest. Joshua had not given this 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 289 
 
 rest. They did not have it in David's time. But 
 still it remained for some to enter therein, and the 
 writer of this epistle exhorts the Hebrews to fear lest 
 some of them might actually come short of it. (So 
 Dr. Adam Clarke translates it.) To sum up what 
 has been said on this point, then, we find that God 
 rested on the seventh day after creation, and prom- 
 ised that men should share, or enter into that rest 
 with Him. To enter into God's rest is real Sabbath- 
 keeping. But though Moses gave the Jews the 
 seventh-day Sabbath, he did not give them that rest ; 
 though Joshua brought them into the promised land 
 neither did he give them that rest. In David's time 
 no one had yet entered into it. But it is promised 
 that some shall enter into it, and therefore Sabbath- 
 keeping remains to the people of God. Now what is 
 this Sabbath-keeping, and how is it entered into? 
 
 The writer tells us that it is entered into by faith. 
 "We which believe do enter into rest." They who 
 formerly entered not in failed because of unbelief. 
 They failed to enter into that promised land which 
 was but a type of this rest, because they would not 
 be persuaded. Since this rest is entered into by 
 faith, the rest is a Spiritual rest. " He that is entered 
 into this rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, 
 as God did from His." When we have ceased from all 
 our own works as God did from His, then, and not 
 till then, have we entered into God's rest. Then do 
 we find the antetypical Sabbath, of which the others 
 were but shadows. It is a rest from sin, a rest from 
 
 S. F. S— 19 
 
^90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 fear, a rest from anxious cares. A soul rest, to which 
 the Savior refers when he invites men to Him saying, 
 " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden 
 and I will give you rest." To this rest Charles Wesley 
 refers in the petition. 
 
 "To us the rest of faith impart, 
 The sabbath of thy love." 
 
 The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares 
 that this is the Sabbath-keeping remaining to the 
 people of God. But it may be asked, Does not the 
 other Sabbath-keeping remain also? No. " There 
 remaineth a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God." 
 "A" means one. A Sabbath-keeping, is one Sabbath- 
 keeping. No other one remains to God's Spiritual 
 people. For his fleshly people, He had a physical rest ; 
 for His Spiritual people He has a Spiritual rest. To 
 a Christian one day cannot be more holy than an- 
 other. To Him there is no profane, no common time. 
 All his time is consecrated to the Lord. He has no 
 work of his own to engage in six days in the week. 
 
 "Every work he does below, 
 He does it to the Lord." 
 
 Instead of having one holy day in the week, he 
 has seven holy days. Since all his time is wholly 
 consecrated to the Lord, one-seventh of it cannot be 
 any more fully consecrated. He does not give one- 
 seventh of his time, nor one-tenth of his substance, 
 to the Lord, but he gives all his time and all his 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 29 1 
 
 substance. That part of his time given to labor is as 
 much given to God, as the part given to prayer and 
 praise. He seeks to do the will of God in one as 
 much as in the other. He has entered into the ever- 
 lasting Sabbath, and he remembers it to keep it holy. 
 Anything done that is not of faith would be Sabbath- 
 breaking. It would break his rest of soul. Any 
 slavish fear, any anxious care harbored in his soul, 
 any want of submission to the Divine will, would 
 interrupt his rest and make him a Sabbath-breaker. 
 Charles Wesley beautifully describes this Christian 
 Sabbath in that hymn beginning : 
 
 'Lord, I believe a rest remains, 
 
 To all thy people known. 
 A rest where pure enjoyment reigns, 
 
 And thou art loved alone. 
 
 'A rest where all our hearts' desire 
 
 Is fixed on things above; 
 Where fear, and sin, and grief expire, 
 Cast out by perfect love." 
 
 This, then, is the Sabbath-keeping remaining to 
 the people of God. A Sabbath-keeping for Christians 
 alone. No others can enjoy it. The Lord enables 
 his people to remember this Sabbath day to keep it 
 holy. 
 
 But some one inquires: Should not Christians 
 observe any day of rest? Yes, in obedience to the 
 civil law, which requires abstention from usual avoca- 
 tions one day in seven. We need not regard it as 
 
292 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Sabbath, though we do thus abstain from labor, and 
 it is the Christian's duty to "obey the laws of the gov- 
 ernment under which he lives, so far as he can with 
 a good conscience. He can have no scruples in rest- 
 ing one day in seven. This is often spoken of as a 
 wise provision of Divine Providence, since it is be- 
 lieved to be essential to health and length of days. 
 It is truly a good thing for the laborer where rightly 
 improved, though it is seldom so improved. Covet- 
 ousness has such control of the whole machinery of 
 the existing civilization, that the laborer is so driven 
 to unremitting toil in order to gain a subsistence that 
 anything that gives him some intermission from drudg- 
 ery, must be a godsend to him. But if love reigned 
 instead of covetousness, there would be no need of 
 such intense application to labor. Even with a curse 
 on the ground, abundance for all could be produced 
 with only such an amount of labor as would not be 
 debilitating to the body nor wearing upon the phys- 
 ical strength, if love instead of selfishness controlled 
 in the distribution. There would, then, be no need of 
 any day of rest, but every day would afford suffi- 
 cient rest for all purposes of recuperation. As it is, 
 the majority of laborers spend their time for rest in 
 such injurious indulgences as do them more injury 
 than the labor would. And this evil is increasing. 
 Christians, in imitation of the primitive Disciples, ob- 
 serve the first day of the week as a day for meeting 
 together, as they are commanded not to forsake the 
 assembling of themselves together. But they need 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 293 
 
 not consider it Sabbath, nor esteem that day holy 
 above other days. Their Sabbath is continual. And 
 if they understand the teaching of God's word, and 
 their own liberty in Christ Jesus, they will regard the 
 keeping of days as among those "weak and beggarly 
 elements," from whose bondage they have clean es- 
 caped. 
 
THE 
 RESURRECTION OF THE BODY 
 
 " But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the 
 first fruits of them that slept." — I. Cor. xv : 20. 
 
 "T^HE doctrine of immortality for the immaterial 
 A part of man is not confined to the Christian relig- 
 ion. Many ancient pagan nations believed in the 
 immortality of the soul or spirit. The Egyptians, 
 the Greeks, and the Romans, all believed that the 
 spirits of the departed still continued to exist in an 
 under world. By the Greeks this spirit world was 
 called ''Hades;" and in it the shades of the good 
 and virtuous were supposed to inhabit Paradise, while 
 those of the wicked were thought to be confined in a 
 place of punishment in Hades called "Tartarus." 
 Similar ideas obtained among other nations. But the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the body was unknown 
 to them. They did not conceive that after the body 
 had been resolved back to its original elements, it 
 should ever appear again or be a party in those 
 rewards and punishments due to the conduct of 
 man while in the body. The immateriality of the 
 spirit, and its consequent indestructibility, were 
 inferred from those attributes of the mind which 
 (294) 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 295 
 
 were known to them. They argued as Addison 
 does in his "Cato." 
 
 " It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well. 
 Else why this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 
 This longing after immorality? 
 Why starts the soul back on herself, 
 And shudders at destruction? 
 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us, 
 'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, 
 And intimates eternity to man." 
 
 But they could see nothing in the nature of the 
 corruptible body that indicated immortality, or even 
 a renewal of life, for it, after it once dissolved. It is 
 only through revelation, that the idea of a physical 
 resurrection is given to us. It is doubtful whether a 
 knowledge of the resurrection was general among 
 those who possessed the Old Testament Scriptures. 
 It is certain that there is no clear revelation of the 
 doctrine in the Old Testament. There are hints 
 here and there, but nothing clear and definite. Job 
 seems to have had some knowledge of the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, or else he spoke prophetically what 
 he did not fully understand. In Heb. xi we are told 
 of some who died, not accepting deliverance, in the 
 hope of a better resurrection. The Jews, in the time 
 of Christ's Advent, were divided in opinion on the sub- 
 ject, the Pharisees holding to the doctrine of the 
 resurrection, the Sadducees denying it. When they 
 appealed the question to Christ for His decision, 
 He does not assert that the doctrine is clearly re- 
 vealed, though He tells the Sadducees that they erred 
 
296 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. \ 
 
 not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God. 
 He showed that the doctrine of a resurrection might 
 be inferred from the fact that Jehovah calls himself 
 the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, long after 
 they were all dead ; which argues for the existence of 
 spirits apart from the body; for God is not the God 
 of the dead, that is, those who have ceased to exist, 
 but of the living. The patriarchs, though dead to men, 
 were still alive to God. The Sadducees were annihila- 
 tionists, denying the existence of spirit after death. This 
 probably lay at the foundation of their denial of the 
 resurrection of the body. Jesus disposes of the diffi- 
 culty in the hypothetical case propounded by the 
 Sadducees, and which had nonplussed the Pharisees, 
 by imparting a piece of important imformation. " In 
 the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in 
 marriage, but are as the angels of God." This would 
 indicate that the difference of sex will disappear in 
 the resurrection body, since we are to be like the 
 angels. This difference is for a temporary purpose 
 only. But though the doctrine is not clearly revealed 
 in the Old Testament, it is very clearly taught in the 
 New Testament. We are there taught that we are to 
 look for a resurrection of both the just and the un- 
 just; that there is to be a resurrection to life and one 
 to condemnation. Though the phrase, " resurrection 
 of the body," is never used in the Scriptures, yet we 
 are certain this is what is meant by " resurrection of 
 the dead," since Christ's resurrection is a sample of 
 the resurrection from the dead. His rising is the first 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 29/ 
 
 fruits of those who sleep. And in His case the body 
 placed in the sepulchre, was the one that rose again, 
 through changed in its nature. Since the body alone 
 dies, there can be no other resurrection from the 
 dead except a physical one. 
 
 The reason for a general resurrection is given in 
 I. Cor. xv : 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive." Physical death is not 
 the result of individual transgression. If it were, then 
 the sinner would be left to suffer forever that penalty 
 of sin, the same as any other. But death is the con- 
 sequence of Adam's sin. It was a curse pronounced 
 upon Adam, and through him upon all his posterity, 
 in consequence of the first transgression. Thus in 
 Adam all die ; that is, through his fault. But justice 
 cannot forever deprive any free agent of any bless- 
 ing or privilege which was lost through no fault of his 
 own. Therefore in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 For "since by man came death, by man came also 
 the resurrection from the dead." But God is in jus- 
 tice bound to restore no more than was lost. So 
 whatever kind of life man lost in Adam, shall be un- 
 conditionally restored in Christ. 
 
 It is often taught that man lost immortal life 
 through the first transgression. If so, then God will 
 in justice restore to every descendant of Adam un- 
 conditional immortality. But "life and immortality," 
 that is, immortal life, is said to be " brought to light 
 through the Gospel." St. Paul tells us, in Rom. ii : 
 6, 7, that God "will render to every man, according 
 
298 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to his deeds ; to them who by patient continuance in 
 well doing seek for glory, honor and immortality, 
 eternal life," will be given. But why seek for immor- 
 tality if it is the certain heritage of every child of 
 Adam? It will come to us without seeking, on that 
 hypothesis. It appears, then, that if immortal life is 
 brought to light through the Gospel, that it never 
 was known before; and if it must be sought for, it is 
 not ours by right of inheritance. But where is the 
 proof that Adam possessed immortal life before the 
 fall? The fact is nowhere stated, and it can only be 
 an inference. It is probably inferred from the fact 
 that Adam was not subject to death before his sin. 
 The inference is a fair one, provided there is nothing 
 to contradict it ; but it is not a necessary one. It is 
 not necessary to suppose that man possessed natural 
 immortality, because he was not subject to death. 
 Some means might have been devised to prevent 
 death during his state of trial or probation ; for we 
 are not to suppose that probation would have con- 
 tinued forever. At the end of probation he might, 
 if faithful, have been rewarded with immortality in a 
 Spiritual body. Judging from God's procedure now, 
 that supposition is probable. It is not a necessity of 
 the situation, then, to suppose that Adam possessed 
 natural immortality. All the information we have on 
 that point discredits the claim. There is no proof 
 that any change has taken place in the nature of hu- 
 man bodies since the creation of man. Our bodies are 
 now corruptible, and there is every reason to believe 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 299 
 
 that Adam's body was also. St. Paul expressly states 
 that the first man was of the earth, earthly. (I. Cor. 
 xv : 47.) His body was composed of the same ele- 
 ments as the earth upon which he was to live. Moses 
 tells us that he was formed of the dust of the earth, 
 and chemistry tells us the same. As his body was 
 to be nourished by the fruits of the earth, it must be 
 composed of the same materials. The same phys- 
 ical laws, then, that govern matter in the earth must 
 control his body. But matter is subject to growth 
 and decay, and is continually changing its form. We 
 cannot well conceive that mutability and immortality 
 exist in the same object. As earthly things are cor- 
 ruptible in their nature, and Adam's body was earthly, 
 it was also corruptible. If it were not so, but was 
 naturally immortal, why was there a tree of life pro- 
 vided for his use ? We know what the design of this 
 tree was, by what is said concerning man's departure 
 from the garden after the fall. (Gen. iii: 22-24.) 
 "And the Lord God said, Behold the man has be- 
 come as one of us, knowing good and evil ; and now, 
 lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree 
 of life, and eat and live forever : therefore the Lord 
 God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till 
 the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove 
 out the man ; and he placed at the east of the gar- 
 den of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming sword which 
 turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." 
 It is clear from this quotation that the virtues of that 
 tree of life would have been efficacious in preventing 
 
300 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 death after the curse as well as previously. In order 
 that the death penalty might be inflicted and man 
 sink into the earth from which he was taken, it was 
 necessary to debar him from the privilege of tasting 
 of the tree of life. If he had continued to eat, he 
 would have continued to live, though his body was 
 corruptible and mortal. Since it was necessary for 
 man to eat of this tree before the first sin, it follows 
 that he was not naturally immortal or he would not 
 have needed anything to make him live forever. The 
 fact that God provided this antidote against decay, 
 proves conclusively that man needed it, and would 
 have succumbed to the forces making for dissolu- 
 tion without it. As the tree would have produced 
 the same effect upon those eating of it after the fall, 
 it follows that no change has taken place in the nature 
 of man's body, but in order to make death a cer- 
 tainty, all that was necessary was to prevent the use 
 of the antidote. Adam, then, was naturally mortal, 
 but preserved in perpetual vigor by the use of the 
 antidote provided. Since we did not lose immor- 
 tality in Adam, we have no reversionary right to it 
 in Christ, but only to the mortal life he lost for us. 
 The wicked shall be raised from the dead, but not to 
 an immortality of the body. We have no precise in- 
 formation as to how long the physical life of the 
 wicked after the resurrection will continue. Their 
 spirits will naturally continue in everlasting existence. 
 But while believers have the same right to a mortal 
 life lost in Adam as unbelievers, they are promised 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 301 
 
 an immortal existence. This is purchased for them 
 by the death of the Lord Jesus, and is promised only 
 to those who seek for it by patient continuing in well- 
 doing. The Apostle says, I. Cor. xv: 54-58, "So 
 when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, 
 and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then 
 shall be brought to pass the saying that is written : 
 Death is swallowed up in victory. O, death where is 
 thy sting? O, grave where is thy victory? The sting 
 of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But 
 thanks be to God which giveth us the victory, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren, 
 be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your 
 labor is not in vain in the Lord." The conclusion 
 here drawn would indicate that what is said above, 
 concerning the putting on of incorruption and im- 
 mortality, applies to the just alone, and not at all to 
 the remainder of mankind. 
 
 Having thus learned what is the ground of ex- 
 pecting a general resurrection, and having deter- 
 mined the nature of the life to which all men are un- 
 conditionally entitled ; and, having further learned 
 that immortality is the portion of the saints alone ; 
 we will next consider the manner in which the dead 
 are raised. In this chapter from which I have been 
 quoting (I. Cor. xv: 35), St. Paul raises this ques- 
 tion : " But some man will say, how are the dead 
 raised up; and with what body do they come?" 
 The remainder of this chapter is mostly devoted to 
 
302 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS, 
 
 answering these questions. It seems to me that if 
 sufficient attention had been paid to what the Apostle 
 here says, some serious errors would have been 
 avoided. The theory of the resurrection which is 
 generally taught, assumes the material identity of the 
 resurrected body with the one which went into the 
 grave. That is, it is taught that the resurrection 
 body will be composed of the same particles of mat- 
 ter that entered into its composition at death. The 
 difficulties that beset this theory have caused some 
 to reject entirely the doctrine of a literal resurrection. 
 Not that the materials that compose any body shall 
 ever be destroyed, for matter is naturally indestruct- 
 ible. It simply changes its form. But, after death, 
 the material of the body is decomposed and resolved 
 back into its original elements. These elements do 
 not lie dormant, but are taken up by other organ- 
 isms, generally by vegetable organisms at first, and 
 then are appropriated by animals who feed on the 
 vegetation, and thus become a part of other animals. 
 These animals may become food for man, and these 
 elements will become incorporated again in a human 
 body, so that it is not only possible that the same 
 elements have been constituent parts of many human 
 bodies at their death, but it is quite probable. Some 
 men are devoured by wild beasts, and the matter 
 composing their bodies is immediately incorporated 
 into the body of the animal. Some are burned up, 
 and the particles of their bodies are quickly scattered 
 into the atmosphere in the form of invisible gases, 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 303 
 
 and but a small residuum is left in the ashes. Bry- 
 ant's conception of the fate of dead bodies is much 
 more exact than many poetic fancies are. 
 
 " Yet a few days, and thee 
 The all-beholding sun shall see no more 
 In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, 
 Where thy pale form was laid with many tears,- 
 Nor in the embrace of ocean shall exist 
 Thy image. 
 
 " Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 
 Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again; 
 And, lost each human trace, surrendering up 
 Thine individual being, shalt thou go 
 To mix forever with the elements — 
 To be a brother to the insensible rock, 
 And to the sluggish clod which the rude swain 
 Turns with his share and treads upon. The oak 
 Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold." 
 
 When we consider the fact that 
 
 " All that tread 
 The globe are but a handful to the tribes 
 That slumber in its bosom;" 
 
 that untold millions of human bodies have returned 
 to dust again, we will recognize the fact that quite a 
 proportion of the matter on the surface of this globe 
 is composed of elements that once entered into the 
 composition of human bodies. These elements nat- 
 urally enter again into human bodies, unless prevented 
 by Divine interposition. Thus the matter composing 
 dead human bodies can be kept separate from all 
 other matter, and can be prevented from again com- 
 posing a part of some human body at death, only by 
 
304 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 the interposition of a stupendous miracle. I am not 
 disposed to question the ability of Omnipotence to do 
 this, for nothing is impossible with God that is not 
 self-contradictory. But is it necessary to suppose that 
 this is being done? Is it necessary, in order to the 
 identity of the resurrection body, that it should con- 
 tain all, or any of the matter composing it at death? 
 If it is, God will no doubt keep this matter separate, 
 awaiting the resurrection day. For it is absolutely 
 essential that our identity should be preserved ; as it 
 would not be justice to reward us or punish us in the 
 future, unless we are the same identical persons that 
 merited the reward or punishment. What is it that 
 preserves the identity of human beings? What is it 
 that determines the fact that a man is the same man he 
 was formerly ? Is he the same he was fifteen years ago 
 because his body is composed of the same materials? 
 Because the same particles of matter compose his body 
 now, that composed it fifteen years ago? I think not. 
 Physiologists tell us that all the matter in the human 
 body is changed once in from seven to fourteen years. 
 The change is accelerated in youth and retarded in 
 age. The constituent parts of the body are contin- 
 ually changing; waste matter is being eliminated, 
 and new matter is being introduced, principally in 
 food and drink. No man's body is the same, that is, 
 composed of the same particles of matter, for two 
 days together. Yet he is the same man to-day he 
 was yesterday. The man who committed a felony 
 fifteen years ago, if now apprehended, can be justly 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 305 
 
 punished for his crime. He is the same identical 
 man he was fifteen years ago, though there is not a 
 particle of matter in his body now, that composed it 
 when the crime was committed. From this we learn 
 that the particles of matter composing the body has 
 nothing to do in determining the identity of the indi- 
 vidual. It is not necessary, then, to suppose that the 
 resurrection body is composed of the same particles 
 of matter that were in the body at death. This is 
 not necessary to its identity. 
 
 We will now consider the explanation given by 
 St. Paul in I. Cor. xv: 36, 38. The supposed ques- 
 tions are, How are the dead raised up ? And with 
 what body do they come? The reply is, "Thou 
 fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except 
 it die ; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not 
 that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance 
 of wheat or some other grain : but God giveth it a 
 body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed his 
 (its) own body." The point established by the 
 Apostle in this illustration is, that the body that shall 
 be is not the one placed in the tomb. You sow a 
 grain of wheat in the ground. When the body that 
 shall be first appears, it looks nothing like a grain of 
 wheat, but is a green blade. Then it develops into 
 a stalk ; afterward the ear appears, and then the ripe 
 grain in the ear. We reap, apparently, much more 
 than we sowed, though the "promise and potency" 
 of all we reap was in the grain when sown. But not- 
 withstanding all the various metamorphoses, when we 
 
 S. F. S.-20 
 
306 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 reap, we gather the same grain we sowed, because 
 God has ordained that like shall produce like. The 
 grain has through all mutations preserved its iden- 
 tity. If we sow wheat we will reap wheat, and the 
 same kind of wheat we sowed. Yet the Apostle de- 
 clares that the grain sowed had to die in order to be 
 quickened. Jesus declares, "Except a corn of wheat 
 fall into the ground and die, it remaineth alone : but 
 if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (St. John xii : 24. ) 
 So long as it is free from the action of fermentation, 
 which is decay, there is no vivification nor growth 
 But does the whole grain of wheat die ? Not by any 
 means. If it did, there would be an end of it. No 
 unspringing blade would ever then gladden the heart 
 of the sower. The bulk of the grain decays, but 
 there is a particle in the grain that does not die, but 
 rises in new life out of surrounding decay. We call 
 this little surviving particle the germ. In it is con- 
 tained in embryo all the future plant and fruit. It 
 possesses the power of assimilating the necessary 
 elements taken out of the soil and the atmosphere, 
 to produce the future grain, and to mold the elements 
 according to the type, so that the future grain shall 
 be just like the grain that was sown. The power of 
 preserving identity resides, then, in the life principle 
 or germ. So long as that survives, identity cannot 
 be lost. No difference where the matter comes from 
 that composes the future grain, though the grain 
 reaped may contain not a particle of the matter com- 
 posing the grain sown, yet we reap identically what 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 307 
 
 we sowed. It is a subject of indifference what mat- 
 ter is used, the life principle preserves identity. 
 Any matter united with the life principle produces 
 the same body. But the same identical matter 
 without the life principle could not do it. So it is 
 of the resurrection body. There is in man a life 
 principle or soul, and so long as it is in the body, 
 the identity of the living man is preserved, no difference 
 what matter it is united with. And if the body die 
 and dissolve away, whenever it pleases God, this life 
 principle, soul or Spirit, surviving, can produce the 
 individual again by uniting itself with any proper 
 constituents, no matter whether they were ever in the 
 former body or not. But if the whole man were to 
 die, as some teach, there could be no resurrection. 
 It would be impossible. If the grain of wheat die, 
 germ and all, God could make another grain of 
 wheat just like the one that died, but it would bear 
 no relation to the wheat that died. So if the whole 
 man die, body, soul and spirit, God can make an- 
 other man just like the one who died, but he would 
 bear no relation to the one who died. He could not 
 be made to be the same man, nor could he justly be 
 rewarded or punished for the deeds of the other 
 man. It is absolutely essential to a resurrection 
 that some part of the man should survive death ; and 
 it must be that part of man that preserves his iden- 
 tity during all the changes of the material substances 
 of his body. This is the life principle or spirit. 
 Those who teach the death or sleep of the whole 
 
308 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 man, then teach a doctrine that makes a literal resur- 
 rection impossible, though they at the same time 
 teach the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, 
 with great inconsistency. One part of their teaching 
 directly contradicts the other part. 
 
 From what has been said I think it will appear 
 clear that there is no need of supposing that the same 
 materials enter into the composition of the resurrec- 
 tion body that composed the first one ; and the illus- 
 tration of the Apostle is plainly against such a theory. 
 While those who are out of Christ have no promise 
 of any body different from the corruptible one which 
 went into the grave, and will consequently come forth 
 to a resurrection of shame and contempt, those who 
 sleep in Christ will have a resurrection of power unto 
 incorruption and glory. A wonderful change shall 
 take place in the nature and constitution of their bodies. 
 Their vile bodies will be changed into the likeness of 
 Christ's -most glorious body. It was sown a natural 
 body, it shall be raised a Spiritual body. As to the 
 qualities of a Spiritual body, we can know but little. 
 "We know not what we shall be, but we know that 
 when we shall appear, we shall be like him." We 
 have the information given that " flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth 
 corruption inherit incorruption." A Spiritual body is 
 not flesh and blood, therefore. But Jesus after he 
 rose with His Spiritual body, said to the Disciples 
 who supposed when they saw Him that they saw a 
 spirit, or as men would now say, a ghost : "Handle 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 309 
 
 me and see ; a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye 
 see me have." It seems, then, that a Spiritual body 
 hath not flesh and blood, but it has flesh and bones. 
 The blood is wanting. The declaration is made con- 
 cerning the natural body that, " the blood is the life ;" 
 therefore, there could be no remission without shed- 
 ding of blood. It is also the most corruptible part of a 
 man. When the blood is removed from the body, it is 
 kept from corruption with comparative ease. It is not 
 strange, then, that the blood which constitutes the life 
 of the natural body should be absent from the Spirit- 
 ual body. It possesses a life wholly different from 
 that of the natural body. We are told, also, that Jesus 
 took broiled fish and a piece of honey-comb and ate 
 before the Disciples. This was probably done to as- 
 sure them that he was not a spirit, and not because 
 he needed such food to nourish His body. We can- 
 not conceive how such gross food could become in- 
 corporated into a Spiritual body, especially in the 
 absence of the circulation of the blood. Neverthe- 
 less we cannot speak with assurance any further than 
 information is imparted. We are plainly informed that 
 a Spiritual body is not a spirit, and consequently 
 must be material, as it could be felt and handled. 
 Whether it is naturally subject to the laws which 
 govern gross matter or not, we cannot tell. We are 
 told that Jesus appeared in the room where the Dis- 
 ciples were, without opening the shut door, which 
 made the Disciples imagine Him a spirit. It is 
 probable that light, heat and electricity are material 
 
3IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 substances though not subject, apparently, to the laws 
 governing grosser forms of matter. This may be 
 true also of the Spiritual body. It is to be perfectly 
 free from corruptibility, and so probably from any 
 change in its component parts. If that be true, as 
 there would be no waste, there could be no need of 
 nourishment to repair the waste. There are many 
 things which curiosity would seek to know about 
 this subject, but we must wait for information until 
 we gain our Spiritual bodies. 
 
 The common understanding of the resurrection is 
 that it is to be general, or universal, and that all men 
 are to be raised up at the same time " in the great 
 rising day. " I cannot account for this prevalent er- 
 ror, since the Scriptures are explicit on that point. 
 In I. Cor. xv : 23, 26, we read, " But every man in his 
 own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that 
 are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
 when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
 God, even the Father ; when he shall have put down 
 all rule, and all authority and power. For he must 
 reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 
 Here we find two resurrections after that of Christ, 
 the first fruits. First. Those that are Christ's at His 
 coming. Second. The remainder of mankind in the 
 end of his reign. Death will still hold dominion over 
 the unsaved dead until the end of Christ's reign, un- 
 til all His enemies have been subdued ; then death, 
 the last enemy, shall be destroyed by the rising up of 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 311 
 
 the remainder of mankind. In Revelations we are 
 told that the rest of the dead lived not until the 
 thousand years had expired. This agrees with what 
 St. Paul says here, in Corinthians. He tells us further, 
 inverses 51, 52, that "We shall not all sleep, but we 
 shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
 of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and 
 we shall be changed." The expression, "and the 
 dead shall be raised incorruptible," refers only to 
 those who sleep in Christ, as we learn from I. Thess. 
 iv: 16, 17. "For the Lord, Himself, shall descend 
 from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel, and the trump of God : and the dead in Christ 
 shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, 
 shall be caught up, together with them, in the clouds, 
 to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be 
 with the Lord." This is the first resurrection ; and 
 they that have part in it are pronounced "blessed 
 and holy, over whom the second death hath no 
 power." Those who are alive at the coming of the 
 Lord, shall experience the same change in their 
 bodies as if they had passed through the grave. For 
 this glorious change, believers wait in hope. They 
 know that they "have not already attained" to it, 
 realizing that their bodies are still vile and corrupti- 
 ble. In this body they "do groan, being burdened, 
 earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with their house, 
 which is from heaven." "The first man is of the earth, 
 earthly, the second man is from heaven, heavenly." 
 
312 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 (The true reading, according to Dr. A. Clarke.) 
 This Spiritual body is their house from Heaven. 
 They know that they must wait for their reward till 
 Christ comes to raise them up or change them. 
 Therefore, they do not desire merely to be unclothed, 
 to be disembodied spirits, "but to be clothed upon, 
 that mortality may be swallowed up of life." 
 
 "Then let the last loud trumpet sound, 
 And bid our kindred rise — 
 Awake, ye sleepers underground, 
 Ye saints, ascend the skies." 
 
SWEARING 
 
 "But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by 
 heaven ; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for 
 it is his footstool : neither by Jerusalem ; for it is the 
 city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy 
 head, because thou canst not make one hair white or 
 black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, 
 nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
 evil." — Matt, v.34, 37. 
 
 I . /HEN King David said in his haste that all men 
 ** ^ were liars, he uttered a sentiment which could 
 not be successfully contradicted after the maturest 
 deliberation. Men naturally are very much like their 
 father, the devil, of whom it is said that the truth is 
 not in him. Neither is the truth in men, until 
 Christ, who is the truth, is formed within them. 
 When men are not deliberate liars, they are uncon- 
 sciously such ; as it is almost impossible, if not quite 
 so, for any man to tell anything exactly as he knows 
 it. So many considerations come in to influence him 
 to exaggerate, equivocate, or otherwise color the 
 plain truth, that he will scarcely resist them all. 
 This weakness, to speak of it by no harsher name, 
 was recognized in the earliest ages, and some means 
 was found necessary to cause men to feel under ex- 
 traordinary obligation to tell the truth. Out of this 
 necessity arose the practice of making oath, or 
 swearing. The nature of an oath is a solemn appeal 
 
 (3*3) 
 
314 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 to God to witness what is said, and to deal with the 
 deponent accordingly as he tells the truth or a false- 
 hood. In the process of time oaths became multi- 
 plied, and men swore by different things considered 
 sacred and valuable. In fact when it was found one 
 kind of oath failed to bind the conscience, other 
 forms were tried in a vain endeavor to get men to 
 tell the truth. But all experience has shown that to 
 multiply oaths is to multiply perjury. Among the 
 ancients some oaths were considered more sacred 
 and binding than others. Some were lightly disre- 
 garded, while others produced enough fear to some- 
 what bind the conscience. At the present day the 
 Mahomedan considers himself most bound when 
 he swears by the beard of the prophet Mahomed. 
 Among the Jews there was much casuistry concern- 
 ing oaths. Some were considered binding, some, not. 
 For instance, if one swore by the temple, it amounted 
 to nothing, but if he swore by the gold of the temple, 
 he was bound. To swear by the altar, was nothing, 
 but to swear by the gift on the altar, made him a 
 debtor to tell the truth. But so inveterate is human 
 mendacity, that notwithstanding all these efforts to 
 produce truthfulness in men, very little reliance is 
 placed upon the binding power of oaths, and the 
 credibility of testimony, in courts and out of them, 
 depends principally upon the character of the wit- 
 nesses, rather than upon the fact that they are on 
 oath. Yet though many men would be believed as 
 surely without an oath as with one, as it would not 
 
SWEARING. 315 
 
 be considered seemly to make invidious distinction, 
 they are required to swear as well as the others. I 
 believe though that exceptions are made of royal 
 personages, as it would be considered an insinuation 
 against their veracity to ask them to swear. So is it 
 an insinuation against any other man's veracity. 
 
 The Lord Jesus forbids His people to swear, be- 
 cause He intended to have a truthful people. As 
 oath-taking was made necessary by man's natural un- 
 truthfulness, the necessity will no longer exist, when 
 a perfectly truthful people is found. That is, it will 
 not exist as to them. Now real Christians are a 
 truthful people, so there is no need of their swearing 
 to anything. To suppose that there is any such need, 
 is to suppose that Christ's salvation is a failure. 
 
 But it is contended that Christ does not forbid an 
 oath under some circumstances. In fact it is usually 
 explained that it is profane swearing or cursing that 
 is here forbidden by our Lord. Of course there is 
 no ground for such an explanation of His language. 
 It is not cursing or profaning of the name of the 
 Deity, that is here forbidden. There is no reference 
 whatever to that reprehensible practice. This will 
 quickly appear from the consideration of the preced- 
 ing context. We will perceive that Christ is here for- 
 bidding what the law permitted. "It hath been said 
 by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, 
 but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths ; but I 
 say unto you, Swear not at all." In other words, 
 Jesus says, "The law permits swearing, but forbids 
 
3 16 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 perjury, but I say, Do not swear." The law did not 
 permit cursing but made it a capital offense. Lev. 
 xxiv: 1 6. "And he that blasphemeth the name of 
 the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the 
 congregation shall certainly stone him." So, then, it 
 is not blasphemy or profane swearing that is here for- 
 bidden by our Lord, but something " those of old 
 time" were permitted to do. In several places in 
 this chapter Jesus contrasts His teaching with that of 
 Moses. It was said in the law, "An eye for an eye, 
 and a tooth for a tooth;" but Jesus says "Resist not 
 evil." It was said, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor and 
 hate thine enemy ;" but Jesus says, " Love your ene- 
 mies." So it was said in the law "Swear, but do not 
 perjure yourselves;" but Jesus says, "Do not swear." 
 In these things appears the difference between the law 
 and the Gospel. But, according to the common ex- 
 position of our text, what is the difference between 
 Christ's teaching and that of Moses? It is a distinc- 
 tion when there is no difference. But it is said, that 
 it is swearing in our common conversation that is for- 
 bidden, and not taking an oath when required to do 
 so before a magistrate. Certainly, swearing in our 
 common conversation, and all asseveration stronger 
 than yes and no are forbidden; but where is any 
 exception made in favor of swearing before a magis- 
 trate? If it is wrong to swear in common conversa- 
 tion, can it be right to do so anywhere else ? If the 
 thing itself "cometh of evil," or as the new transla- 
 tion has it, "of the evil one," how can the require- 
 
SWEARING. 3 1 7 
 
 ments of human law make it right? It must be 
 wrong in itself if it cometh of the evil one ; nothing 
 good ever comes from him. But says someone, Did 
 the law then permit things that were wrong? Cer- 
 tainly, many wrong things. It permitted divorces for 
 slight causes, which Jesus says caused adultery to be 
 committed. It permitted men to hate their enemies, 
 which is wrong. It permitted revenge, which belongs 
 to God alone. As Jesus nowhere makes any excep- 
 tion to this prohibition, nor do any of the Apostles, 
 no one else has the authority to do so. St. James 
 says, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, 
 neither by heaven nor by earth, nor by any other 
 oath ; but let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; 
 lest ye fall into condemnation." (v: 12.) There is no 
 hint here of any exception to the rule. Since Christ 
 and the New Testament writers have made no excep- 
 tion to the rule, and have nowhere intimated that 
 Christians are allowed to do at the requirements of a 
 magistrate what is declared to be evil elsewhere, what 
 right has any man to teach otherwise ? This is teach- 
 ing for doctrine the commandments of men. 
 
 But it may be asked, does not St. Paul command 
 Christians to obey magistrates? He does, indeed. 
 But this is to be understood only of those commands 
 of magistrates that do not conflict with God's law. 
 In such cases we are to obey God rather than man. 
 It is said also that the Lord Jesus was put on oath 
 when before Pilate, and that He answered when thus 
 adjured. If this be true, it proves nothing, as he 
 
3 1 8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 suffered under the law and submitted to its require- 
 ments. It might be urged that the Christian who 
 refuses to take an oath, may sometime injure his 
 neighbor by his refusal : in that he may be the only 
 witness of the neighbor's innocence of a false charge 
 made against him, and his testimony would have no 
 weight without an oath. If a Christian will not take 
 an oath to clear himself, he need not, to clear his 
 neighbor, as he is not required to love his neighbor 
 more than he loves himself. 
 
 But it may be said that through the protest of the 
 Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they are usually 
 called, the laws have been modified so that the testi- 
 mony of an oath-fearing man may be utilized. Men 
 who are unwilling to take an oath may take an affir- 
 mation. I might remark that the legal affirmation 
 is so much like an oath, that a man stultifies 
 himself in refusing one and taking the other. But 
 whether the statutory affirmations are really oaths or 
 not, they are violations of Jesus' prohibition. For 
 not only are all kinds of oaths forbidden, but any- 
 thing more than simple yes and no. Anything in- 
 tended to strengthen the Christian's simple word, 
 anything intended to increase his obligation to tell 
 the truth, is forbidden. "Let your communication 
 be yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than 
 these cometh of evil." Anything, whatever, that is 
 intended to strengthen the Christian's obligation to 
 tell the truth, is forbidden, as coming of evil, or the 
 evil one. 
 
SWEARING. 3 1 9 
 
 It is not absolutely necessary that we should un- 
 derstand the reason for this prohibition, or why any- 
 thing more than simple yes or no cometh of evil ; 
 if the fact of the prohibition is established, it is suf- 
 ficient to decide the matter for obedient disciples. 
 But there are some reasons which seem to me to be 
 apparent to the casual inquirer. In the first place, 
 as the necessity for swearing arose out of the natural 
 want of truthfulness in men, the requiring of an oath 
 is an intimation or an insinuation of want of veracity. 
 But God's salvation makes men truthful. It makes 
 them honest and sincere. It makes them possessors 
 of that mind which was in Christ Jesus. It takes all 
 the guile and deceit out of them. For such persons 
 to consent to take an oath, is to admit that they, like 
 natural men, are still untruthful, and that they need 
 extraordinary means to insure their telling the truth. 
 It is a discrediting of God's work in them, and an 
 admission that they are still probable liars. This 
 they cannot admit without dishonoring God. It 
 might be objected here that God, Himself, took an 
 oath, and swore by Himself, since there was no 
 greater saying, "As I live, I have no pleasure in the 
 death of him that dieth, but rather that he would 
 turn and live." This He did, as He did many other 
 things, to accommodate Himself to the conception 
 and apprehension of debased, fallen man, who had no 
 conception of infinite veracity. But it is apparent to 
 a Spiritual understanding that nothing can add to or 
 strengthen the word of infinite truth. It is a principle 
 
320 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of mathematics that infinity cannot be added to. 
 So the word of Deity is as strong as His oath, as 
 they are both immutable. But, though Deity thus 
 lowered Himself to reach fallen man, he has forbid- 
 den His people to imitate His example in this re- 
 spect, as there is no such necessity for it. Again, 
 an oath is an obligation to tell the truth. It is also 
 considered necessary to prepare a man to tell the 
 truth. Consequently, when a man is sworn, he is 
 said to be qualified. Qualified for what? To testify, 
 or to tell the truth. But a Christian is already under 
 obligation to tell the truth. He is under the 
 strongest possible obligation to tell the truth. 
 He is also qualified to tell the truth, the 
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The 
 strongest possible obligation cannot be increased. 
 Consequently, nothing that he can do or say, can 
 strengthen the obligation he is already under to tell 
 the truth. To admit that he can be put under 
 stronger obligation to tell the truth, is to admit a 
 falsehood. It is to act a lie. To admit that a jus- 
 tice of the peace, or a public notary, probably a 
 wicked man with no reverence for God, himself, can 
 put him under stronger obligation to tell the truth 
 than the Lord Jesus Christ has put him under, is to 
 deny the Lord that bought him. Again, the whole 
 practice of oath-taking is founded on fear. It is the 
 fear of punishment that is appealed to in the admin- 
 istering of an oath. It is hoped that when mens' 
 fear of future punishment is appealed to in the ad- 
 
SWEARING 321 
 
 ministering of an oath, they will shrink from calling 
 down upon themselves Divine wrath by false witness. 
 In the affirmation administered, men promise to tell 
 the truth under "the pains and penalties of perjury." 
 But Christians do not act under such an inspiration,* 
 they are delivered from such slavish fear. They 
 "have not received the spirit of fear, but of power, 
 and of love, and of a sound mind." We are com- 
 manded to obey " not for wrath, but for conscience' 
 sake." But when a Christian takes an oath or an 
 affirmation, he acknowledges that he is moved by 
 fear rather than by conscience. In this, again, he de- 
 nies his Lord. If the son of a king is considered to 
 be qualified to tell the truth without being sworn, 
 how much more is that true of a son of the King of 
 Kings. It is unworthy of his high lineage that he 
 should be thought to need any such qualifying. 
 
 It may be said, if Christians should be excused 
 from swearing, persons not real Christians would take 
 advantage of the exception made in their favor, and 
 thus evil would come of it. Christians do not de- 
 mand that any exceptions should be made of them. 
 They are willing to obey God and take the conse- 
 quences. But even if exception were made in their 
 favor, no great evil could come of it, nor more than 
 has come out of the exceptions already made in per- 
 mitting men to affirm instead of swearing. If oaths 
 were done away with entirely in courts of justice, no 
 great effect would be produced. If men were pun- 
 ished for lying the same as for perjury, in their 
 
 S. F. S.— 21 
 
322 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 testimony, there would be probably no more false tes- 
 timony given than now. If a man has not enough fear 
 of God to keep him from lying, he has not enough to 
 keep him from swearing to a lie. And if it is the fear 
 of state's prison that restrains him, it would be just as 
 undesirable to go to prison for lying as for perjury. 
 So nothing is gained by requiring oaths, while the 
 indifferent and flippant manner in which oaths are 
 generally administered, tends to strip the practice of 
 all seriousness, and to debauch men's consciences. 
 
 This teaching of Christ is not sufficiently regarded 
 in everyday conversation, even among the best men. 
 While it is so much regarded that they refrain from 
 any kind of oath, generally speaking, the force of 
 past 'evil habits of speech is seen to assert itself to a 
 greater or less extent long after conversion, in many 
 cases. God's people need to have a pure language 
 turned upon them. They want none of the language 
 of Ashdod left among them. Sometimes people are 
 guilty of swearing without being aware of it. Such 
 expressions as " as sure as I am alive," "as sure as I 
 am here," " as sure as you are born," etc., are all 
 oaths. In one case the user swears by his life, in 
 another by his presence, and in the last by the fact 
 of the other's birth. All asseverations and superflu- 
 ous phrases are to be avoided. If a thing is true, say 
 so simply, without qualifying words. Let your yea, 
 be yea. If it is not true, say it is not. Do not add 
 any words to strengthen your denial. Let your nay, 
 be nay, and no more. What is added to simple yes 
 
SWEARING 323 
 
 or no, cometh from no good motive and is an idle 
 word for which we must give an account in the day 
 of judgment. How disgusting to a pure mind, or 
 even to a cultivated taste, are the oaths great and 
 small which make up so much of the conversation of 
 the average man. The constant protestations of 
 truthfulness and reliability are both vulgar and 
 wicked. In this respect, also, obedience to Christ 
 makes a man a gentleman. 
 
 Let us, then, glorify God in our every day conver- 
 sation, remembering that Jesus says : " By thy words 
 shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou 
 be condemned." 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN 
 
 "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a 
 woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
 whole was leavened." — Matt, xiii : 33. 
 
 TT is probable that no passage of Scripture has been 
 more completely misunderstood and more gener- 
 ally misinterpreted than the one above quoted. The 
 ground of this misinterpretation is the erroneous con- 
 ception of the final result of Gospel preaching, which 
 is so general among religious teachers. It is usually 
 believed that the world is to be converted through 
 the preaching of the Gospel, and so this parable is 
 interpreted to make it harmonize with this opinion. 
 But no such teaching is found in the New Testament, 
 nor in the Old Testament either, when rightly under- 
 stood. There are probably more dissenters from 
 this teaching at the present day, than at any previous 
 time since the end of the third century of this era. 
 Yet it is still the popular belief. In every instance 
 where Christ, or any of the New Testament writers, 
 refers to the future of Christianity, or the end of this 
 age, they speak of it as being a time of general apos- 
 tasy, rather than of general faithfulness. Jesus de- 
 clares, as recorded by Luke, chapter xvii of his 
 Gospel, and by Matthew, in chapter xxiv, that, at the 
 coming of the Son of man, it shall be as when the 
 flood came, in the days of Noah, and took away the 
 (324) 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 325 
 
 antediluvians while they ate, and drank, and married, 
 and builded. Or as the day when Lot went out of 
 Sodom, and the fiery deluge took them unawares. 
 He intimates that faith will have about perished at 
 His coming to avenge His people; that, "because in- 
 iquity shall abound, the love of many (ton pollon, of 
 the many) shall wax cold." The condition here fore- 
 told does not indicate the glorious state of the 
 Church usually supposed to precede the coming of 
 the Lord. The same state of affairs is foretold by 
 the Apostles in their epistles to the Churches. St. 
 Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, tells 
 them a falling away, or apostasy, shall precede the 
 coming of the day of the Lord. In his first letter to 
 Timothy, he tells us that, "the spirit speaketh ex- 
 pressly, that in the latter times some shall depart 
 from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doc- 
 trines of devils." In II. Timothy he informs us that, 
 "in the last days perilous times shall come." And 
 his description of false professors of Christianity, who 
 have a form of Godliness, without the power, puts 
 them very much on a level with the heathen world 
 before the time of Christ, as described by the same 
 author, in Rom. i: 28, to the end. This does 
 not look very much like a reign of universal 
 righteousness, brought about through the preaching 
 of the Gospel. In this same chapter, in II. Tim. 
 iii : 13, he declares that, "evil men and seducers 
 shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being de- 
 ceived." It is generally supposed, that the world is 
 
326 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 getting better and better, and, of course, if this is true, 
 it must be the condition of evil men that is improv- 
 ing. God says they shall wax worse and worse ; the 
 wise and honorable men, the bishops and doctors of 
 divinity, say it is getting better and better. No 
 doubt they are sincere in their declarations, which 
 proves the truth of Scripture ; for, while they are de- 
 ceiving others, they are themselves deceived. We 
 are told in another place, that the time will come 
 when men will not endure sound doctrine ; that they 
 will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; 
 that they will turn away their ears from the truth, and 
 be turned unto fables. For this cause God will give 
 them up to strong delusion, that they may believe a 
 lie. Since the wise men teach that, concerning the 
 condition and prospects of the world, which flatly con- 
 tradicts God's word, that delusion must be upon them 
 now. Let God be true, though it make every man 
 a liar. Instead of the reign of Christ being brought 
 in by a gradual improvement in the moral and Spirit- 
 ual condition of mankind through the influence of the 
 Gospel, His coming to claim His kingdom is to pro- 
 duce a great shock in the political and religious world. 
 It will come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night. 
 " As a snare shall it come upon all those who dwell 
 on the earth." God's people do not dwell here ; 
 they are but sojourners and strangers. While the 
 earth-dwellers are saying peace, and safety, then sud- 
 den destruction shall come upon them. When Jesus 
 comes in the clouds and every eye shall see Him, 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 327 
 
 and they also which pierced Him (not the Roman 
 soldier), then all the kindreds of the earth shall 
 wail because of Him. This does not speak well for 
 the Spiritual condition of earth's kindreds. In fact, 
 everything written on this subject contradicts the 
 idea of a converted world through the preaching of 
 the Gospel. But someone may ask, Is it not prom- 
 ised that all shall know the Lord, from the least to the 
 greatest? Yes, but all of whom? Those who are in 
 the new covenant. The Lord has promised that He 
 will put His law into the hearts of His new covenant 
 people, so that they will not need to teach each other 
 the knowledge of God, because all, even the least of 
 them, shall know God for himself. That prophecy 
 has long been fulfilled. These prophecies which 
 have been used to prove the conversion of the world 
 are misapplied. " Many of them refer to the millenial 
 reign of Christ. Since, then, the Scriptures do not 
 teach the final triumph of the Gospel in the conver- 
 sion of the whole world, but the contrary, it is not nec- 
 essary to interpret this parable to harmonize with 
 such a theory. With the preconceived idea out of our 
 minds, there is nothing in the parable itself, nor in 
 other Scriptures, to lead to such an interpretation. 
 To make the good meal represent a wicked, corrupt 
 world, and the corrupt leaven the emblem of a pure 
 religion, looks preposterous at the outset. That 
 which is good and valuable is generally taken to rep- 
 resent good things in a Spiritual sense, and vice 
 versa. It is strange that Christ should here use 
 
328 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 leaven in a sense exactly opposite to that in which it 
 is used in every other place where it occurs in the 
 Scriptures either in the Old, or the New Testament. 
 In every other place it represents a corrupting prin- 
 ciple. Under the Mosaic law, unleavened bread was 
 used to typify the body of Christ, both His physical 
 and His Spiritual body, because His body was never 
 to see corruption. It was foretold concerning Christ, 
 as quoted by St. Peter in Acts ii : 27, that His soul 
 should not be left in Hell (Hades, the place of de- 
 parted spirits), neither should the Holy One be suf- 
 fered to see corruption. And Peter declares in 
 verse 31, that His flesh saw no corruption. So as 
 leaven is a principle of corruption, unleavened bread 
 was the only proper emblem of Christ's body which 
 saw no corruption. Jesus' death was a violent one, 
 and His early resurrection prevented putrefaction. 
 The soldier's spear pierced His heart and let His 
 blood flow out, which may account for this fact, as 
 the blood is the first of all the solids or fluids of the 
 body to begin to putrefy. Or we may suppose that 
 Christ's body was miraculously preserved by Divine 
 power, from any beginning of decay. In the celebra- 
 tion of the Passover, for a whole week leaven was 
 scrupulously excluded from all the Jewish dwellings. 
 The shewbread in the temple was also destitute of 
 leaven. In all the Old Testament types leaven rep- 
 presents corruption. The Lord Jesus uses the same 
 figure of speech in another place. He exhorts His 
 Disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 329 
 
 and the leaven of Herod." Another evangelist rep- 
 resents Him as saying, " Beware of the leaven of the 
 Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Is it probable that 
 He would use the same figure of speech to represent 
 Pharisaical hypocrisy and His own pure religion? 
 It would be giving an entirely different meaning to 
 leaven than it ever had before. The Apostle Paul, 
 however, does not intimate such a novel use of leaven 
 as a type. He used it in a sense that harmon- 
 izes with the Old Testament use of it, and Jesus' use 
 when speaking of the Pharisees' doctrine. He says 
 to the Corinthians (I. Cor. v:6), "Know ye not 
 that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ?" He 
 is warning them against fellowshiping the fornicator 
 who had married his father's wife. He represents 
 him as being Spiritual leaven among them, and ex- 
 horts them to purge out the old leaven that they 
 might be a new lump, even as they were unleavened. 
 In his epistle to the Galatians, he uses the same 
 phrase : "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." 
 He is here warning them against a false doctrine that 
 had been introduced among them. Some false 
 teacher had been endeavoring to corrupt them by 
 persuading them to submit to Jewish ordinances. 
 This would ruin them in the end. We see, then, that 
 the use of leaven to represent a corrupting principle, 
 is universal in Scripture unless this parable forms the 
 single exception. 
 
 The teaching that leaven here represents a saving 
 principle, is not only contrary to its usual meaning in 
 
330 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Scripture, but is contrary to nature and reason. It 
 is a principle in both nature and morals that when 
 good and evil are brought into contact, that evil 
 always predominates. Evil is contagious, but good 
 is not. Disease is contagious, but health is not. If 
 one smallpox sufferer is placed among twenty healthy 
 persons the twenty will not cure the one, but the one 
 will infect the twenty. Thus, when disease and health 
 are placed in contact, disease prevails over health, 
 but health makes no impression on disease. This is 
 equally true in the moral world, of which the natural 
 is the type. I know that this is contrary to the 
 popular idea. It is supposed if evil men are taken 
 into association with good men, that they will be 
 benefited and the good will be uninjured. It is 
 thought that virtue must be indeed weak that cannot 
 endure association with vice. We might as reasona- 
 bly say, that health is very precarious that cannot 
 endure association with disease. " Can a man touch 
 pitch and not be defiled?" St. Paul declares that 
 evil communications corrupt good manners. Or to 
 put it in the nineteenth century English, evil asso- 
 ciations corrupt good morals. Dr. Adam Clarke says 
 the Greeks had a similar proverb, given by one 
 of their poets, in this language : " Bad company good 
 morals doth corrupt." On the same principle, St. 
 Paul writes to the Church not to company with 
 fornicators. Not that they should avoid all busi- 
 ness transactions with such characters, for then they 
 must needs go out of the world. But they were for- 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 33 1 
 
 bidden to receive such as brethren, or to eat with 
 them. " If anyone who is called a brother be a 
 fornicator, or covetous, or a drunkard, or a railer, or 
 an extortioner, with such an one, no, not to eat." 
 "Therefore put away from among yourselves that 
 wicked person." (I. Cor. v: 11, 13.) The Church of 
 Jesus Christ is not the place for reforming men. 
 Under the law the unclean were compelled to stay 
 without the camp until they were cleansed. The 
 camp, representing the Church, was not the proper 
 place for cleansing. Cleansing is for sinners. The 
 Church is composed of saints. It is to be a pure 
 and clean place, for the abode of pure and clean 
 people. "The temple of the Lord is holy," and He 
 will dwell in no other kind of place. If impurity is 
 retained, Christ is excluded. He is not in fellow- 
 ship with sin. If one Achan retained in the camp 
 was sufficient to bring defeat upon the whole host of 
 Israel, what harm will not one sinner do in the ranks 
 of Christ's army? Since it is a general principle, 
 then, that when good and evil are placed in contact, 
 the evil always prevails over the good to its destruc- 
 tion, it is unphilosophical to suppose that a little bit 
 of good, like the leaven, placed in quiet contact with 
 such a large amount of evil, represented by the meal, 
 should assimilate the evil rather than it should be 
 assimilated by it. It is unnatural, and therefore 
 untrue, that good should thus prevail over evil. One 
 sinner, by association, destroyeth much good. But 
 one saint can destroy no evil by associating with it. 
 
332 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 Good prevails over evil, not by quiet contact, but 
 only by active conflict with it. In all associations 
 there must be some common ground, some point of 
 contact. Out of this the danger arises. Leaven 
 might be placed in many substances which it would 
 not affect at all, because of their want of homogeneity. 
 Leaven is sour dough ; dough in which has been set 
 up a chemical process called fermentation. Meal 
 contains just those elements upon which this destruc- 
 tive process can fasten. Hence, the danger of con- 
 tact between the two. Fermentation is disorganiza- 
 tion and death. This decaying process cannot by 
 any means represent the work of the Gospel in the 
 world. Then, again, the manner of placing the 
 leaven in the meal is not expressive of the manner in 
 which the Gospel was introduced into the world. A 
 woman took the leaven and hid it in the meal. Her 
 object could not have been a good one, or why 
 should she be so secret and so clandestine in her 
 procedure. The result was the ruin of the meal, and 
 this was probably the design. But if her action in 
 placing the leaven in the meal represents God's work 
 in introducing the Gospel into the world, why is she 
 said to hide the leaven in the meal? 
 
 God did not hide the Gospel in the world. Jesus 
 declares that in secret he had done nothing. The 
 thing was not done in a corner. There was nothing 
 secret, or furtive or clandestine about the introduc- 
 tion of the Gospel. The coming of Christ was fore- 
 told hundreds of years previously, so that men were 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 333 
 
 expecting it. Then John the Baptist, Christ's har- 
 binger and herald, called public attention to the com- 
 ing Redeemer. Angels announced His birth. The 
 wise men came from a long distance to do him homage. 
 Herod advertised His birth by the slaying of the 
 innocent children. His teaching and His miracles 
 drew general attention to Him. His public trial, His 
 tragic death, the natural prodigies attending it, all 
 conspired to attract universal attention. His resur- 
 rection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pente- 
 cost, still further excited public interest. The preach- 
 ing of the Apostles, not only aroused the wrath of the 
 Jewish people, but they were accused in other lands 
 of turning the world upside down. Can it be pos- 
 sible that this most open, this most dramatic, this 
 most sensational introduction of Christianity into the 
 w r orld, is fitly represented by a woman hiding some 
 leaven in some meal ? We conclude, therefore, that as 
 the interpretation of this parable -which makes the 
 leaven represent a saving influence is contrary to 
 Scripture, and reason, to sound philosophy, and to the 
 nature of things, it cannot be the correct interpre- 
 tation. 
 
 Since we are plainly taught in the Scripture that 
 the Christian age is to end in a general apostasy, this 
 parable should be interpreted in harmony with that 
 fact. When so interpreted it will not only agree 
 with Scripture, but with reason and natural law. The 
 leaven represents a corrupting principle which was 
 introduced into pure Christianity, represented by the 
 
334 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 three measures of meal. But I will pause to answer 
 an objection that may occur to someone, who may 
 say, "Does not Christ say the Kingdom of Heaven 
 is like leaven ? How then can leaven mean something 
 evil?" I answer that the Kingdom of Heaven is not 
 like the leaven, nor the meal, nor the woman, taken 
 alone, but is represented by the whole transaction 
 mentioned. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is 
 likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
 field," etc. "The kingdon of heaven is like a 
 merchantman seeking goodly pearls," etc. "For 
 the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an 
 householder, which went out early in the morning to 
 hire laborers into his vineyard," etc. Now, no one 
 supposes that the kingdom of heaven is like either 
 of these persons mentioned, because they are first 
 mentioned in each parable. There is nothing more 
 said of the man who sowed the good seed in his field. 
 In some parables the thing most significant of the 
 good in the Gospel dispensation is mentioned, 
 first; in some others, it is not first mentioned. But 
 the whole parable typifies the Kingdom of Heaven, 
 or some characteristic of it. This objection, 
 therefore, falls to the ground. The leaven 
 represents the corrupting principle introduced into 
 the meal, the Gospel of Christ. It is three measures 
 of meal, because three is a number of perfection ; it 
 expresses the perfection of Christianity as it came 
 from Christ. As meal, or flour, is one of the most 
 complete foods for the nourishment of the body, so 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 335 
 
 the Gospel of Christ is the bread of life to the soul. 
 The woman who introduced the leaven into the meal, 
 represents the Jewish Church, or Judaism. It is com- 
 mon for a Church, true or false, to be represented by 
 a woman. This parable teaches, then, what is taught 
 in other Scriptures, and what the history of Chris- 
 tianity has exemplified, that there is to be an apos- 
 tasy from the faith, and that the profession of 
 Christianity is to degenerate into a powerless form. 
 That in the last days of Christianity, symbol and 
 form are to take the place of life and power, and that 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are to give place to 
 meat and drink. This corruption of the pure, Spirit- 
 ual religion of Jesus Christ is not accomplished at 
 once, but progresses through a long succession of 
 years. At first the progress was slow, but it grad- 
 ually grew in power and intensity, as the process of 
 assimilation neared its completion. The Apostle 
 Paul declared that "the mystery of iniquity" already 
 wrought in his day, but that its progress was retarded 
 by some hindering cause. The corrupting principle 
 introduced by Judaism was a dependence upon car- 
 nal ordinances, and that which is earthly and fleshly. 
 Christ's religion was wholly Spiritual and Heavenly. 
 In it there was no mixture of the fleshly and ceremo- 
 nial. But Judaism right from the beginning intro- 
 duced some of its own peculiarities into Christianity. 
 All the Apostles were Jews and full of the prejudices 
 of their Jewish education. That which they retained 
 of Jewish rites and ceremonies, as national customs 
 
336 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 and distinctions, without attaching importance to them, 
 were afterward regarded as essentials and held as 
 such. The Apostle Paul, from his peculiar calling 
 as the Apostle of the Gentiles, was more quickly 
 freed from these things than any other of the Apos- 
 tles, and more completely emancipated from all Judai- 
 zing tendencies. So much was he in advance of the 
 other Apostles in this direction, that it was thought 
 hazardous for him to return to Jerusalem, though he 
 went to take gifts to his countrymen which he had 
 collected from the Gentile congregations. Upon his 
 arrival in Jerusalem, and before he had publicly 
 shown himself, he was, by the leaders there, per- 
 suaded to take a course to preserve peace and unity, 
 which resulted in a manner exactly opposite to their 
 expectations and wishes. Certain persons had taken 
 a vow according to the ceremonial law, and Paul was 
 persuaded to shave his head and be at charges with 
 them to show that he was just as good a Jew as any 
 of them. 
 
 They said to him, Thou seest, brother, how many 
 thousands of the Jews believe, and they are all zeal- 
 ous of the law. They had heard that he taught the 
 Jews not to circumcise their children, nor to walk 
 after the Mosaic customs. If he did so teach, he 
 only taught what Christ authorized him to teach, 
 since Paul, himself, tells us that these customs were 
 nailed to the cross, in order to make of Jew and Gen- 
 tile one new man, so making peace; that Christ had 
 broken down this middle wall of partition between 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 337 
 
 Jew and Gentile. Thus, Paul was about to be dis- 
 owned by professed Christians for teaching that 
 which was the distinguishing mark of Christianity. 
 It is evident that there was a good deal of this leaven 
 already in these Jewish Christians. We are told in 
 Acts xv, that certain men from Judea taught the 
 Gentile Disciples that they must be circumcised in 
 order to be saved. This caused so much trouble 
 that Paul and Barnabas were sent up to Jerusalem to 
 consult the Apostles and brethren there, concerning 
 the matter. They decided that the ceremonial law 
 was not binding upon the Gentiles, though they re- 
 quired some things of them as necessary which were 
 not so, but were a part of the ceremonial law. But 
 notwithstanding this decision of the Apostles, the 
 work of Judaizing the Gentile Churches still con- 
 tinued, and the Apostle Paul in particular had much 
 trouble in combating these false teachings. It ap- 
 pears that it was thought that a Jew might innocently 
 be circumcised, or might circumcise his children, be- 
 cause it was a national custom, but for a Gentile to 
 do the same was to deny Christ. This prejudice 
 against an uncircumcised Jew was so strong, that St. 
 Paul felt constrained to circumcise Timothy, whose 
 mother was a Jewess, lest his access to the Jews 
 might be shut off. These concessions to Jewish prej- 
 udice may have been expedient, but as the question 
 had to be met some time, it might have been better 
 to have met it at once. If all Christians had been 
 
 taught to do as the Gentiles were instructed to do, a 
 s. f. s.— 22 
 
338 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 world of trouble might have been averted. But in 
 the meanwhile, the little leaven was introduced, 
 enough of the virus of Judaism was injected, to set 
 up a process of fermentation which has continued to 
 the present day. St. Paul declares, "The mystery of 
 iniquity doth already work, only he that letteth 
 (hindereth) will let, until he be taken out of the 
 way." The expression is significant. When any 
 substance begins to ferment, it is said to be working. 
 So this mystery, or doctrine, of iniquity was a leaven- 
 ing principle, which had already begun its work of 
 disorganization and destruction, even in the apostolic 
 days. The hindrance referred to was no doubt the per- 
 secuting Roman government, which by its opposition 
 and persecution repressed this tendency to carnality. 
 It made the weather too cold for the leaven to 
 work freely. Persecution naturally tends to preserve 
 the Spirituality of its victims, and consequently to 
 discourage trust in outward rites and symbols. For 
 three hundred years this state of things continued, 
 and though a carnal ecclesiasticism grew up in places, 
 yet the mass of the professed Church was kept com- 
 paratively pure. In the letters to the seven Churches 
 of Asia, which part of the Revelations, like the re- 
 mainder, is manifestly prophetic, it being declared to 
 be a prophecy before the beginning of the address to 
 the seven Churches, we can trace the gradual deca- 
 dence of Spirituality in the Church, and the growth of 
 a power hostile to Christ and His pure Gospel. That 
 these seven Churches might have been in the several 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 339 
 
 states spoken of is possible, if we may not say prob- 
 able. But if so they were made to stand, each for 
 an era in the future history of Christianity. Even 
 their names seem to be symbolical of the states por- 
 trayed. In the message to the Church at Ephesus,* 
 there is much commendation. They were praised for 
 their works, their labor, their patience, their inability 
 to stand them who were evil, their ability to detect 
 false Apostles, etc. But there was one fault pointed 
 out which seemed to overbalance all their good 
 qualities ; they had left their first love. For this they 
 were pronounced fallen, and were threatened with 
 rejection, unless they repented and did their first 
 works. Already, though they had much that looked 
 good and gracious, they had departed from God. 
 This represents the condition of the general Church 
 somewhere between . the end of the first and the 
 beginning of the fourth century. We understand 
 this to be so, because the message to the Church 
 at Smyrna refers to the ten years' persecution 
 under the Emperor Diocletian which took place be- 
 tween 303 and 3 1 3 A.D. How soon, then, the decline of 
 pure Christianity began. Even before the beginning 
 of the fourth century the nominal Church was gener- 
 ally backslidden. A more or less numerous minority 
 still retained their first love and the power of Godli- 
 ness. We can learn from Church history the truth of 
 this prophetic representation. We can see how 
 much carnality had already crept in, and how much 
 
 * Note : — Probably derived from Epliiemi ; to loose, to slacken. 
 
340 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 importance was already attached to fleshly ordinances 
 and outward forms. We have very little history of 
 the Church during the first century, except what is 
 found in the New Testament, and must depend upon 
 tradition for what we learn of those times. 
 
 It is only as the nominal Church departed from its 
 original simplicity and purity, that its transactions 
 became of general interest, or that it began to be 
 thought to be worthy of notice. Yet its most exten- 
 sive conquests were made within one hundred, or 
 one hundred and fifty, years after Pentecost. Dur- 
 ing that period the whole known world was reached 
 by the heralds of the cross, and many of the 
 preachers sealed their testimony with their blood. 
 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and 
 the word of their testimony, and they loved not their 
 own lives unto the death." No theological schools 
 had yet been established, no missionary societies yet 
 organized, but a Gospel preached with the Holy 
 Ghost sent down from Heaven, brought men by 
 thousands to the foot of the Cross, and shook the 
 trembling gates of Hell. It is true that the leaven 
 had already been introduced, but its effects had been 
 as yet little felt. In the zealous preaching of the 
 Gospel, and the journeying by land and sea, little op- 
 portunity was given for study, and the simple story 
 of the Cross was proclaimed without assistance from 
 metaphysical speculation, or Platonic philosophy. 
 But as the Christians became very numerous, perse- 
 cution became less frequent, and was usually confined 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 34 1 
 
 to comparatively small areas ; so that it came to pass, 
 though there were few seasons of complete freedom 
 from persecution everywhere, that in places the 
 Churches had long rest. While this tended to an 
 increase in their numbers, it did not conduce to their 
 growth in grace. This was apparent when persecu- 
 tion did come, as many would apostatize through 
 fear of death, which was a thing almost unknown in 
 the earlier times. And when the last and the sever- 
 est of the persecutions of the Church came, thousands 
 apostatized. But the result was beneficial to the 
 Church at large, as those who stood faithful were 
 much strengthened in their faith, and learned what 
 was essential in the religion of Christ. Many were 
 faithful unto death and earned a martyr's crown. It 
 was to the Church in the throes of this persecution 
 that the message to the Church in Smyrna applies. 
 Smyrna signifies myrrh, an arromatic, transparent, 
 resinous gum. It was valuable because of its odor, 
 and also for medicine. It derives its name from the 
 bitterness of its taste, and its name signifies, to be 
 bitter. This Church was told that Christ knew its 
 poverty, but that it was really rich. It was told that 
 the de\'il should cast some of its members into prison, 
 and that they should have tribulation ten days. 
 This is supposed to refer to the ten years' persecu- 
 tion under Diocletian, which was the most wide- 
 spread and unrelenting that the Church had yet 
 suffered, as well as the last one. It was bitterness to 
 the Church, but their faithfulness was a sweet smelling 
 
342 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 savor to God. The Jews referred to in the mes- 
 sage may be literal Jews who still claim to be the 
 people of God, or, more probably, false professors 
 of Christianity are meant. Shortly after the close 
 of the Diocletian persecution, Constantine, some- 
 times called "the Great," came to the throne of the 
 Roman Empire, having defeated all his rivals. For 
 more than two hundred years, Christians, though be- 
 coming more and more numerous in the Roman Em- 
 pire, had refrained from becoming soldiers, both be- 
 cause of their horror of war, and because they could not 
 take the oaths prescribed, nor pay that reverence to 
 the Roman standards, which military laws required of 
 all the soldiers. They considered it idolatrous wor- 
 ship. Even in the fourth century, the more Spiritual 
 minded still condemned soldiering. Yet quite a 
 number of Christians had so far overcome their 
 scruples, as to become Roman soldiers. Their num- 
 bers were sufficient during the civil wars preceding 
 Constantine's accession to the throne, to form a 
 legion. This legion formed a part of Constantine's 
 army, and they were excellent soldiers, so much so 
 as to attract especial notice. Constantine had been 
 surrounded with Christian influences in his youth 
 and was disposed to favor the Christians. In his last 
 battle with his competitors, he claimed to see a 
 flaming cross in the sky, on which was inscribed the 
 motto, "By this, conquer." This, he afterward 
 claimed, completed his conversion to Christianity. 
 There is no proof in his after life that the conversion 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 343 
 
 affected him personally, but it determined him to 
 favor Christianity at the expense of Paganism, which 
 had been the only recognized religion of the Roman 
 empire. Christianity was raised to the place of 
 power and made the national religion, and Paganism 
 was put under the ban. This was a tremendous 
 change in the condition of the Church. It had just 
 passed through a terrific struggle with the dragon 
 of Paganism, and had come off victorious, and the 
 great red dragon was cast down to the earth. But 
 the change was disastrous to the Church. The hin- 
 drance to the full working of the leaven was now re- 
 moved, and the sunshine of worldly favor soon accel- 
 erated the corrupting process. The Church had now 
 reached Pergamos, a high place, a citadel. Perga- 
 mos is the Church set up on high in a secure place. 
 Jesus tells her that she dwells in Satan's seat, the 
 place until then occupied by the dragon, who is the 
 devil and Satan, according to Revelation xii 19. She 
 had just emerged from the Diocletian persecution, 
 whose purifying fires had purged away much of her 
 dross, and she was comparatively pure. She was 
 commended by the Lord for holding fast His faith 
 and not denying His name, even in the face of mar- 
 tyrdom. Antipas, there mentioned, is probably a 
 symbolical person. The word means " antipope." 
 The purest and most faithful Christians were most 
 likely to be most severely dealt with by the per- 
 secuting power, and were those to oppose the earthly 
 ecclesiasticism which was growing up in the Church> 
 
344 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 and which developed so rapidly after Christianity 
 became the national religion. 
 
 There were a few things in the Church in Perga- 
 mos which the Lord condemns. There were those 
 who taught the doctrine of Balaam. We are not to 
 understand they taught actually what Balaam taught, 
 but his teaching was a type of theirs. He taught 
 Balak to entice the Israelites to idolatry and fornica- 
 tion. These condemned teachers taught the Church 
 to commit Spiritual fornication. It was at this time 
 that the union of Church and state began, which is 
 called Spiritual fornication. This tended to corrupt 
 Christianity, and to make the Church dependent on 
 the civil power instead of Christ, her husband. The 
 attempt was also made to adapt Christianity to the 
 pagan taste, by lowering the standard and incorpo- 
 rating many heathen customs into Christianity, 
 changing the name and slightly altering the design of 
 them. All this was obnoxious to God. He charged 
 them, also, with holding the doctrine of the Nicolai- 
 tanes, which Christ hates. This passage has puzzled 
 commentators. They have imagined that these per- 
 sons were disciples of some teacher by the name of 
 Nicolaus. But there is no proof of the existence of 
 any such man. No doubt the name is metaphorical. 
 It is derived from two Greek words, " nike," meaning 
 victory, superiority, advantage over, and "laos," the 
 people. It means, therefore, superiority over the 
 common people. To my mind it evidently refers to 
 that distinction between what is called the clergy, and 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 345 
 
 the laity, which was growing up in the Church, and 
 which resulted in the complete dominion of the 
 clergy, and the complete subjugation of the laity to 
 priestly dominion. In Christ's conception of the 
 Church, one is our Master, even Christ, and all the 
 disciples are brethren. While all the members have 
 not the same office, but some are evangelists, some 
 pastors, some teachers, yet no one class is superior 
 to any other class. They had authority only as they 
 had the Holy Spirit, and showed the fact in their 
 labors. But love of power and dominion is inherent 
 in depraved human nature. St. John in his third 
 epistle, tells of one in his day who held this doctrine, 
 Diotrephes, by name, who loved to have the preemi- 
 nence, and usurped authority to cast people out of 
 the Church, who did not do his bidding. This love 
 of dominion, so contrary to the spirit of Christ, was 
 fast taking possession of the bishops and presbyters 
 of the Church at Pergamos. It can only prevail 
 where the love of Christ has been driven out. No 
 wonder God hates it for it usurps his prerogatives, 
 and is used to oppress His faithful people, who can- 
 not acknowledge any other head but Christ. This 
 doctrine of the Nicolaitanes was hated by the Church 
 at Ephesus and the Lord commends them for their 
 hatred. It is scarcely credible that the Churches 
 here addressed should have been guilty, literally, of 
 the crimes here denounced before the end of the first 
 century, and we can understand it only in a pro- 
 phetic sense, of the cqndition of the Church at a 
 
346 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 later age. Yet if these things are literally true, they 
 are but types of what should occur later. If these 
 seven Churches were in the corrupt state referred to, 
 they could not have been the only Churches so 
 affected, and why should Christ address only 
 these seven, unless we understand the number 
 seven to stand for the whole, as it often does, 
 and to include the whole history of the Church, 
 from the first century down to the end of the age. 
 General attention is called to what is said to the 
 Churches. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches." 
 
 The Church at Thyateira is the next one ad- 
 dressed. The same things are here condemned that 
 were in the Church at Pergamos, but under different 
 symbols. Those who teach the doctrine of Balaam 
 are here personified by a woman. She is said to 
 teach exactly the same things condemned at Perga- 
 mos. The woman is called Jezebel. We know what 
 a bitter and active enemy of Judaism Jezebel was, 
 and how she persecuted the servants of God. Those 
 who formerly taught the doctrine of Balaam are now 
 organized ; before, they were not. Jezebel stands for 
 a patroness of false religion and a persecutor of the 
 true. It seems that an organization had grown up in 
 the Church claiming to speak by divine authority, 
 which endeavored to bring about a union of Church 
 and state, producing Spiritual fornication and idolatry. 
 In some manuscripts it reads, Thy wife, Jezebel. The 
 message is addressed to the angel of the Church, 
 
THE TARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 347 
 
 which means the ministry or bishops. It would seem, 
 then, that the clergy, so called, had already espoused 
 the cause of this false Church, organized among true 
 Christians. Christ threatens her children with death, 
 and those who commit adultery with her, with great 
 tribulation, unless they repent. As the history of the 
 Church at Pergamos began about the beginning of 
 the fourth century, the Church at Thyateira stands 
 for the history of the Church during the rise of the 
 Papacy and the division of the Roman Empire, and 
 the rise of the Mahomedan power which proved 
 such a scourge to those civil powers who committed 
 adultery with the Church, as well as to the woman, 
 Jezebel, and to her children. But there was a rem- 
 nant in Thyateira who rejected the papal claims, and 
 resisted that worldly ecclesiasticism that strove to 
 dominate everything and to bind men's consciences 
 by claims to Divine inspiration and authority. Jeze- 
 bel professed to be a prophetess. Even Dr. Adam 
 Clarke, who would interpret all these messages to the 
 Churches literally, thinks it not credible that a bishop 
 of a Church in the first century should allow such 
 things to be done in the Church, at least by his wife. 
 The meaning of the word, "Thyateira," is not very 
 clear. It seems to be derived from two Greek words ; 
 "thua," meaning a soothsayer or astrologer, and 
 "teiros" or "teras," meaning signs, omens or the 
 heavenly bodies. The meaning seems to be one who 
 foretells the future by signs or omens, consequently 
 a pretender to prophecy. The Church at Thyateira 
 
348 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 is distinguished for the presence of an organized 
 ecclesiasticism, pretending to speak for God, called 
 " that woman, Jezebel." 
 
 The Church in Sardis is the next one addressed. 
 It was in a desperate state. It was dead, though 
 having a name to live. Spiritual life was nearly 
 extinct. Except in the case of a few persons, there 
 was nothing in it to commend. But there were a few 
 things that remained, though about ready to die. It 
 was not yet wholly corrupt. There were a few names 
 even in Sardis who had not defiled their garments. 
 Sardis stands for the Church during those centuries 
 immediately preceding the Reformation, usually called 
 the Dark Ages. Religion and science both languished, 
 empires were crumbling, and the papacy, alone, in- 
 creased its power and authority. It flourished most 
 where ignorance and superstition prevailed, We 
 would expect to hear the doom of the Church pro- 
 nounced in the next message. But instead we behold 
 a reaction taking place. God came down to see the 
 city and the tower which men builded, and con- 
 founded their language, so that they could not under- 
 stand one another's speech. This was necessary to 
 preserve vital Godliness on the earth ; otherwise, the 
 things which remained and were ready to die would 
 soon have perished. 
 
 The next message is to the Church in Philadel- 
 phia. This represents the Church during the period 
 of the Reformation. Christ says to this Church: 
 "Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 349 
 
 man can shut it." "Thou hast a little strength and 
 hast not denied my name." Philadelphia means 
 brotherly love, which was once more seen during the 
 religious revivals beginning with John Huss in Bo- 
 hemia, and followed by Luther and the English re- 
 formers. This disrupting of the papal power gave an 
 open door out of Romanism, and still furnishes an 
 open door out of all human ecclesiasticism. Before 
 this, there was no chance of escape. The arm of the 
 papacy was too long and too strong, and no way of 
 egress could be found. But when this powerful or- 
 ganism was rent in pieces, honest souls had a chance 
 of escape from her grasp. Nevertheless, the human 
 organisms resulting from this disruption were of the 
 same nature as the old one ; they became Rome's 
 daughters. This process of division continued up 
 into the nineteenth century, and became a source of 
 great weakness to human ecclesiasticism. It was im- 
 possible to hold men in the same Spiritual bondage 
 as before, and Babylon, confusion, resulted. But 
 this gave honest, sincere souls a chance to worship 
 God, according to the teachings of His word and 
 Spirit. Much of this movement called the Reforma- 
 tion, was political, and not wholly religious. It is 
 supposed to be represented by the angel who stood 
 with one foot on the sea and one on the land ; the 
 sea representing men in their political capacity, and 
 the earth representing false religion. But this disin- 
 tegrating process has stopped at present, and the 
 tendency is toward organic union again. The effects 
 
350 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 of the reformation have been lost, the religious zeal 
 it kindled has died out, and men no longer care to 
 quarrel about a matter that concerns them so little. 
 The bitterness of Protestant sects toward Romanism 
 is gone, and more stress is being laid upon points of 
 resemblance than upon points of difference. In fact, 
 theologians are trying to find a common ground 
 upon which all earth's religions can stand, as witness 
 the Congress of Religions in Chicago, during the 
 World's Columbian Exposition. The denominations 
 once considered the most orthodox and evangelical 
 are fast slipping into a liberalism which ignores or 
 denies the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel of 
 Christ, and is simply thinly disguised infidelity. 
 Very few of the leading ministers of the day will boldly 
 stand up for the doctrines of a vicarious atonement, 
 natural total depravity, endless punishment, etc., which 
 were but lately considered the very marrow of the 
 Gospel by these sects, and are still in their published 
 creeds. They prefer to preach about the Father- 
 hood of God, and the brotherhood of man, which is 
 nothing but Deism, without any of the distinguishing 
 marks of Christianity. From these indications, 
 among others, it is plain that we have reached the 
 Laodicean state, and Christ's message to that Church 
 applies to professors of the present day. "I know thy 
 works, that thou art neither cold or hot. So then be- 
 cause thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee 
 out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, ' I am rich 
 and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 35 1 
 
 and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind and naked." This is a desperate 
 state. This Church is not charged with open wicked- 
 ness ; it could not be so deceived as to its real con- 
 dition if it was openly wicked. In this respect it 
 differed from the Church before the Preformation. It 
 is stated in Church history that when the general 
 council of Constance met in that city, which council 
 was composed of the highest ecclesiastics, arch- 
 bishops, bishops, abbots, and doctors, of the Church, 
 that the city was filled with prostitutes who gathered 
 there to ply their trade while the council was in ses- 
 sion. The wickedness of these priests was open, 
 flagrant, palpable. Yet this council was called to 
 reform the Church in its head and members. 
 Wicked as they were, they felt and acknowledged the 
 need of reform, but they did not want God's kind of 
 reform, as they condemned and burnt John Huss and 
 Jerome of Prague, reformers whom God had raised 
 up. It is needless to say that the Church was not 
 reformed at that council. Two popes were de- 
 throned, w T ho had been mutually excommunicating 
 each other, and another was chosen more wicked 
 than either of the other two. Openly wicked as that 
 Church in Sardis was, it was not so obnoxious to 
 God as the one at Laodicea. It was neither so hypo- 
 critical nor so lost. It, at least, had some sense of 
 its wretched condition, and there was some hope 
 for it, while this was the case. But the Laodicean 
 Church is lukewarm ; a pretended friend, though 
 
352 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 a real enemy of Christ. It betrays the Son of man 
 with a kiss. It smiles and smiles, and is a villain. 
 It is the traditional Pharisee, full of its own righteous- 
 ness. She says she is rich and actually thinks so, 
 while she is miserably poor. She professes to be 
 increased with goods. She fondly imagines that 
 never since the apostolic days was there so much 
 Godliness as now. She compares herself with the 
 Church in former years, as she thinks, greatly to her 
 own advantage. She has all she needs of piety and 
 Godliness, all she needs is more money and she would 
 soon convert the world. And what a conversion it 
 would be. Like the proselytes of the Pharisees of 
 old, they would be two-fold more the children of 
 Hell. With her missionary, Church extension, and 
 Bible societies, her Young Men's, and Young 
 Women's, Christian Associations, her Christian En- 
 deavor, and Epworth League societies, her Sunday 
 Schools and Chautauqua Circles, she is fully equipped 
 in her own estimation, and has on the white robe of 
 righteousness. But Christ says, "Thou art naked." 
 She imagines she can see, but Christ says, "Thou art 
 blind." She says, "I sit a queen and am no widow, 
 and shall see no sorrow," while the evidences of her 
 unfaithfulness are on every hand. In every other 
 Church, there was something to be commended, in 
 this one nothing. In the others were some faithful, 
 in this one none. The people of God have all been 
 called out of her. They found the open door which 
 no man has been able to shut since God opened it ; 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 353 
 
 they heard the voice from Heaven saying, Come out 
 of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her 
 sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Up to the 
 Laodicean state, God's real people were found in the 
 recognized Church, but here they are not mentioned. 
 Either no faithful are left, or they have come out of 
 her. Since Christ has promised that a remnant 
 shall be left till His coming, they must be without 
 this recognized Church. In her the leaven has done 
 its work completely. Not one saved soul is left in 
 her. She has become the habitation of devils, 
 and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of 
 every unclean and hateful bird. The sound of the 
 millstone is heard no more in her ; no more bread 
 there. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride 
 are heard in her no more at all ; neither Jesus nor 
 His Church speaks there. The light of a candle is 
 seen no more in her. God lights no more candles, 
 saves no more souls in her. The wine of the wrath 
 of her fornication circulates freely, and by it the 
 nations are made drunken. She, herself, is so intoxi- 
 cated that she is rich while she is poor, wise while 
 she is blind, and clothed while she is perfectly 
 naked. Her shame plainly appears to sober peo- 
 ple. The carnal organism was once like a grain of 
 mustard seed, but it has now become a tree shel- 
 tering all the fowls of the air. The seed, though 
 so small, contained, in embryo, all that has since 
 developed. The plant was at first small, but is now 
 
 a tree of sufficient size to become a roosting place 
 s. f. s.— 23 
 
354 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 for the fowls of the air. The leaven seems to repre- 
 sent the corrupting principle ; the mustard tree, the 
 result which is manifest to the eye ; the human organ- 
 ism. The name "Laodicea" (Greek, "Laodikeis") 
 seems to be a compound of "Laos," the people, and 
 " dike," right, or privilege. It would, therefore, mean 
 the rights of the people. It seems to indicate that 
 rebellion of the people against priestcraft, which is 
 characteristic of these last days. The people are 
 claiming a share in the control of ecclesiastical 
 affairs, and are making their power felt even in the 
 papal Church itself, but more plainly among Protes- 
 tant sects. The laity have shaken off the yoke of 
 priestly authority borne for so many centuries, and 
 have taken matters into their own hands. While 
 this has not improved matters in Babylon, it has 
 made it much easier for real Christians to stand 
 apart from the throng, and to worship God accord- 
 ing to the leadings of God's Spirit and the teachings 
 of His word. Priestly authority, which would rob 
 them of their liberty, cannot reach them to prevent 
 their freedom. Yet God still gives time to Laodicea 
 to repent. He counsels her to buy the real gold 
 tried in the fire that she may be rich, and white rai- 
 ment that she may be clothed and hide her naked- 
 ness, and to anoint her eyes with eye salve that she 
 may see. How long He may wait and what space 
 He may give her to repent, I cannot say. In His 
 message to Philadelphia, the preceding Church, He 
 says: "Behold I come quickly, hold fast that thou 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 355 
 
 hast, that no man take thy crown." It is probable 
 that the time will not be greatly prolonged as He 
 has promised to "finish the work and cut it short in 
 righteousness." In another place we are told " except 
 those days be shortened, no flesh shall be saved ; but 
 for the elect's sake they shall be shortened. " 
 
 We have traced the history of the Church down- 
 ward from apostolic days, noting the gradual decay 
 of Spirituality (except in the case of Philadelphia) ; 
 and the development of a power hostile to simplicity 
 and Spirituality, until God's people have been finally 
 separated from the nominal Church, and antichrist 
 has taken full possession of her. The prophecy of 
 Christ is fulfilled. The little leaven has leavened the 
 whole lump. Judicial blindness has taken possession 
 of the nominal Church, and she turns away her ears 
 from the truth and is turned to fables. Her doors 
 and her ears and the hearts of her people are closed 
 to the Gospel as were those of the ancient Pharisees, 
 and the awful destruction which overtook them and 
 their devoted city will soon overtake modern Baby- 
 lon. With violence shall she be cast down and be 
 heard of no more. And the blood of all the proph- 
 ets and righteous men, who were slain for the truth's 
 sake, shall be found in her. Her pretensions shall 
 be discredited, her impudence shall be made manifest, 
 and it shall clearly appear who is the Lord's chosen 
 bride. She has long been discredited and maligned. 
 The watchman that go about the city have smote and 
 wounded her, and the keepers of the wall have taken 
 
356 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 
 
 her veil away from her, to show their contempt for 
 her pretensions to virtue ; but she shall have praise of 
 all, when the Lord returns and claims her as His own. 
 Her sorrows will then be forever ended, her claims 
 will be proven true, her honor vindicated. 
 
 "The Church in her militant state 
 Is weary and cannot forbear; 
 The saints in an agony wait 
 To see him again in the air. 
 
 "The news of His coming, I hear, 
 And join in the Catholic cry; 
 O ! Jesus in triumph appear; 
 Appear in the clouds of the sky." 
 
 Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.