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SELECTED SERMONS AND 
 ADDRESSES 
 
THE LATE 
 REV. S. A. ORT, D. D., LL. D. 
 

 SELECTED 
 
 SERMONS AND 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 SAMUEL ALFRED ORT, D. D., LL. D. 
 w 
 
 President of Wittenberg College for Nineteen Years; 
 
 Also for Many Years Professor of Systematic Theology in 
 
 Hamma Divinity School, Springfield, Ohio 
 
 Issued by Some of His Devoted Friends and Admirers, 
 
 as a Token of Appreciation of His 
 
 Unusual Gifts and Virtues 
 
 H. C. STAFFORD, Publisher 
 
 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 
 For Sale by THE GERMAN LITERARY BOARD, Burlington, Iowa 
 
BXson 
 
 Copyright 1914 
 By H. C. STAFFORD 
 
 Seattle, Washington 
 
 JEC 1 1 1914 
 
 ©CI.A387908 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIS book is first of all a memorial. It is not a commercial 
 project. The venture was begun because numerous friends 
 and former pupils of Dr. Ort deplore the fact that he was never 
 permitted to put his writings into permanent form. All that it 
 has cost us of time, anxiety, and means, is gladly and freely 
 given. The general desire for such a volume, and the value of 
 the papers, addresses, sermons, etc., selected, make it evident that 
 the cost is fully justified. 
 
 The volume has great intrinsic value. The sermons and 
 papers represent ripe scholarship of the best type and the most 
 profound thought. The presentations of truth are clear and 
 strong. Everyone can read them with profit. 
 
 Great care was exercised in making these selections from a 
 vast amount of material. Many of these articles have never been 
 published in magazine or pamphlet form. The selections are quite 
 typical of their author, and represent a wide range of thought. 
 They reveal his power in Scripture, his trend of religious thought, 
 his knowledge of and interest in human affairs, and bring a live 
 message to preacher and layman alike. 
 
 The family of Dr. Ort, together with the faculty of Hamma 
 Divinity School, have heartily endorsed this publication, and have 
 placed at our disposal the material from which the selections 
 were made. Dr. Ort held a warm place in many hearts. He 
 was loyally devoted to his Church and College, and gave freely 
 of his time and strength to serve their interests. 
 
 May this volume go forth as a true memorial of this great 
 life. He deserves an abiding place in our thoughts. Why should 
 we soon forget those who do faithful service ? May these pages, 
 then, carry messages of the Way, the Truth, and the Life into 
 many homes of the Church. 
 
 Rev. H. C. Stafford. 
 Seattle, Washington, 
 July 25, 1914. 
 
A FOREWORD 
 
 THE preparation of this volume for the press has been a labor 
 of love. The motive in issuing it has been to honor the 
 author's memory and to give to the world the rich fruitage of 
 his thought and experience. Dr. Ort was not much disposed to 
 the making of books, and seemed to have more or less aversion 
 to the labor of preparing manuscripts for the printer. We often 
 urged him to put his best thoughts on various themes into proper 
 form for publication, and he always replied that he perhaps would 
 do so some day ; but, as all his acquaintances are aware, sickness 
 and death came to him before he could carry out his purpose. 
 
 No doubt, too, his busy life, especially in the days of his 
 greatest strength, precluded his commanding the time to prepare 
 his manuscripts for the press. In his best days he was President 
 of Wittenberg College for nineteen years ; then Professor of 
 Systematic Theology in Hamma Divinity School ; at the same time 
 he taught Psychology, Philosophy, Ethics and Theism in the 
 College, and also spent much of his time and strength in going 
 about among the churches preaching and delivering addresses. 
 It is, therefore, little wonder he was unable to produce books. 
 In his later years, when he was able to command some leisure, 
 we fear that his physical strength had largely waned ; so that he 
 had little disposition to undertake the task of careful and 
 laborious writing. 
 
 However, he left a valuable legacy of manuscripts in the 
 form of sermons, addresses, and various papers, which have been 
 made available for publication through the kindly consent of his 
 children who are still living. These papers were put by them 
 into the hands of the present Faculty of Hamma Divinity School 
 and the publisher, the Rev. H. C. Stafford. At first it was Mr. 
 Stafford's idea to gather together a volume of Dr. Ort's lectures 
 as taken down in the class-room by his students; but on the 
 discovery of many papers in Dr. Ort's hand, it was decided to 
 
6 Foreword 
 
 give up this plan, and make a collection from his manuscripts. To 
 have used all that were available would have made by far too 
 bulky a volume. 
 
 The selection of the present papers was made by Rev. Staf- 
 ford, with the advice of the undersigned. He also had a large 
 share in editing the manuscripts. However, for the most part, 
 the editing of the papers was left to the undersigned at the request 
 of both Mr. Stafford and Dr. Ort's family. 
 
 The editorial work has been almost wholly technical — the 
 kind of work that must be done by some one in order to prepare 
 a manuscript for the printer. Had Dr. Ort prepared his work 
 for the same purpose, he would, no doubt, have attended to these 
 technical matters ; but, as the papers were written only for his 
 own eye, a good deal of work naturally had to be done upon 
 them. In a few cases we have felt it a duty to make slight 
 changes in the verbiage ; also to supply what was lacking to make 
 the logical connection, when a sheet or two of manuscript had 
 been lost. However, we have not changed Dr. Ort's thought, 
 nor have we made any material alterations in his style ; the book 
 appears as his own mental and spiritual product, written in his 
 own characteristic literary manner. Our task, though a necessary 
 one, has been a humble one. 
 
 We cannot close without paying our tribute to Dr. Ort's 
 greatness of vision in dealing with the doctrines of the Chris- 
 tian religion. Always orthodox and Biblical, he never seemed 
 to feel that his thought was fettered or cramped by faithful 
 adherence to the Bible doctrines and the exhibition of them in 
 the standards and confessions of his Church. Note his compre- 
 hensive view of the redemptive scheme through Jesus Christ; 
 there is nothing contracted in such a view, embracing, as it does, 
 the whole universe of matter and spirit in an immortal destiny. 
 Note, too, his scopeful view of the person of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of God and all the 
 potentialities of humanity and the material universe. It is in- 
 spiring to read such great and all-comprehensive thoughts, and 
 feel that they are included in the evangelical view of the doc- 
 trines of our holy religion. 
 
Foreword 7 
 
 As has been said, Dr. Ort was truly orthodox. In all the 
 manuscripts we have examined, there has not been found a 
 false or uncertain note. He had little regard for the rationalistic 
 criticism of the Bible. He never lost his faith in the Book as 
 the infallible rule of faith and practice. It will be seen that his 
 numerous appeals to the Holy Scriptures are made on the as- 
 sumption that they are the end of all argument, the final court 
 of appeal. A man of rich religious experience, yet he never 
 thought of putting the "Christian consciousness" above the Bible 
 or on an equality with it. While he does not deal specifically 
 with this subject in any of his manuscripts, he everywhere takes 
 it for granted that Christian experience is produced through the 
 Word of God, and is, in turn, to be tested, guided and enlarged 
 by the Word of God. True, there are many doctrinal Loci that 
 are not treated in this book, but everywhere the whole system 
 of evangelical truth is taken for granted. The keynote of Dr. 
 Ort's life and theology was "Jesus Only;" the regulative doc- 
 trine of his doctrinal system was justification by faith; his formal 
 principle, the Bible, the truly God-breathed Word. 
 
 While it is true that some of his sermons are quite rhetorical, 
 and do not attempt to be argumentative, they are always based 
 on the evangelical view of the Bible and the plan of redemption. 
 In many of his addresses, both philosophical and theological, he 
 makes no special attempt at closely knit and elaborate logical 
 discourse, but states his views categorically, and even with dog- 
 matic abruptness ; yet, so far as we can see, he never struck a 
 false note, never departed in the least from the evangelical system 
 of faith. 
 
 This posthumus volume will, we sincerely believe, be an in- 
 spiration to the many friends and students of Dr. Ort, and will 
 bear a true and helpful message wherever it goes. No one can 
 read these sermons and papers without an enlargement of his 
 mental and spiritual vision and an uplift of both feeling and 
 faith. 
 
 Leander S. Keyser. 
 Hamma Divinity School, 
 
 Wittenberg College, 
 Springfield, Ohio. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE writer has been selected by the family of his deceased 
 teacher and later colleague, to write the introduction to 
 these selections from the writings of the late Rev. Samuel Alfred 
 Ort, D. D., LL. D. When the news went forth that he had died 
 at his home in this city, on January 6th, 1911, all who had known 
 him well enough to form a correct estimate of his powers, knew 
 that the Church had lost one of her most gifted leaders. The fact 
 that a man of Dr. Ort's rare intellectual endowments had passed 
 to the company of the patriarchs, apostles, saints and brethren 
 with whom he had for years been associated in the work of the 
 Church on earth, meant to all who had come under his guidance 
 as teacher and preacher a sense of personal loss and bereavement. 
 At the end of a long illness he had heard the "Well done, good 
 and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of thy Lord," and 
 over his new-made grave — sensible of the Church's loss — men 
 said in devout thankfulness for his life, "Blessed are the dead 
 who die in the Lord." 
 
 To the last his powers of mind were quite unimpaired, and 
 his constantly approaching weakness did not seem to depress his 
 exultation and hopefulness. Often during his last days, in suf- 
 fering and daily growing weaker, he bore both weakness and 
 suffering, not only with unswerving patience, but with an unfail- 
 ing cheerfulness that astonished his friends. Throughout the 
 long decay of his physical powers, he not only displayed the 
 strong affection of a devoted husband and father that he was, but 
 was also always interested in, and inquiring about the interests 
 of the Church he loved and into the service of which so many 
 years of his life had gone. 
 
 To those who knew him, it need not be said that Dr. Ort 
 was a man of unusual mental strength. Few men have been so 
 well intellectually equipped for the work of teaching upon the 
 most exalted themes of human consideration. His special 
 
10 Introduction 
 
 intellecual gifts were philosophical. It was in philosophical study 
 that he was most distinguished as a teacher, and nothing was 
 more marked in his teaching of theology than his sense of the 
 unity of knowledge. The mind for him was just the instrument 
 for the unification of all the truth within man's reach. When he 
 came to deal with the writings of men like Kant and Hegel, Von 
 Hartman and Schopenhauer, Schleiermacher, Ritschl and 
 Spencer, his mind was big enough to weigh them in its own 
 scales and to be its own authority upon them. He had a noble 
 enthusiasm for working in lofty fields of truth, understanding 
 many of the great problems of human thinking and penetrating 
 far into the processes of the human mind, impressing himself 
 strongly on the young minds who came under his instruction. 
 
 Dr. Ort was a man of strong faith, and the Christian facts 
 became the prime realities of his life. The central and leading 
 realities with him were the Incarnation of our Lord and His re- 
 demptive work. Few men placed as much emphasis upon the 
 principle of Justifying Faith. Around this he co-ordinated his 
 theological thinking and teaching. Few men have had as much 
 capacity as he to think a philosophical or theological subject 
 through. He knew how to hold a profound problem in high 
 thinking in the spheres of theology and philosophy before his 
 mind in a strong grasp until he knew it and could describe it in 
 all its details. To this capacity was added that of fine literary 
 form. Few men could state such truth with more lucidity and 
 simplicity that were always in evidence in his finest productions. 
 
 Dr. Ort, too, had a versatile mind, being a fine mathema- 
 tician as well as philosopher and theologian, with a fine adapta- 
 bility for either, and all held in subordination to the great object 
 of his life, the service of the Kingdom of God. It was the peculiar 
 qualities of his mind, associated with a devout spirit, that made 
 him, when at his best, both a teacher and preacher of great force 
 and attractiveness. 
 
 In the sphere of his work as a theologian, it should be said 
 of Dr. Ort, that, with the passing of the years, and with his 
 growing maturity, he came to be more and more attached to the 
 great Lutheran system of evangelical truth. More and more, the 
 
Introduction 11 
 
 writer may say from years of close association with him, he 
 advanced to an appreciation of the depth and fullness and rich- 
 ness of that apprehension of the Gospel set forth in the theological 
 treasures of the church in which he had been born and baptized, 
 and to the service of which he gave his powers of mind and 
 body. 
 
 The writer well recalls an incident of some years ago when 
 he was giving much of his time and strength to a special study 
 of the "Book of Concord." Several of us who had been his 
 students, when all of us were younger, were in his company in the 
 Seminary building. Taking from his table one of the well-worn 
 volumes of Dr. Jacob's edition of that great storehouse of the- 
 ology, he said to us in the familiar speech of earlier days, "Boys, 
 the longer I live and study, the more assured I feel that in this 
 book we have a system of theology so biblical and well stated 
 that it needs no revision." It was all said with an earnestness 
 and depth of appreciation that made a deep impression. 
 
 The writer knew Dr. Ort for many years, coming first to 
 know him in 1868, while he was teaching in the girls' seminary 
 at Hagerstown, Maryland, conducted at that time by the late Dr. 
 Charles Martin. During that year he preached frequently in the 
 Lutheran church in one of the villages of Washington County, 
 when the writer was a boy in that congregation. A few years 
 later he became a student under him at Wittenberg College. Still 
 later, and for years, he was closely associated with him in the work 
 of the Church as a co-instructor and colleague in the theological 
 seminary. 
 
 He was made for fellowship and friendship. His humanity 
 was ample and always easily accessible. There was about him as 
 a man, a genial depth and simplicity of nature, a kindliness in eye 
 and voice that made of him a most companionable man and 
 teacher both admired and loved. Side by side the writer has 
 lived with him for years, and a kinder, more considerate and de- 
 voted husband and father in his own home he has not known. 
 
 Dr. Ort lived and died a poor man, having devoted his fine 
 gifts solely to the work of preacher and teacher. The writer has 
 never heard him wish that his choice in life had been other than 
 
12 Introduction 
 
 it was. His devotion to the Church was deep and disinterested. 
 Now that he has gone to be forever with the Lord, what right 
 minded man who has a proper estimate of the relative importance 
 of things in this life, will doubt the wisdom of his choice of a 
 vocation, that he devoted his strong powers to the great work of 
 a preacher of Christ's Gospel and the training of the youth of the 
 land in the years when they are receptive and called to choose 
 in the great concerns of human selection. 
 
 He was more than an eloquent preacher and a fine teacher. 
 Behind his office, and shown in all his official and private inter- 
 course with men, was the spirit of a dignified, but humble 
 Christian who felt in his own experience the power of the truth 
 he taught. The sacred science of divine things was his joy and 
 delight. Its great realities were the foundation of his intellectual, 
 moral and spiritual life. In the Gospel he found the philosophy 
 that controlled his thinking, and the inspiration for the Church 
 and the world. He had but little patience with men who are 
 running to and fro after sociological and other fads to settle 
 grave problems. The solvent of such problems of current interest 
 he found in the Gospel which came down from heaven. 
 
 The demand upon his time as preacher, teacher and adminis- 
 trator of a college, left to this man but little opportunity for 
 authorship. But what has been collected from his writings for 
 this volume furnishes an idea of what he might have done, had 
 his life been less strenuous, and his opportunity for meditation 
 and writing greater. 
 
 He was a gift from God to the Church in a perplexed and 
 trying time. Many who knew Dr. Ort when he lived will be long 
 inspired as they cherish the memory of his laborious, disinter- 
 ested and truly Christian faith. 
 
 David H. Bauslin. 
 
 Hamma Divinity School, 
 Springfield, Ohio, 
 July, 1914. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I 
 
 SERMONS page 
 
 Jesus Only 17 
 
 The Name Above Every Name 28 
 
 The Preaching of Christ Crucified 37 
 
 The Only Source of Life 46 
 
 The Church of the Living God 50 
 
 The Christian's Vocation 60 
 
 Proving Oneself 70 
 
 Gratitude and Courage 79 
 
 II 
 DOCTRINAL DISCUSSIONS 
 
 Justifying Faith 91 
 
 What Is Offered and Conferred In Grace 99 
 
 Destiny of the Physical 106 
 
 The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession . . 115 
 
 Changing a Confession 131 
 
 The Ground and Hope of Lutheran Unity 135 
 
 Pietism .141 
 
 III 
 BACCALAUREATE SERMONS 
 
 The Twentieth Century — A Question 153 
 
 The Problem of Human Life 164 
 
 Life's True Ideal 178 
 
 The Greatest Need 186 
 
14 Contents 
 
 IV 
 
 LECTURES page 
 
 Martin Luther 205 
 
 Philip Melanchthon 225 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus 235 
 
 V 
 OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES 
 
 The Supremacy of the Moral 259 
 
 Why You Are Here 263 
 
 Your Life Plan 269 
 
 Current Thought — Scientific and Ethical 276 
 
 Agnosko — I Don't Know 282 
 
 The Great Problem 292 
 
 VI 
 BIOGRAPHY AND TRIBUTES 
 
 Biographical Sketch 303 
 
 Tributes 306 
 
I 
 
 SERMONS 
 
I 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 JESUS ONLY 
 
 "And they saw no man save Jesus only." — Matt, xvii: 8. 
 
 THE favored three disciples are upon the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration. The person of their Master has taken on an 
 appearance of splendor beyond the brightness of the noonday 
 sun. Moses and Elias, representatives of the legal and prophetic 
 times, have come into full view. They commune with Christ and 
 talk about His death, which should take place at Jerusalem. 
 From the midst of the cloud of encircling glory, there comes a 
 voice, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
 Instantly the scene vanishes, and of that splendid company Jesus 
 only remains. 
 
 One can easily perceive who was the chief figure in this 
 heavenly display. Moses and Elias are illustrious souls, most 
 distinguished actors on a former stage, but they are not the com- 
 manding objects of this exhibition and take a subordinate place. 
 Their glory is not the dazzling brilliance of the occasion. Their 
 presence does not furnish the unspeakable grandeur of the scene. 
 It is not of themselves they speak, nor of what they accomplished. 
 They veil their honors before Him who is greater than they, and 
 manifest their absorbing interest in His person by talking only of 
 that solemn event which should end His life of toil and humilia- 
 tion. They do obedience to Jesus and recognize Him as the 
 true lawgiver and prophet. Before this hour the disciples 
 
18 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 may have thought Moses and Elias to be equal in authority 
 and worthy of equal reverence with their Master. But now 
 they see these illustrious souls acknowledging their subjection 
 to Him, and that the glory which crowns their person is but the 
 reflection of His matchless splendor. Suddenly the visitors from 
 the spirit world disappear, the bright cloud is unseen, and there 
 is no man with them save Jesus only. 
 
 This, then, is my theme, "Jesus Only." In order that I may 
 fix it well in your hearts and minds, allow me to offer two obser- 
 vations : 
 
 First, Jesus only is the life and power of the Gospel; 
 
 Second, Jesus only is the climax of humanity and human 
 destiny. 
 
 I 
 
 Jesus only is the life and power of the Gospel. 
 
 There are two ways of viewing the Gospel. The one takes 
 it as the apprehension of truth on the part of a great mind, and 
 the struggling of a master spirit after what is the truest and 
 highest living. This makes the relation between Jesus and the 
 Gospel to be that which the poet bears to his poem, or the phil- 
 osopher to his philosophy. Either one may be taken separate 
 from the author. Each has a life and a reality of its own. John 
 Milton and "Paradise Lost" sustain the relation of poet and 
 poem. But the poem can be read and studied apart from any 
 special thought of its author. It has meaning and existence in- 
 dependent of the mind which wrought it out. Milton himself is 
 not the substance of what he wrote. Take any work in natural 
 science, such as Botany. This is an analysis and classification of 
 the species and genera in the vegetable kingdom. The scientific 
 truths involved are entirely distinct from the mind which per- 
 formed the difficult task of giving an orderly explanation of 
 plants and flowers. Whatever excellence there is in the science 
 of botany, it is independent of the human mind. The principles 
 of this science do not exist, and are not in force because a certain 
 scholar devised the scheme of classification. These have their 
 reality outside of every invention which the mind of man can 
 make. 
 
Jesus Only 19 
 
 The same is true with respect to any mechanical contrivance, 
 as, for example, the steam engine. This wonderful machine is 
 not so bound up in the person and character of the inventor that 
 it cannot exist without him. The inventor died long ago, and 
 nothing more has been seen of him in the world ; but the applica- 
 tion of steam in the useful arts still continues. The engine lives 
 on; others add improvements and increase its power; the latest 
 effort makes it better than any preceding one had left it. An 
 intimate relation, no doubt, exists between the producer and the 
 thing produced, but these may be separated without destroying 
 either the one or the other. 
 
 This, we are told by a certain class of critics and religionists, 
 is true of Jesus and the Gospel. The one is to be taken for what 
 He is in Himself, and the other is to be reckoned according to 
 its own intrinsic merits. The Gospel has life and power, but 
 these belong exclusively to itself and may be intensified by the 
 improvements of enlightened reason. Jesus takes his place in 
 history as one among many, perhaps the tallest, and His teach- 
 ings are to be classed among those of other religious guides, on 
 all of which the ingenuity of man is to exercise itself to bring 
 forth that perfect religion whose power will banish every form 
 of evil from the earth. 
 
 Jesus, it is affirmed by these thinkers, is dead, but that is 
 immaterial. His religion is no more dependent on Him for con- 
 tinuance in the world than is the philosophy of Plato on the 
 philosopher himself. With those who are teaching this view, it 
 is not "Jesus Only." 
 
 The other view, and we believe the true one, regards Christ 
 and His Gospel as inseparable. Their life and power are iden- 
 tical. The force of this apprehension becomes quite plain when 
 we raise the question : "Could the Gospel have been, under any 
 condition, without Christ ?" A people called the Jews might have 
 been without a man called Abraham. The children of Israel 
 could have been brought out of Egypt and led to the promised 
 land by somebody else than Moses. The law could have been 
 given on Sinai, and the whole ceremonial economy put into 
 practice, had the Hebrew babe cast on the bosom of the Nile 
 
20 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 perished. The triumph on Carmel could have been just as grand 
 had Elijah never been born. The Old Testament dispensation 
 would have existed just as it did, had none of those men who were 
 the principal agents in its development ever lived. The religion 
 of the decalogue, and the typical offerings were in no sense de- 
 pendent for their existence on either patriarch or prophet. 
 Moses and Elias may vanish from the human stage, but the 
 religious drama in which they played so conspicuous a part, still 
 goes on. Their life is not its life, and their power is not its 
 power over the hearts and consciences of men. It made their 
 character and history, but they did not make it what it was. It 
 was before them, and not they before it. It was the soul of their 
 religious experience, the fore-runner of its existence. And now, 
 can we speak after this fashion of Jesus and His religion? Is 
 there any sense in which the Gospel is independent of Christ? 
 Suppose He had never existed, would there today be such a 
 fact as Christianity? 
 
 What is the Gospel? Is it a system of rules for right living? 
 Is it a religious philosophy? Is it a set of moral truths? It is 
 none of these. The Gospel is a person, and the life of that person. 
 Take these away, and how much is there left? What an empty 
 something remains? Nay, rather, what an utter nothing? I 
 grant there may be remnants of a few moral truths pointing to 
 our duties to one another and to God. But of the reality we call 
 the Gospel, after the abstraction of Jesus and His life, what is 
 left for us? No! I will not grant that even anything remains. 
 Take those moral precepts just mentioned. In whom do we find 
 them realized ? Whose life exhibits them to us in their full beauty 
 and power? Who shows us how to love our neighbor as our- 
 selves? Who proves and embodies the Golden Rule? Who 
 unveils to the human heart the loveliness of those moral virtues 
 which glorify the perfect character? It is Jesus Only. 
 
 And He does all this, not by any wise sayings and profound 
 teachings, but by His person and life. When we wish to know 
 what righteousness is, we need only look at His character and 
 there we see it — not in the form of a bald abstraction, but in the 
 reality of a living power. When we desire to understand what 
 
Jesus Only 21 
 
 holiness is, we need only fix our eyes on His person to observe 
 what the philosophies and the wisest sayings of men never could 
 show us. Jesus is the divine expression of holiness. And if we 
 wish to learn what meekness is, or patience and good will, we 
 must take note of His life. Here these high virtues are radiant 
 in the perfect light. 
 
 The Gospel is not a discourse about the truth. It is the 
 truth. The Gospel is not a guide-book showing the way. It is the 
 way. The Gospel is not a treatise on the life. It is the life. 
 Likewise, Jesus is not merely a teacher of the truth, but He is 
 the truth. He is not merely a leader of the way, but He is the 
 way. He is not only an expounder of the life, but He is the life. 
 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 
 
 It is easy to perceive, therefore, that between Jesus and the 
 Gospel there is an actual oneness. The two are so intimate in 
 their connection that no separation of them can be made. The 
 person and life of the Nazarene constitute the Gospel. 
 
 I am not speaking of the book of the New Testament. That 
 is merely a record of the history of the divine person and life; 
 I am speaking of that which is independent of manuscripts and 
 books. Where do we find the Gospel? Only in Jesus. There 
 is no other one who has embodied it in his history. The Apostles 
 did not, eminent as some of them were. No man has ever thought 
 that either Paul or Peter were the Gospel, or that in their person 
 and life it first found its reality. On the other hand, every one 
 must know, that, until Jesus came, the Gospel, as we have it, was 
 unknown, and the moment He appeared it was here. Observe 
 how the New Testament always speaks of Christ and the Gospel, 
 and how evident it makes the fact that the religion of Jesus is 
 not what He believed, or had learned as true, but what He is 
 himself. John declares that in Jesus is life, and the life is the 
 light of man. Christ Himself says, "I am the resurrection and 
 the life. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and 
 they are life." 
 
 To divorce Jesus from His religion is to destroy it utterly, 
 and this means that Christianity without Christ is simply an 
 impossibility. What is it that makes the Gospel so quickening, 
 
22 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 so full of life, while other religions are dead? That it has such 
 might is evident. It is affirmed to be the power of God unto 
 salvation. The Gospel certainly is power. It has so proven 
 itself. It reaches the hearts of men. It moves their consciences. 
 It stirs their souls. It brings out the penitential tear. It pros- 
 trates the sinner in humble confession before God. What a 
 mighty influence it wielded over Paul ! How it turned him from 
 an enemy of the Cross to a proclaimer of its glory ! How it 
 spurred him on in his missionary toils over lands, across seas, 
 through great cities, and among the dangers of heathendom! 
 How it animated his whole life, and made him to be a very angel 
 of light! 
 
 Talk about power ! What has swayed the consciences of men 
 like the Gospel ? What has cleaved asunder the darkness of sin ? 
 What has swept back the masses of heathenism? What has 
 lifted up the whole human family, and made a new era of better 
 achievements and better work and happier years than any of the 
 pagan past? What mighty power is it which has proven itself 
 an over-match for all the evil forces, and quickened into new life 
 millions of souls ? The Gospel. And this is a living power. Not 
 the power of the storm or sea, nor human strength and wisdom, 
 but the power of Him who calmed the wild waves ; the power 
 of Him who called Lazarus from the grave; the power 
 of Him who gave peace to the troubled, sinful woman who 
 bathed His feet with her tears. It is the living, almighty power 
 of Jesus and Jesus only. Take Him away and the Gospel would 
 be the weakest, most miserable failure of which men could con- 
 ceive. 
 
 But it is Jesus only, not human reason, that is the way, the 
 truth and the life. It is Jesus only, not the theologies of men, nor 
 the deep thoughts of the human mind, that is the life and power 
 of Christianity. Sweep away all expositions of men, all 
 creeds, all patriarchs, prophets and apostles, still Jesus and His 
 Gospel remain. There is still the same life and power, the same 
 love, the same resurrection, the same Jesus able to save unto the 
 uttermost. 
 
Jesus Only 23 
 
 II 
 
 Again, Jesus only is the climax of humanity and human 
 destiny. 
 
 Man has a climax. The lion which passes his life mainly in 
 watching for his prey, has no goal beyond the eating of flesh. 
 The beaver, which from generation to generation builds his dam 
 with the same skill, never rises to a higher sphere. Yonder eagle 
 which builds its nest on the highest point in the craggy rock, is 
 still the same eagle from one age to another. In these realms 
 there is no development, no mounting from the lower to the 
 higher. It is the same flapping of the wings, the same flight, the 
 same life. The lion, the beaver, the eagle make for themselves 
 no history. 
 
 On the other hand, man has a goal. He weaves for himself 
 a history. By examining his thoughts during these thousands 
 of years, we find among them many of every age which are 
 reflections of a better time coming and a happier lot. While there 
 has been the consciousness of serious imperfections clinging to 
 his life, still, at the same time, there has been the expectation of 
 a day when he will have wiped out blemishes from his character, 
 and have attained the highest summit of true manhood. Among 
 the creations of his imagination is to be found the figure of the 
 Ideal Man. The ideal is the conception of human nature, with- 
 out the slightest mark of frailty or blot of sin. It is the perfect 
 man — man as he wants to be, and ought to be. 
 
 But in the present case, what ought to be is not what might 
 have been or will be, but what is. Most of the conceptions, the 
 ideal creations of the human mind, do not find their counterpart 
 in the existence of a real, living object. But the conception of a 
 faultless, sinless man has found expression. It is not a sketch of 
 the imagination. It exists in a reality. The perfect man lives, 
 and this man is Jesus Christ. 
 
 We read in God's Book that Adam was a faultless man. He 
 was created in the divine image. This ' constituted his manhood, 
 and formed that excellence which marked him above every other 
 creature on the earth. There was no defect ; he was without fault 
 
24 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 or blemish — perfect. But Adam abandoned his innocence. The 
 beautiful image of God in him was disfigured, broken, lost. The 
 glory of his person was sadly marred, and the goodness of his 
 life blotted all over with sin. Nevertheless, the ideal man exists, 
 and he exists not as a creature of the imagination, but as a living 
 person. He is God's expression of highest manhood and human 
 excellence. He is God's Masterpiece. There is no inequality 
 between the idea and the object corresponding to this idea. The 
 real person is the exact expression of the ideal conception. 
 
 In the case of the human artist, this is not the fact. He puts 
 on canvas the picture in his soul, but the picture in his soul is 
 superior to the one he has painted with his brush. The figure 
 which the sculptor has carved in marble may be admirable, the 
 very triumph of artistic genius, but the figure which was in his 
 mind and was the model after which he carved, is greater and 
 better than what you see on the polished stone. The real does 
 not match the ideal. There is still room for improvement. It 
 is possible for some artist in some age of the world to excel the 
 sublimest work of any painter or sculptor of the past. 
 
 We cannot, however, say this of Jesus Christ. God has 
 exercised infinite wisdom and almighty power, shall I not say, 
 in their highest reach? to produce this man. In Him there is no 
 difference between what is possible to be, and what actually is. 
 God has expressed His idea of the perfect man in Jesus Christ, 
 not approximately, but exactly and most grandly. There can be 
 no advance on this effort, no improvement. The highest idea 
 of something which God has, is that which is most like Himself. 
 Jesus is most like God. He is the divinest man who can exist. 
 He embodies in Himself the highest possible good. He is the 
 manliest man who ever could be. You may picture a most happy 
 state for the race sometime in the future, you may imagine the 
 very highest type of human development and glory ; but nowhere 
 in the ages to come will there be a time when any one of the race 
 will have gone beyond Jesus. He is- the most God-like man. 
 With Him, the race in its upward growth must stop. Beyond 
 His greatness and splendor no one can go. 
 
Jesus Only 25 
 
 Take, if you please, a few particulars. There is no attribute 
 so much admired as love; there is none more beautiful or grand. 
 If you and I were to conceive of the noblest, greatest and best 
 man who could exist, we would think of one who is the very 
 embodiment of love, and whose life is love, simply giving out 
 continually in blessed deeds and holy work. God is love. This is 
 the grandeur of His being, the glory which enlightens this dwell- 
 ing place. The unapproachable light of the eternal ages is the 
 glory of infinite love. The infinite beauty of God is the beauty 
 of love; the infinite righteousness of God is the righteousness of 
 love; the infinite holiness of God is the holiness of love; the 
 infinite mercy of God is the mercy of love. There is nothing 
 greater than this. Whatever creature of God, therefore, comes 
 nearest to Him in love is most like Him. He is the noblest, the 
 grandest, the loftiest character in the reach of attainments. He 
 stands at the climax. 
 
 Is not Christ Jesus the very man whom I am describing ? Is 
 not His life the life of love? Is not His glory so transcendant 
 in power, the glory of love? Does love show itself in Him in 
 meagre degree ? Is it weak, changeable, and fitful in its motions ? 
 Who that is flesh of our flesh ever loved as He loves — so truly, 
 so deeply, with such unflinching devotion, with equal tender 
 sympathy? Who ever fulfilled that first and greatest of all the 
 commandments, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy 
 whole being," as He does? Who ever gave obedience to that 
 other command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," in its 
 widest comprehension, as He has done and is still doing? Who 
 ever has consecrated his whole life in the doing of good, like 
 Jesus? Who ever has taken into his company the guilty sinner 
 and forgiven the wretched penitent, like Jesus? If thou knowest 
 any other, speak his name. I pause for the revelation. None! 
 
 Then I proceed. Peter, His own disciple, denies Him and 
 repeats his denial with an oath; but Jesus looks at him — it 
 is the look of love. Peter never knew until that moment how 
 much his Master loved him, and how much more tenderly He 
 loved him than did father or mother. He then learned that Jesus 
 is love. 
 
26 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 But I must take you to Pilate's Hall. The Governor in his 
 official robe is there; the holy priest is there. In their midst 
 stands Jesus. His accusers revile Him, but He reviles not again ; 
 they strike Him, but no frown gathers on His brow; they insult 
 Him with vile speech and mock Him in contempt, but He opens 
 not His mouth. Behold the man ! He has on His head a crown 
 of thorns ; He wears a purple robe placed on Him in mockery ; 
 they have tried to make Him an object of meanest contempt. 
 They mock Him and fling their jeers in His face. But who is 
 the man in that awful scene? Who stands there in the dignity 
 of royal manhood? Who, in the shame of that hour, shows Him- 
 self to be the Prince of Men? Jesus. 
 
 Put on Him, if you will, the scarlet robe of scorn ; place on 
 His head the crown of thorns; strike Him in the face and beat 
 Him until His visage is sadly marred, and you have made Plim, 
 as you think, an object of disgust; still Jesus is the manliest man 
 who ever walked the earth. His bearing is the noblest ; His pres- 
 ence the most inspiring ; His look the most animating ; His dignity 
 the most royal and He Himself the loveliest of Adam's race. 
 
 And if down there in Pilate's Hall, in the depths of shame, 
 He shows himself the greatest man on whom the sun has ever 
 shined, oh, what must He not be up yonder at God's right hand ! 
 
 It is said that Diogenes, the cynical philosopher, went 
 through the streets of Athens looking for a man, but in vain. 
 The man whom he was seeking was the one who would express 
 exactly his idea of what the people of this world ought to be. 
 Were Diogenes here, I could tell him where he could see the 
 man who immeasurably more than fills the highest conception of 
 a perfect humanity. I would show him the man of Nazareth. I 
 would say, "Look at Him as the winds and waves obey His word. 
 Look at Him as He stands at the grave of Lazarus, and calls 
 back the dead to life." I would say, "Behold Him in His sublime 
 appearing in Herod's court and Pilate's hall; and look at Him 
 on the Cross, and there see Jesus the man of men." I would take 
 him to Joseph's tomb, and there show him the same Jesus coming 
 forth from the sealed grave, humanity's first-born from the dead. 
 
 I would take him to the top of Olivet, that he might see the 
 
Jesus Only 27 
 
 risen One caught up into the clouds of heaven. I would put 
 him beside the dying Stephen, and show him the ascended Jesus 
 at the right hand of the Majesty on High, clothed with all power 
 and great glory. And then, I would say to him, "This is the man 
 for whom thou lookest. This is the man who never thought an 
 evil thought, or did an evil deed; whose character is without a 
 stain ; whose life is blameless, and who Himself is the greatest 
 expression of love. This is the man who is thy climax. Better 
 than He thou never canst be. Purer than He it is impossible 
 for thee to become. Lovelier than He thou art not able to appear. 
 Higher, thou canst not reach. He is at the summit of thy 
 loftiest manhood. He is the measure of thy immortality. 
 
THE NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME 
 
 "Wherefore, God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name 
 which is above every name." — Phil, ii: 4. 
 
 THE person of whom the Apostle here speaks is Jesus. The 
 fact to which he alludes is His ascension. While the Savior 
 was yet with His disciples, He several times intimated that He 
 would shortly be parted from them. In the parable of the noble- 
 man going into a far country to receive a kingdom, we have an 
 allusion of this kind ; and also in the familiar saying, "I go to 
 prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye may be also." 
 When the resurrection had taken place and the Savior had ap- 
 peared to Mary, He said, "Touch me not, for I have not yet 
 ascended to my Father." During many days afterward, He made 
 repeated manifestations of Himself to His disciples. 
 
 In this wise, they were forcibly assured that their Master, 
 who had been put to death on the Cross, was with them again. 
 So deeply were they impressed with the fact of His living pres- 
 ence, that the fondest expectations were awakened in their hearts, 
 and they began to inquire of Him, "Wilt Thou at this time restore 
 again the kingdom of Israel?" 
 
 At the end of these forty days, He led them to Mount Olivet, 
 just outside the city of Jerusalem, and there, having breathed on 
 them His blessing, was taken up before them, while a cloud re- 
 ceived Him out of their sight. "As they looked steadfastly 
 toward heaven, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, 
 and said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? 
 This same Jesus who is taken up from you shall so come in like 
 manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' " 
 
 Just what transpired beyond the cloud, the sacred writer has 
 not stated, but we may well conjecture, that it was a scene grand, 
 beyond the power of the human mind to conceive. The Son of 
 
The Name Above Every Name 29 
 
 God had been absent, in a world of sin; He had endured the 
 shame of the Cross, and was now returning to the bosom of the 
 Father, the Mighty Conqueror of death and the grave. All 
 heaven is moved. The Captain of our salvation is approaching 
 the Celestial City, leading captivity captive. As He draws near, 
 thousands of angels receive Him with the jubilant shout, "Lift 
 up your heads, O, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting 
 doors, and the king of glory shall come in." From within is heard 
 the inquiry, "Who is this king of glory?" The response goes up 
 from the vast multitude, "The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, 
 mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O, ye gates, even lift them 
 up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in." 
 Again the inquiry is heard, "Who is this king of glory?" Again 
 the shout goes up, "The Lord of Hosts, He is the king of glory." 
 
 It was an illustrious day in the heavenly world. Previously 
 there had been great occasions, but none to equal the present one 
 in grandeur. When the work of creation was finished, and 
 all the sons of God shouted together for joy, in celebration of the 
 glorious event, it was a memorable event in the annals of heaven. 
 When the prince of angels lifted his hand against Jehovah, and 
 dared to resist the Almighty, and for his rebellion was cast down 
 from the celestial heights, it was a notable day in the spirit world. 
 And when at last the Son of God descended from heaven, and 
 dwelt in human flesh it was to the principalities and powers of 
 heaven, a mighty occasion. But vastly grander was the day, when, 
 having conquered the prince of darkness, and robbed the grave of 
 its victory, He entered the eternal city in the greatness of His 
 strength, mighty to save. It was indeed the high jubilee time of 
 the ages. Then the harpers tuned their harps anew, and the 
 singers, with voices loud as mighty thunders, shouted, "Bless- 
 ing and honor, and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon 
 the throne and unto the Lamb forever." 
 
 This leads me to ask your attention to some words about 
 the glory of the Lord's exaltation. Two thoughts will help us 
 to gain at least a faint conception of its distinguished character : 
 First, the depth from which He was raised. Second, the heighth 
 to which He was exalted. 
 
30 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 I 
 
 The depth from which He was raised. 
 
 In order that we may have a right impression of the lowli- 
 ness of Christ's estate on earth, we must bear in mind who He 
 was. One of the Gospels describes Him as the person who "in 
 the beginning was with God, and was God, by whom all things 
 were made." In another place He is represented as the "bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person, 
 in whom are hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." By 
 one of the prophets He is described as, "Wonderful, Counsellor, 
 the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." 
 By one of the apostles He is styled, "the image of the invisible 
 God, the Creator of all things in heaven and earth, visible and 
 invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities 
 or powers." In these Scriptures the dignity of His person, as well 
 as the excellence of His nature, is distinctly announced. It is 
 the divine glory which is His rightful possession. 
 
 In the light of this fact His condescension is, indeed, remark- 
 able. The only begotten of the Father became flesh and dwelt 
 among us. He made himself of no reputation. In His advent 
 He observed the most humble manner. There was no pomp or 
 parade of wealth, such as is common with the great ones of the 
 earth, when to them a child is born. It was amidst simple sur- 
 roundings in a retired village, and still more, in a humble inn. 
 Without the trumpet's sound and the compliments of kings, He 
 first showed Himself to the world. Throughout His life of thirty- 
 three years the splendors of the Deity were veiled. While He 
 asserted on many important occasions His divinity, and, in His 
 teachings and by His works evidenced Himself the God of 
 Heaven, still the full glory of His person was concealed from the 
 sight of men. Only once, and then to a chosen few on the Mount 
 of Transfiguration, did He show forth something of the fullness 
 of the brightness of His Godhead, and make Himself to be of 
 reputation. 
 
 During His ministerial course He appeared as a servant, and 
 endured the hateful opposition of His would-be masters. He 
 was not in the world to be ministered unto, but to minister to all 
 
The Name Above Every Name 31 
 
 classes — the needy, the sick, the poor, the suffering, the weary, 
 the heavy laden. Last of all He became obedient to death, even 
 the death of the Cross. It was a shameful end with which He 
 met. "He came to His own, and His own received Him not." 
 He was cast out, despised and rejected. He was charged 
 with the greatest offense, though He always went about doing 
 good. He was insulted and spit upon, beaten and condemned. 
 He was taken to Golgotha, the death-place of murderers, and there 
 hung on a cross between two thieves. While His agony was most 
 intense, He was jeered at and crucified with wicked hands. To 
 see the depth of this humiliation, we must think how far from 
 God sin is ; how unlike Deity it is ; that it is everlastingly against 
 Him, and is the essence of all wickedness and corruption. At the 
 same time we must remember who it was that assumed the 
 fashion of the sinful man, that kept company with publicans, and 
 sympathized with sinners ; was persecuted, tempted, betrayed, 
 and bore the shame of the accursed tree. Only then can we begin 
 to understand how low He stooped ; what was the depth of that 
 abasement He experienced while dwelling in the flesh. From 
 such deep humiliation God raised up Jesus, far above all princi- 
 palities and powers, and might and dominion. 
 
 II 
 
 The heighth to which He was raised. 
 
 In the world beyond, it is the clear intimation of Scripture, 
 there are various orders of being. These are wonderful in 
 power and glorious in excellence. They excel in strength and 
 attain the dignity of gods in wisdom. Their greatness rises 
 immeasurably beyond that of any people on earth, and their 
 rulers sit invested with a glory which far transcends the most 
 brilliant splendor of earthly monarchs. Higher than these hath 
 God exalted Christ. "For unto which of the angels said He at 
 any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten Thee ? When 
 He bringeth in the first-born, He saith, and let all the angels of 
 God worship Him. And of the angels He saith, Who maketh 
 His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto 
 the Son He saith, Thy throne O God, is forever and ever." 
 
32 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 There have been distinguished names among men; some 
 noted for wisdom, some for knowledge, some for power. There 
 have been names at whose mention the foundations of the world 
 have shaken, millions have raised the shout of loudest acclaim, 
 and other millions have quaked with fear ; names which are taken 
 as the embodiment of all earthly greatness, and around which 
 encircles a halo of illustrious glory. And, no doubt, in the angelic 
 world, there are names which hold entranced the powers of all 
 heaven ; names venerated and lauded to the skies ; names whose 
 very sound carries with it a peculiar charm; names which tell 
 of extensive exploits, famous deeds, surpassing wisdom, and 
 amazing knowledge. 
 
 And yet, far above every name that is mentioned, not only 
 in this world, but in that which is to come, God has exalted the 
 name of the lowly Nazarene. He has indeed given Him a name 
 which is above every name. He has distinguished Him pre- 
 eminently. This He has done in several ways. 
 
 First, God has assigned to Him the office of Mediator. 
 This in itself is a notable position, and crowns Him who fills it 
 with a most illustrious distinction. To all others, this dignity 
 has been denied. However lofty Gabriel may be, whatever honor 
 he may have won among the angelic orders, still he could in no- 
 wise be suitable to serve as daysman, nor could he ever aspire 
 amid the splendor of his achievement, to mediate between the 
 holy God and a wicked world. Even though he stands at the head 
 of the heavenly legions, and shines with dazzling brightness 
 among the stars of the eternal firmament, yet God has chosen 
 Another, who was made a little lower than the angels for the 
 suffering of death, and has crowned Him with the honor of 
 Mediator in the moral universe. And this is the name which He 
 now bears ; a name which no other, not even the Father himself, 
 could wear; a name which ever magnifies Him before the holy 
 angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. 
 
 But, secondly, God has also called Him by another name, 
 even more peculiar and significant. When the angels appeared 
 to Joseph, the husband of Mary, he said, "Thou shalt call His 
 name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." 
 
The Name Above Every Name 33 
 
 "Jesus, the name that calms our fears, 
 
 That bids our sorrows cease, 
 
 'Tis music in the sinner's ears, 
 
 'Tis life and health and peace. 
 
 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, 
 
 In a believer's ear! 
 It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 
 
 And drives away his fear." 
 
 Jesus the dearest, sweetest, grandest name, this is the name 
 which God gave to His only begotten Son. It is above every 
 name. There is none so precious, none so great. It is the name 
 which justice honors; the name in which mercy takes highest 
 delight; the name which eternal love rejoices to glorify. It 
 attracts universal attention. It is heard with the holiest joy by 
 the sinful and perishing. It interests with deepest thought the 
 seraphic companies of heaven. It is the theme of that mighty 
 anthem of praise whose highest strain is : "Unto Him who loved 
 us, and washed us from our sins in His blood, and hath made us 
 kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and 
 dominion forever and ever." 
 
 But the Scriptures further describe the exaltation of Christ 
 by saying, "God set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly 
 places." It is the common understanding of all times that the 
 right hand is the symbol of preference. Long ago, when Isaac 
 had grown old and would bless his sons, it was his choice to have 
 the elder on his right hand, and the younger on his left, because 
 he meant the greatest blessing for the first-born. Likewise, when 
 mention is made of standing at God's right hand, as when it is 
 said, "the righteous shall appear on the right, and the wicked on 
 the left" — the divine preference is tendered. So, also, we under- 
 stand that setting Christ on the right hand of God signifies the 
 highest glory. It is accounted a rare privilege, a higher honor 
 to be admitted into the presence of kings, and to sit with them 
 at their table. But all such royal notice is nothing in comparison 
 with the exalted honor of standing in the presence of the Great 
 King, and being seated at His own right hand. The honor, hence, 
 which God has bestowed on the crucified Nazarene, in raising 
 
34 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Him to a seat at His own right hand, outreaches the lofty dis- 
 tinction of the Archangel who dwells at the very foot of God's 
 throne. Jesus stands, not before the throne a humble servant of 
 the Most High, but He has been given a seat at the right hand 
 of the Majesty in the heavens. His happiness is infinitely com- 
 plete. He holds a place that is immeasurably nearer the great 
 Father than angels can occupy. He is ever in the full blaze of 
 the divine light, and imbibes, as no other can, the fullness of 
 joy and the pleasures that are at God's right hand forevermore. 
 
 But the right hand of God is also an emblem of authority. 
 This is the general idea suggested when hands and arms are 
 attributed to God, since it is with these that our strength is mainly 
 exerted. The right hand is more commonly used, and is a more 
 powerful instrument than the left. The session of our Savior 
 at the right hand of God signifies that God has exalted Him to 
 authority and dominion. "Hereafter," said Christ to the Jewish 
 council, "shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand 
 of power." The Psalmist speaks of the same fact on this wise, 
 "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit Thou on my right hand, until 
 I make thine enemies Thy footstool." Daniel in his night vision 
 thus describes the scene, "Behold, one like the Son of man came 
 with the clouds of heaven, and drew near to the ancient of days. 
 And there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom 
 that all people and nations should serve. His dominion is an 
 everlasting dominion that shall not pass away." And the Savior 
 Himself, previous to His ascension, informed His disciples : "All 
 power is give unto me both in heaven and on earth." Paul ex- 
 presses the same truth in the text, "Wherefore, God hath highly 
 exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, 
 that, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
 heaven and things on earth, and that every tongue should con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." 
 
 Exalted station! Raised far above all principality and 
 power, and every name that is named, and made to be head over 
 all things to the Church which is His body ; the fullness of Him 
 that filleth all in all. Resplendent dignity ! "I have set my King 
 upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord 
 
The Name Above Every Name 35 
 
 hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten 
 Thee : Ask of me and I will give Thee the heathen for thine 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possess- 
 ion." Jesus is King : He wields the scepter of universal power ; 
 He has put all enemies under His feet, and lives to save the lost. 
 
 "Jesus reigns, and heaven rejoices; 
 Jesus reigns, the God of love; 
 See He sits on yonder throne; 
 Jesus rules the world alone. 
 
 King of glory reign forever; 
 
 Thine an everlasting crown; 
 Nothing from Thy love shall sever 
 
 Those whom Thou hast made Thine own. 
 
 Soon with golden harps we'll sing, 
 Glory, Glory to our King." 
 
 Truly Jesus has been highly exalted. Once poor, having 
 nowhere to lay His head, cast out, scourged and crucified ; now 
 invested with all power, to whom saints and angels alike are 
 subject, the King of kings; once in the manger, now on the 
 throne ; once rejected, now admired by the heavenly powers; once 
 in Herod's court, a prisoner, now in heaven, governor of all 
 things ; once before Pilate, accused of sin, now in the heavenly 
 places receiving the acclamation of the just: "Holy, Holy, Holy, 
 art Thou, O Lord God Almighty ;" once in the garden of sorrow, 
 now on the heighths of divine glory; once on the Cross, now at 
 the right hand of God ; once in the grave, now in the bosom of 
 the Father. 
 
 "Jesus, hail, enthroned in glory, 
 
 There forever to abide, 
 All the heavenly host adore Thee 
 Seated at the Father's side. 
 
 There for sinners Thou art pleading, 
 
 There Thou dost our place prepare; 
 Ever for us interceding, 
 
 Till in glory we appear." 
 
36 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 What comfort here for you and me, my brother! Hard 
 pressed as we are by sin, cast down in soul as we often find our- 
 selves, despondent, disheartened — what cheer in the great fact 
 that God hath highly exalted Jesus! That mighty lifting up of 
 Christ is for us. We, too, shall be lifted up at last. We shall be 
 sharers of our Savior's glory. Our destiny is the exaltation of 
 Jesus. Desponding soul, cheer up. What if there are trials, and 
 sorrows, and reproaches, and the battle of life goes hard? God 
 hath highly exalted pur Lord Jesus. This is the pledge of 
 Almighty God that you and I, though sinners, shall at last be 
 lifted up out of the depths of our woe, and be acknowledged be- 
 fore all the universe as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. 
 
 Cheer up, my brother, God hath highly exalted Jesus. This 
 is the guarantee that all things are ours, whether life, or death, 
 things present or things to come. Rejoice, my brother. "Who 
 is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that 
 is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God making inter- 
 cession for us." Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
 nor heighth, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to 
 destroy our hope. 
 
THE PREACHING OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED 
 
 "But we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and 
 unto Gentiles foolishness, but unto them that are called, both Jews and 
 Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." — I Cor. i: 23, 24. 
 
 THIS is a very positive saying. It is the speech of the Apostle 
 Paul. There is left no room for doubt as to whether he 
 put the tradition of men on a level with the Gospel, or the grand 
 theme of salvation above the science of the wise. However dark 
 some of his teachings may be; however deep and hard of com- 
 prehension many of his arguments in support of Christian doc- 
 trine; still, this statement at once gives rise to a clearly denned 
 impression, and tells us where he stood, and what was the busi- 
 ness of his life. 
 
 Although a very unassuming man, claiming for himself no 
 excellency of speech or wisdom of words, yet he does not hesitate 
 to say what to him was the matter of highest concern, assuring 
 the Corinthians that he determined not to know anything among 
 them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well versed in the 
 law of his fathers, familiar with Gentile literature, skilled in all 
 the learning of his day, still his aim was not to entertain with 
 learned remarks or smooth, well-rounded sentences. A man who 
 in eloquence could stand by the side of the most powerful orators 
 of ancient or modern times, yet he never sought to stir the feel- 
 ings and move the souls of men simply to win the crown of fame. 
 
 Endowed with intellectual power of no ordinary degree, able 
 to penetrate to the very depths of the profoundest themes, he was 
 wont to handle and to uphold by irresistible argument the doc- 
 trines of his faith. He was a master in the field of debate; a 
 giant in the moral conflict of his day; a very Sampson in the 
 intellectual forum; yet he never talked to astonish, never wrote 
 to make a display, never reasoned to show his logical skill. A 
 
38 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 prominent figure in the great drama of that day, yet he never 
 put himself in the foreground where his own figure would be the 
 most conspicuous, or attract universal attention; but he took a 
 position in the background, in the shadow of the divine form of 
 Jesus Christ, to whom he ever pointed with urgency as the hope 
 of a ruined world. But one aim guided his course; one end ruled 
 his life, and that was not to exalt himself, but to tell the story of 
 the Cross. Did he cease to be an enemy to our blessed religion? 
 It was to be its strongest advocate. Did he submit to hardship, 
 suffer persecution? It was to proclaim the riches of grace. Did 
 he jeopardize his life for the Gospel's sake? Did he appear be- 
 fore Felix, stand in the presence of Agrippa, go to Rome and in 
 his clanking chains tread the palace of the Caesar? Did he toil 
 and struggle and die the martyr's death? It was only to preach 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 
 
 But, alas ! He made a grave mistake ! So some would main- 
 tain. Instead of preaching the Nazarene as a mighty conqueror 
 who had come to rebuild the throne of David, wield the scepter 
 of world-wide sway, and bring back the glory of the elder days, 
 he comes before the descendants of Abraham to present to them 
 a crucified Jesus. Of course, such a Gospel was a stumbling- 
 block and a rock of offense. Instead of telling men that Jesus 
 of Nazareth was a very wise philosopher, a logician of great 
 mental power, a genius who worked out a new system of truth, 
 a system that will culture and refine the race, lift up the fallen, 
 ennoble and set the wheels of progress in an upward track, a 
 new philosophy that contains sage remarks about nature, and 
 gives an original theory, showing how this world of ours happens 
 to exist, how man came to be what he is, a creature erect in form 
 and able to think and able to reason himself from a weak child 
 of nature to an immortal son of the unknown God; instead of 
 expatiating on the virtues of the illustrious Galilean, His tender- 
 ness and sympathy, His wise teaching and noble life; instead of 
 comparing Him with Socrates, showing wherein He excelled Soc- 
 rates and Socrates excelled Him, and presenting Him to the world 
 as an example most fit for imitation ; — instead of all this, the 
 Apostle preaches Christ crucified ! Of course, this was the height 
 
The Preaching of Christ Crucified 39 
 
 of foolishness! A mistake, did I say? No! the very keynote of 
 our Christianity is Christ crucified. A mistake? Let the Christian 
 history of nineteen hundred years answer; the thousands who 
 died at the stake for the Gospel of the Cross ; the millions whose 
 life of devotion, of faith and of hope, attest the truth of our re- 
 ligion. A mistake? Let Paul, the aged, himself answer: "I 
 have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there 
 is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." "I know whom I 
 have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that 
 which I have committed unto Him against that day." 
 
 I 
 
 If now the question is raised, "Why should the preacher in 
 his preaching know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified?" the 
 answer must be, first, because Christ crucified is the wisdom of 
 God. 
 
 No one who believes in an intelligent Creator, for a moment 
 doubts that the various kingdoms of nature are, as to themselves 
 and to one another, well arranged. Everywhere the surest signs 
 appear to show that the Creator's workmanship is very, very 
 good. The rose which blooms for a day only is faultless in shape, 
 most perfect in its delicate shades of color, and so never fails to 
 please ; showing how wisely it was made. The veteran oak, 
 which stands with roots deep down in the earth, and its top raised 
 to the clouds, stately in form and complete in development, re- 
 veals the intelligence of its unseen Master. The bow that spans 
 the eastern or western sky, giving the finest touches of the artist's 
 hand, so brilliant, so beautiful, displays the perfection of the di- 
 vine Painter, who paints to please alike angel and man. The bee 
 that builds its cell so wonderful, each time without a mistake, 
 shows how very wise is He who taught it what to do. And what 
 a piece of work is man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in 
 faculties ! in form and moving how express and admirable ! in 
 action how like an angel ! in apprehension how like a God ! ever 
 proclaiming the wisdom of Him who, out of the clay, made him 
 to be a living soul. All nature speaks but one story; the valleys 
 
40 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 and the hills, the mountains and the plains, the earth and its 
 myriad forms of life, show forth the perfection of their cause. 
 Likewise, "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
 ment showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, 
 and night unto night showeth knowledge." Truly must it be 
 said, "In wisdom, O Lord, hast thou made all things." 
 
 But if the fact that creation glorifies its Maker makes mani- 
 fest the wisdom of God, what shall we say of Christ crucified, 
 who is the glory of the wondrous plan of redemption? In this 
 great scheme the moral perfections of God are revealed in highest 
 grandeur. Nowhere else is there such a display of divine love 
 as in the plan of salvation, and by nothing in this world is there 
 such a sublime expression of God's mercy as by the Cross of 
 Calvary. Roll back nineteen hundred years and go to the humble 
 crib at Bethlehem. Behold a child laid in a manger. It is God's 
 well beloved Son you see. He left heaven, came down to earth, 
 and made His appearance in the form of a sinful man. Such 
 humiliation, such abasement ! the great God a child on earth ! who 
 can understand it ? How far He came ; how low He stooped ! 
 down from the heavenly heighth, from the bosom of His eternal 
 Father to a tenement of clay, to mortals perishing and lost ! how 
 wide the distance ! how vast the interval ! When looking out on 
 nature, you are forced to exclaim, "The earth is full of the good- 
 ness of the Lord." But, oh, what goodness shines forth from that 
 little manger ! a goodness that you never see in manor, angel, or 
 in the thousands of worlds that roll through immensity. Here is 
 the exhibition of a love that Gabriel never knew, though he had 
 lived untold ages amid the glories of the heavenly world, walked 
 and talked unceasingly with the Maker of his spirit, and imbibed 
 the fullness of God. 
 
 But more! Go forward thirty years, and you see this Son 
 of God, the good and loving Man of Nazareth, healing the sick, 
 curing the blind, cleansing the lepers, making the deaf to hear, 
 the lame to walk, raising the dead, filling the sorrowful with joy, 
 lifting up the poor, pouring out His soul in deepest tenderness 
 and sympathy, despised and rejected, yet weeping for the people 
 of His choice, a poor man, having nowhere to lay His head, 
 
The Preaching of Christ Crucified 41 
 
 slandered and persecuted, yet toiling on that His enemies might 
 live to be blest. Oh, was there ever love like this ; love so pure, 
 so holy? Had God in all the ages past ever so unbosomed Him- 
 self to His creatures, and allowed such a glorious display of the 
 tenderest feeling of His great heart? If the mighty angel was 
 astonished when God sent His only begotten Son into the world, 
 what must have been his feelings when he saw this beloved Son 
 entering into the woes of sinful men, making Himself of no 
 reputation, going down into the vilest pit, bringing out the 
 diseased and dying, infusing into them a new life, and sending 
 them on their way rejoicing, and giving glory to God in the 
 highest. Well might the angel join with us in saying, "Oh, for 
 such love let rocks and hills their lasting silence break." 
 
 But there is still a greater wonder. Look toward the hill of 
 Calvary. Behold the incarnate Son of God, the Man of sorrows 
 and acquainted with grief, nailed to the Cross by wicked men, 
 and crucified. Behold Him bleeding. See how He suffers. It 
 is He who is so kind and good, who weeps for poor sinners and 
 prays, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
 Mocked and ridiculed ; shamefully treated ; feeling an agony that 
 never can be told, there He hangs, the eternal Son of God, the 
 pure and loving one, dying, dying to save us wretched and guilty 
 sinners. Not a word of complaint, not a murmur does He utter ; 
 left alone, without fault or sin He dies. And now you must fix 
 your eyes on the Cross of Calvary. There you can see love, high 
 as heaven and deeper than hell ; love that astounds the mightiest 
 angels, love that overwhelms us sinful mortals and makes the 
 presence of God to be the blessed and unspeakable glory. 
 
 "Was it for crimes that I have done, 
 
 He groaned upon the tree? 
 
 Amazing pity, grace unknown 
 
 And love beyond degree ! 
 
 Well might the sun in darkness hide, 
 
 And shut his glories in, 
 When Christ the Mighty Maker died, 
 
 For man, the creature's sin." 
 
42 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 And now what greater display of His excellence could God 
 make, what more could He do to enhance His glory and make it 
 to appear still more awful to the kingdom of His vast empire? 
 Nothing. Do angels ask to see His glory ? He points them to the 
 Cross. Do devils hold jubilee over the fall of man and the work- 
 ings of sin? He conquers them by the power of the Cross. Do 
 sinners look for the surest pledge, and truest display of His love ? 
 He tells them of the Cross stained with His most precious blood. 
 Oh, my brother, is not Jesus Christ and Him crucified the wisdom 
 of God? 
 
 II 
 
 Another reason for preaching the Cross is that the crucified 
 Jesus is the power of God. There is a wondrous power to be 
 seen in the created works that daily attract our attention. This 
 is only physical might, and would appear just as grand had the 
 Son of God never tabernacled in the flesh. But there is another 
 power of God, a moral, saving power which redemption brings 
 to light. Look at the history of the case. Satan had founded a 
 kingdom on earth, sin had enslaved the race and held jubilee over 
 the victory, while death reigned with undisputed sway. If man 
 would live again, this kingdom must be destroyed. Satan must 
 be routed, sin must be disarmed, death must be vanquished. But 
 how can it be done? Can the captive break his chains? Can he 
 rise up in a strength that bids defiance to every foe, march to the 
 throne of his oppressor, drive him from his seat and restore this 
 world of tears and pain to the paradise of old? Can the diseased 
 and dying sinner reason out a method by which he can make him- 
 self whole and alive? What can the dead man see? Why the 
 poor sinner has been trying to find a way to Paradise for five 
 thousand years and more, and where is he today? In the grasp 
 of sin. No. Reason, powerful as it is, is not able to perform the 
 mighty work. Philosophy, wise and profound as it is, can never 
 tell man what is his disease, much less prescribe a remedy. God 
 only knew what must and could be done. And so He sent His 
 Son. He came. First, He encountered the prince of darkness 
 in the desert, then met him in the garden, and last on the Cross, 
 
The Preaching of Christ Crucified 43 
 
 in the agonies of death, in triumphant conflict bruised the serpent's 
 head, spoiled principalities and powers, and shook the whole 
 kingdom of darkness to its very center. He died and was locked 
 in a tomb of stone. Death raised the cry of victory, shouting, 
 "I have pursued and triumphed and the spoils are mine. Come 
 on, ye routed legions, to the feast." But, lo ! the earth begins to 
 quake, the massive stone rolls from the sepulcher's door, the 
 crucified Jesus bursts the bars of death, He rises, and He rises 
 in the power of the Mighty God, and leads captivity captive. 
 Where now is the foolishness of preaching the Cross? Is not 
 the weakness of God stronger than men? What man could not 
 do, what an angel could not undertake, the God-man not only 
 undertook, but carried forward to a glorious end, breaking the 
 chains which bound the sinner, setting the prisoner free, and then, 
 going up before His Father to declare, "I am He that liveth, and 
 was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." Well could all 
 heaven cry out as the conqueror was nearing His throne, "Lift 
 up your heads, O, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting 
 doors, and the King of glory shall come in." 
 
 And now, whence comes the religion that has blest the world 
 with light and life? Whence the Christianity that has torn down 
 the temples of idolatry, built the altars of holy worship, set the 
 nations on the highway of true progress, and is, today, raising 
 mankind to a nobler, better sphere? Whence, I ask, has come 
 this Christianity that has passed through storm and battle, and 
 today wields an influence over all the kingdoms of the world? 
 From the crucified Jesus. Is it not wonderful? What man ever 
 founded a religion as He did ? Who, like Him, was put to death, 
 while His doctrine survived, extended its sway, and brought under 
 control nation after nation until it became the master of the 
 world? Would you put Him beside a Confucius, a Buddha, or 
 a Mohamet? Is He nothing more than they? Is He not the 
 power of God? Do you suppose that the teachings or life of a 
 wise man could be preached for a hundred years, and yet chain 
 the attention of high and low, ignorant and learned; melt the 
 hardest heart to tenderness and subdue the vilest passion of the 
 soul? And yet the simple story of Jesus crucified has interested 
 
44 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the world for nineteen hundred years. You and I have heard this 
 same story that Peter told on the day of Pentecost, a hundred 
 times and more, and did we ever grow weary of it? Is it not 
 as interesting today as ever ; yea, sweeter and more precious than 
 when it first fell on our ears? It never grows old. The poor 
 restless sinner, even in the trouble and hurry of a sinful life, will 
 stop to hear it told him, time and again. There is something in 
 this story that just suits his case, and moves him, he knows not 
 exactly why. It draws and woos, though he be the chief of sin- 
 ners. What crowding there has been around the hill of Calvary ! 
 How many thousands have come to look, to listen, to wonder, 
 and to find rest! Some, it is true, have been there to sneer, to 
 mock, and perhaps in the end to pray; but the weary ones of 
 humanity, the heavy laden are there because they cannot stay 
 away; it is such a blessed, heavenly place. Do you remember 
 what Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men 
 unto me." Yes, He has been drawing all men unto Him these 
 many centuries, and still Pie is drawing, and still they come. 
 
 Wise men of our day talk much about human methods of 
 salvation. But what man, however great and strong, ever saved 
 a soul? If it is such an easy matter as some would have us be- 
 lieve, surely at this late day it should be well known. 
 
 But I can tell you of a person who is able to save sinners 
 of every grade. He saved David, a great sinner before God. He 
 saved Magdalene, a perishing soul. He saved Saul of Tarsus, 
 the Pharisee. He saved Simon Peter who denied Him in the 
 presence of His enemies. Mighty to save! Behold that great 
 company whom no man can number, gathered from every kindred 
 and tribe, from the North and the South, from the East and the 
 West, sitting down together in the Kingdom of God; justified, 
 sanctified, shouting, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto 
 Thy name be all the glory." Mighty to save. 
 
 Who is it that has changed the sinner into a saint; given 
 him the victory in the day of battle, and raised him far above the 
 scenes of earth unto the heavenly places? And who is it that has 
 brought you and me out of the course of this world and set our 
 faces heavenward, put a new song into our mouths, even praises 
 
The Preaching of Christ Crucified 45 
 
 unto the most High, and made us to be fellow-citizens with the 
 saints and with the household of God ? I know you have but one 
 answer — Jesus, who was crucified, rose from the dead, and ever 
 lives to rescue perishing sinners. 
 
THE ONLY SOURCE OF LIFE 
 
 "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal 
 life." — John vi: 68. 
 
 WORDS of eternal life!" What are they? They are spirit 
 and they are life. "Eternal life !" The priceless good ! 
 We seek it, we long for it, we hunger for it. "Words of eternal 
 life!" Where can we hear them ? Who can speak them ? Whence 
 are they to be gotten? 
 
 To these inquiries two answers are given. The first is that of 
 the wisdom of this world ; the second, that of the Apostle Peter. 
 
 The natural man deems himself sufficient in the exercise of 
 his natural powers for any undertaking. He thinks he is not 
 seriously disabled. He can prosecute the most momentous enter- 
 prises to a successful end. He can attain, single handed, alone, 
 the perfect refinement of his nature, and an immortality of an un- 
 speakable glory. His idea is that human development is obtained 
 through a process of education which runs from birth till death. 
 The all-necessary action is strict obedience to the laws of nature ; 
 laws which pertain not only to the physical, but more especially 
 to those moral rules which govern men and their ways. In such 
 a process, namely, that of natural education, are to be found the 
 words of eternal life. 
 
 However, one needs only to open one's eyes to see that this 
 teaching of human thought comes far short of the truth. It may 
 be pleasing to the natural man to put out of court the spiritual 
 nature in ourselves, and then go on to conceive fairy notions of 
 the proud independence of the human creature and his inherent 
 power to do all things needful for getting the highest good — the 
 good which satisfies the needs of his immortal soul. But this is 
 sheerest fancy. Man has in him the spiritual. The worldly 
 wise may go on in their way of wisdom and leave out entirely 
 the higher facts of human nature, or mention them as the fruits 
 of superstition ; but still the irresistible dignity of the human being 
 abides. 
 
The Only Source of Life 47 
 
 "Superstition," they say. But who is superstitious? Is it 
 the diamond, so valuable as a product of nature? Is it the lion, 
 the beaver, or the eagle? No, only man. And what is super- 
 stition ? The imaginary idea of something which is not, and never 
 could be? But whoever imagines the absolutely impossible? Is 
 it true, as these wise teachers of today claim, that the only facts 
 are those which belong to the mental and physical universe? 
 Why, then, talk about a conscience, if man is only body and in- 
 tellect? There are spiritual facts as well. We have the testi- 
 monies of all history as proof. The men and women of every 
 age witness to their existence. But if there are spiritual facts, 
 there must be a spiritual reality which is the ground and source 
 of these facts. 
 
 And more, this spiritual nature of ours has needs peculiar 
 to itself, cravings higher than those of the intellect, aspirations 
 reaching out beyond the stars. These needs, these cravings, these 
 aspirations, are perpetual facts in the life of the human soul. 
 What provision does the mere naturalist in his teachings make 
 for these facts? None. His science, his philosophy, his litera- 
 ture, what do they tell of how and where and by whom these deep 
 experiences of our souls can find real satisfaction? Nothing. 
 These spiritual facts point to a spiritual God, whose fullness alone 
 is sufficient for the weary, heavy laden soul of man. 
 
 Talk about a God ! But who is the god of skeptical human 
 thought ? Ah ! he is a god, yes, he is a god, but a god without 
 sympathy for the weak and erring; a god without compassion 
 for the troubled and the suffering ; a soulless, loveless something, 
 unknown and unknowable, that contests the battle of life with 
 wretched humanity. And this is the god for whom humanity 
 yearns ? After whom go out the noblest aspirations of our being, 
 and for whom the souls of men are athirst and exclaim, "Oh, that 
 I might find Him, and awake in His likeness ?" Shame ! that any 
 human teaching should seek so to belittle the dignity of our 
 nature, and feed the human soul with empty chaff! 
 
 But what of sin ? What recognition of this startling fact is 
 given by the natural man? Indeed, one, looking through his 
 moral teachings, would not suspect that any such disorder — I 
 
48 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 mean as a sinful nature — exists; that it runs through the whole 
 history of the race, and that it belongs to the life of every indi- 
 vidual. Theodore Parker, a man who claimed to be guided by the 
 light of human wisdom, affirmed, near the close of his life, that 
 there is no such reality as sin. Archbishop Trench, in one of his 
 earlier poems, represents a young man who had diligently sought 
 words of eternal life from the wisdom of the natural man. At 
 last, disappointed and sad and without hope, he wanders into a 
 desert, and finally sits down by the side of an old temple. Sud- 
 denly an old man stands by his side and asks, "What is your 
 sorrow ?" The young man replies : 
 
 "Till now, my youth yet scarcely done, 
 The heart which I had thought to steep 
 In hues of beauty and to keep 
 Its consecrated home and fame, — 
 That heart is soiled with many a stain, 
 Which, from without or from within, 
 Has gathered there till all is sin. 
 Till now I only draw my breath, 
 1 live but in the hope of death." 
 
 The old man replies : 
 
 "Ah, no ! my son, 
 A weary course your life has run; 
 And yet it need not be in vain 
 That you have suffered all this pain; 
 Nay, deem not of us as at strife, 
 Because you set before your life 
 A purpose and a loftier aim 
 Than the blind lives of men may claim. 
 
 For the most part; or that you sought, 
 By fixed resolve and solemn thought, 
 To lift your being's calm estate 
 Out of the range of time and fate. 
 But yet herein you proudly erred, 
 Here may the source of love be found. 
 You thought to fling yourself around 
 The atmosphere of light and love 
 In which it was your joy to move. 
 
The Only Source of Life 49 
 
 You thought by efforts all your own, 
 
 To take at least each jarring tone 
 
 Out of your life, till all should meet 
 
 In one majestic music sweet; 
 
 And deemed that in your own heart's ground 
 
 The root of good was to be found; 
 
 And that by careful watering, 
 
 And earnest tendence we may bring 
 
 The bud, the blossoms and the fruit, 
 
 To grow and flourish from the root. 
 
 You deemed you needed nothing more 
 Than skill and courage to explore 
 Deep down enough in your own heart 
 To where the well-head lay apart, 
 Which must the springs of being feed, 
 And that these fountains did but need, 
 The soil that choked them more away, 
 To bubble in the open day. 
 
 But thanks to heaven ! it is not so ; 
 That root a richer soil doth know 
 Than our poor hearts could e'er supply; 
 That stream is from a source more high; 
 From God it came, to God returns, 
 Not nourished from our scanty urns, 
 But fed from His unfailing river, 
 Which runs and will run on forever." 
 
 Thus we may well echo Peter's exclamation, when Christ 
 asked His disciples whether they would forsake Him; "Lord, to 
 whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD 
 
 "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the 
 truth." — / Tim. Hi: 15. 
 
 THE Christian Church is a great fact. It has been for a long 
 time in the world. It fills a large portion of the history of 
 nineteen centuries. It has proved itself a most powerful agency 
 amidst the affairs of men, and veritably a chief factor in the pro- 
 duction of the civilization which marks the present age. 
 
 Nevertheless, the church is made the subject of detraction. 
 From time to time we are informed that the church has passed 
 into decadence. Its power has waned. It is no more as in- 
 fluential as it was aforetime. The world in the march of progress 
 has gained a superior place. The masses have turned away from 
 the sanctuaries of the Most High. Other agencies have sup- 
 planted the Church, and are attracting the attention of the people. 
 A new era has dawned, the era of science, of practical wisdom 
 and general intelligence, in which other forces than the institu- 
 tions of Christianity are the conservators of the highest welfare 
 of the race. The Christian Church has been outlived. It must 
 be reckoned among the powers that were, but are no longer — a 
 remarkable phenomenon of the past, but of small moment in the 
 present. So say the depredators of the Church. 
 
 However, before we fall in with these surprising announce- 
 ments, it is wise to inquire carefully concerning the characteristics 
 of the Christian Church and its present status in the world. 
 
 What is the Christian Church ? It is not a human organiza- 
 tion, not of man, not by man. It is not of this world. According 
 to our text, it is "the Church of the living God." The living God, 
 be it observed. There are gods many. Every man, it may be 
 said, has his deity, the god whom he thinks to be. This is the 
 god he praises and in whom he believes. He is the god of human 
 
The Church of the Living God 
 
 51 
 
 imagination, the creation of human thought. Aside from this, he 
 has no existence. Call him, he gives no answer ; cry aloud to him 
 the day through, he makes no response ; beseech him with groans 
 and tears, but he is as silent as the dead ; seek him anywhere in 
 the wide universe, but he cannot be found save in the fanciful 
 ideas of the human mind. With these he comes ; with these he 
 goes ; he lives as they live ; he dies as they die. 
 
 In contrast with this god of the human fancy, there is the 
 true and living God referred to in the text, who is from everlast- 
 ing to everlasting, in whom we live and move and have our being, 
 the fountain of life. The Christian Church is the Church of the 
 living God ; the God who quickeneth all things ; the blessed and 
 only Potentate, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light 
 unto which no man can approach ; whom no man has seen nor 
 can see ; to whom belong honor and power everlasting. 
 
 Again, it is to be noted that the Christian Church is the con- 
 gregation of believers. It is not a club organized for mere social 
 and business ends. It is not an association of those who seek 
 literary and aesthetic culture, and therefore the assembly of the 
 refined in taste and profound in knowledge. It is the congrega- 
 tion of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation 
 from the guilt and condemnation of sin ; the elect of God in Jesus 
 Christ, the congregation of believers. This is the glorious com- 
 pany of the ages, believers in Christ, the Church of the living God. 
 
 Further, it must be said that the Church is the body of Christ. 
 He is the head, the Church is His body, the followers of Him 
 that filleth all in all, a remarkable, and at the same time, a most 
 precious truth. That Christ could exist without a body external 
 to Himself, the expression of Himself, and into which He ever- 
 more pours His fullness, would be most surprising, nay, incon- 
 ceivable. 
 
 A great truth is to be noted at this juncture. The nature of 
 all life is to embody itself, to evolve for itself a form which it 
 enlivens by its powers, to which it communicates the fullness of 
 its energy and in which it appears as a second self. Observe, for 
 instance, the myriad forms about us in the natural world. What 
 diversity and yet pleasing unity and reality ! But all of them are 
 
52 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 bodies of natural life. They are its products, the existence of 
 itself in a new way, the modes according to which it ever realizes 
 the invariable tendency of its nature. The earth, with all its con- 
 tents, is the body of the natural life, and evermore exhibits the 
 fullness of this life which fills the universe. 
 
 In the spiritual realm a like fact obtains. Jesus Christ is 
 life. He is the fullness of all life. That He should, as such, 
 exist, and yet should have existence only in abstract reality, by 
 Himself and for. Himself alone, would contradict the nature of 
 every species of life, even that of the divine life itself. What is 
 it that the eternal life of God has shown itself to be? What but 
 an energy which, in the three modes of the divine existence, 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost, embodies itself, and which as the 
 life of these three has given eternal expression to itself in the 
 form of a material and rational universe. 
 
 But I must repeat, Christ is life. He is perfect human life 
 of love to God and love to man. As such He exists the most 
 glorious reality amidst the realities which are outside of the per- 
 fections of the eternal God. He is, in the most pre-eminent way, 
 the body of God ; for as the Scripture teaches, "in Him dwells all 
 the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He is life ; He is eternal life, 
 the life of God. As such He reproduces Himself, not by an 
 original creation of the material out of which He forms a body 
 for Himself. No ! He takes that which is already at hand, the 
 old creation as He finds it in the person of human creatures, dis- 
 figured, marred and ruined as it is by sin — this He renews, ani- 
 mates, fashions and moulds by His quickening grace into a new 
 creature who honestly acknowledges, "I live, yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me, and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of 
 the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." 
 
 The believer is the expression of Jesus Christ external to 
 Himself, and the congregation of believers is, hence, truly called 
 the body of Christ, which is the Church of the living God. 
 
 It is, therefore, easy to perceive how close and vital is the 
 connection between the believer and Christ, between the Church 
 and Christianity. Where the latter is, the former will always be. 
 The two are inseparable. The business of the Gospel is this: 
 
The Church of the Living God 53 
 
 out of the sinful men of the human race, in every age, to produce 
 believers ; the mission of Christ in seeking to save the lost is to 
 gather around Himself a glorious Church, and the activities of 
 saving grace are directed to this one end. For this Christ lived, 
 and wrought and suffered, and died and rose from the dead, and 
 ascended on high, namely, that those who were dead in trespasses 
 and sins might have life, and thereby be transformed into the 
 image of Him who is humanity at the climax. No church, no 
 believers ; no believers, no Christ who lives and works to repro- 
 duce Himself out of a sinful humanity into a most holy Church, 
 without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, His immortal body. 
 
 A real, actually existing, historic Christ and His body the 
 Church are inseparable. But an ideal Christ, the Christ of the 
 human imagination, has no present body; never had and never 
 will have. This is at an infinite distance from the ideal concep- 
 tion. It must wait for realization through an endless progression. 
 There is no church of the idea, but there is a Church of a Person, 
 a great, unique, original Person, who not only has ideas, but who 
 is also able to set them forth in glorious reality — external to Him- 
 self, Jesus Christ who said : "On this rock will I build my 
 Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 
 But I would have you observe that the Church of the living 
 God is also, according to the text, "the pillar and ground of the 
 truth." What truth? Any truth? No. But of redeeming truth. 
 Christ says, "I am the truth." Ah ! the truth of which He speaks 
 is the truth which He Himself is, the saving truth of the Gospel. 
 Of this truth the Church is the pillar and ground. Truth, in itself 
 considered, is one thing; truth as we know it by experience, is 
 another thing. Concerning the former we can make no affir- 
 mation whatsoever. It is a meaningless blank. Concerning the 
 latter we can and do make positive avowal. Nature is truth. But 
 nature apart from knowable relation with ourselves is a riddle, 
 an unsolvable enigma. Of it we can say nothing. What it is we 
 are unable to state. But nature, as it reveals itself in our con- 
 sciousness, we know, and of it, so far as our experience goes, we 
 are able to say, "this and that are true." 
 
54 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 One thing we require at every step. It is certainty. Is that 
 which is affirmed fact? Is it true? Is it real? But where can 
 certainty of knowledge be obtained? Outside of consciousness, 
 outside of experience? Assuredly not. All knowledge, if it be 
 knowledge at all, must be in consciousness. The certainty, there- 
 fore, which is ever sought and demanded as the criterion for 
 knowledge, must be found, if found anywhere, in the experience 
 of consciousness. To be clearly certain of anything is to be as 
 certain as we are that we exist. Of the reality of our existence 
 we can have no possible doubt. It is the conviction of our con- 
 stant experience. According to this conviction of the certainty 
 of ourselves, we gauge the certainty of whatever our experience 
 reveals. That fire burns, powder explodes, the sun shines, are 
 facts whose reality we ever maintain on the strength of our ex- 
 perience in consciousness. We are as certain of them as of our 
 existence. Our knowledge in the experience of the operations 
 and movements of nature is with us, and among men the pillar 
 and ground of truth. The truth of nature as men know it by 
 experience is the truth which they believe and maintain to be 
 certain. Now note with care: the human mind is not the pillar 
 and ground of natural truth taken solely by itself, but of natural 
 truth as known by actual experience in consciousness. This is 
 the truth to which it testifies. 
 
 Likewise are we justified in speaking of the Church of God. 
 It is the pillar and ground of redeeming truth, which is Jesus 
 Christ. It knows Him and He knows the Church. "I know my 
 sheep and am known of mine." This knowledge is a fact of clear 
 experience, carrying with it the deepest conviction of certainty 
 of which the human soul is capable. The Church has a Gospel. 
 It is the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. This is the Gospel 
 she believes and preaches — the Gospel she defends and maintains ; 
 the Gospel she knows, not by foreign report, nor by the process 
 of thought, but by a clear experience in consciousness. She ever 
 insists : "I know whom I have believed," and, "I know that 
 Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one who be- 
 lieves, and that this Gospel I received neither of man nor by man, 
 but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." 
 
The Church of the Living God 55 
 
 On this experience of personal salvation she plants herself, 
 and maintains against the whole kingdom of unbelief the reality 
 of the unsearchable riches of grace. Her Gospel is not a theory 
 about salvation, a religious philosophy devised for the uplifting 
 of the human race to a life of perfectness before God, but a 
 Gospel tested and verified by actual experience, thus having all 
 about it the conviction of a certainty which scorns the remotest 
 doubt. 
 
 And now I proceed to say that the Christian Church has 
 proven herself from the beginning of her career down through the 
 centuries, to be the pillar and ground of redeeming truth. She 
 has defended Christianity against every opponent. She has main- 
 tained the Gospel of the Lord in the face of a world mad with 
 sin. She has stood for the truth as it is in Jesus, before the un- 
 believing crowd, before kings and emperors, and before every 
 unfriendly power of earth, before false teachings, before vain 
 philosophy, before science falsely so called, before the infidel wit 
 and ingenuity of the natural man ; yea, before Jews and Gentiles 
 and Greeks she has ever stood firm and loyal; and with the 
 assurance of a certainty which is irrepressible, she has preached 
 Christ crucified, the wisdom and power of God unto salvation to 
 every one who believes. And this precious Gospel she has main- 
 tained in the history of nineteen centuries in undiminished power. 
 Today she is spreading over the earth as aforetime, upholding, 
 defending, preaching the story of the Cross, testifying to sinners 
 that this story is true on the ground of the certainty of her ex- 
 perience of salvation; that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God ; that He has the power to forgive sins ; that He can 
 speak peace to the troubled soul; that He is able to save sinners 
 of every grade, and that whosoever believes in Him shall not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. 
 
 And still more, I stand here to ask who beside the Church 
 of the living God during these nineteen centuries has born un- 
 flinching witness to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Who 
 in the beginning started from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel to 
 ever creature? Who steadily went forward testifying before 
 men without wavering in behalf of saving love ? Who stood be- 
 
56 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 fore Agrippa and in the halls of the Caesars and maintained the 
 eternal truth of God's Word? Who confessed Jesus Christ the 
 only Savior for a ruined world before the powers of human 
 society with the heroism of faith which has immortalized the 
 people of God? And who is it, when unbelief, infidelity, skep- 
 ticism sought to destroy the life of the Child Jesus, stretched 
 forth the arm to defend and maintain the hope of a lost and 
 ruined race? Who is it, I ask, that has been the pillar and stay 
 of the saving truth, the Gospel of life and salvation during these 
 ages? The Church of the living God. 
 
 No agency of this world, no matter what its character, or 
 how careful in some spheres of human life it may be, can claim 
 this high distinction. Not only so, but none is competent for such 
 a high undertaking. All the institutions, enterprises and move- 
 ments of men lack the essential qualification. They cannot give 
 a living testimony, and with unqualified certainty, say to the 
 perishing world, to the weary souls of men : "I know that my 
 Redeemer liveth, and that He is the saving power of the eternal 
 God. Trust Him, only trust, and you will have peace so real, and 
 joy that will abide even through the shades of night." 
 
 This positive testimony the men of the world can never give. 
 Only the people of God can certify to the truth of saving grace. 
 And so it comes to pass that there is but one pillar and ground 
 of the truth — the Church of the living God. 
 
 I must say, once more, that the Church is the minister of 
 comfort and hope. Who was it, brother, that came to you, in 
 the hour when you were downcast and deeply troubled on account 
 of sin; when you felt that the very foundations underneath you 
 were giving way; that you were sinking perhaps never to rise; 
 that time when the sense of your sinfulness and guilt was press- 
 ing heavy on your soul, and you realized that you were indeed a 
 lost and perishing prodigal ? Who, I ask, was it that then came to 
 you in your distress, and said in a soothing heavenly voice : "Be 
 of good cheer. In thy Father's house there is plenty and to spare. 
 Thou needst not perish. Return, oh prodigal, return to thy for- 
 saken home. Thy Father is waiting and watching for thee to 
 come back. He will receive thee with open arms, and will wel- 
 
The Church of the Living God 57 
 
 come thee into His banqueting hall, and over thee He will hang 
 the banner of His love. Do not despair. Jesus who gave His 
 life for thee is anxious that you come back. He shed His blood 
 that every difficulty might be put out of the way, and that you 
 might come just as you are and be saved. And this is all true. I 
 vouch for it. I know beyond all doubt that the door of life is 
 open, and that just such a sinner as you may enter and live 
 forever." 
 
 Now, my brother, who has brought the sweet message of 
 love to you, backed as it was by the most certain assurance that 
 it is true from beginning to end? I reply, the Church of the 
 living God. Anybody else? No! Miserable comforters, indeed, 
 did all others seem. Only the Church of the Redeemer spoke 
 words of real cheer and hope. 
 
 And in the days of your affliction, when life seemed to have 
 lost all interest for you, when the gloom of sorrow enswathed 
 your soul, who came to you and extended the hand of helpful 
 sympathy, and comforted your heart with an assurance which 
 helped you so much to bear the heavy burden of grief, whispered 
 gentle words of hope, and spoke of an almighty Savior who 
 weeps with those who weep, and who is the resurrection and the 
 life? The Church of the living God. And who enters where 
 earthly life is passing away, and the soul stands face to face with 
 death — a most trying hour for every mortal — who then enters 
 and ministers the consolations of divine mercy and points the 
 struggling soul to the one who is strong to deliver and mighty to 
 save ; a friend who never leaves nor forsakes and who is sufficient 
 for any trials? Who is it that ministers so tenderly and gives 
 comfort and hope — comfort which this world cannot offer, hope 
 of which this world cannot tell ; when there is a passing of a soul 
 from this world to the other side, who then is able to speak words 
 of cheer and hope, and, without any misgiving, declare the 
 gracious promises of the Gospel ? The Church of the living God. 
 
 But enough. We are in the dawn of the twentieth century. 
 The announcement is blandly made that the Church of the living 
 God is decadent. Having run her course, she is no longer service- 
 able. The present century will witness her sepulture. Her altars 
 
58 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 will be thrown down. Her pulpits will be destroyed. Her sanc- 
 tuaries will be closed and changed into halls of scientific, literary, 
 aesthetic or ethical culture. 
 
 Be not alarmed at the vain outcry. The Church of our 
 God has passed through the most desperate conflicts. She 
 has maintained herself against all comers, and is here today, 
 strong to run the race of the future. As aforetime, she will be 
 an overmatch for all the powers of the world. She will con- 
 tinue to live as He lives on from age to age with immortal fresh- 
 ness of vigor and strength, who is her Redeemer and God. Be 
 not alarmed, my brother; the Church of the living God is not 
 going the way of earthly things, the boastful claim of the wise 
 men of our day to the contrary notwithstanding. She still lives 
 and works and fights the good fight of faith. She is now, this 
 very day, going forth, conquering and to conquer, and in like 
 manner will she keep on waging the battle for God, until the 
 kingdoms of this world shall be the kingdoms of our Lord and His 
 Christ. Be not cast down and of doubtful mind. As sure as we 
 live this day, the Church will abide through all the changing 
 scenes of this world. Multitudes may desert her ; many, as they 
 are today, may be indifferent to her concerns; thousands upon 
 thousands may refuse to own her Lord and the Son of God, who 
 made Himself in the likeness of sinful flesh and of no reputation 
 and on Mount Calvary offered an eternal sacrifice for sinful men. 
 Nevertheless, the Church of the living God will flourish from 
 generation to generation. The eternal years of God are hers. At 
 last she will overcome every enemy, and standing on the riven 
 tomb of humanity, will shout, "Victory, victory unto God." 
 
 'O where are kings and empires now, 
 Of old that went and came? 
 
 But, Lord, Thy Church is praying yet, 
 A thousand years the same. 
 
 We mark her goodly battlements, 
 And her foundations strong; 
 
 We hear within the solemn voice 
 Of her unending song. 
 
The Church of the Living God 59 
 
 ; For not like kingdoms of the world 
 
 Thy Holy Church, O God! 
 Though earthquake shocks are threatening her, 
 
 And tempests are abroad ; 
 
 Unbroken as eternal hills, 
 
 Immovable she stands; 
 A mountain that shall fill the earth, 
 
 A house not made with hands." 
 
 My brethren, let us commit ourselves, our souls, our hopes, 
 our destiny to the care of the Church of the living God. She will 
 bear us safely over the roughest seas, through the wildest storms, 
 and bring us with the shout of eternal victory and the brightness 
 of divine glory to the desired haven. 
 
 "The peace of God which passeth all understanding keep 
 your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S VOCATION 
 
 "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." — Eph. iv: 1. 
 
 I DEEM it proper to speak a little to you about the Christian's 
 vocation. First, I would point out some of the characteristics 
 of this vocation ; second, I desire to note how it should be 
 pursued. 
 
 I 
 
 Some characteristics of this vocation. 
 
 The Christian's vocation is a divine calling. It is not of 
 man. It is from God. This is true in the fullest sense. Some- 
 times we doubtless imagine that it is, in a measure at least, other- 
 wise. In part, it should be said, we have first turned our steps 
 into the heavenly way, and then God met us with the assurance 
 of His good will, and with the promise of His continued presence 
 and help. Or we may suppose that, in fact, we have been called 
 to better things by a human voice, and are now in the Church of 
 the living God through the influence of our friends and neighbors. 
 It may be somewhat difficult for us to realize that we are what 
 we are solely by the grace of God, and not by the word of man. 
 Nevertheless, it is an undeniable fact, and needs to be recognized 
 by all who name the name of Christ, as the only valid reason why 
 we are the children of light and no longer the children of dark- 
 ness. 
 
 The plain fact is that God first sought us, and not that we 
 first sought Him. Consider for a moment our attitude toward 
 heavenly things, while yet in the sinful way; how absorbed we 
 were in evil thoughts, desires and wicked acts ! What aversion 
 for everything that is truly good and holy was characteristic of 
 our moral disposition ! What delight we took in the pleasures of 
 sin! How diligently we pushed God and His claims out of our 
 
The Christian's Vocation 61 
 
 minds ! With what determination we pursued the course of 
 sensuous life ! How we walked on in the broad road which leads 
 only to destruction! Ah, how little we cared for the God who 
 created us in His image! In truth we cared nothing for Him. 
 The only deity for whom we had any regard, whom we at times 
 praised and called our god, was the god of our own imagination, 
 the god who existed merely in the fancy of our imagination, and 
 was as dead as Tiglath Pileser. But the eternal, living God, who 
 knows and loves, and who is our Father — for Him we cared 
 nothing, neither did we yearn to be in touch with Him, to have 
 communion with Him and to walk in His ways. We heard only 
 the voice of this world, and to this call we were promptly 
 obedient. 
 
 But the day came when another voice sounded in our hearts. 
 It was a still small voice. It was a strange, a heavenly voice. It 
 came from above. It was a tender voice, so gentle, so kind. Its 
 accents were so touching, so gracious : "Come unto me, all ye that 
 labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; take my yoke 
 upon you, and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden 
 is light, and ye shall find rest to your souls." We heard the 
 Gospel. It was the call of God bidding us come out of the dark- 
 ness into His own marvelous light. And now, through the 
 gracious Word, by the Holy Spirit, we became sensible of our 
 actual condition, the miserable state in which we were. We began 
 to realize that we were lost and verily guilty before high heaven, 
 and justly condemned, and that, unless laid hold of by an Al- 
 mighty hand and rescued from the power of sin, we must abide 
 everlastingly in our ruined state. Then it was that we turned by 
 the power of the Holy Spirit from a sinful life unto a life in 
 God, and found ourselves to be new creatures, having new 
 thoughts, new feelings, new aspirations, new hopes. "Old things 
 had passed away; all things had become new." 
 
 But to be a little more specific, I must say that the Christian's 
 calling is the vocation of love, of divine love. Love is the un- 
 speakable excellence. It is the sum of all perfection. It is the 
 only adequate description of the divine nature. "God is love." 
 In all His movements, in all His purposes, in His eternal life, in 
 
62 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the supremest quality of His being, He is love. So His revelation 
 in Jesus Christ describes Him. So He is. At the mention of 
 this word "love," the first thought with us may be that of the 
 noblest, holiest feeling. But were we to rest with this, we would 
 remain far short of the truth in our apprehension. Love is some- 
 thing more and other than pure sentiment or devoted feeling. 
 Primarily it is act, and just that kind of act which has reality 
 only in the realms of the spiritual, where there are persons who 
 can love and be loved — that is, who can give themselves to others 
 and others are capable of receiving them. I said that love is act. 
 I must add, it is the greatest act, greatest for God, greatest for 
 man. More than actually to give Himself God cannot do, neither 
 can we : more He has not done ; likewise ourselves. But the fact 
 stands, and it is the sublimest, most wonderful of all facts, that 
 the eternal and ever blessed God has given Himself in the full- 
 ness of His life for a sinful human race, for you and me, dead 
 in trespasses and sins. And this He has done in the person of 
 Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead 
 bodily. This is God loving the sinner, dwelling in Jesus Christ 
 and there giving Himself without reservation for the redemption 
 of Adam and his sons. No wonder it is proclaimed that "God 
 first loved us." Yes, He first gave Himself for us, that we might 
 give ourselves to Him. And now it is in Christ that the most 
 righteous and holy God speaks to us. There He is love for the 
 guilty, condemned sinner, and ever shows Himself as being full 
 of grace and truth, saying to His wretched creature, "Come, let 
 us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
 as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be 
 as wool." In Jesus Christ, where alone He can be found, the God 
 who loves the sinner calls us to Himself, that He may have us 
 again as His own, in perpetual union with Himself ; where He 
 can communicate His fullness to us, and so make us to be once 
 more like our great Original. Behold eternal love in the form of 
 sinful flesh, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. There see the 
 One who, through all the world's long day, with sweetest voice 
 calls the sinful human soul back to its God and Father, saying, 
 "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; come, buy 
 
The Christian s Vocation 63 
 
 wine and milk, without money and without price. Let him that 
 is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him come and drink of the 
 water of life." "Look unto me and be saved." "Come unto me 
 and live." The call of divine love to a lost and ruined race, how 
 earnest, how intense! Behold it is the person of the lowly 
 Nazarene, going about among a wayward people, despised, perse- 
 cuted, defamed, bearing the burden of our miseries and woes : 
 every step was an appeal to us to forsake our evil ways and to 
 renounce our unholy thoughts and return to a holy life, to come 
 back to our Heavenly Father. The struggle with our deadly foes ; 
 the agony of Gethsemane ; the humiliation in Herod's Court and 
 Pilate's Hall ; the suffering and death on the Cross of Calvary — 
 one and all are the appeals of redeeming love calling us to a new 
 and endless life. 
 
 Do not, therefore, imagine that some other one with tender, 
 yet penetrating voice has aroused us from the sleep of sin, and 
 in cheering tone bade us renounce the ways of darkness and walk 
 in the light. Oh no ! it is the love of God in Jesus Christ alone that 
 announces to us the good news of forgiveness and begs us accept 
 the gracious gift. It is the suffering, bleeding, dying love of a 
 redeeming God that seeks us sinful mortals in the far off country 
 of sin, in this wild and hopeless land, where all is wretchedness, 
 misery and woe, and calls us with a voice powerful enough to 
 wake the dead : "Come, for all things are now ready. My oxen 
 and fatlings are killed. Come to the feast which I have prepared 
 with my own hands. Come, eat and live." 
 
 Speaking of ourselves, every one of us must say : 
 
 "I was a wandering sheep, 
 
 I did not love the fold, 
 I did not love my Father's voice, 
 
 I would not be controlled ; 
 I was a wayward child, 
 
 I did not love my home, 
 I did not love my Father's voice, 
 I loved afar to roam." 
 
64 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 But glorious to tell : 
 
 "The Shepherd sought His sheep, 
 The Father sought His child, 
 He followed me o'er vale and hill, 
 
 O'er desert waste and wild ; 
 He found me nigh to death, 
 
 Famished and faint and lone, 
 He bound me with the bands of death, 
 He saved the wandering one. 
 
 Jesus my Shepherd is, 
 
 'Twas He that loved my soul; 
 'Twas He that washed me in His blood; 
 
 'Twas He that made me whole; 
 'Twas He that sought the lost, 
 
 That found the wandering sheep; 
 'Twas He that brought me to the fold; 
 
 'Tis He that still doth keep. 
 
 No more a wandering sheep, 
 
 I love to be controlled ; 
 I love my tender Shepherd's voice, 
 
 I love, I love the fold. 
 No more a wayward child, 
 
 I seek no more to roam; 
 I love my Heavenly Father's voice, — 
 
 I love, I love His home." 
 
 And now it is easy to see that this high calling of the Christian 
 is unto a life with God in Christ. In Christ, observe ; not in man 
 or in any other creature, but in Him who "thought it not a thing 
 to be grasped at to be equal with God, but made Himself of no 
 reputation, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 Cross" — in Him, and in Him alone, is resident our life with God. 
 Here we are no longer strangers and foreigners and outcasts, but 
 the people of God, having passed from death unto life, veritably 
 new creatures. 
 
 Our calling is companionship with God. But where does 
 He exist for us — anywhere, everywhere, in the flower, in the tree, 
 in the rippling stream, in forest and dale, in the great wide sea? 
 Where do we find Him? Where are we one with Him? Where 
 
The Christian's Vocation 65 
 
 is He reconciling the world unto Himself, pouring out His great 
 heart in tender mercy for the erring? Only in Jesus Christ, of 
 whom He says, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased." Our God and Father, by all the resources of His 
 nature, has called us unto Himself, to have fellowship with Him, 
 to be as He is, to have our life in Him, and our destiny in His 
 unchanging and unchangeable glory ; and all this He has done 
 and is still doing in Him alone "who loved us and gave Himself 
 for us" — the Redeemer of sinful men. Here we meet our God 
 so grievously offended by our sin. Here we are alive again, not 
 that we live ourselves, but Christ lives in us and we in God. 
 Here we find the balm that flows for every wound, peace that ever 
 shall endure, rest eternal, sacred, sure. 
 
 But this glorious life is not temporal ; it is eternal life, for 
 it is the life of the everlasting God. It is also without fault of 
 any kind, pure and holy, for it is the life of the pure and holy 
 God. And, lastly, it is the life of love, for it is in Jesus Christ 
 that the eternal One has given Himself to us in the infinitude of 
 His excellence, loves us to the uttermost ; and it is here that we 
 wretched sinners give ourselves back to God, whom by our sin 
 we have so shamefully deserted. It is here that we, aliens from 
 the Holy One, love again our Father in heaven, so truly, so deeply, 
 with a pure heart, with all our mind and soul and strength. Ever 
 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ, who has called us to be His immortal companions, the 
 possessors of His own most holy life, and sharers with Him in 
 the glory of His love. 
 
 Need I emphasize the fact that this life with God in Christ 
 is the most precious, the most distinguished, the most exalted, the 
 grandest both in its nature and the possibility of its achievements ? 
 What other is there either in heaven or on earth that in every 
 excellence is comparable with it? None. It abides alone, that 
 one most glorious life of which we, though ruined by sin, are, 
 nevertheless, capable, and of which, thanks to redeeming 
 grace, we are the sure and certain possessors by the simple trust 
 of our penitent hearts in the incalculable merits of our Lord and 
 Savior Jesus Christ. 
 
66 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Dream not, my brother, that thou mayest find a substitute, 
 or another way of being alive again. Imagine not that, after all, 
 thou art not dead, and hast a life with God aside from His only 
 begotten Son manifest in the flesh. Be not deceived — there is 
 only one true life for the human soul, and that is the great and 
 precious life to which thou art called through the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. Other life for you and me, which is eternal, and is our 
 salvation from the ruin of sin, there is not and never will be. 
 
 II 
 
 How this vocation shall be pursued. 
 
 At this point it is in place to inquire how this blessed and 
 holy life should be pursued? Once with God in Christ, how shall 
 we conduct ourselves? The great Apostle says that we should 
 "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called." And 
 what is it to walk worthy ? 
 
 I think the Apostle would say : "Exercise constant lowliness 
 and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in 
 love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 peace; not walking as the world walks in the vanity of its mind, 
 having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life 
 of God, and being past feeling and given over unto lasciviousness, 
 to work all the uncleanness with greediness." And I think he 
 would go on to say: "What fellowship hath righteousness with 
 unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness, 
 and what concord hath Christ with Belial, and what agreement 
 hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the 
 living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in 
 them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. 
 Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith 
 the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you 
 and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 
 daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Bearing on this same point 
 there comes to mind sayings of our Lord : "He that is not with 
 me is against me. He that gathereth not with me scattereth 
 abroad." "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate 
 
The Christian's Vocation 67 
 
 the one and love the other, or he will cling to one and despise 
 the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 
 
 In order to walk worthy of our vocation, two things, I take 
 it, are necessary; one is subordination of that which is innocent 
 and proper in itself, but yet temporal, to that which is heavenly 
 and eternal ; the other is the giving up of that which is positively 
 sinful. 
 
 a — There must be sacrifice on our part of everything which 
 is of the spirit of this world, and an everlasting keeping of the 
 indifferent things precisely in that place where they rightfully 
 belong. 
 
 In the divine economy or relation of creatures some things 
 have been fixed as second; while other things, according to the 
 rule of eternal fitness, are always first, and there we must leave 
 them and act accordingly. Otherwise we sin against God and do 
 violence to our life with Him in Christ. The point I make is well 
 illustrated in the case of those invited to the Gospel feast. One 
 had bought some land, another some oxen, a third had entered 
 the state of matrimony. The acts of these men were legitimate 
 and Scriptural, but they made them the reason for declining the 
 call of God and living with Him just at that time. They griev- 
 ously sinned. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of 
 riches choked the Word, and they became unfruitful. 
 
 Just here, I think it is, that our vocation suffers much by our 
 conduct, and is dishonored before men. We concern ourselves 
 first about what we shall eat, and drink, and with our clothing, 
 precisely what the world does, instead of seeking first the King- 
 dom of God and His righteousness, assured that the other things 
 shall be added. This is evidenced as fact in the present day by 
 very many who profess to be with God in Christ in the arrange- 
 ments which they make. They are of this order : Six days in the 
 week are cleared of Christan duties and work. Wide and free 
 scope is given to the life of this world, business, card parties, 
 shows, dances, cares of this life. Six days are apportioned for 
 these things. But one day in seven is assigned for living with 
 God in Christ. So it is a day of many meetings and little re- 
 flection, of jostle and hurry and push. And this kind of pro- 
 
68 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 cedure is walking worthy of our vocation ? Temporal things first, 
 eternal things second ! Such arrangement is the sheerest religious 
 inconsistency; nay, more, it is the deception of sin, the paralysis 
 of our life with God in Christ. "Ye cannot serve God and 
 mammon." 
 
 No wonder the Church is defamed, and the cry is raised 
 against her that she has lost her power, and has sunk into a state 
 of decay. There is too little walking worthy of our vocation. 
 And consider for a moment what it is that we do by our practice 
 of the worldly spirit, our running after the god of this world. 
 We not only cast reproach on the Church and dishonor the Chris- 
 tian calling, but more, we grieve the Spirit of God whereby we are 
 sealed unto the day of redemption ; the Holy Spirit without whose 
 gracious presence and power we would remain forever dead in 
 sin, and the salvation of a crucified Christ would be of no value 
 to us. The peace of God could never be our possession — the Holy 
 Spirit who brought us to a conviction of guilt and to repentance 
 before God, and endowed us with faith in Christ our Savior, and 
 translated us unto the Kingdom where we are the recipients of 
 the most precious blessings — this Holy Spirit we grieve by our 
 careless and unfaithful conduct. Thus before high heaven we 
 bring shame on our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Grieve 
 not the spirit of God, but walk worthy of your vocation. 
 
 b — Once more, to walk worthy of your life with God, you 
 must "put off the old man who is corrupt according to the de- 
 ceitful lusts, and must put on the new man who, after God, is 
 created in righteousness and true holiness." "Let no corrupt com- 
 munication proceed out of your mouth. Let all bitterness and 
 wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from 
 you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender- 
 hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath 
 forgiven you." 
 
 So will you glorify your Christian calling, and prove yourself 
 to be a true disciple of our blessed Lord, a man, a woman who 
 lives in perfect peace with God, and bears the mind of Christ. 
 
The Christian's Vocation 69 
 
 "Ever patient, gentle, meek, 
 
 Holy Savior, was Thy mind ; 
 Vainly in myself I seek, 
 
 Likeness to my Lord to find. 
 Yet that mind which was in Thee, 
 May be, must be formed in me. 
 
 Days of toil, 'mid throngs of men, 
 
 Vexed not, ruffled not thy soul; 
 Still, collected, calm, serene, 
 
 Thou each feeling couldst control. 
 Lord, that mind which was in Thee, 
 
 May be, must be formed in me. 
 
 Though such griefs were Thine to bear, 
 For each sufferer Thou couldst feel; 
 
 Every mourner's burden share, 
 Every wounded spirit heal; 
 
 Savior! let that grace in me 
 Form that mind which was in Thee." 
 
 Becoming day by day, year by year, more like our once 
 crucified, but now risen and exalted Lord and Savior, having 
 His spirit, bearing His mind — this, this is walking worthy of our 
 vocation ; this is living the life with God. 
 
PROVING ONESELF 
 
 A Preparatory Sermon 
 
 "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and 
 drink of that cup." — I Cor. xi: 28. 
 
 OUR service this morning is a preparatory service. It is of 
 peculiar moment. It is more than an ordinary service. It 
 is a special service. Its design is to fit us for a becoming cele- 
 bration of the Holy Communion. By some, it may be, special 
 preparation is lightly esteemed. In fact, by such persons it is 
 even deemed unnecessary. Hence, as a rule, they absent 
 themselves. An indifferent spiritual state is thought to be suffi- 
 cient. But this low conception of the need of a careful prepara- 
 tion is a reflection upon the Communion. This is, in the truth of 
 its nature, an exceptional act of our Lord and Savior. There is 
 nothing like it. It stands out distinct, alone among all His acts, 
 both in the kingdom of nature and in the kingdom of grace. 
 Besides, it is not a common meal by which we get nourishment 
 and support for the natural life, but a heavenly feast out of which 
 we obtain food for the nutriment of the new man in Christ Jesus. 
 Very true, the same saving grace of God came to us through 
 both means, Word and Sacrament, but by the sacrament of the 
 Supper this grace of God is emphasized to us in a peculiar way. 
 It gathers into one act the infinite fullness of redeeming love. It 
 expresses in the most emphatic form the reality that Jesus Christ 
 is the nourishment, not only of the spiritual nature of man, but 
 also of the bodily; in short, of the whole man, the real man, the 
 man of God who will be. It exhibits the most wonderful union, 
 the union of nature and grace. It is itself this union, and hence 
 looks to the perfection of this union in all those who believe. For 
 this reason there comes to pass in the experience of those who 
 partake worthily of the Supper, the highest moments of the 
 
Proving Oneself 71 
 
 Christian life. These highest moments are not after the order 
 of ecstatic feeling; they are a deeper and deeper consciousness 
 on the part of the believing soul that, in the Christian life, there 
 is being realized the eternal purpose of redemption, namely, 
 perfect oneness with God both as to nature and spirit, or 
 humanity in its fullness. 
 
 These moments, when we find ourselves on the very summit 
 of Holy Communion, are the most precious in Christian experi- 
 ence. Their value is beyond all price. What less than an un- 
 bounded appreciation of them should every believing soul possess ! 
 To be with our Savior in that incomparable nearness which is the 
 glory of the Holy Supper, is to have an experience of incon- 
 ceivable worth, and without which the Christian life moves along 
 in weakness and much doubt — without which there is the loss of 
 the highest good. 
 
 In addition there comes the matter of serious responsibility 
 to those who partake of the Supper. We should know that for 
 the manner according to which we partake we are most respon- 
 sible. It is not a case of indifference as to the attitude of our 
 hearts. The Supper does not work life and salvation in our souls 
 whether we be attentive or otherwise. By no means. It is not an 
 instrument of magic. If, therefore, we come to the Table of the 
 Lord thoughtlessly, carelessly, in an idle manner, with unbelief 
 stirring in our hearts, we never can get as our own that which 
 is given us. And for this want, which comes about through our 
 own free act, we are responsible, and become involved in the 
 deepest guilt. 
 
 In view of this consequence, I must say that a suitable prep- 
 aration is necessary. In laying this statement before you, I 
 raise two questions: I. How can such preparation be made? 
 II. What is the reason for it? 
 
 I 
 
 How can such preparation be made? 
 
 Doubtless this question has already occurred to your minds. 
 What is a suitable preparation ? I answer : A state of heart and 
 
72 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 mind which will readily appropriate that which is given in the 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 How can this state be obtained ? My reply is : By self ex- 
 amination. By this exercise we come to know ourselves in the 
 reality of our life. So far as I am able to discern, it is the only 
 method for self-knowledge. ''Know thyself," is an old maxim, 
 and is applicable not only in the natural sphere, but also in the 
 religious. Self-examination is a looking inward, taking note of 
 that which pertains to ourself as such, finding out the real person 
 we are, ascertaining the actual individual, the temper, spirit, 
 motives, aims, disposition, and hidden preferences which 
 characterize our inner life. To know ourself as we actually are, 
 and not as the outward exhibition would lead others to judge us, 
 is a great matter. For ourselves, individually taken, it is vital. 
 Without it we are not and will not become what we ought to be. 
 This is specifically true in the case of our attitude toward God, 
 especially as He stands for us in Jesus Christ. I think too often 
 we are little aware of our spiritual state. This comes about 
 chiefly, I may say entirely, through the blinding, deceptive in- 
 fluences of our sinful nature. True, we are Christ's followers, 
 the professed people of God. It is to be presumed that we really 
 are new creatures in Christ; and yet, owing to the force of sin 
 in our life, we may become indifferent in Christian practice, in- 
 sensible to Christian duty, satisfied with an external religious pro- 
 fession, and mightily concerned about temporal things to the 
 neglect of the things which are unseen and eternal. Then our 
 real attitude toward God is of little concern to us. We think we 
 are pretty fair Christians, good enough for this world, and for 
 entrance into the world beyond. Like the man mentioned in the 
 Scripture, we run over the whole decalogue and declare ourselves 
 to be without blame. Although we omit many of the plain duties 
 of the Gospel, and have little, if any, care about the nature and 
 growth of the good life within us by the grace of God ; although 
 we take little interest in the concerns of the Redeemer's Kingdom 
 and in the worship of the sanctuary ; although we keep away, as 
 a rule, from preparation for Holy Communion and from the 
 Communion itself ; still we judge ourselves to be pleasing children 
 
Proving Oneself 73 
 
 of our Heavenly Father. We are satisfied with ourselves as mem- 
 bers of the Church of Christ. Such is the blinding influence of 
 sin in our hearts, that we know not what our spiritual state is. 
 
 The thing necessary is that we take an inventory of our 
 spiritual goods, that we know what we have and what we do not 
 have. It is above all things vital to us that we come to an honest 
 understanding with respect to our practical relation to Christ. 
 What are our inner choices — those choices which determine the 
 trend of our religious life? Are they often sinful? Do we 
 actually, like the poor sinner who prostrated herself at the 
 Savior's feet, truly love Him who loved us and gave Himself 
 for us? Do we love Him supremely? Are you able to say, 
 "There is none whom I desire beside thee. Thou art my joy, my 
 hope, my life; on Thee I cast my soul." 
 
 "Jesus, I my cross have taken, 
 All to leave and follow Thee; 
 
 ********* 
 
 Perish every fond ambition, 
 
 All I've sought or hoped or known, 
 Yet how rich is my condition; 
 
 God and heaven are still my own." 
 
 Suppose we sit down with prayerful hearts and look into 
 our life as lived by us during the past three months. What a 
 revelation appears ! How much we find that is unseemly ! How 
 far, at times, we have been from God! How seldom we have 
 engaged in heavenly communion ! How little we have been at 
 the mercy seat — 
 
 "Where Jesus sheds the oil of gladness on our heads ; 
 A place than all beside more sweet, 
 The blood-stained mercy seat." 
 
 How much that is sinful has crept into our thoughts, our 
 desires ! How often we have wounded our most precious Friend, 
 the Savior ! What offenses against the goodness and love of our 
 God we have committed ! What a catalog of wrong doing stands 
 before us ! It is astonishing. What a guilt is charged against us ! 
 
74 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 It is appalling. To know our spiritual life as it appears to the 
 eye of God, its faults, its blemishes, its sins — what a disclosure 
 of our real spiritual selves ! 
 
 This knowledge, painful as it is, is most useful. Without 
 it spiritual declension will continue, and our souls be plunged into 
 deeper guilt. But when, with prayerful hearts under the illumi- 
 nating operation of the Holy Spirit, we realize the true condition 
 of our heart, self-examination leads us to repentance. 
 
 And what is repentance? Repentance unto life, it has well 
 been said, "is a saving grace whereby out of the true sense of his 
 sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, the sinner, 
 with grief and hatred of his sin, turns from it unto God, with 
 full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience." Repentance 
 is not, as some suppose, penitence. It is vastly more. Penitence 
 is simply a feeling of sorrow for sin, whereas repentance is an 
 act, a revolutionary act by which the course of our life is radically 
 changed. It is the positive movement of the soul toward God 
 and away from sin. It makes the new creature with whom old 
 things have no interest, and all things have become new. Re- 
 pentance is that movement of the soul, under the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, by which the lukewarm in their service to Christ 
 return to their first love. It is not a mere feeling of hatred, but 
 the great act of the soul by which it abandons every sort of sinful 
 life, and faces toward God. It may be that sometimes we ac- 
 knowledge and lament, and think we are exercising a real penitence 
 for our poor rate of Christian living, but, unfortunately, it is not 
 a sorrow which arises out of a poignant sense of guilt; and for the 
 clear reason that such feeling never moves us to abandon our 
 wayward course. We condemn ourselves and say, "I know I 
 am not living as a Christian should live, but still, I will keep on 
 in my old way until some day when circumstances change, and 
 it will be more convenient for me to attend to the duties of my 
 Christian profession." There is the avowal of a certain kind of 
 penitence, which, as Paul says, works death, but no repentance 
 unto life. 
 
 True repentance has two sides : One is that of godly sorrow, 
 a deeply felt repentance of the soul for its own unfaithfulness, 
 
Proving Oneself 75 
 
 its waywardness, its unstable poise, its connivance at sin and its 
 submission to the spirit of the world. The other is that act of the 
 will by which we lay hold of and appropriate to our salvation the 
 Savior of sinners. This is faith, that simple act of trust of the 
 penitent soul which clings to Jesus who loves us with all His 
 great heart, and is mighty to save. 
 
 Brethren, we are about to confess our sins, both of com- 
 mission of transgression and omission of duty, to God in the 
 presence of one another. This confession, if it is of any value, 
 must be the confession of the heart, springing out of the ex- 
 perience of true repentance. Otherwise it will be only mockery 
 before God, and leave us without forgiveness — a most deplorable 
 state in which to be. Let us examine ourselves by the help of 
 the Holy Spirit, that we may turn from our sins and believe the 
 promise of the Gospel. This will be a suitable preparation, and 
 so "let us eat of that bread and drink of that cup." 
 
 II 
 
 What is the reason for a suitable preparation in coming to 
 the Table of the Lord? 
 
 It is sometimes said that the Holy Communion is merely a 
 memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ, the observance 
 of which is calculated to awaken in the believer's heart tender 
 feelings and pious emotions, and thus move him to earnest devo- 
 tion and warm love for his Lord and Savior. "As oft as ye do 
 this, do it in remembrance of me." 
 
 I question whether, in the sense according to which the 
 memorial idea of the Supper is entertained, it is a memorial. 
 It is plainly said, not in remembrance of my sufferings and death, 
 but of "me." And who is this "me" whom we are to remember? 
 Merely the person who suffered and died on the Cross? I am 
 sure He meant more than that; for Paul says: "Who is he 
 that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is 
 risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also 
 maketh intercession for us." It is not merely the Christ who 
 
76 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 died who is to be brought to our remembrance, but also the Christ 
 who rose again, who is at the right hand of God, who maketh 
 intercession for us. 
 
 The high priestly work of our Savior consists of two parts : 
 First, that of an offering unto God for our sins, that is, propi- 
 tiation ; second, intercession. But the intercession mentioned by 
 the Apostle could not be without the resurrection and the session 
 at the right hand of God in closest relation to the Father. Cer- 
 tainly the remembrance of Christ is to be a remembrance of Him 
 as He is for us our sacrifice and an ever living intercessor. The 
 remembrance is not of a dead, but of a living Christ. As He 
 Himself says, "I am He that was dead, and am alive again, and, 
 behold, I am alive forevermore." This is the Redeemer who 
 avails for our redemption — the living Christ. Eternal love in the 
 person of Christ ever seeks to give its real self in its infinite 
 fullness to sinful men. It provides the sacrifice that must be made 
 in order that the Divine justice in its claims against the sinner 
 might be satisfied. In this wise the obstacle to eternal love giving 
 itself to the believing soul is forever removed, and the way made 
 clear for the communication of itself in the entirety of its in- 
 carnate existence. Jesus Christ, who is incarnate love, who came 
 to seek and save the lost, offered Himself, through the eternal 
 Spirit, once for all unto God a sacrifice for human sin, in order 
 that He might give Himself to the penitent, believing soul as 
 living bread and water, its nourishment unto eternal life. This 
 offering and giving of Himself to those who believe, for the 
 perfecting of their life with God in Christ, is the eternal pur- 
 pose of His mission as the Redeemer of sinful men. 
 
 The expression of this intent as an ever present fact is the 
 meaning of the Holy Supper and the pre-eminent reason for its 
 institution. The Holy Communion is, therefore, not an empty 
 form, but that act of our crucified, risen and glorified Redeemer 
 by which He offers and gives Himself, not figuratively or by 
 proxy, but in reality, to those who put their trust in Him, that 
 they may live and grow in the life of God. 
 
 When, therefore, tomorrow evening you come together at 
 the Supper, it will be to receive the body and blood of Christ 
 
Proving Oneself 77 
 
 under the forms of bread and wine. But since His human 
 nature, now glorified, is inseparable from His divine nature, you 
 will receive Christ according to both natures, for so He offers 
 and gives Himself. As He offered Himself unto God in atone- 
 ment for our sins according to both natures in their inseparable 
 union, so He offers and gives Himself to us in the Holy Com- 
 munion. What He offered to God, namely, Himself, that same 
 He offers and gives to us in the Holy Communion. Less He will 
 not do ; more He could not do. 
 
 But to receive that which is offered is one thing; to appro- 
 priate it is quite another. To appropriate it is to eat and drink 
 worthily. To receive and not to appropriate is to eat and drink 
 unworthily. In that case we become guilty of the body and blood 
 of Christ, and heap on ourselves the greater condemnation. But 
 we appropriate by faith, and by faith only, Christ our Savior who 
 is to us life and salvation. Without faith we despise and put 
 to open shame the blessed Redeemer who offers and gives Him- 
 self in the fullness of eternal love in the sacrament of the Supper. 
 How we should search and probe our hearts, therefore, in the 
 light of God's Word, and at the mercy seat confess our sins 
 and plead for pardon, that we come not to the Table of our Savior 
 with unbelieving hearts, and so eat and drink unworthily. On 
 the contrary, if we heartily repent, and come to the Communion 
 with hearts aglow with faith, how joyous and precious will the 
 hour be, and what an imperishable nourishment our souls will 
 have! Then our life in God will be quickened, renewed, made 
 so vigorous and strong that we can press on toward the mark 
 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and 
 run the race of eternal life with increasing success. 
 
 Brethren, presently we will make confession of our sins in 
 the presence of one another before God. Let it be a confession 
 of the heart, and not merely of the lips, so that, when the min- 
 ister of the Gospel declares, on the authority of God's Word, the 
 forgiveness of sin to those who do sincerely repent, it may be 
 our forgiveness. 
 
78 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Let this be the voice of our soul: 
 
 "With broken heart and contrite sigh, 
 A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry; 
 Thy pardoning grace is rich and free; 
 
 God, be merciful to me! 
 
 1 smite upon my troubled breast, 
 With deep and conscious guilt oppressed, 
 Christ and His Cross my only plea; 
 
 O God, be merciful to me ! 
 
 No alms nor deeds that I have done, 
 Can for a single sin atone; 
 To Calvary alone I flee; 
 O God, be merciful to me." 
 
 And let this be the resolution of our hearts : 
 
 "Just as I am without one plea, 
 But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
 And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
 O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 
 
 Just as I am and waiting not 
 
 To rid my soul of one dark blot; 
 
 To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
 
 O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 
 
 Just as I am Thou wilt receive, 
 Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, 
 Because Thy promise I believe, 
 O Lamb of God, I come, I come." 
 
 Blessed Lord, we turn from our lukewarmness and our sins ; 
 heal our backslidings ; help us to take Thee to our poor hearts 
 as Thou dost offer and give Thyself to us in the Holy Com- 
 munion. Amen. 
 
GRATITUDE AOT> COURAGE 
 
 An Anniversary Sermon* 
 "He thanked God and took courage." — Acts xxviii: 15. 
 
 PAUL was on his way to Rome, a prisoner. The voyage had 
 been stirring. The vessel in which he first sailed was 
 wrecked, but the crew and passengers all escaped safe to land. 
 After a delay of three months on the Island of Melita, now 
 called Malta, he departed in a ship of Alexandria, and in a short 
 time arrived at Appii Forum and the Three Taverns. Here some 
 of the brethren from Rome met him, "whom when he saw, 
 he thanked God and took courage." 
 
 He thanked God. Two facts prompted him to this devotion : 
 First, the voyage, though dangerous, had not been attended with 
 any personal harm; second, the coming of brethren from Rome 
 to greet him showed their strong sympathy for him in his tribu- 
 lation. He saw that they were not ashamed to recognize him pub- 
 licly, although in bonds, going to be tried at the bar of Caesar. 
 He was now in a situation where the manifestation of love on 
 the part of the Church would afford him real comfort. 
 
 He needed sympathy. When he saw these Roman brethren, 
 he perceived how genuine was their interest in him. He knew 
 that their coming out to meet him was no mere formality, but 
 a hearty expression of their interest in his welfare, and their 
 love for him as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It 
 was not popular to show any esteem for a man like Paul, es- 
 pecially for a man who was under arrest and on his way to the 
 judgment seat of a haughty emperor. Christianity was set at 
 naught by the wise men, and the mighty, and the noble. The 
 
 *This sermon is printed as an example of Dr. Ort's practical method 
 of sermonizing in his younger days, when he was in the active pastorate. 
 
 — Editor. 
 
80 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 adherents of the Gospel were eyed with suspicion. It was not 
 altogether safe to be very open in a confession of Christ. 
 Especially was it somewhat dangerous to show regard for one 
 like the great Apostle who was now in the clutches of the Roman 
 law. Some of the brethren, however, could not delay until the 
 Apostle had arrived in the city, before they waited on him and 
 expressed their kind greeting. They hastened to meet him and 
 give asurance of their earnest love for the distinguished prisoner. 
 Their sympathy was true. Paul knew it to be from their heart. 
 He was cheered. 
 
 "He thanked God." Had his heart failed him at any time 
 during the past two years? When he set sail for Rome, did he 
 tremble? Through the voyage did he sometimes have a feeling 
 of dread to appear before the cruel Nero? When he saw these 
 brethren from Rome, and felt the comforting impulse of their 
 sympathy, his spirit revived, and he grew all the more fearless 
 to meet the bloody tyrant. He felt the stronger to go up to 
 Rome and submit his appeal to the inhuman Caesar. If he must 
 suffer, this he could now do more cheerfully. If he must die at 
 the hands of violent men, this he could now submit to with an 
 intenser joy. 
 
 There is real power in sympathy ; a power to nerve the soul, 
 quiet fears, to make firm, to incite one to play the hero. Paul 
 experienced this power at the Three Taverns. When he saw the 
 brethren, he took courage. 
 
 One year ago today, in the providence of God, I came here 
 and took my stand in your midst as your pastor. Are there any 
 reasons why we should imitate the Apostle's conduct : thank God 
 and take courage? This question can be easily answered. We 
 need only glance over our history as a congregation during the 
 past twelve months to ascertain what progress has been made, 
 and what has been done which is truly for the glory of God. No 
 doubt, much more might have been accomplished. Perhaps our 
 earlier expectations have not been altogether realized. We may 
 have thought to see, at the end of the pastoral year, a better state 
 of affairs than that which actually prevails. We may have im- 
 agined that a sort of magical prosperity would instantly spring 
 
Gratitude and Courage 81 
 
 up, that now we would be a powerful congregation, and our 
 Church filled to its utmost capacity. These are dreams, however, 
 in which I have not indulged. Great expectations are usually 
 formed on the beginning of a pastoral relation. When the min- 
 ister is somewhat of a stranger, his voice new, his presence 
 unfamiliar, it is expected that the pews will be quickly filled and 
 a multitude be gathered into the Church. 
 
 Some people have much faith in meteors. But were there no 
 stars fixed in the sky whose steady light dissolves the pitchy 
 darkness, that darkness would always envelope the earth in the 
 night season. The flashing of the meteor quickly vanishes. The 
 building hastily reared is, at best, but a temporary structure. 
 There may be the popular sermon, the glib-tongued orator, the 
 crowded house, and yet for permanent results, nothing more than 
 the amusing lecture and the amused multitudes at the Lyceum. 
 Substantial success depends on something more than newness. 
 In Church work and Church life there is oftentimes overlooked 
 the fact of conjunction between the divine and human elements. 
 The conditions of real prosperity are supposed to be those which 
 enter into any secular business ; whereas the truth is, that it is 
 "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." 
 
 There are human means which shall be used for planting 
 and watering the Gospel seed; but God gives the increase. 
 Certain agencies have been appointed for carrying on the work 
 of the Gospel, building up the churches and saving souls. Quite 
 prominent among these is the ministry. But it is plain that no 
 effectual work can be done where the help of the Spirit is absent. 
 There may be showy planting and watering; Paul and Apollos 
 may be the pastors ; but if the divine aid is not present, no healthy 
 enduring growth can ensue. In Church work the largeness of 
 success will always be in proportion to the faith exercised. Ac- 
 cording to your faith so it will be. As a rule, it can safely be 
 said that the growth of any congregation depends on faith. Care 
 must be had, however, that it be not faith which is passive, 
 but an active faith; a faith which stirs up the soul and incites 
 the believer to enlist in earnest practical work; a faith which 
 makes a congregation to be a working Church. 
 
82 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 If, then, our highest expectations have not been realized, we 
 need form out of this no reason for disappointment. On the 
 other hand, we should rather reproach ourselves for a lack of 
 earnest, living faith. Doubtless we can all see now where mis- 
 takes have been made, where many of our efforts might have 
 been improved, and where opportunities were allowed to pass by 
 without being seized. But this is a most common experience, and 
 instead of giving reasons for despondency, furnishes wise lessons 
 for the future. If we have been cold in the Christian life; if 
 negligent ; if unconcerned ; if possessed of no real interest in the 
 business of the King; if without as anxious care for souls as for 
 our own salvation ; if satisfied with a mere formal attention to 
 duty; if more careful about the things of self than the Kingdom 
 of Christ; then we should heartily repent of these our short- 
 comings, and do our first work over. 
 
 I will not consume time speaking about the omissions of the 
 past. That is now no matter of concern to us. It would be idle 
 to waste the moments in lamenting over the "might have beens." 
 The complaint is stereotyped. At the most there is nothing in 
 it worthy of attention. However large our success may be, still, at 
 the end of the year, we always see some things that might have 
 been done otherwise; and perhaps, if they were done that way, 
 would have proved to be serious blunders. 
 
 Aside from all this, there are good reasons why we should 
 thank God and take courage. Any one who has been an attendant 
 of this Church cannot fail to observe that, during the year, there 
 has been a steady increase in the attendance. Many strangers 
 have been present. Young people have come in larger and 
 larger numbers. This to me has been an encouraging fact. The 
 future congregation will be composed of the youth of the present. 
 A few years hence, and many who are now the standard bearers 
 will have passed away, and their places, if occupied at all, must 
 be filled by the young people of today. A Church, therefore, that 
 can succeed in gathering a goodly company of young people into 
 its membership, is destined to live, grow strong, and flourish. It 
 is a fact for rejoicing that this class is attending our Church in 
 such large numbers. We bid them welcome, and say, "Come 
 thou with us, and we will do thee good." 
 
Gratitude and Courage 83 
 
 The matter of greatest moment in any congregation is its 
 spiritual state. The temporal condition may be excellent, the 
 membership large, and outwardly church affairs may be flourish- 
 ing, but if piety is at a discount, if practical religion is slighted, 
 there is cause for deep concern, and at the same time evidence 
 of unhealthy conditions. The strong Church is the spiritual 
 Church. The truly influential congregation is the one whose 
 members are imbued with a spirit of true piety. In that case it is 
 indeed a city set on a hill, a light in the world. There may be the 
 pomp of ceremony, the form of devotion, but without spirituality 
 there can be no Gospel power. The Kingdom of God is not in 
 meat and drink, but in power. It comes not with observation, 
 but is established in the heart. It is not here nor there, but within 
 us the power of God unto salvation. The glory of a congrega- 
 tion is its spiritual might. 
 
 I do not mean to say that temporal adjuncts are nothing. I 
 mean to emphasize the truth that godliness is the life of the true 
 Church of Jesus Christ and is supreme. According to the opinion 
 of the world, the contrary is the right view. The congregation 
 which has a magnificent building, millionaires among its member- 
 ship, and aristrocracy for its bone and sinew, is the one which 
 commands respect, and wields an inestimable power. The 
 preacher who has great wealth at his back is the minister of high 
 parts. The silver-tongued orator, who holds entranced the listen- 
 ing worshippers, the godliness of himself and people and their 
 spiritual power are expressed in terms of dollars and cents. Now 
 dollars and cents have their place in the great work of evangeliz- 
 ing the world, but dollars and cents can never be real substitutes 
 for the enduement of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Into this error the Laodiceans fell. In spiritual things they 
 were lukewarm. Because of their confirmed worldliness, the 
 Great Head of the Church addressed to them this sharp language : 
 "Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and 
 have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, 
 and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked, I counsel thee to 
 buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and 
 white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame 
 
84 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 of thy nakedness do not appear ; and that thou annoint thine eyes 
 with eye salve that thou mayest see." 
 
 And now what shall we say of our spiritual condition? A 
 fair statement requires me to say that, during the past few 
 months, there has been considerable improvement. There are 
 those here who realize that they have made much progress in the 
 divine life. They have a clearer apprehension of what is the 
 true import of the Christian walk; they realize more fully that 
 the things of Christ are above the things of the world ; they take 
 a deeper interest in the work of the Gospel; they are more con- 
 cerned about the salvation of souls ; they are more anxious about 
 their own salvation; in short, they are more spiritual. As evi- 
 dence for this statement, I may cite the fact of their regular at- 
 tendance at the services, and their manifest interest in them ; that 
 they think enough about these things to speak of them to others, 
 and to entreat their friends to come with them to the house of 
 the Lord. The Wednesday evening prayer meeting has been well 
 attended. Those who have been there have found it good to be 
 present. They have gained spiritual strength. 
 
 The preaching of the past year has kept steadily in view the 
 development of earnest piety. Christ and Him crucified has been 
 set forth plainly, simply, earnestly, that the whole congregation 
 might be brought to experience the power of His grace. I believe 
 the effort has not been without fruit. Certainly some souls have 
 been lifted to a higher plane, and have this day a larger experience 
 of the fullness of saving grace. 
 
 It may be that some few have made no appreciable advance, 
 and have been content to live on in the same careless and formal 
 way which has characterized their past religious career. But, on 
 the other hand, there are many who have been thinking more 
 seriously, are striving to live nearer to Christ, and have a livelier 
 interest in spiritual concerns than they had months ago. I cast 
 no reflection on the past, but simply assert the spirit of the truth 
 that the best in this life can still grow better. For our spiritual 
 growth we have good reason to thank God. 
 
 Before leaving this part of my subject, let me call your at- 
 tention again to the high importance of piety and the experience 
 
Gratitude and Courage 85 
 
 of a godliness at which the world cannot cavil. In the name o£ 
 my Master, I urge this congregation to lay aside every weight,, 
 and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience 
 the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher 
 of our faith. Break with careless religious habits, neglect not the 
 great salvation, subdue the spirit of indifference, take up your 
 cross ; make it a rule to be in your pew on the Lord's Day ; give 
 us your presence at the Wednesday night meeting, and resolve 
 to attend the half hour service on Sunday evening. The spiritual 
 state of your hearts is no small matter. On it depend the issues 
 of eternity, the peace of your dying hour, your acceptance with 
 God, and coronation in the day of final judgment. Let not the 
 suggestions of depraved hearts deceive any of you into the belief 
 that you can get on well in the Christian life and yet be indifferent 
 to spiritual things. Remember that you are personally responsi- 
 ble. No one can answer for you. No one can be made a valid 
 excuse for you to live a careless, inactive life. Rise to the high 
 sphere of the Gospel. Hear the voice of your God as He calls 
 to you, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, 
 and all things shall be added unto you." Make your salvation a 
 matter of personal attention, a personal faith. Seize the rich 
 opportunities which a merciful God has cast in your way. Use 
 the means and the only means which He has appointed to build 
 up a Christian character, and develop all your spiritual powers 
 to the full stature of manhood in Jesus Christ. Do this! for 
 more than worldly interests are at stake. Do this ! for more 
 than this life is involved ; more than material things are in the 
 balance. Do this ! or else thou wilt lose thy soul and become a 
 castaway. 
 
 During the past twelve months forty persons have been re- 
 ceived into membership in this congregation. I commend them 
 to the attention of the Church. Many of them are young in 
 years and beginners in the Christian life. They will need your 
 care and sympathy and prayers. Bear in mind they are souls 
 for whom Christ died and on that account demand our concern. 
 Pass them not without a word of cheer. They will meet with 
 divers temptations. They will be assailed by the evil influence of 
 
86 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the world. They may make mis-steps, give them a kind word. 
 Take them by the hand, and lovingly counsel them to be faithful 
 and to shun every form of evil. They are the lambs of the fold 
 who need our watchful care. 
 
 Since I came among you three of your number have gone to 
 their eternal rest, Mrs. Kneeble, Mrs. Vagt and Mr. Williams. 
 They are not here. They have ceased from their earthly labors. 
 In their homes they have left a vacancy which never can be filled. 
 They always will be missed. Mrs. Vagt was scarcely beyond the 
 prime of life. She has left behind an affectionate husband and 
 a family of children, who find life to be sad and lonely without 
 her. May the Holy Comforter administer to them the consola- 
 tions of divine grace ! Mrs. Kneeble was well advanced in life. 
 Her husband had preceded her into eternity. She had been many 
 years a member of this Church. Of her family only one remains, 
 who is now left without the companionship of a mother, 
 who loved with a true mother's love. May the compassionate 
 Savior comfort her grief -stricken heart with the joys of His 
 Gospel ! Brother Williams recently passed from among us 
 at the ripe age of more than fourscore years. During a long 
 while he was an officer of this Church. He leaves to mourn his 
 loss a partner of forty-six years. She is now alone to sorrow 
 over the loss of him who shared with her the trials and joys of 
 life. May the God of the widow pour out on her the rich bless- 
 ings of his everlasting love! 
 
 These all have died in the triumphs of the Gospel. They 
 have finished their course, they have kept the faith, and have 
 received their crown of righteousness which the Lord, the 
 righteous Judge, will give to all who love His appearing. Be 
 admonished, brethren, by those providences that it is appointed 
 unto man to die. Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think 
 not the Son of man cometh. God only knows how near death 
 is to some of you. It may be at your very door. Of this you may 
 be sure, that some one of you will be the next of this congrega- 
 tion to die. WTio is ready to go ? 
 
 No department of Church work in our day has a more vital 
 bearing on the prosperity of the congregation than the Sunday 
 
Gratitude and Courage 87 
 
 School. True, it cannot supercede catechetical instruction; still, 
 it is an agency which, if rightly and vigorously used, will con- 
 tribute greatly to the upbuilding of the Church. It is a power 
 which can be used in a most efficient way for gathering together 
 children and young people. Through the Sunday School hun- 
 dreds can be reached and brought under the influence of the 
 Gospel, who otherwise would, perhaps, never be gathered into 
 the Church. Many of those who have become devoted followers 
 of Christ, and zealous workers in His Vineyard are among the 
 people of God, largely through the instrumentality of the Sunday 
 School. The multitudes who are received into Church member- 
 ship year after year, first learned to make their way to the place 
 of worship on the Lord's Day through the attractions of this help. 
 Children of religious parents are laid hold of by this means, and 
 finally become Christians, who might have grown up amid the 
 practices of sin and swelled the forces of evil. 
 
 The Sunday School is not a place of mere past-time — a place 
 where little boys and girls may go to be kept off the streets for an 
 hour, or away from home. Here the Word of God is read, and 
 if nothing more was done, still some seed would fall into young 
 hearts so susceptible of impression. But it is not a place for little 
 boys and girls only. Those of any age will find its services profit- 
 able. Here every one can study the story of the Cross, and gain 
 broader views of Jesus and His Salvation. Here the foundation 
 of a godly life can be laid, and material gathered with which 
 to rear the superstructure. Sunday School work in our Church 
 has progressed during the past year with considerable spirit. At 
 the opening of the services in the Autumn, the hour of meeting 
 was changed from afternoon to morning. There were naturally 
 some doubts as to the wisdom of the change. The growth of 
 the school has proved that it was no mistake. The attendance 
 has increased, and new scholars have been enrolled. The present 
 prosperity bids fair to continue. 
 
 There is, however, much room for more pupils. And I take 
 this occasion to appeal to the young people especially to give the 
 matter of attendance at our school their very serious attention. 
 There are many of the younger members of this Church who 
 
88 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 could be with us in the lecture room on Sunday morning, if they 
 only would. Why not, my friends ? Do you know that the Sun- 
 day School is a field where you can do great good. Your presence 
 will have a tendency to bring others. It will contribute much to 
 the life of the school. It will add to its vigor. It will augment 
 its power. Can you not find it in your hearts to come? How 
 much you lose! What splendid advantages for improving both 
 your minds and hearts you let go by remaining away ! Is it pos- 
 sible that this work in nowise concerns you ? That you care noth- 
 ing for this Church where you promised God to serve Him with 
 all your soul ? Can it be that you have no interest in these things, 
 and that you imagine yourself to have graduated from an active, 
 practical Christian life before you have actually ever commenced 
 it ? I do not believe it. I am persuaded better things of you. I 
 am willing to think that in your hearts there is a desire to be in 
 the Sunday School — you would like to be there. If you only 
 were there, you would be fully satisfied. To come may require 
 a little effort; but it would be worth while to make it. It may 
 necessitate your rising a half hour earlier in the morning. Do it. 
 It may demand your making somewhat different arrangements 
 than those which you now observe. It will then be better to change 
 your arrangements. I appeal to you to come to the Sunday School 
 for your own sake. You have immortal souls that need training 
 for heaven. The Sunday School will prove to you a valuable help 
 in this work. I appeal to you for Christ's sake. Think how much 
 He did for you ! What sacrifice He made ! What time He de- 
 voted to your interest, and what you owe to Him ! Give Him at 
 least some of your hours. If you will not do any more, give Him 
 His own day in service and work. He wants you in the Sunday 
 School. There you can serve Him. There you can find some- 
 thing to do. There are a hundred and more of you. Oh, what a 
 power you can be for Christ and His Church ! I warmly plead 
 with you to give your presence and help. 
 
 NOTE — The manuscript of Dr. Ort ends here. From its abrupt end- 
 ing, it is evident that part of the sermon has been lost. 
 
II 
 
 DOCTRINAL DISCUSSIONS 
 
II 
 
 DOCTRINAL DISCUSSIONS 
 
 JUSTIFYING FAITH 
 
 JUSTIFYING faith is the vital principle of the Gospel. It is 
 not a mere doctrine worked out by reflection, and given 
 definite limit and logical form; but it is a fact revealed in the 
 inspired Scriptures and certified in the Christian consciousness, 
 and is, therefore, known in experience. It precedes dogma, and 
 is conditional for the framing and development of Christian truth 
 into a system of well defined statements. 
 
 As a doctrine justifying faith stands with other doctrines 
 in a certain logical order, and is, therefore, one among many, a 
 subject for the belief and examination of the intellectual under- 
 standing. But as a principle justifying faith is before the mental 
 conception, the formal exhibition of saving truth, and is the rule 
 according to which the construction is made. It is the light in 
 which the spiritual understanding moves and acts. 
 
 And this is the essential principle of the Gospel. It is the 
 Gospel. For the great Apostle emphatically declares, "the Gospel 
 is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." 
 Abstract this principle, or make it subordinate, or regard it as 
 only a part of the body of doctrine, and you thereby either set 
 aside entirely or push far into the background the divine plan 
 for the recovery of sinful man. What is this plan? Salvation 
 by grace through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. 
 
 Again, justifying faith is the fundamental principle of evan- 
 gelical religion. Evangelical religion recognizes the fact that the 
 
92 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 source and cause of salvation are entirely outside the individual 
 sinner. An historical Christ is necessary, a Jesus, who is the 
 propitiation for sin, the vicarious sacrifice, the one Mediator be- 
 tween God and man, the living Redeemer, the Reconciler. At the 
 same time evangelical religion observes that Christ, with all His 
 treasures of grace, can be to men life and salvation only when 
 they appropriate Him as He offers Himself to them. Merely to 
 view His agony in the garden and His sufferings on the Cross 
 as a remedial transaction, will not avail. God in Christ has made 
 provision for man's eternal redemption. This stands as the 
 central fact of human history, and will everlastingly abide as the 
 chiefest of historical verities. Nothing I may do or be through 
 all the ages can effect its independent reality. But I am a per- 
 sonal being, free to live in harmonious union with God, or in 
 endless separation from Him. Christ, with everything He rep- 
 resents to me, is the All-sufficient One through whom and in 
 whom I can have my life in God. It remains for me to receive 
 Him, not merely the formal announcement or doctrine concern- 
 ing Him, not any impersonal statement or proposition, but Christ 
 Himself, the personal Jesus, once crucified and buried, but now 
 risen and alive forevermore. When, therefore, by a personal 
 faith, a faith which involves all the powers of my soul, knowing, 
 feeling and willing, I appropriate the Christ of the Gospel, there 
 is present in my consciousness the testimony, by the Holy Spirit, 
 that my sins are forgiven, and I know myself to have peace with 
 God. 
 
 Now I can appreciate what the Apostle means when he de- 
 clares: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not 
 I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live, I live by 
 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself 
 for me." Faith rests entirely in a present Christ, one who offers 
 Himself to the soul, its only life and hope. This Christ it finds in 
 the Gospel ; and He is there as the unspeakable gift of God to be 
 appropriated by a personal act of the soul, not in the form of a 
 mere intellectual assent, but by a confiding trust of the heart. 
 
 It remains to be observed that a clear, practical apprehension 
 and experience of justifying faith is necessary for the Christian 
 
Justifying Faith 93 
 
 Church today, because it is only by this principle that the truth 
 in Christianity can be known with highest certainty. Certainty, 
 I say, for this is the demand in spiritual knowledge as well as in 
 natural, in religion as well as in science. 
 
 Two forms of human thought are extant. One looks out- 
 ward and fixes sole attention on the natural; the other directs 
 its attention inward and recognizes supreme authority and the 
 determiner of all certainty to be the intellectual. The first knows 
 only nature to be real existence. Beyond this, it asserts, the 
 human mind cannot go. Natural law produces everything which 
 is — the stars, the world, man, and human history with all its 
 startling facts. This law is fixed, unchangeable. No outside or 
 superior power could anywhere or at any time along the course 
 of natural development thrust in its energy, and modify or change 
 the facts of nature or the life of man. A union, hence, of natural 
 and supernatural cannot occur. The miracle of the incarnation 
 is absolutely impossible. Jesus of Nazareth, like every individual 
 of the human race, is only the product of material force. Chris- 
 tianity, which we believe to be the revelation of the eternal per- 
 sonal God, is made by this view to vanish in the dreamings of an 
 unsettled brain. The only religion given a weary, struggling 
 humanity is that which says : "Obey the laws of nature ; other- 
 wise take the consequences" — a religion without love, without 
 hope, without faith, whose teaching is : "Eat, drink and be 
 merry, for tomorrow you die." 
 
 This is naturalism, a kind of thinking in the present time 
 which is powerfully and widely influential. It reaches every grade 
 and sphere of human life, and is the master spirit in the busy 
 movements, the toils and struggles of a restless, disappointed hu- 
 manity. It not only sports itself in an un-Christian world, but also 
 wields increasing power over the practical life of the Church, 
 and mars the faith of many. It blurs the distinction between 
 evangelical religion and worldliness, substitutes the ways and 
 methods of the natural man for the plain, efficient means of a 
 Divine Christianity, and calls man to the seeking of his destiny 
 by appeals to his sensous nature or aesthetic taste, instead of by 
 the pungent preaching of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Ac- 
 
94 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 cording to this scheme nothing is certain except that which is 
 determined by the fixed and final law of the natural world. 
 
 The other form of skeptical thought is rationalism. This 
 recognizes chiefly the subject of human knowledge, and in the 
 solution of the question of certainty, points to reason as the 
 supreme authority. Mention a scheme of redemption, and 
 rationalism says: "The natural powers alone are sufficient for 
 the attainment of man's chief good. Nothing pertains to his life 
 which can prevent the ultimate reaching of his moral destiny. 
 Sin is a sheer circumstance or accident, or, at most, a misfortune 
 easily remedied by proper culture." 
 
 Speak of the Christian religion as a revelation of the eternal 
 God in Jesus Christ, and the New Testament as the Scripture of 
 this revelation, and rationalism rejoins: "This is a human book, 
 and proclaims the religion of genius. A miracle of knowledge 
 is impossible. Inspiration, which arises from contact between 
 the divine and human, is inconceivable. There is but one kind of 
 inspiration and that is the kind which distinguishes the wise and 
 great from the common herd of mankind, the enthusiasm of 
 genius." 
 
 Rationalism poses before the world as the only hope of man. 
 It points him to a religion whose God is the human reason, 
 whom he must solely trust, and to whose authority he must 
 reverently bow; a religion in which sin is made to appear as an 
 unfavorable power, and over which, by and by through his own 
 sufficiency, man will gain completest victory; a religion whose 
 centre is the intellect and whose bulwarks are the forms of logical 
 thought. Here truth is tested like precious metal in the crucible, 
 and is given the highest assurance that can ever be found in 
 human experience. 
 
 It would be idle to close your eyes against the fact that 
 various phases of the rationalistic spirit are manifesting them- 
 selves in the thought and life of the present generation. Every- 
 where almost, in school and Church, in individual and social be- 
 lief, their presence is evident. Not abruptly, suddenly, or in the 
 extremest form does this spirit exhibit its power, but slowly, 
 quietly, with plausible speech, it gains for itself a place in thought 
 
Justifying Faith 95 
 
 and belief. At length boldly, and with radical demand, it insists 
 that the old paths shall be forsaken, and that Christianity, the 
 religion of miracle and grace, be given up. What it has produced 
 is well known — empty pews, deserted churches, pulpits turned 
 into lecture platforms where every question under heaven is 
 discussed except that one about which the human soul has been 
 most deeply concerned : "How can men get into right relation 
 with God?" And the people as a consequence are disquieted, 
 seeking rest and finding none. 
 
 These, I say, are the products of this Christless spirit. What 
 it has produced in a former generation and in a foreign land, it 
 will repeat in our day and on this continent. In fact, its working 
 is already manifest, and the legitimate fruits are apparent. Men 
 are running to and fro, asking: "What can I believe? Where 
 is the truth which satisfies? The creeds are insufficient. We 
 have thought them over in a careful manner, but they do not give 
 us what we want — peace and satisfaction." No wonder the cry 
 comes up from every quarter, "Where shall we go for light?" 
 No wonder men are talking about the decay of the Church, the 
 decline of Protestantism, and the failure of Christianity ! Reason 
 is usurping the throne of Christ and rejecting the witness of the 
 Holy Ghost in the heart, which alone can bring the experience 
 of pardon and peace with God and assurance of eternal life. 
 
 And now, here is sensuous thought with its wide-spread in- 
 fluence, on the one hand ; and, on the other hand, the intellectual 
 powers of man as the supreme authority and sufficiency, ener- 
 gizing themselves to supplant the Gospel of an incarnate Re- 
 deemer, rob the world of a divine revelation, and leave man with- 
 out a heaven-sent chart to steer his bark over a storm-tossed sea 
 to the haven of eternal rest. 
 
 What can be done, I ask, to defeat these unfriendly powers 
 and vindicate the Gospel of the crucified Nazarene? How shall 
 the truth in Christianity be verified for this generation? By 
 argument? By the power of logic? Does this give that kind of 
 certainty which is above all doubt, and is the assurance of a 
 present, living reality? What is the sphere of logic? To settle 
 the truth in a proposition, or to determine its relation to other 
 
96 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 propositions? Does it deal with the thing itself, or only with the 
 conception of the thing ? Evidently the latter. True, it produces 
 the conviction of certainty, but this is a conviction which pertains 
 to the form of thought, and is solely for the intellectual under- 
 standing. The faith it generates is mere historical belief, which 
 finds its limits altogether within the compass of formal thought. 
 If inquiry be pushed beyond the forms themselves to their con- 
 tent, and the demand be made to verify the truth in these, the 
 human understanding knows no other method than that which 
 answers for the certainty of the forms. When, therefore, the 
 highest ground of assurance is centered in the logical understand- 
 ing, the form of truth and the truth itself are confounded with 
 each other, that is, the truth is the form and the form is the 
 truth. Under this conception formal Christianity and the truth 
 in Christianity are the same, and, hence, certainty for the first 
 is certainty for the second. But this means that the only faith 
 necessary to assurance of solution is the belief of the intellect. 
 In this case the chiefest stress will be laid on the logical propo- 
 sitions. The historical evidences for the truth of the Sacred 
 Scriptures will be marshalled in exact order and powerful array, 
 and every proof be furnished necessary to convince the under- 
 standing of the natural man. But, though convinced, he is still 
 the natural man. With his intellect he knows the facts and 
 declarations of the Scriptures, but he is yet a stranger to the 
 saving power of the Gospel, which is Christ Jesus who is mighty 
 to save. This is the truth, the joyful, precious truth which lies 
 beyond the reach of the natural understanding, and, which, in 
 its reality, never can be known by any sort of mental operation. 
 It must be experienced in the heart through the witness of the 
 Holy Ghost, by a faith which not merely accepts the formal 
 Scriptures as authentic and credible, but, which, far beyond this, 
 appropriates the saving content of the Sacred Word, the living, 
 personal Jesus, who offers Himself in the Word to the lost soul 
 as its life and salvation. 
 
 The certitude which transcends every form of doubt, and 
 which abides in the irrepressible conviction that the Christ of 
 the Gospel is the all-sufficient Savior, arises out of a real contact 
 
Justifying Faith 97 
 
 of the living, personal Word with the human soul. In this con- 
 tact the heart knows Jesus, the real, personal Jesus, not simply 
 an impersonal statement. The formal Scriptures, the records of 
 divine revelation, point out the way, but Jesus Himself is the 
 way; they give an account of the truth, but Jesus is the truth; 
 they describe the life, but Jesus is the life. 
 
 Mere contact with the record, therefore, is not enough. 
 Christ and the believing soul must verily come together, if the 
 great and precious truth in Christianity would be known, and a 
 clear assurance of peace with God through the Holy Ghost would 
 ever be a fact of personal experience. But this real contact be- 
 tween Christ and the human heart can be realized only through 
 the faith which receives and appropriates the Jesus who offers 
 Himself to the soul as its eternal portion and highest good. 
 
 In the pointed and powerful language of Luther: "God 
 must witness to me in my heart that this is God's Word, else it 
 is not determined. Through the Apostles God had this same 
 Word preached, and He still has it preached. But even if the 
 Archangel Gabriel were to proclaim it from heaven, it would not 
 help me. I must have God's own Word. I will hear what God 
 says. Men, indeed, may preach the Word to me, but God alone 
 can put it into the heart, or else nothing results from it. This 
 Word is certain, and though all the world should speak against 
 it, yet I know that it is not otherwise. Who decides me in this ? 
 Not man, but the truth alone which is so certain that no man 
 can deny it." 
 
 Justifying faith has the testimony to the truth in Christianity 
 in itself and with itself, a present fact of experience; and with 
 this most certain of all conviction, personal assurance, it is able 
 to meet every denial of miracle, whether it be miracle of knowl- 
 edge or miracle of life. To rationalism it gives the irrepressible 
 answer: "I know these Scriptures to be the Word of God, be- 
 cause God Himself has spoken the truth in my heart." To 
 naturalism it triumphantly replies : "I know that Jesus of Naz- 
 areth is God manifest in the flesh, because He has revealed Him- 
 self to me as both the wisdom and power of God, in whom are 
 life and light, joy and peace." 
 
98 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 In order to maintain the truth of the Gospel in our time, to 
 win the fight of a true Christianity, and to be indeed a glorious 
 power for Christ, what is necessary on our part as the people of 
 God? I answer: A clear, practical apprehension of the great 
 regulating principle of religion — "The just shall live by faith." 
 
WHAT IS OFFERED AND CONFERRED 
 IN GRACE 
 
 THE question here raised assumes that something is offered 
 and conferred graciously on sinful men. Who offers and 
 confers this something? God, who is eternal, personal love. 
 What does He offer and confer ? That which man needs. What 
 is that? Himself. 
 
 In the outset of this discussion, I advance the proposition 
 that the fundamental need of man is God. It is the one need, 
 the supreme need, the all-embracing need, the need of needs. 
 To have God is to have every benefit, every good. This need 
 shows itself, in part at least, in all those searchings and seekings 
 and yearnings after God which are so prominent in the life of 
 the human soul. God is felt to be indispensable, and that 
 because He is indispensable. Even a man like Lyman 
 Abbott, with his vigorous repudiation of an "absentee" 
 God, supports the foregoing statement. He scouts the deistic 
 conception of God. He feels that he needs a God who is near at 
 hand, one who is really present; not a God who is afar off, and 
 who is only present, if ever at all, in a symbolic fashion. He 
 insists on a real presence of Deity — a presence so entirely real 
 in every way that there is nothing in essence but this presence. 
 Dr. Abbott wants God, wants Him, as he thinks, in the most 
 realistic way, must have Him, will have nothing else. He is not 
 satisfied with an influence, or influences, most powerful influ- 
 ences, all-embracing, all-enlightening, streaming forth from the 
 very bosom of Deity; but God Himself in the essence of His 
 being — the God who is the substance of all things; hence ever 
 present in everything, always present with Dr. Abbott, and neces- 
 sarily so. This is realism of the most profound type, but 
 realism of natural necessity. 
 
 But Dr. Abbott wants a redeeming, saving God. He feels 
 that he needs Him, needs Him here, must have Him. He is not 
 satisfied with Him being in heaven and helping us poor mortals 
 
100 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 at second hand ; not satisfied with a proxy or representative God, 
 or a merely virtual presence. Dr. Abbott is profoundly sensible 
 that he needs a helping, redeeming, satisfying God Himself 
 actually in his own heart, in his own life. An absentee Redeemer 
 is to him nothing. He would not be content with the idea that 
 the Holy Spirit is a substitute or proxy for God in Christ. God 
 in Christ cannot be present in the person or through the mediat- 
 ing of the Holy Ghost, while He Himself, God in Christ, is not 
 present. God in Christ and the Spirit are inseparable. If, in 
 working out redemption, God in Christ accomplishes this work 
 through the eternal Spirit, He certainly, in the application of re- 
 demption through the Spirit, is not absent, but immanently pres- 
 ent. No divine influence as a substitute or representative will 
 suffice. It must be the redeeming God Himself. Dr. Abbott, so 
 far as he recognizes a redeeming God, insists on His real presence. 
 
 But, unfortunately, his God is the pantheistic, absolute Spirit 
 of Hegel whose theory is as follows : In the progress of the 
 world process, the impersonal Absolute reaches consciousness in 
 man. Jesus is the God-man. All men also are God-men. God 
 is completely conscious in Jesus. As another, Dr. Stearns, says : 
 "Jesus stands to us pre-eminently the example and symbol of the 
 union between God and men, which is progressively realized in 
 the world process. This world process is an eternal evolution, in 
 which God is ever becoming more and more self-conscious, but 
 is never absolutely so. But Jesus as the God-man is not the per- 
 sonal Jesus, the Christ, but only the ideal of the perfect God- 
 consciousness. The actual Christ is mankind ever moving toward 
 a fuller realization of this ideal." 
 
 This kind of pantheism, as well as every other phase, is far 
 from the Christian conception of God, of Jesus, and of human 
 redemption. It is a most decided departure from the eternal 
 truth of things. True, it emphasizes the Divine immanence, a 
 most fundamental truth, but it does this so exclusively that all 
 distinction between the natural and the supernatural is wiped out. 
 
 And yet we must recognize that pantheism has, and con- 
 tinues to keep, a strong hold on a large body of thinkers and 
 seekers after religious truth, because of the deep conviction in 
 
What Is Offered and Conferred In Grace 101 
 
 the human soul that it absolutely needs all of God it can possibly- 
 appropriate ; needs Him now, needs Him here, God Himself, for 
 the realization in its life of the highest good. We were perhaps 
 shocked on reading Dr. Abbott's blunt statement of disbelief in 
 an absentee God, but, after all, may it not have come to him as 
 a reaction from that conception of the Christ which fixes Him so 
 firmly in heaven that He cannot be here on earth in a real manner 
 for the human soul, so that the sacraments, for instance, are 
 without Him, although His acts, devoid of the very reality which 
 alone can satisfy the needs of human nature and give them sub- 
 stantial value. This shutting up of Christ in the eternities, and 
 imagining that proxy agencies meet all requirements of the human 
 soul on earth, is responsible, in large part, at least, for low views 
 concerning the Gospel, for the rationalistic beliefs, and the pan- 
 theistic tendencies manifest today in certain quarters. Dr. Abbott 
 only reached the Beulah Land of pantheism a little sooner than a 
 multitude of others who are going thither. That is about the 
 only difference. 
 
 Without designing to make any invidious comparisons, I 
 may ask: In what bodies of Protestantism in America do we 
 today find liberal or low views of the Gospel, rationalistic learn- 
 ing, and even pantheistic tendencies? The answer is, among 
 the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists. 
 All of them are upholders of the doctrine of the spiritual presence 
 of God in Christ or the risen and glorified Jesus, as against His 
 real presence with believers : "Where two or three are gathered 
 together in my name, there will I be in the midst of them;" and 
 with His Church, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
 of the age;" and in the Lord's Supper, "Take, eat; this is my 
 body." In what Protestant body in America are the errors and 
 heresies which I have just named not found? In the Lutheran 
 Church. And this is the Church that believes in a redeeming 
 God, who is really here and offers and gives Himself to the sinful, 
 believing soul to be its life and salvation. 
 
 Again, I call attention to the supreme need of human nature. 
 This is God. Who and what is God ? The Apostle John says, 
 "God is love." This is the highest conception of the Divine 
 
102 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Being, the truest, the best. "God is love." He is so in His 
 essence. Then He is a personal being. If we say God is the 
 infinite, absolute, personal Spirit, then the infinite, absolute, per- 
 sonal Spirit is love. And this God is triune in love; otherwise 
 infinite, eternal love would not be satisfied. There would be a 
 want unmet in the sphere of the Divine existence. Infinite love 
 must have an infinite object to whom it may communicate itself 
 absolutely. The infinite Father finds such object in the infinite 
 Son, and the infinite Father and Son find it jointly in a third, 
 the Holy Spirit, who realizes the unity of the Godhead in the 
 eternal life of three in one. Infinite love is absolutely satisfied 
 in the mutual relations of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and thus 
 the eternal God is in Himself ever blessed. 
 
 The point especially which I would note in this communica- 
 tion of infinite love is that the communication, which is 
 always personal, is not that of something merely like unto 
 itself, but its own infinite self. If it be asked why God, 
 triune in His existence, and infinitely satisfied and eter- 
 nally blessed in Himself, created the universe, it must be 
 answered : first, negatively, He did not bring the world into ex- 
 istence in order to supply a want in Himself ; neither on account 
 of a superabundance of essence which He could not control did 
 the universe emanate from Him and flow into existence; but 
 because He is love He was moved to call into existence that 
 which is object to Him, in order that there might be that other 
 than Himself into which He could pour the fullness of His being. 
 It has been properly said that love is the ground of creation and 
 the establishment of a kingdom of love its end. While we say 
 that, on the one hand, the world exists for the glory of God, yet, 
 on the other hand, it must be observed that creation is a con- 
 stituted end in itself. In short, it is both end and means. In 
 the attainment of its end, which is the realization of the high- 
 est development possible for it, it accomplishes the glorification 
 of God. Man exists for his own sake, that is, for what it is 
 possible for him to become. He has a destiny to reach. It is 
 inconceivably high. For this he has been capacitated. He was 
 made in the image of God. It is for him to attain God-likeness in 
 
What Is Offered and Conferred In Grace 103 
 
 the highest degree possible for the finite in union with the infinite. 
 In other words, God, in making man, had in view the formation 
 of a creature to whom He could communicate Himself in the 
 fullest measure, so that there would exist beside Himself that 
 which would be most like Himself. Human nature has capacity 
 for the Divine. It can receive God. It can receive and hold of His 
 fullness. It can do this beyond our comprehension. In the pro- 
 gressive development of which it is most highly capable, it be- 
 comes more and more competent to appropriate to itself larger 
 and still larger communications of the fullness of Divine love. 
 It can ascend from glory to glory, and increasingly take on the 
 Divine fullness. 
 
 This wonderful and exceptional capacity of human nature 
 for God is evidenced in Jesus Christ, in whom the Divine and 
 human touch each other in the closest union possible between 
 Creator and creature. "In whom it pleased the Father that all 
 fullness should dwell, and in whom dwelt the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily." This is Jesus Christ, who possesses a true 
 human nature in union with a true Divine nature, by which 
 unique union He reveals the astounding height which man, in 
 union with God, is capable of reaching and has reached. See 
 our Elder Brother at the right hand of God, and there behold 
 humanity at the apex of glory. As soon as man existed, God, as 
 personal love, began the communication of Himself to him. It 
 could not have been otherwise. He made him, and made him 
 precisely as He did, that is, in His own image, so that of all 
 His works, there would be one of His creatures who could be a 
 perfect other, in whom He could see Himself reflected and realize 
 a peculiar delight. 
 
 But, unfortunately, this communication between God and 
 man quickly ended. Sin came into the world, into the heart and 
 life of man. Separation, alienation, took place. Man turned 
 from God, and would have none of His communion. Eternal 
 love, however, did not abandon His masterpiece, although he 
 had now fallen into ruin. God at once set in operation a method 
 of recovery. The way must be cleared of all hindrance to a 
 full communication of God Himself. The original design dare 
 
104 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 not fail. In the course of the ages Jesus Christ appears, and 
 makes satisfaction to Divine justice, vindicates the claims of the 
 holy law which was broken by man, suffers and dies on the 
 Cross, the just for the unjust, and on the third day rises from 
 the dead. On God's side the way is again open. All hindrances 
 are removed. On man's side likewise. It is now possible for 
 communication between heaven and earth to be restored. And so 
 God, in the person of redeeming love, comes offering and giving 
 Himself to the sinful man. It is a gracious offering and giving, 
 for it occurs only on the ground of Christ's meritorious re- 
 demptive work on behalf of a ruined world. The movement of 
 God communicating Himself to the sinful creature is now under 
 grace, through grace and by grace. It is composed of grace. It 
 is only through and in Jesus Christ that love can communicate 
 or give its fullness to sinful man. But this it seeks to do and 
 does by the most earnest endeavor. Less than this it could not 
 be satisfied with ; more it could not perform. God through grace 
 gives to man, wrecked in sin and undeserving, the highest and 
 best He can, and that is Himself. He makes the offer and be- 
 stows the gift in Jesus Christ. 
 
 If it be asked by way of emphasis, "What does God offer 
 and give to the sinful human soul?" it must be answered, Jesus 
 Christ. Other than Christ He has not to offer and give. Less, 
 if He had it to bestow, He would not give; because He made 
 man and constituted him, not for the smaller gifts of His good- 
 ness, but for the highest communication of His love, that is, of 
 Himself, in the person of His Son. "God so loved the world 
 that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The gracious 
 proclamation and promise are that whosoever believeth in Christ 
 receives forgiveness of sins, and by imputation the righteousness 
 of Christ, and is justified. 
 
 In this matter of justification there is the offer and bestow- 
 ment of two gifts : pardon, and imputation of Christ's righteous- 
 ness. But Christ Himself is our passover. Forgiveness is a 
 passing over, but a passing over for a sufficient reason, which is 
 the sacrificial sufferings and death, or, if you please, sacrificial 
 
What Is Offered and Conferred In Grace 105 
 
 work, of Christ. He is our sacrifice, hence our passover — before 
 God the forgiveness of our sins. At the same time, He is our 
 righteousness before the law. When, therefore, any sinner lays 
 hold of Christ by faith, he has Christ Himself ; hence his for- 
 giveness before God and his righteousness. In other words, when 
 God sees the sinner in Christ, and he can get there only by faith, 
 He has nothing against him, and finds him only in the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, and so makes declaration that he has the forgive- 
 ness of his sins and the righteousness which renders him just 
 before the law. And this forgiveness and this righteousness 
 are Christ. Hence, what is offered and bestowed in justification 
 is Christ. But this is a gift pure and simple. It is the Unspeak- 
 able Gift of God. 
 
 The same holds true in the case of regeneration. If we 
 have in mind simply the thing itself, that new reality estab- 
 lished in the sinful heart by the operation of the Holy Spirit, 
 that constitutes the change in its character, we find again it is 
 Christ. Regeneration, we say, is the beginning of the new life. 
 But this life is Christ. He says of Himself, "I am the life;" 
 and Paul insists that it is not he who lives, but Christ who lives 
 in him. When Christ is established by faith in the sinful heart 
 through the Spirit, that is the day when the sinner passes from 
 death unto life, and is a new creature. 
 
 All this is of grace ; it is grace. Christ is the grace of God. 
 But I suppose the matter chiefly before our minds is, What does 
 God, through the means of grace, offer and bestow? The means 
 of grace are the Word and Sacraments. They are the Divine 
 appointments through which ordinarily grace is offered and 
 bestowed. The grace is the same in the case of the Word and 
 Sacraments. It is not one kind of grace by one, and a different 
 kind by the other. It is always Christ. As to Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper and the grace which is offered and conferred, the 
 Lutheran Church has a definite view. By Baptism it is regen- 
 eration ; by the Lord's Supper, it is the nourishment for the new 
 man. 
 
 NOTE — This discussion ends here so abruptly that it is evidently 
 not complete. No more pages, however, of this particular manuscript 
 are to be found. — Editor. 
 
DESTINY OF THE PHYSICAL 
 
 THE supreme effort of our time is to produce the finest type 
 of man. This is more strikingly prominent on the material 
 side. Physical facts make so forcible an impression on the seek- 
 ers after a better acquaintance with the nature in which we live, 
 and on those who constantly handle the things of time and sense, 
 that the highest development of man's bodily organism is judged 
 to be the chief glory. In consequence, rules for right physical liv- 
 ing and vigorous bodily exercise abound. The gymnasium and the 
 boat-house constitute extensive and costly annexes to our 
 boasted university, and are made not merely helps in the getting 
 of a sound and thorough education, but chief factors in the train- 
 ing of our youth for the trades and professions in life. The 
 material dominates the intellectual and the spiritual. The in- 
 vestigation of nature and its operations in modern times has 
 brought to light so much that is new and startling, and, at the 
 same time so useful and helpful, that men make themselves be- 
 lieve that the highest good and the supreme end of living are 
 to know how to master the forces of nature, and use them to 
 develop a perfect material organism. A law of evolution has 
 been paraded before the world as the explanation of everything, 
 not only that has been and now is, but also that will be. This 
 law involves all possibilities, and hence the perfect man in his 
 physical form. Some naturalists and their ministerial disciples 
 are fond of telling that man, the animal, began with the simplest 
 material organism, and ascended step by step from a lower form 
 to the next higher, until his present body was worked out com- 
 plete in all its parts, the best physical form nature can possibly 
 produce. The remaining task of evolution is not to take away 
 or add members to this physical organism, but simply, with un- 
 erring, artistic skill, to bring out in perfect shape and faultless 
 working order, this triumph of natural force, the body of man so 
 
Destiny of the Physical 107 
 
 perfectly and wonderfully made. Sometime in the future the 
 process of development will be finished; the machinery of man's 
 physical frame will be in the finest form ; not a defect in a single 
 organ; not a clog anywhere; the matchless figure of a divine 
 Apollo fully realized. 
 
 It may, however, with fairness be disputed that the final 
 outcome will be a crowning fact of man's physical growth through 
 either the natural force, or the result of mechanical exercise. 
 Beyond question man's body has a destiny, and this destiny is 
 nature in its grandest life. But whether that high state of being 
 can be reached through any purely material contrivance may well 
 be held a matter of sincere doubt. In truth, it must be plainly 
 said that, if it is left solely to the physical, chemical and vital 
 energies of nature, unmanaged, unguided, save by their own 
 temper, to produce the human body without defect in the balance 
 of its forces, and without a flaw in its make, there never can ap- 
 pear in the endless future the perfect man. Admirable specimens 
 of physical culture by mechanical and natural methods doubtless 
 will appear in the coming years, just as they have shown them- 
 selves to admiring spectators in the past ; but even these, in their 
 most striking forms, will be far inferior to that highest destiny 
 of which man's body is capable. 
 
 The athlete, in the roundness of his shape and symmetry 
 of his form, truly shows how mere bodily exercise can im- 
 prove man's physical condition, and increase his power of en- 
 durance ; and yet this example of well-developed muscle exhibits 
 neither the beauty nor the glory of that human body which can 
 be. Undoubtedly desirable and even excellent results are wrought 
 by the methods used ; but they are the best that mechanical exercise 
 and natural force, independent of any higher power, can produce. 
 Through their means the true destiny of the human body never 
 can be reached. If subjected to this mode of improvement, it will 
 always wear a gross appearance, and never be that sublime form 
 which the master genius and sculptor tried to carve. 
 
 Materialism, I know, makes high claims and fascinates a 
 sensuous world with its showy products ; but, with all its accom- 
 plishments hitherto, and certainly it has made no idle test of its 
 
108 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 powers, not the slightest assurance has been given that it is able 
 to develop the human body up to the climax of material dignity 
 and grandeur. On the contrary, evidence abounds that in the 
 production of the myriad forms constituting the universe of men, 
 physical nature, material force has done the best it could, and 
 that, hence, beyond these magnificent efforts it cannot go. With- 
 out the superintending influence of a higher power, the greatest 
 development of the physical is impossible. When Phidias, the 
 master sculptor, conceived the grand ideal of the Apollo, he did 
 not picture in his imagination a form begotten of material force, 
 built up into most perfect shape by the action of physical energy, 
 but first there appeared before his mind's eye a divinity, sub- 
 lime in its excellence, gathering about itself a visible shape, in- 
 habiting a tangible form, diffusing its supernatural power 
 through all the forces of the bodily organism, refining, moulding, 
 fashioning every part into faultless symmetry, giving it the 
 touches of perfect beauty here and sublimity there, and then suf- 
 fusing the entire body with an expression of greatness and glory 
 which made it to appear, not a thing of earth, but a god of the 
 heavens. 
 
 The material apart from the spiritual may become a thing 
 of beauty and of use, but it never can develop into that which 
 it would be did not the supernatural pervade and permeate its every 
 energy. The human body might be improved from age to age 
 through the force of mere natural law, but if there be no agent 
 resident in it to direct the operations of this law, and to infuse 
 into all the activities of every member the inspiration of its own 
 life, the fullest outcome at last can only be a living organism, no 
 more complete than the tiny plant or sturdy tree. That which 
 is purely material must always remain what the life and spirit 
 of physical force are. Higher than these no development which 
 is thoroughly material can rise. 
 
 If now the fact be recognized that man is not material 
 essence only, but also spiritual being, the one above the other, 
 in and through the other, there opens up at once a range of 
 development for the human body which is utterly impossible 
 where physical nature plays the game of life alone. Since the 
 
Destiny of the Physical 109 
 
 spiritual is higher than the material, and stronger than its 
 mightiest forces, the inevitable result of this permanent contact 
 and union is not simply to bring the latter more and more under 
 the management and control of the former, but to spiritualize 
 the material, to assimilate it progressively to itself, so that the 
 physical is leavened by the spiritual, has in it the life and power 
 of the spiritual, and becomes partaker with it in a destiny of 
 honor, glory and immortality. This climax of man's physical 
 growth is well assured. It is not a conjecture or mere specula- 
 tion about what the forces of nature will produce through the 
 course of coming ages, but a great fact which is rooted in the 
 very depths of man's history, and excites the wonderment of 
 heaven and earth. The perfect human body exists. It is not 
 something yet to be evolved. It already has actual being and 
 flames forth from its wondrous height and dazzling glory. 
 
 And this is the body of Jesus Christ, the God-man. It is 
 true, while He lived in this world, men saw in His form no 
 comeliness. His visage was sadly marred. He was bruised and 
 pierced to death. But, behold, He lives again. Of His body 
 the inspired Word says : "It was sown in corruption, it was 
 raised in incorruption ; it was sown in dishonor, it was raised in 
 glory; it was sown in weakness, it was raised in power; it was 
 sown a natural body, it was raised a spiritual body." This is the 
 body of Him who is our Elder Brother, and of whom it is said 
 that "His head and His hair are white like wool, as white as 
 snow ; His eyes are as a flame of fire ; His feet like unto fine 
 brass as if they burned in a furnace; His voice as the sound of 
 many waters, and His countenance as the sun shining in his 
 strength." 
 
 In this body are present the forces of the material universe. 
 Here they ever act in fullest harmony, and preserve a matchless 
 beauty of form and an immortal freshness of appearance; while 
 in their ceaseless activity they declare in loftiest strain the glory 
 of God and show forth His most resplendent handiwork. But 
 these forces of nature have by no means, merely by a genius of 
 their own, built up this most wonderful organism, suffused it with 
 a matchless grace, and crowned it with a sublimity never to be 
 
110 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 equalled. They are but the servants of a master soul, whose life 
 and power pervade, thrill and permeate their very essence, caus- 
 ing them to lose the image of the earthly, and take on the fashion 
 of the heavenly. 
 
 On the Athenian heights once stood the Phidian Apollo, the 
 triumph of artistic genius, the praise of Greece, the admiration 
 of the world. It was a marble statue, the expression of a great 
 ideal. But on the height of the eternal heavens there stands a 
 living body, in form perfect, in expression sublime, in being God- 
 like, the body of the Son of man, the real Apollo, radiant with 
 a splendor which art and nature never wear, surpassingly glor- 
 ious, brighter than the sun and stars. 
 
 Aye, there is man's body at the climax of its development! 
 Beyond this material force can never go. Up to this height, 
 without the moulding, quickening presence of the spiritual, 
 physical energy never can attain. The body of Jesus is the goal 
 of physical and material greatness, beauty, grandeur and power. 
 Here we reach the climax. If you wish to see this nature at its 
 best, you must not search among the rocks, or scale the mountains, 
 or dive into the depth of the sea, or scan the lilies of the field 
 arrayed in all their magnificence, or the stately cedars sublime 
 in their appearing on the craggy peaks, or the gladiator with 
 herculean physique, or the athlete with nimble foot or dextrous 
 hand, the paragon of physical beauty ; but you must look up to 
 the right hand of God to see material nature at its apex, the 
 glorious body of Jesus, the Son of man, supreme in excellence, 
 the temple of the living Jehovah, the praise of heaven, the admira- 
 tion of the universe. 
 
 Yet we have not exhausted our theme. Jesus is the com- 
 pleteness of human nature in its mental attainments. The mind 
 of man is no dead, irrational force. It is a living, rational being. 
 Unlike matter, it is a self-active force, able not simply to imitate, 
 but also to originate. It is a thinking, knowing, willing power, 
 whose capabilities enlarge by continued exercise ; and, hence, as 
 the process of development goes on, it takes in wider regions of 
 the world of knowledge. Mind is progressive. Its march has 
 been a steady advance upward to a grander achievement and 
 
Destiny of the Physical 111 
 
 broader possessions. The works of art attest its skill. The epics 
 and the lyrics of the ages flash its genius. The philosophy of 
 ancient and modern days and the science of our time display 
 its deep searchings after truth and its stately steppings from a 
 lower to a higher stage of civilization. What strides it has taken ! 
 What leaps it has made! How it pushes forward today with 
 astonishing swiftness to greater conquests and nobler attainments ! 
 It is indeed the master power of the earth ; mightier than the 
 storm, stronger than the wild forces of nature. Like a very god 
 it moves above the fierce elements of our globe, and stretches out 
 its scepter of dominion over the kingdoms of land and sea. 
 
 The possibilities of the human mind, who can tell? Some 
 day, not far distant, it will have greatly surpassed its present 
 growth and power. Problems of thought, now dark, will then 
 be made clear. Investigations of nature, now checked by what 
 seem to be impassible barriers, will then be triumphantly finished. 
 Inventions, now not even rudely shaped in idea, will then do the 
 bidding of man. Natural forces, today scarcely known to exist, 
 will then be fully controlled with a master's hand. Discoveries, 
 now not dreamed of by the most sanguine explorer, will then 
 be voiced as marvels of the day. And what is now a great glor- 
 ious civilization will shade into littleness before the wonders of 
 culture and improvement which will grace the fashion of that 
 better age. You might dam up the Nile, or stop the foam- 
 ing currents of Niagara ; you can say to the force of the 
 natural world, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further," and their 
 course is stayed : but who can drive back the mind of man from 
 its onward, upward, conquering way? Who can block up the 
 road of mental progress? No one. What a destiny, then, it is 
 toward which the mind of man is hastening! Inconceivably 
 great and grand is the destiny of perfect knowledge — perfect 
 knowledge of three great objects to be known, God, man and 
 nature, together with their several relations. 
 
 And this is an attainable destiny ; not an imaginary end ; not 
 like the mirage of the desert forever receding as the traveler ap- 
 proaches ; but a real destiny because already realized. One man 
 of Adam's race has already reached that high altitude, the man 
 
112 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Christ Jesus. He stands on the summit of all possible human 
 intellectual attainment. He knows nature; He knows man; He 
 knows God. He is at the apex. 
 
 The mind of man, however, if left entirely to the exercise 
 of its own powers, could never rise to such a height. It matters 
 not what earnest effort might be put forth, how intensely it might 
 energize, and how heroically it might fight the battle of thought. 
 Even supreme endowments could not avail; nor would genius, 
 with its lofty powers, be able to lead a sure march upward to the 
 goal of perfect knowledge, and finally in mighty triumph win the 
 prize. Just as the material, apart from the spiritual, never could 
 ascend alone above the earthly and take on a heavenly form, so 
 human reason, wonderful as its native powers are, never could, 
 without union with the divine reason, attain to the profoundest 
 knowledge of things seen and unseen, and be familiar without 
 the slightest constraint with the mysteries of the natural and 
 the secrets of the supernatural. Only the reason of Him who said, 
 "Let there be light and there was light," and who made man 
 like unto Himself, understands completely the mechanism of the 
 physical and the nature of the spiritual. He alone has absolute 
 knowledge. 
 
 But when the divine reason comes permanently into contact 
 and union with the human reason, the latter is quickened, receives 
 a fresh inspiration, and acquires a power of apprehension and a 
 depth of insight which the mind of man in its natural growth 
 never could achieve ; a power of apprehension and a depth of in- 
 sight which give that perfect knowledge of truth in nature, man 
 and God which the divine omniscience alone possesses and is able 
 to make clear. 
 
 Such a union exists. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt 
 among us;" "the brightness of His Father's glory, and the ex- 
 press image of His person, the first-born of every creature." This 
 is Jesus Christ. In Him the human intellect is everlastingly 
 welded to the divine intellect, and thus is inspired to know the 
 secret depths of a universe of matter and soul, as well as to 
 survey with unerring eye the wonders of the being of the eternal 
 God. In Him the human reason is the matchless poet, the most 
 
Destiny of the Physical 113 
 
 skillful scientist, the perfect artist, the profoundest philosopher, 
 the most practical genius. Higher than this no culture can ever 
 elevate the mind of man. Up to this exalted attainment no pro- 
 cess of intellectual development can raise the finite reason if 
 separated from the mind of God. It is the mind of Jesus, united 
 with the divine mind, that shows us the human reason in its 
 noblest development, at its climax. 
 
 But more ; man has a spirit, and this lifts him into a higher 
 world, above the regions of sense, above the realm of intellectual 
 insight into that vast domain which comprehends the universe 
 of being. It is the crowning jewel of his nature, and constitutes 
 in him that worth for which there can be no adequate exchange. 
 It is the greatest activity in man, and has an outlook into the 
 boundless future, limited only by the boundaries of the finite. 
 We cannot now know its vast possibilities. The image of the 
 invisible God, by the very nature of its being, is there made pos- 
 sible for its destiny which is undoubtedly grand — a destiny of 
 righteousness, holiness and love. To be righteous, to be holy, 
 and to love God with increasing ardor through the ages, this is 
 an excellence of nature and of life which crowns the possessor 
 with the glory of heaven. 
 
 And yet it does not realize the greatest possibility of the 
 human spirit. Apart from the divine, it is true, the human soul 
 may make some progress by virtue of its inherent principles and 
 powers, which also are the gifts of God; but there is still a 
 vaster possibility. Unite the finite spirit of man with the infinite, 
 eternal Spirit of God, and there opens the prospect of a destiny 
 extending to the possibilities of the Godhead. It will be right- 
 eous, and its righteousness will be the righteousness of God. It 
 will be holy, and its holiness will be the holiness of God. It 
 will be good, and its goodness will be the goodness of God. It 
 will abound in love, and its love will be the love of God, who 
 Himself, in His ever blessed being, is the fullness of love. 
 
 And is all this mere empty supposition ? Oh, no ! The union 
 has taken place. Nearly two thousand years ago the angel of the 
 Lord appeared to a woman of Nazareth, and said : "Hail, thou 
 art highly favored : behold, thou shalt conceive and bring forth 
 
114 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 a son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall 
 be called the Son of the Highest." And while the shepherds in 
 the country about Bethlehem were abiding in the field, the angel 
 of the Lord came upon them, and said : "Behold, I bring you 
 glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto 
 you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ 
 the Lord." The union has taken place. Human nature and 
 divine nature are joined together in everlasting wedlock. The 
 oneness of this union is the person Jesus. In Him the spirit of 
 man becomes a partaker of the Spirit of God. The righteousness 
 of God becomes man's righteousness ; the holiness of God, man's 
 holiness; the love of God, the animating, constraining, glorified 
 love of the human soul. Thus in Christ is realized the true and 
 most exalted destiny of the physical, the psychical, and the 
 spiritual. Little wonder the inspired Word says that in Him 
 should "all fullness dwell." 
 
 "O, could I speak the matchless worth, 
 O, could I sound the glories forth 
 
 Which in my Savior shine, 
 I'd soar and touch the heavenly strings, 
 And vie with Gabriel while he sings 
 
 In notes almost divine. 
 
 I'd sing the characters He bears, 
 And all the forms of love He wears, 
 
 Exalted on His throne; 
 In loftiest songs of sweetest praise 
 I would to everlasting days 
 
 Make all His glories known." 
 
 My last word to you, young friends, is the prayer that 
 "Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted 
 and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints 
 what is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know 
 the love of Christ, which passes knowledge ; that ye may be filled 
 with all the fullness of God." Amen. 
 
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND THE 
 AUGSBURG CONFESSION 
 
 THE Lutheran Church arose in the sixteenth century. She 
 is the Church of the Reformation. Martin Luther, an 
 Augustinian monk, came to the scene October 31, 1517. On that 
 day he nailed on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg 
 the well-known ninety-five propositions, the substance of which 
 is that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. This was the key- 
 note to that great event which ushered in these modern times. 
 
 In 1530, at Augsburg, the Reformers, in obedience to the 
 order of Charles V, presented in definite statement their doctrinal 
 belief before the German Empire and the Roman Church. This 
 statement was their Confession of evangelical truth. It stands 
 in history as the great Confession of Protestantism and the 
 charter of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 To know this Confession is to know what the Lutheran 
 Church teaches and believes. In so doing, care must be taken to 
 understand clearly that the Augsburg Confession is not a docu- 
 ment which is given out as the invention of man, but as an ex- 
 hibition of Christian doctrine which finds its source in the Sacred 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The Lutheran exalts the divine Word above both ecclesias- 
 tical authority and the dictates of the human reason. To him 
 the creed is binding only so far as it agrees with the manifest 
 teaching of the Word of God. In fact, he understands it to be 
 a reflex of this Word, an epitome of what the Sacred Scriptures 
 fundamentally teach. The creed is, hence, not an absolute or 
 independent something claiming to be the repository of divine 
 truth, but only a compact statement showing what the Church 
 believes the Word of God to teach. 
 
 In this light the Lutheran Church receives and adopts the 
 Augsburg Confession as the symbol of her faith. She means to 
 
116 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 say: "This is the way I understand the Word of God; this is 
 what I believe the Bible teaches. It is sound and pure doctrine 
 because it is what the Scriptures say." 
 
 The Augsburg Confession is therefore not taken by the 
 Lutheran to be one thing and the Bible another thing, but the 
 two are held to be most closely united — the creed an expression 
 of what the Bible contains, the Bible the source and power of 
 the creed. In consequence, the Lutheran does not insist on ac- 
 ceptance of Christian doctrine by the self-authority of his Con- 
 fession. This, in itself considered and apart from the Word of 
 God, has no authority above the decisions of the human reason. 
 The Lutheran looks back through his creed to the Sacred 
 Scriptures, and there finds the authority which is all-sufficient, 
 and invests his Confession with an authoritative power no 
 Scriptureless production of the human mind ever possesses. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the old question was raised with 
 extraordinary energy : How can a man be just before God ? To 
 this inquiry two answers were given: one by the Church of 
 Rome, the other by Martin Luther and his colleagues. Both 
 agreed that Christ is the Savior of the world, that He made a 
 vicarious sacrifice on Calvary. The particular question was, 
 How can the sinner obtain the benefits of the sacrifice, have peace 
 with God and clear assurance of salvation? The Romanist 
 answered that the sinner can approach Christ only mediately, 
 that is, through the Church; the Lutheran answered that the 
 penitent sinner must come to Christ immediately, that is, by a 
 personal act of faith. 
 
 These answers involved two different theories of the Church. 
 The Romanist claims that the Apostolate, to which was given the 
 power to forgive sins and infallibility, has been continued from the 
 Apostolic days on through the centuries. The Apostolate is here 
 now, a living fact, and finds its embodiment in the priesthood. 
 The priesthood is the Church. When assembled in ecumenical 
 council, its decisions are without error. The decrees of the 
 Church, therefore, are invested with divine authority, and are 
 even superior to the Word of God, because they determine 
 what is the Word of God. If disputes arise concerning 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 117 
 
 any doctrine of Scripture, the Romanist immediately points to 
 the decisions of the Councils as the infallible determiners of what 
 is religiously true and false. From these decisions there can be 
 no appeal to a higher authority. There is no higher authority. 
 If now the question comes up, "How can a sinner be reconciled 
 to God ?" the Romanist replies : "Through the Church. To the 
 priesthood, the living Apostolate, have been committed the treas- 
 ures of grace. This priesthood has been given the treasures of 
 the kingdom of heaven. It alone can open and shut, bind and 
 loose. The Church is not the preacher of the Gospel, but the 
 dispenser of grace. Whoever would seek forgiveness of sin and 
 find peace must betake himself to the Church, obey her command, 
 and rest in the bosom of the priesthood. The only assurance he 
 can have of salvation is the assurance which comes from doing 
 what the Church directs. In short, the Church requires that he 
 shall commit himself absolutely into her care." 
 
 Thus, you observe, it is not Christ whom he must believe, 
 but the Church. It is not Christ to whom he must go for eternal 
 life, but to the Church. It is not to Christ to whom he must look 
 for salvation, but to the priesthood whom God has endowed with 
 the power to forgive sins. 
 
 It is easy to see how, under such a conception of the 
 Christian Church, deliverance from the power and guilt of sin 
 becomes a mechanical process, whose conclusion is reached by the 
 merit of human works. No wonder that such elaborate machinery 
 is set in motion to cure the human soul of sin, if the application 
 of saving grace is committed to the priesthood and this applica- 
 tion is made on such conditions as the priesthood may appoint. 
 It is only what would naturally occur. No wonder the preaching 
 of the Gospel fell into neglect, and the Bible became a rare book 
 in the course of years. It was not the Word of God which the 
 people needed to know, but the appointments of the Church. It 
 was not the instruction and guidance of the Bible which the weary 
 and heavy laden must follow in order to be saved, but the orders 
 of the priesthood. This inspired body was the wisdom and power 
 of God whither all men must go to get the words of eternal life. 
 In Romanism the Church, which is the living Apostolate, takes 
 
118 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the place of Christ and offers to her subjects, as a reward for 
 obeying her commands, the merits of the Savior's suffering and 
 death, on such conditions as she may appoint. Saving grace is 
 not a free gift to be received from Christ, but a payment made 
 by the Church for the work done. 
 
 The Lutheran takes a very different view. With him the 
 Apostolate is the Holy Scripture, "which is the abiding voice of 
 the Apostolate in the Church." Inspiration is not found in the 
 decisions of councils, but solely in the Word of God. This alone 
 is infallible. Here is supreme authority. Everything pertaining 
 to divine truth and the salvation of the sinner can be determined 
 solely by Scripture. This is the Word of God which stands 
 above the sayings of men and the decrees of the most enlightened 
 synods, and is "the light which lighteth every man." 
 
 In the contest which Luther had with the papacy, the 
 supreme authority of the Sacred Scriptures was the high claim 
 on which he planted himself. "Unless I am convinced of error," 
 he dared to say, "by the clear Word of God, I cannot and will 
 not retract." The decrees of the councils pushed into the fore- 
 ground by the Church of Rome as the final settlement of what 
 is saving truth and what the sinner must do to be saved, Luther 
 pushed into the background, and pointed triumphantly to the 
 Word of God, the only voice of inspiration, as the infallible guide 
 in questions pertaining to salvation and the perfect rule of re- 
 ligious faith and practice. The Lutheran exalts the Word of 
 God above everything ecclesiastical ; above human reason, on the 
 one hand, and above the Church and her decrees, on the other. 
 
 Observe carefully the wide difference at this point between 
 Romanism and Lutheranism. Romanism makes the Church, 
 which is the priesthood, to be inspired in the same way in which 
 the Apostles were inspired, proclaims the Church in her decrees 
 to be infallible, and arrogates to herself an authority which is 
 superior to that of the Holy Scriptures. Romanism says that it 
 is not the voice of God in the Bible you must hear for salvation, 
 but the voice of God as it is abiding in the priesthood. It is not 
 faith that saves, but obedience to what the Church requires. You 
 must make the words of the pope and the decisions of the councils 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 119 
 
 your guide; do as the priesthood directs. Holy Scripture, with 
 out the infallible interpretations of the apostolic and inspired 
 Church of Rome, is only darkness to you. To have forgiveness 
 of sin and eternal life you must believe the pope and the councils. 
 You must merit your salvation by the punctilious observance 
 of all that the priesthood, to whom has been given the grace of 
 the Gospel, infallibly directs; otherwise you cannot enter the 
 Kingdom of God. For it is alone the living Apostolate, the in- 
 fallible priesthood, who has authority to say what is the truth 
 of God and what is not ; what you must do and what you must 
 not do to gain forgiveness of your sins. 
 
 In opposition to this high assumption stands Lutheranism. 
 This system of doctrine maintains that the Word of God is 
 supreme above popes and councils and all the ordinances of men. 
 Here God speaks. Here is the truth which saves. Here is the 
 Gospel of life and salvation. Here the sinner learns what he 
 must do to find peace, forgiveness of sins and salvation. He 
 must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Lutheranism 
 says : '"'No mediation of priest will answer. You must flee di- 
 rectly to Christ." "Thou must confess with thy mouth the 
 Lord Jesus ; thou must believe in thine heart that God raised Him 
 from the dead." You must receive Him as your Savior. You 
 must give yourself to Him. He, not the priest, must hear your 
 confession. You must go to Him just as you are, a poor, perish- 
 ing sinner, and say in your heart: 
 
 "Rock of Ages ! cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in Thee. 
 Let the water and the blood, 
 From Thy riven side that flowed, 
 Be of sin the double cure; 
 Save me, Lord, and make me pure. 
 
 Not the labors of my hands 
 Can fulfil Thy law's demands; 
 Could my zeal no respite know, 
 Could my tears forever flow, 
 All for sin could not atone; 
 Thou must save, and Thou alone. 
 
120 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Nothing in my hand I bring, 
 Simply to Thy Cross I cling; 
 Naked, come to Thee for dress; 
 Helpless, look to Thee for grace; 
 Foul, I to the fountain fly; 
 Wash me, Savior, or I die." 
 
 This is what the Lutheran Church believes, this is the song 
 she sings — a Savior who atoned on the Cross for sin, and whose 
 blood cleanses from all iniquity ; a personal Savior to whom you 
 and I can come, weary and heavy laden, obtain pardon and find 
 rest for our souls. And this precious truth of God's Word the 
 Lutheran Church has put in her great Confession, which she 
 publishes to all the world. You will find it there, not stuck in 
 one corner, hidden from view, but standing out in clear sight and 
 towering above all other doctrines of her creed. It forms the 
 center of this majestic group, and binds them together in a living 
 and most beautiful unity. And what is this wonderful doctrine? 
 Hear it, my brother: "We cannot obtain righteousness and for- 
 giveness of sin before God by our own merits, works and atone- 
 ment: but we obtain the remission of sins and are justified before 
 God by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, if we believe that 
 Christ suffered for us, and for His sake our sins are remitted 
 unto us, and righteousness and eternal life are bestowed upon us ; 
 for God regards this faith and imputes it as righteousness in His 
 sight, as Paul says, Romans, Chapters III and IV." 
 
 This is what the Lutheran Church believes concerning justi- 
 fication before God, and this is how she states her belief. Is this 
 Romanism? Does it not flatly contradict the very essence of 
 Romanistic teaching? But more, hear what the Augsburg Con- 
 fession says about faith and good work in Article xx: 
 "Now the doctrine concerning faith, which is the principal 
 article of the Christian creed, not having been included for so 
 long a time, as all must confess, but the doctrine concerning 
 works alone having been preached everywhere, the following 
 instructions on this subject are offered by our divines: First, 
 that our works cannot reconcile us to God and merit grace, but 
 these things are effected through faith alone if we believe that 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 121 
 
 our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake, who alone is Mediator 
 reconciling the Father. He, therefore, who expects to effect this 
 reconciliation by works and to merit grace contemns Christ, and 
 seeks a way of his own to God, contrary to the Gospel. This 
 doctrine of faith is clearly and explicitly inculcated by the Apostle 
 Paul in many places, especially in Ephesians, where he says, 'By 
 grace ye are saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it 
 is the gift of God : not of works lest any man should boast.' " 
 
 This is what the Augsburg Confession says about justifying 
 faith — precisely what the Apostle Paul declares. What answer 
 does the Lutheran Church give to the question, "How can a man 
 be just before God?" but the very answer which the inspired 
 Word of God gives. She speaks the Gospel. Is this Roman- 
 ism? In the great Apology to the Augsburg Confession Philip 
 Melanchthon enforces the meaning of what I have just quoted. 
 And who has a better right than the author of our Confession 
 to state its meaning? He says: "But if we are made just be- 
 fore God solely through the grace and mercy promised in Christ, 
 it follows that we do not become just through our works. For 
 what necessity would there be then for the glorious divine 
 promises, and how could Paul so highly praise grace and exalt 
 it? The divine promises offer to us, who are overcome by sin 
 and death, help, grace and reconciliation for Christ's sake, which 
 no man can obtain through works, but alone through faith in 
 Jesus Christ. This faith offers or presents to the Lord God no 
 works, no merit of its own, but builds upon pure grace only, and 
 knows of no other consolation or trust than the mercy promised 
 in Christ. Now this faith alone, when each one believes indi- 
 vidually, personally that Christ is given for him, obtains remis- 
 sion of sins for Christ's sake, and justifies us in the sight of God. 
 
 "And since this faith exists wherever there is true repentance, 
 and raises our hearts when sunk in the terrors of sin and death, 
 we are regenerated by it, and through it we receive the Holy 
 Spirit into our hearts, who renews them, and thus enables us to 
 keep the law of God, to fear and love Him truly, and finally to 
 trust that Christ was given for us ; that He hears our cries and 
 prayers, and that we can commend ourselves joyfully to God's 
 
122 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 will, even in the midst of death. That faith is therefore true and 
 genuine which receives and obtains remission of sins without 
 price through grace, and does not oppose to the truth of God its 
 merits and works, which would be a mere feather against a 
 tempest, but presents Christ the Mediator: and this faith is the 
 true knowledge of Christ. He who thus believes rightly appre- 
 hends the great and beneficent work of Christ and becomes a new 
 creature. Of this faith in Christ and this knowledge of Him 
 there is not a syllable, not a tittle, in all the books of our 
 adversaries." 
 
 This is what Philip Melanchthon, the man who wrote the 
 creed of the Lutheran Church, says about the fourth article of 
 the Augsburg Confession. Is it not the voice of Scripture? Is 
 it not the pure Word of God about how we poor sinners can 
 become new creatures in Christ Jesus? Where in all the state- 
 ments of divine truth among men is there anything superior? 
 Have you and I ever heard a better, truer Gospel than the Augs- 
 burg Confession and Melanchthon's defense express? If there 
 is any such, let it be produced. I challenge the world of Biblical 
 scholars, theologians and preachers, from the days of the Apostle 
 Paul down to the present time, to show a truer statement of how 
 you and I and all men can be justified before God, than that 
 which is given in the fourth article of our Confession of Faith 
 and the Apology of Philip Melanchthon. And is it to be in- 
 sinuated that a Confession of Faith which has for its corner- 
 stone the clear teaching of Holy Scripture concerning justifica- 
 tion is, nevertheless, in sympathy with Romanism ? On the other 
 hand, is it not to be presumed that a Church which is rooted so 
 securely in the Word of God as the Lutheran Church is by the 
 fourth article of her creed, will be the everlasting opponent of 
 the Roman hierarchy? 
 
 And is it not an historical fact that the Lutheran Church has 
 been the representative of the truest Protestantism, and that from 
 her there have been fewer defections to the Church of Rome than 
 from any of the great evangelical bodies of Protestant belief? 
 
 And yet it is published broadcast that the Lutheran Church 
 is going to Rome ! He who makes such an assertion, whoever he 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 123 
 
 may be, has never read intelligently the Augsburg Confession 
 and Melanchthon's Apology. 
 
 But again, the Augsburg Confession not only gives explicit 
 statement as to how a sinner becomes just before God, but also 
 enumerates the means through which justifying faith is obtained. 
 These are the Word and the Sacraments. This is expressed in 
 the fifth article which says : "For the purpose of obtaining this 
 faith, God has instituted the ministry and given the Gospel and the 
 Sacraments, through which, as means, He imparts the Holy Spirit, 
 who, in His own time and place, works faith in those who hear 
 the Gospel, which teaches that through the merits of Christ and 
 not through our own merits, we have a merciful God, if we 
 believe in these things." 
 
 This article plainly teaches, first, that the Word of God and 
 the Sacraments are the means of grace, not grace itself : second, 
 that through these means the Holy Spirit as grace is imparted : 
 third, that the Holy Spirit thus imparted works faith in those 
 who hear the Gospel. It must be noted that it is expressly taught 
 here that neither the Word nor the Sacraments operate in them- 
 selves or are depositories of grace, and on that account by them- 
 selves produce faith, but that the Word and Sacraments are 
 simply channels through which is imparted the Holy Ghost, who 
 alone produces faith, regenerates, and witnesses to forgiveness 
 of sins. The Romish view is precisely the reverse. The Sacra- 
 ments are not channels of grace, but grace itself. They are not 
 the means through which the Holy Spirit works life and salvation, 
 but they themselves are the agency by which the benefits of 
 Christ's redemption are wrought in the soul. What the Lutheran, 
 therefore, ascribes directly and only to the Holy Spirit, in the work 
 of salvation, the Romanist affirms of the Sacraments. The dif- 
 ference is radical, and makes two contradictory apprehensions 
 of the office of the Word and Sacraments. 
 
 Concerning the use of the Sacraments, the Confession 
 teaches that "the Sacraments have been instituted, not only as 
 tokens by which Christians may be known externally, but as signs 
 and evidences of the Divine will toward us, for the purpose of 
 exciting and strengthening our faith; hence, they also require 
 
124 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 faith, and they are properly used then only when received in faith 
 and when faith is strengthened by them." 
 
 Concerning the Holy Supper the Confession says, "The true 
 body and blood of Christ are truly present under the forms of 
 bread and wine, in the Lord's Supper, and are there administered 
 and received." By the body and blood of Christ is here meant 
 the human nature of Christ as it now is in a glorified state. This 
 glorified human nature is present in the Supper in connection 
 with the bread and wine. It is a real presence of the whole 
 Christ, not a part of Him. The meaning is, Christ is personally 
 present. The Lutheran is, however, careful to say that the bread 
 remains bread, and the wine remains wine, but at the same time 
 believes that such is the connection between the human nature 
 of Christ and the bread and wine that, when the latter, that is, the 
 bread and wine, are received, the other, namely, the body and 
 blood of Christ, or, what is the same thing, Christ Himself, are 
 received. The Lutheran at this point is positive in saying that 
 the eating and drinking of the one are not the same as the eating 
 and drinking of the other. The eating of the bread and drink- 
 ing of the wine are a natural eating and drinking; the eating of 
 the body and drinking of the blood of Christ are a supernatural, 
 spiritual eating and drinking. The Lutheran repudiates a gross, 
 carnal, natural eating and drinking of the body and blood of 
 Christ. Since His presence is a supernatural presence, the re- 
 ception of Him in connection with the bread and wine must like- 
 wise be supernatural. 
 
 This is the Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence about 
 which so much has been said, and which is charged with Roman- 
 ism. True, the Roman Church holds a doctrine of real presence ; 
 but see the difference; it is as distinct as day and night. The 
 Romanist says that the bread and wine are actually changed into 
 the body and blood of Christ. The bread ceases to be bread and 
 the wine ceases to be wine. The Lutheran says the bread remains 
 bread and the wine remains wine. The Romanist teaches that 
 the eating and drinking in the Lord's Supper are the natural eating 
 and drinking ; it is a gross, Capernaitish eating and drinking, that 
 is, an actual eating with the teeth of the flesh of Christ and actual 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 125 
 
 drinking of His blood. The Lutheran repudiates all this, and 
 maintains that no change whatever takes place in the elements; 
 that these are received naturally, while the body and blood of 
 Christ are received supernaturally. 
 
 Furthermore, the Lutheran teaches and believes that the 
 efficacy of the Sacrament of the Supper is dependent entirely on 
 faith. The eating and drinking do not give remission of sins, 
 life and salvation. The Sacrament does not produce peace with 
 God. It is only a means of grace through which the Holy Ghost 
 is imparted. Without faith the Sacrament cannot be efficacious, 
 and the communicant cannot enjoy the blessings it conveys. The 
 Romanist denies all this and says the Sacrament works salvation 
 independent of the faith of the recipient. Faith plays no part 
 whatever in the appropriation of the saving grace. 
 
 The Calvinist believes also that the real body and blood of 
 Christ are present in the Sacrament, and are eaten and drunk 
 by the communicant. He holds, however, that the com- 
 munion takes place in heaven, where there is the glorified 
 human nature of Christ, and not on earth. The Lutheran main- 
 tains that Christ is truly present on this earth ; that it is here His 
 people commune with Him. Both Lutheran and Calvinist teach 
 that the communicant partakes of the body and blood of Christ. 
 The only difference is that the Lutheran says it is a supernatural 
 and mysterious eating and drinking on this earth; the Calvinist 
 says that it is a supernatural and mysterious eating and drinking 
 of the true body and blood of Christ by faith in heaven. 
 
 Another view of the Holy Supper rejects a real presence 
 of Christ entirely, and simply says that there is nothing super- 
 natural or mysterious in the Sacrament. The eating of the bread 
 and drinking of the wine in the Supper are only a natural act by 
 which we are reminded of Christ's suffering and death. The re- 
 membrance of what He endured on the Cross will awaken pious 
 meditation and stimulate us to devotion in His service and excite 
 our faith. According to this view, Christ offers us nothing, but 
 simply calls us to remember His agony. 
 
 The Lutheran, on the contrary, insists that Christ perpetually 
 and really offers us in His Gospel, Word and Sacrament, noth- 
 
126 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 ing less than Himself. He is truly present, according to His own 
 appointment, in the Holy Supper to be received by us, and ap- 
 propriated to our salvation by faith. And this the Lutheran 
 claims to be the very heart of the Gospel, that Christ offers Him- 
 self to us through the Word and Sacraments as our life and 
 peace with God. What less does the Gospel teach ? What more 
 could it promise ? The tenth article of the Augsburg Confession 
 is in full harmony with the fourth, since faith always requires 
 a present Christ. This doctrine of the real presence of Christ 
 in the Holy Supper in a supernatural and mysterious way is the 
 doctrine which the Lutheran Church has always confessed as the 
 clear teaching of the Word of God. A present Christ, who offers 
 Himself personally to the penitent, believing soul as its life and 
 salvation, is the Gospel which the Lutheran finds in both Word 
 and Sacrament. 
 
 Melanchthon in his Apology well says : "The proper use of 
 the Sacraments requires faith, to believe the divine promises and 
 to receive the promised grace, which is offered through the Sacra- 
 ment and the Word. The divine promises can be accepted through 
 faith alone. As the Sacraments are external signs and seals of 
 the promises, their proper use requires faith ; for when we receive 
 the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, Christ clearly 
 says : 'This cup is the New Testament.' We should firmly be- 
 lieve, then, that the grace and remission of sins promised in the 
 New Testament are imparted to us." 
 
 Concerning Baptism our Church teaches "that it is neces- 
 sary; that grace is offered through it; and that children ought to 
 be baptized, who through such baptism are presented to God, and 
 become acceptable to Him." 
 
 Baptism is necessary because divinely appointed. "Go ye, 
 and baptize all nations," is the command of Christ to His Church. 
 It is, further, a means of grace, because the Word of God is con- 
 nected with water, and this constitutes baptism. As Luther says, 
 "Without the Word of God the water is mere water, hence no 
 baptism ; but with the W T ord of God it constitutes a baptism, that 
 is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the 
 Holy Ghost. But such effect it cannot have without faith trust- 
 ing such Word of God in the water." 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 127 
 
 In connection with this Sacrament it is charged that the 
 Lutheran Church teaches that Baptism is necessary to salvation. 
 We reply by saying that our Church teaches that baptism is a 
 means of grace, through which the Holy Spirit operates, without 
 whose operation there is no salvation. Baptism is, hence, ordi- 
 narily necessary as a means. "While Christ," as another says, 
 "certainly cannot be bound to confine His saving power to the 
 Sacrament, the Church is nevertheless bound by the appointment 
 of her Lord." 
 
 Again, it is charged that the Lutheran Church teaches bap- 
 tismal regeneration. The proof cited is the last clause of the 
 Confession, which is, "Who are not born again by baptism and 
 the Koly Ghost." 
 
 We answer, first, in the language of St. Paul : "According 
 to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly 
 through Jesus Christ our Savior: that, being justified by His 
 grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal 
 life." Second, we answer in the language of Christ: "Except 
 a man be born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
 the Kingdom of God." It was these passages that Melanchthon 
 had in mind when he wrote the second article, and said, "who 
 are not born again by baptism and the Holy Ghost." If the 
 Lutheran Church teaches baptismal regeneration, then Christ 
 taught it to Nicodemus. If Christ meant baptism as a means of 
 grace and the Holy Spirit as the Divine agent of regeneration 
 who is imparted through baptism, then that is what the Lutheran 
 Church means, when she says, "who are not born again by bap- 
 tism and the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The Roman Church teaches baptismal regeneration because 
 she holds that baptism contains the grace of regeneration and 
 wherever administered works of its own accord — in a magical 
 way. But the Lutheran view of the Sacraments as a means of 
 grace repudiates the Romish theory, and maintains that it is the 
 Holy Ghost alone who regenerates and sanctifies. And this is 
 the doctrine which our Church has always confessed in opposition 
 to Rome's view of baptism and regeneration. 
 
128 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Again, it is charged that the Lutheran Church is going toward 
 Rome because she approves the use of a liturgy. What is a 
 liturgy? It is defined "to denote, first, the whole order of public 
 worship ; second, the order for the celebration of the Lord's Sup- 
 per." The Lutheran Church is liturgical. She has always had 
 formulated orders for public worship and the celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper. Her liturgies are many. Her judgment, as laid 
 down by her theologians, is "that the ceremonies in the Church 
 be of an unessential nature, few in number, pious and useful in 
 edification, order and decorum; that the observance of them be 
 left free so as to avoid giving offense, and so that they may be 
 instituted, changed or abrogated with reference to edification, to 
 times, places and persons." The Lutheran Church clearly recog- 
 nizes the principle of liberty in the use of liturgies. Any con- 
 gregation is free to use or not to use a prescribed order of wor- 
 ship. True worship is independent of forms or absence of forms. 
 A Christian congregation is no more pious without a prescribed 
 order and no less with it. Formalism always has its dead forms, 
 whether they are set in order by a synod or invented by an in- 
 dividual congregation. Everything at last depends on faith. 
 Worship is communion with God, and this can take place only 
 in one way, and that is through justifying faith. 
 
 But is the Lutheran Church tending to Rome because she 
 has a prescribed order of worship? What must be said, then, of 
 the Reformed, the Presbyterian or the Methodist Churches? 
 These all have their liturgies. Perhaps the special Romanistic 
 mark of service is that some people take part and give response ? 
 But in Romanism precisely the contrary is the case. The people 
 are silent spectators. It is made impossible for them to take part, 
 because the service is conducted in an unknown language and by 
 the officiating priest and his attendants. It is the priest who 
 worships and not the people. And this fact marks the wide dif- 
 ference between the Roman Church and the Lutheran in worship. 
 In the case of the latter it is the congregation who worships, be- 
 cause the congregation is the Church. In the case of the former 
 it is the priest who worships, while the people are mere specta- 
 tors, because the priesthood is the Church. The charge against 
 
The Lutheran Church and the Augsburg Confession 129 
 
 the Lutheran Church is, therefore, groundless. It is the abuse 
 of an order of worship that is Romanizing, and not its use. 
 
 Again, it is charged that the Lutheran Church is tending 
 toward ritualism. What is ritualism? Sacramentalism. What 
 is Sacramentalism? The Roman theory of the Church and the 
 Sacraments. We have already shown that the Lutheran Church 
 does not believe, but rejects the hierarchical theory of an inspired 
 papacy ; we have shown that the Lutheran Church rejects entirely 
 the Roman doctrine of the Sacraments, and this is sufficient to 
 say that the charge alleged against the Lutheran Church is utterly 
 without foundation. 
 
 Again, it is charged that our Church is Romanistic because 
 she has a Church Year, and observes Reformation Day, Christ- 
 mas, Easter and Whitsunday. My answer to this charge is the 
 fifteenth article of the Augsburg Confession: "Concerning 
 ecclesiastical rites instituted by men, it is taught that those should 
 be observed which can be observed without sin, and which pro- 
 mote peace and good order in the Church; as certain holidays, 
 festivals and the like. Respecting these, however, our instruc- 
 tion is designed to release the conscience of men from the idea 
 that such observances are essential for salvation. It is taught 
 on this point that all ordinances and traditions of men, for 
 the purpose of reconciling God and meriting grace, are contrary 
 to the Gospel and the doctrine of faith in Christ; wherefore, 
 monastic vows, and the traditions concerning the difference of 
 meats, days, etc., intended for the purpose of meriting grace and 
 making satisfaction for sins, are impotent and contrary to the 
 Gospel." 
 
 This is certainly enough for a triumphant answer to the 
 charge that the Lutheran Church is going to Rome because she 
 observes certain festival days and mentions some Scripture 
 passages to read every day in the year. If this sort of intelligent 
 argument is sound, what becomes of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association, the International Sunday School Committee and all 
 the Sunday Schools that use the international lessons, and all our 
 Societies of Christian Endeavor ? Not only the Lutheran Church, 
 but the Presbyterian, Methodist and Reformed Churches, and all 
 
130 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the Associations just named must be squinting that way, if the 
 selection of Bible passages for every day in the year, and espec- 
 ially for Sunday, is a sign pointing Romeward ! Such charge 
 certainly upsets all Christendom. 
 
 And now why is the Lutheran Church going toward ritualism 
 and Romanism? Is it because she adopts the Augsburg Confes- 
 sion? Why, that is the very Confession that was delivered in 
 the presence of an assembled world as a protest against Romish 
 error and superstition ! Is it because the Augsburg Confession 
 teaches Sacramentalism ? This is the very theory it contradicts 
 and repudiates by the great and precious doctrine of justifying 
 faith. No; the Augsburg Confession is the Gibralter of Protes- 
 tantism against the Papacy; of Lutheranism against Romanism. 
 A Church with such a Confession can never become Romish. And 
 the Lutheran Church has not turned Romeward. As a Church 
 she has always been true to her Confession, and has remained 
 firm in her adherence to this vital truth of the Gospel, "The just 
 shall live by faith." To Rome she is not going, and she never 
 will. Why then malign her by such a false allegation? 
 
 The Lutheran Church is not a sect which is passing away, 
 but a giant and mighty Church which is shaping the spiritual life 
 and thought of the world. With her, through a long night of 
 gloom and struggle, the Ark of the Covenant rested. She broke 
 the bars of papal formalism, and brought out the imprisoned 
 truth and sent it forth as a herald of glory into all the nations 
 to biess and adorn and gladden the world. She still clings to 
 the Word of God, preaches it, and disseminates it to the uttermost 
 parts of the earth. Of her Confession she is not ashamed, but 
 glories in it as a faithful exhibition of the mighty truths of sal- 
 vation; while the Bible is her only infallible authority in all 
 matters relating to faith and practice. 
 
CHANGING A CONFESSION 
 
 A CONFESSION is a witness to the truth of God's Word. 
 Being the production of the human mind, it is a human 
 witness, and has binding authority only in so far as it is per- 
 fectly consistent with the teachings of Sacred Scripture. It is 
 not co-ordinate with the Word of God, but occupies the place of 
 a derivative. It is simply the testimony of the Church of Christ 
 to Divine truth. 
 
 This testimony is always subject to verification and open 
 to enlargement. No one age can apprehend and believe the 
 Gospel teaching for another age, any more than one man can 
 have faith for another man. Each generation must determine 
 for itself what is the pure Word of God. The testimony of the 
 Church in any period needs to be put to the test of Scripture, 
 and thus verified in order that what is to be confessed may be 
 found to be in accordance with the Divine Word. However, 
 there are some among us today who say that the result of this 
 testing process is something different from the original Confes- 
 sion ; it is not the original whole, but a new whole with some parts 
 of the original left out or changed in meaning. 
 
 If the matter in hand be the Augsburg Confession, then it 
 is equivalent to saying, "I accept this Confession as being sub- 
 stantially correct." "Taken as a whole" and "as a system of doc- 
 trine and substantially correct" are, when sifted to their real mean- 
 ing in the minds of some, synonymous expressions. This brings 
 us to say that between an unqualified acceptance of the Augs- 
 burg Confession and the principle on which the Definite Platform 
 is grounded there is no third position. Dr. Schmucker made 
 the argument in the General Synod for a recension of our Con- 
 fession. We have seen no improvement on that argument by 
 any since his time who have had and now have difficulty in 
 giving a hearty and unqualified subscription to the testimony of 
 the Lutheran reformers of the sixteenth century. 
 
132 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 If any man in the General Synod, or any other Lutheran 
 body, will show, to the satisfaction of the Lutheran Church of 
 today, that there are statements contrary to the clear Word 
 of God in the Augsburg Confession, I am sure that it will 
 quickly make the required change. The Lutheran testimony 
 is to be determined by what it is, and not by how it came to be. 
 It is vastly more than a negative statement. It is eminently 
 a positive statement and exhibition of the cardinal truths of the 
 Divine Word. This is at once in itself a rejection of their 
 opposites. 
 
 To say that the Lutheran Church has the right to change 
 her Confession of faith, and then to declare that the Augsburg 
 Confession should be modified because it is not Scriptural in 
 some of its parts, is to state propositions some of which need 
 proof in order to be valid as an argument. The first is not 
 disputed. The second has never yet been made clear by any 
 specific statement. Once upon a time five specifications were 
 proclaimed, and the charge was supported by all the force of 
 ingenious reasoning. The General Synod at York in 1867 
 repudiated the claim of errors. We understand that only a 
 few at present in the General Synod, two or three or perhaps 
 a half dozen ministers of the olden time, still adhere to the so- 
 called American recension of the Augsburg Confession. Nev- 
 ertheless, there are others high up in scholastic learning who 
 seem not to be clear in their minds as to whether the Augsburg 
 Confession agrees throughout with Scripture or not. They 
 remind us every now and then that the Church has the right to 
 change the Confession, to which as an abstract proposition we 
 assent. They also hint that the Confession must be taken with 
 some allowance ; in short, that it is not entirely Scriptural. All 
 very fair as an oracular statement, but we commonly can get 
 hold of truths much more satisfactorily by having given us the 
 specifications of error, article by article, or part of article by 
 part of article, and then the clear Scriptural proof for the errors. 
 Mere Delphic announcement is not enough. In fact, the latter 
 does not satisfy the common mind, and if nothing better can be 
 given than vague assertions, the Church will continue to adhere 
 
Changing a Confession 133 
 
 to the Augsburg Confession as throughout consistent with the 
 teaching of Sacred Scripture. 
 
 It is said, now and then, that the General Synod accepts 
 the Lutheran System of doctrine, or the Augsburg Confession 
 as a system of doctrine. The word "system" is defined to be 
 "a combination of parts into a whole" — "a connected view of 
 all the truths of some department of knowledge." According 
 to this definition, the acceptance of a system of doctrine, as, for 
 example, the Augsburg Confession, means the acceptance of all 
 the parts ; otherwise it would be taking the system only in part. 
 
 The General Synod accepts the Lutheran system of doc- 
 trine; it therefore accepts each and all of the doctrines of the 
 Lutheran Church; else it would not have the system in its en- 
 tirety. 
 
 But is this the sense in which "the system of doctrine" is used 
 by those who are accustomed to inform us that it is the Lutheran 
 system of doctrine they hold ? It is sometimes said : "I accept 
 this as a whole." The reservation implied is, "not in every 
 particular." But if not in every particular, it is plain "not as 
 a whole,'" for the whole of anything is the sum of all its parts. 
 What is really meant is, "I accept this with modification." In 
 this case it is not merely the witness of that which the Church 
 formerly believed to be true, but which the Church now finds 
 to be correct on proper trial, and therefore it can most conven- 
 iently use the form of confession employed in the past. It is 
 evident, therefore, that a confession of faith is open to change 
 and development. It is open to change whenever, in any of its 
 parts, it is found to be inconsistent with Holy Scripture. It 
 is open to development in so far as the apprehension of Divine 
 truths by the Christian mind are deeper and more comprehen- 
 sive in one period than in another. The right on the part of 
 a Church to change a Confession previously used, but now found 
 to be out of harmony with God's Word, is beyond dispute by 
 any one holding the Protestant principle of the infallible author- 
 ity of the Sacred Scriptures in matters pertaining to religious 
 faith and practice. The foregoing are abstract statements, and 
 as such are perfectly valid. 
 
134 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 But what of the concrete? Take a particular fact — the 
 Augsburg Confession. Here is a definite testimony to Divine 
 truth. Is it throughout in accord with the teachings of Sacred 
 Scripture? Or is it, in some of its parts, Scripturally defec- 
 tive? If the latter is the case, then it should be changed and 
 made to conform in all its details to the plain teaching of God's 
 Word. This is not only a right of the Church, but her duty. 
 She should never knowingly be a false witness to any part of 
 God's Word. If, however, the former be the case, then no 
 reason exists for making any change in doctrinal teaching, and 
 no right. The Church is bound by the truth itself to retain 
 that which is in accord with Scripture testimony. It does not 
 matter who wrote the Confession, whether Melanchthon unaided 
 and worried by Roman influence, or Melanchthon supervised 
 by Luther at Coburg. Here is a certain document. Is it en- 
 tirely in agreement with the Word of God? Or is there a slip 
 here and there? The Augsburg Confession as the Confession 
 of the Lutheran Church for all time must stand on its inherent 
 merits and not on external circumstances. The real and only 
 value of it in its confessional statements is bound by the Word 
 of God, and will be bound by nothing else. 
 
 But the fact, or facts, of error must be produced. And 
 if any man in the General Synod knows these facts, he owes 
 it to this body to say in a straightforward way what these par- 
 ticular facts are, and he should not go around by Robin Hood's 
 barn crying out every few steps he takes: "Something is the 
 matter with the Augsburg Confession. Look out! I am com- 
 ing. Something is the matter with the Augsburg Confession!" 
 "Well, what is it? Pray, tell us plainly; we need to know." 
 "Oh, something!" "But what?" "Oh, something! It is too 
 critical to tell, but mark you, it is something." 
 
 Something! What a huge quantity of wisdom is wrapped 
 up in that word "something!" 
 
 NOTE — We cannot be quite sure whether Dr. Ort meant to close 
 this discussion in this apparently abrupt way. Perhaps this was his pur- 
 pose. At all events, here is where his paper ends, and there is nothing 
 to indicate that he had written more. — Editor. 
 
THE GROUND AND HOPE OF 
 LUTHERAN UNITY 
 
 IS it a unity of faith or a unity of organization, or both, that 
 is the matter in question? If a unity of faith, then it may 
 be said that this already exists. The Confessional statement 
 of Lutheran faith is the Augsburg Confession. This is the rule 
 of doctrine for the Lutheran Church. There is one historic 
 Lutheran Church having one creed, namely, the Confession made 
 at Augsburg. In America there are different Lutheran bodies, 
 but all accept this Confession in the one true, native and orig- 
 inal sense as the form of Lutheran doctrine. So far they all 
 stand on the same platform of the ecumenical Lutheran Creed, the 
 Augustana. Confessionally so far they are one. 
 
 But they nevertheless differ, and it is for the historic asser- 
 tion and maintenance of their points of difference that they exist 
 as separate ecclesiastical organizations. Is the unity in ques- 
 tion a unity of these organizations in one ecclesiastical body? 
 If so, then the question is, "How can such a result be effected? 
 What is the basis on which it may be realized?" Or, again, 
 is it concluded that the Augsburg Confession in itself consid- 
 ered is not a sufficient exhibition of Lutheran belief, sufficient 
 in clearness and definiteness so as to be unmistakably the state- 
 ment of the essential doctrines of God's Word, on the one hand ; 
 and on the other, unmistakably distinct from all other formula- 
 tions of these doctrines? In that case it will be urged that, in 
 connection with the Augsburg Confession, there must be taken 
 an agreed explication of theological development of the Scrip- 
 ture doctrines as stated in the Lutheran confessional system on 
 which all must stand to be recognized as in the true faith. In 
 that event, the ground for Lutheran unity must be an unreserved 
 acceptance of the entire Symbolical System of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
136 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Again, it may be insisted that the Confession taken by itself 
 is not, in some of its parts, sufficiently clear and definite and 
 consistent with Scripture, and hence should be approved only 
 in connection with certain interpretations of its declarations — 
 interpretations not found in the Symbolical Books and contra- 
 dictory to the explanations therein contained. In this case the 
 ground of unity proposed would not be either the Confession pure 
 and simple, or the entire Symbolic System of the Lutheran 
 Church, but what might be termed a particular or anti-Lutheran 
 explanation of the Confession, or, as it has been styled, a re- 
 cension of the Confession. 
 
 In what has now been said there have been observed three 
 bases for Lutheran unity: First, the Confession pure and 
 simple; second, the entire Symbolic System; third, a recension 
 of the Confession, or a radical change of its distinctive Lutheran 
 statements. Suppose that we pass these in review, and note 
 the fitness of each as the ground of Lutheran unity. 
 
 Beginning with the last named, we recite a bit of history. 
 When the General Synod was organized in 1820, no confes- 
 sional basis was incorporated in its constitution. In its earlier 
 proceedings, however, it formulated a resolution declaring that the 
 Synod recognized the Augsburg Confession to be a statement 
 of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God in a manner 
 substantially correct. The purpose of the organization of the 
 General Synod was the ultimate binding of all Lutheran bodies 
 in America into an organic unity. The basis on which this 
 unity was sought was an equivocal acceptance of the Augustana. 
 The situation was about on this wise: Apparently the Augs- 
 burg Confession was recognized. Really there were two Con- 
 fessions understood, one that agreed with that made at Augsburg 
 in 1530, and another that in some capital points disagreed with 
 the unaltered form. In short, the form of subscription ex- 
 pressed by the original resolution was ambiguous. It was 
 after the order of the well known instance : "The Duke yet lives 
 that Henry will kill." In consequence two parties presently 
 appeared on the scene, the party of the Duke, and the party 
 of Henry. They were antagonistic. As time went on, the 
 
The Ground and Hope of Lutheran Unity 137 
 
 antagonism became more evident. Not only so, but it openly 
 developed into a fundamental difference, showing the parties 
 to be, one for the Confession as it is unchanged in any of its 
 parts; the other to be for a Confession remodeled in some of 
 its chief articles, so as to exhibit the contrary of their original 
 meaning. On the outside the climax of the development was 
 reached in 1855, when for the indefinite declaration of the long 
 standing resolution concerning acceptance of the Confession, 
 there was proposed as a substitute the Definite Platform. On 
 the other side, the high vantage ground was gained in 1864 at 
 York, when for the long standing confessional action, there 
 was put in its place the well known "York Resolution." 
 
 By the way, the author of the article on the General Synod 
 in the book, "The Distinctive Doctrines and Usages," garbles 
 the resolution. He quotes that part of the resolution which any 
 evangelical Protestant affirms, and omits that which for us Luth- 
 erans is vital; namely, "Nevertheless before God we declare 
 that the Augsburg Confession, properly interpreted, is in perfect 
 consistence with this our declaration and the Holy Scriptures 
 concerning the errors alleged." Why this omission of the 
 General Synod's declaration concerning the Augsburg Confes- 
 sion, and especially since it forms the conclusion of one of the 
 most important, nay, I will hold, the most important resolution 
 adopted by the General Synod? It saved the General Synod 
 from de-Lutheranizing itself. Why the omission by the dog- 
 matic professor of the General Synod's Theological Seminary? 
 Had the proposed resolution against the Definite Platform been 
 voted down, there would have been a voting up of the claims 
 of the famous American Recension of the Augustana. In 1868, 
 at Harrisburg, the York Resolution of subscription to the Con- 
 fession was incorporated in the revised constitution, and is hence 
 part of the organic law of the General Synod, known now as 
 the doctrinal basis of the Synod, and placing this body, so far 
 as the ecumenical creed of Lutheranism goes, on the same platform 
 with all other Lutheran bodies. The faith as confessed by the 
 Augustana is ours, together with all Lutherans. We are Luth- 
 erans as well as they. We are one with them. 
 
138 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 But to our point. The history of the General Synod, for 
 one thing, reveals the fact that an equivocal subscription to the 
 Confession as a basis of organic union of the different elements 
 of Lutheranism failed. The fact of failure is the best possible 
 proof I can offer for the insufficiency of such a basis as a ground 
 for organic Lutheran unity. 
 
 But I think we are justified in claiming an equivocal sub- 
 scription to be an insufficient ground of unity in the light of the 
 very nature of things. A qualified subscription is the making 
 of a qualified Confession, and a qualified Confession is a breaking 
 away from historic doctrinal connection and development, and 
 this is ecclesiastical suicide. The Reformation was a getting 
 back into historic line, into the current of a true Christianity 
 which courses through the centuries ; or, as is sometimes said, 
 "a revival of Christianity." The Lutheran Church will never 
 destroy her identity with the past. She will never repudiate her 
 distinctive faith. She will never hang herself. From the na- 
 ture of the case we deem such action altogether improbable. 
 Hence we conclude that an attempt to unify the various elements 
 of Lutheranism on a basis of "half fish, half fowl" will always 
 fail. 
 
 I am not unmindful of the fact that, in making the declar- 
 ation of credal subscription which it did in the outset, it did, under 
 the existing circumstances, the best it could. Our churches in 
 this country, under the oversight of Muhlenberg and those asso- 
 ciated with him, were genuine Lutheran organizations, receiving 
 the Augsburg Confession without qualification as to the charter 
 of their faith. On this foundation they were planted and began 
 their history. In course of time, however, on account of 
 rationalistic influences becoming powerful among them, an ab- 
 normal movement on their part set in, which culminated, not 
 only in the giving up or depreciation of the Confession as the 
 form of Lutheran doctrine, but even in depreciation of the Sacred 
 Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. 
 
 At the beginning of the last century (1800) a reaction 
 began to appear which continued to increase in momentum until 
 it became possible to gain even qualified recognition of the 
 
The Ground and Hope of Lutheran Unity 139 
 
 Confession by a general body. The return of our churches to 
 their original and normal Confessional basis had begun. This 
 movement was destined, from the natural course of things, to 
 go on, until finally the General Synod would rest on an unqual- 
 ified acceptance of the Confession which the fathers of the 
 Church approved without qualification. On the Confessional 
 foundation of the Lutheranism of Muhlenberg the General Synod 
 now stands. On this basis it takes up the line of march through 
 the twentieth century. To what extent it will realize the orig- 
 inal design of its existence the future alone can make clear. 
 
 But to return to the matter in hand. In the second place, is 
 the entire Symbolic System of the Lutheran Church the only 
 sufficient ground of organic unity, or the unity of faith? In 
 the case of the latter it certainly does not hold, and for the simple 
 reason that the Lutheran Church with her Confessional doctrines 
 existed fifty years before the Formula of Concord was con- 
 structed. While this document was designed to end all doc- 
 trinal difference of view and all internal dogmatic controversy, 
 the fact still remains that today Lutheran bodies have become 
 alienated from each other by controversy on some of the very 
 points which the Formula of Concord claims to have settled for- 
 ever. An instance is found in the fight between Missouri and 
 the Joint Synod over the teaching of the Formula concerning 
 predestination. The weakness of the Symbolic System as a 
 Confessional basis is that parts of this system are rather defense 
 and dogmatic developments of the strictly confessional state- 
 ments, than simple apprehensions of the teaching of the Divine 
 Word. 
 
 The Formula of Concord is an excellent theological treat- 
 ise on some doctrines exhibited by the Augustana, or, if you 
 prefer, an admirable exposition of points under dispute among 
 Lutheran theologians of the sixteenth century. There are dif- 
 ferent ways oftentimes of expounding a truth. One may be 
 preferable in the minds of some. This is immaterial so long as 
 the truth in its reality is preserved inviolate. Owing to the 
 dogmatic character of the Formula, it will always, just as it has 
 in the past, be found impossible to secure universal agreement 
 
140 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 concerning either the meaning or soundness of all the develop- 
 ments of doctrine exhibited in that document. But waiving all 
 criticism, the fact stands that the Lutheran bodies of America, 
 having as their Confessional basis our whole Symbolic System, 
 are not in organic union. The Synodical Conference has prac- 
 tically become isolated. The General Council, though it 
 made a vigorous attempt, failed to collect all Book of Concord 
 bodies into one general organization. Today there are the sep- 
 arate units — Missouri, Iowa, Joint Synod, United Synod South, 
 and these bodies, as now planted, will continue in their separatistic 
 course. Missouri knows and allows no open questions, and for 
 that reason will not affiliate with others who cannot so think. 
 The Joint Synod is fixed in its views of predestination as over 
 against Missouri, and in its Judaistic exclusiveness as over against 
 all other Lutheran bodies that practice, even in a very moderate 
 degree, fellowship either among themselves or with other evan- 
 gelical Christians. And so I might go on enumerating one obstacle 
 after another now potent against the organic union of the Con- 
 cord bodies, but I will not weary you with their recital. 
 
 So far as a doctrinal basis for unity among Lutheran bodies 
 in this country is concerned, I believe, when they do come to- 
 gether, it will be on the basis of the Unaltered Augsburg Con- 
 fession. But in two modes, and these will be expressed by 
 language. The German elements will ultimately, I believe, 
 become one body, and this will be a perfectly natural union. 
 The Anglicized and English elements will unite in one general 
 body, and this, too, will be a perfectly natural union. 
 
 Furthermore, I believe this latter union will be accom- 
 plished by the General Synod, if true, out and out, to its present 
 subscription to the Augustana, and in that event the dream of its 
 founders will be gloriously realized. For such a happy con- 
 summation it is well worth our while, as part of this distinguished 
 body, to pray and work. 
 
PIETISM 
 
 A MOVEMENT arose in the seventeenth century in the 
 Lutheran Church which is known as Pietism. The 
 name Pietism was originally applied to this movement by way of 
 reproach. It continued in use, and historically designated the 
 effort then made to induce a better practical religious life, and 
 so it continues. Pietism is of the order of movements in the 
 Church, awakened from time to time, whose purpose is the re- 
 newal of a genuine faith. Instances of this kind are matters 
 of fact in Old Testament history, as well as in the history of 
 the Christian Church, both ancient and modern. 
 
 In the beginning of my remarks it is proper to note some 
 conditions, especially in the Church, which prevailed in the period 
 when Pietism began to stir and take on historic form. The 
 essence of this movement was clearly apprehended and forcibly 
 exhibited in this age by devout men before the appearance of 
 Spener, who is known as the father of Pietism. These men, 
 especially John Arndt, were the forerunners of Spener and 
 Francke. 
 
 The Thirty Years' War, a most terrible ordeal for the Prot- 
 estant Church, had closed; but the religious conditions of the 
 people had radically changed from that of Reformation times. 
 The hearty, devout, joyous, active Christian life of those days 
 was gone. A sad religious state, deplorably sad, had resulted, 
 and was most seriously affecting the spiritual power of the Luth- 
 eran Church. Very many of her people had become indifferent 
 to a practical Christian life, and were filled with the spirit of 
 this world. Gross immoralities prevailed among the clergy, 
 and the attempt to lord it over God's heritage became a marked 
 feature of the ministry of the time. The Sacred Scriptures 
 were pushed into the background, and were used more as a 
 book of proof-texts than as a store-house of living truth. The 
 
142 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 preaching of the day, much of it at least, was scholastic, abstract, 
 intellectual, and destitute of that inspiration which streams from 
 a deep, lively experience of the saving power of the Gospel. 
 
 To all this, however, there were charming exceptions. Not 
 all preachers had become subject to dead formalism. There 
 were some who were devout men of God, and had a conviction 
 of the reality of the Gospel which can only arise out of a living 
 faith. These were lights to their generation revealing the prac 
 tical power of the Gospel of Christ. They were witnesses, 
 living witnesses, testifying to the saving grace of God, and ever 
 maintaining that, "whereas I was blind, now I see." God has 
 never been without His witnesses. Even in the long medieval 
 age, that age of corruption and perversion of New Testament 
 teaching, there was still an illustrious company of those who did 
 not bow the knee to Baal. And so, too, in this modern time, 
 when the assurance of the quickening faith was no longer in 
 the Church a matter of general experience, there were those, 
 and not a few, who testified with Paul that they were not 
 ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 
 salvation to every one who believes. 
 
 The seventeenth century was the great dogmatic period of 
 the Lutheran Church. No theological structure has ever reached 
 the equal of that reared by Lutheran theologians of this century. 
 As a logical development of the solid doctrines of the Word of 
 God it is matchless. It deserves the closest, most constant 
 study of every Lutheran minister. In the ancient Church there 
 was incessant theologizing. This was a necessity of the time : 
 first, apologetically, because of the opposition of Judaism on the 
 one hand and heathenism on the other ; second, polemically, 
 because of the erroneous apprehension of Christian truth through 
 the baneful influence of oriental philosophy. Hence it was a 
 creed making period. 
 
 During the Middle Ages there was little, if any, occasion 
 for defense of the truth against external or internal foes. The 
 majesty of Rome was supreme. It was now left to the Christian 
 mind to take up the doctrines of the Christian religion as they 
 had been formulated by the theologians of the ancient Church, 
 
Pietism 143 
 
 and subject them to the severest reflection and acutest analysis 
 of the logical understanding. The result was what is known 
 as medieval scholasticism. 
 
 A moment ago I said that there was little occasion for 
 polemicism in the Middle Ages. Perhaps this statement is not 
 quite precise. In the efforts which some thinkers made to ex- 
 hibit the fullness of individual doctrine, such as God and His 
 existence, there was, on their part, a veering to fundamental 
 error. They were unconsciously pantheistic in their teaching. 
 There were two classes of scholastics : those who employed the 
 logic and categories of Aristotle, and those who followed the 
 guide of Platonism — Aristotelians and Platonists. The first 
 seized on the objective as the prime reality; the second, the sub- 
 jective. The first maintained that the subjective is subordinate 
 to the objective and dependent on it; the second that the object- 
 ive is subordinate to the subjective and dependent on it. As 
 to certainty in religion, the first pointed to the logic of thought ; 
 the second, to the intuitions of the Christian reason. 
 
 In the Reformation period, the objective, namely, the 
 Sacred Scriptures, the formal principle, and the subjective, 
 namely, faith, the material principle, were maintained as co- 
 ordinate. This means that they are relatively independent. 
 Justification, pardon and peace with God are not caused by 
 Holy Scripture. They arise and become fact in experience by 
 faith, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is also the 
 author of Scripture, which He uses as His instrument. This 
 was the position of Luther: "God must speak His Word in my 
 heart, else it is nothing to me. I cannot know that it is the 
 Word of God unless I know it by faith. The Word of God is 
 true, but how can I know it to be true but by the experience of 
 my soul, which embraces knowing, feeling and willing?" The 
 Gospel is both theoretical and practical. As theoretical, it ex- 
 hibits the plan of salvation ; as practical, it is an inner experience 
 of pardon and peace and all those spiritual benefits promised. 
 Luther said, in effect, " Certainty is what I need, what I must 
 have. How can I gain it ? By logic ? No ! By intellectual 
 intuition? No! The testimony of the Holy Ghost in thine 
 
144 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 heart is, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee.' How comes this testi- 
 mony of the Holy Ghost? By faith." There is only one way 
 to highest certainty in spiritual things, the way of faith. Faith 
 is the highest assurance to me of the reality of the Gospel. It 
 gives the true knowledge of Divine things. 
 
 A distinction was drawn by the reformers between doctrine 
 and faith. The principle of the Reformation was the fact of 
 justification as Luther experienced it, not the doctrine of faith 
 and justification. The latter is the apprehension of the intel- 
 lectual understanding, while the former is the experience of 
 the heart. In the Creed of Augsburg justification is one among 
 a number of doctrines, but justifying faith is the regulative 
 principle of the Confession. The same is true of the Apology, 
 the Smalkald Articles, the Catechisms and the Formula of Con- 
 cord. This is the reason that they are essentially one. The 
 formative principle of these creeds is justifying faith. This 
 constitutes their unity, and makes them to be a consistent system. 
 The radical difference between the Lutheran Confession and the 
 Calvinistic is that the latter employs as a regulating, formative 
 principle the doctrine of the absolute, unconditional decree of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 When the credal system of the Lutheran Church had been 
 formulated, there came, in due time, the systematizing period. 
 Lutheran doctrine had been stated in clear and definite form in 
 the Confessions. It still remained that this doctrine should 
 be vindicated at the bar of logic, and developed to its ultimate pro- 
 portion. In this way the pure doctrine would be unmistakably 
 exhibited. 
 
 This effort of the Lutheran dogmatic mind gave rise to 
 what is known in the theological world as the orthodoxy of the 
 seventeenth century. From the intellectual view-point it was 
 a noble achievement. The time was at hand when the Lutheran 
 mind must justify the doctrines of its belief before the world, 
 both skeptical and papistic, by the best thought of the religious 
 understanding. Considerable harsh criticism has been made 
 of this work of the Christian mind, some of it is just, some of it 
 unfair. The aim of the dogmaticians was worthy. They stood 
 
Pietism 145 
 
 for the imperishable truth of the Divine Word. They purposed 
 to rear a Christian structure of Christian thought that could 
 resist the fiercest assaults, and be a perpetual exhibition of the 
 pure doctrines. In it is to be found an immense amount of most 
 precious Christian truth. 
 
 But, on the other hand, the fact must not be overlooked 
 that this orthodoxy had some serious defects. It was one-sided. 
 In its eagerness to set forth clearly the doctrines of God's 
 Word by a remorseless logic, it overlooked the value of an 
 inner experience. It exalted the objective teaching as the only 
 principle of theology, forgetting that there can be no true 
 science without both principle and fact ; no true science of Divine 
 acts and movements without the experience of faith: Credo ut 
 intelligam. Such emphasis did it finally place on the objective 
 truth of the Bible, or, rather, I should say, on the formulated 
 doctrine of the creed, that, to say the least, it thought the inner 
 experience of saving truth to be of little moment. In short, 
 like its predecessor of medieval times, it regarded the subjective 
 as dependent on the objective: Intelligo ut credam. That is, 
 scientific knowledge is the producer of faith. But this faith is 
 an intellectual act, not the faith wrought in the heart by the 
 Holy Ghost. If, therefore, I have the intellectual apprehension 
 of pure doctrine, I have salvation. 
 
 The principle of the Reformation was dropped out, and in 
 its place was substituted the lifeless abstraction, and so it came 
 to be a "dead orthodoxy." It was orthodoxy, but a lifeless ortho- 
 doxy. It sacrificed the material principle to the formal. It was, 
 as Martensen says, secure in the inheritance left by the fathers, 
 secure in the possession of pure doctrine, of the plan of salva- 
 tion, but forgot the experience described in the creeds. The 
 mistake of this orthodoxy consisted in separating doctrine and 
 life, teaching that pure doctrine is the all-essential matter, and 
 that life is a matter of indifferent concern. It is what a man 
 believes with his understanding that gives him assurance of the 
 truth of Holy Scripture and of salvation. 
 
 In consequence of this seventeenth century orthodoxy, a 
 marked decline in the practical religious life of the Church oc- 
 
146 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 curred, a decline which alarmed earnest Christian souls of that 
 time, and became the occasion of an effort to revive the spirit 
 of the Reformation. In this undertaking the endeavor was not 
 made to change the doctrines of the Church as formulated in 
 her Symbolic System. It was not theological but practical. 
 Spener heartily accepted the Lutheran Confessions. The diffi- 
 culty was not with the doctrines themselves, but with the way they 
 were esteemed and used. On account of the abstract employ- 
 ment of the teachings of the creeds, the Sacred Scriptures in 
 their practical bearing and in their spiritual power were neglected. 
 The people became content with the formal acceptance of 
 Christian truth, and were hence ignorant of the knowledge of 
 the reality of the truth by an inner experience. A dead for- 
 malism too largely prevailed in the Church. A theoretical instead 
 of an active Christianity characterized the history of this time. 
 The hour was at hand when reform of Church life was neces- 
 sary. Christian souls, many, felt the imperative need of a change. 
 There must be a return to the living Word of God, not specu- 
 latively, but spiritually, as with Luther; a return to life with 
 God in Christ by faith. And so Spener began his work by 
 instituting Collegia Pietatis of inquirers and believers. These 
 meetings (Collegia) were held twice a week. At one of these 
 Spener preached his sermon of the previous Sunday, explaining 
 obscure points and correcting mistaken views. At the other 
 prayer and exposition of Scripture occupied the time. From 
 this modest beginning there went through the Church a move- 
 ment for the spiritual awakening and quickening of the people, 
 which proved to be an incalculable blessing. A practical Chris- 
 tian life began to stir in all quarters. The happy days of the 
 Reformation returned. An active Christianity began to show 
 itself and wield its power among men. 
 
 It is to be noted that, in this blessed work of renewal, the 
 same instrument was employed as by Luther and his colleagues — 
 the Word of God. This was restored to its rightful place. 
 Study and searching of the Holy Scripture were revived; not 
 the expositions of the statements of men, but of the Holy Scrip- 
 ture itself, as it testified of Christ and the way of salvation. The 
 
Pietism 147 
 
 great aim was to bring souls to a practical experience of the 
 Gospel, to the possession of the life in Christ by faith, and to a 
 practice of the works which flow from a living trust in God. 
 
 In his little tract, "Pious Desires," Spener expresses his idea 
 of the aim to be sought and realized in bringing the Church to 
 a better state. And this was to be done, first, by the "abundant 
 spread of the Word of God." "This," said Spener, "is the true 
 source of evangelical life." Second, by the proper exercise of 
 the priesthood of believers ; third, by inculcating the idea that the 
 Christian faith does not consist of doctrine alone, but also of 
 spirit and practice ; fourth, by a different method of educating 
 divinity students in the schools ; fifth, by better and more edifying 
 preaching. 
 
 In its internal character Pietism relates to three sub- 
 jects : theology, the Church, and Christian morality or ethics. 
 Spener maintained that the Christian teacher, that is, the theo- 
 logian, must have a true knowledge of Divine things. This is 
 only possible through faith and regeneration. The theologian 
 must be a regenerate man, else he is not competent to produce 
 a true Christian theology. Then Spener contended that the 
 Church is the universal priesthood of believers. This can only 
 exist by regeneration through justifying faith. This principle 
 of the Reformation had been pushed into the background. The 
 laity were treated as merely passive hearers. But the Church 
 is not a hierarchy, with a ministry as the authoritative party, and 
 the laity subject to the rule of the ministry. Believers form a 
 spiritual priesthood, which is the Church. This principle, Pietism 
 maintained, must be restored to its rightful place, and thus con- 
 sistency be secured with the Reformation position. 
 
 Spener was no less clear in his conviction that the Chris- 
 tian's walk and conversation should correspond with his pro- 
 fession. The Christian religion is a life in Christ, which, if it 
 is worth anything, must produce fruit. Faith without works 
 is dead. It is not enough to be justified. The final aim of the 
 operation of the forces of grace is the sanctification of life. As 
 Dorner says, "The Church must proceed from religion to morals." 
 "After the Reformation," says a preacher of Wurttemberg in the 
 
148 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 eighteenth century, "the common people for the greatest part 
 believed, as indeed a great many do still, that salvation de- 
 pended on sound doctrine alone. If one were only not Roman 
 Catholic and not Calvinistic, but confessed the pure evangelical 
 doctrines, all well. Sanctification was not so very necessary. 
 In the salvation offered to sinners no reference was made to 
 sanctification. A godly life, which bears the fruits of the 
 Spirit, in short, holy living, was the matter of insistence on the 
 part of Pietism." 
 
 Pietism finally found a home in a newly established uni- 
 versity. Francke and two of his colleagues, having been driven 
 from Leipsic, were through Spener's influence appointed pro- 
 fessors in this new school. Thus Pietism gained at least an 
 educational habitation. Halle became the center of the new and 
 rapidly spreading evangelical movement. It was now in a con- 
 dition to prepare young men for the ministry under its own teach- 
 ing, and imbue them with the spirit of its genius. It sent a new 
 class of preachers among the Churches of Germany, faithful 
 missionaries to heathen lands, and pastors to the need}'' and 
 neglected German Lutherans in our own country. 
 
 Halle is a potent name in our Lutheran annals. It made 
 the beginning of the inner mission work, begat an intense mission- 
 ary spirit, and awakened in the life of the Church an aggressive 
 Christianity. It was a powerful agent under God for the revival 
 of practical religion. Of the struggle of Pietism, its conflicts, 
 its persecutions and controversies, I make no mention. I pass 
 to a brief notice of its defects and its decline. 
 
 First : Pietism was narrow. The only aim it had in view 
 was personal salvation and personal piety. Whatever had direct 
 bearing on this was alone deserving of regard. It forgot that 
 there is a great world of truth beside that which pertains imme- 
 diately to a man's salvation, a knowledge of which is not gained 
 by saving faith, but by the testimony of God in His revelation; 
 knowledge which is not a matter of personal experience and 
 never can be. Too much it overlooked the fact that there is 
 a wide field of truth which is known only through rational 
 apprehension; a realm of natural knowledge which is funda- 
 
Pietism 149 
 
 mental, and possesses an imperishable value for the Christian 
 soul. Consequently it produced no science. It made no con- 
 tribution to theology. It was destitute of the scientific spirit, 
 as was evidenced by its treatment of Christian Wolfe at Halle, 
 and its refusal to allow its students to study philosophy. It was 
 unfriendly to art, the expression of the beautiful. The whole 
 realm of aesthetics it regarded as an evil, calculated only to 
 distract the Christian soul and lead it to set its affections on 
 earthly objects. In its moral view it was legalistic. It main- 
 tained a position of antagonism to the natural. It failed to 
 make the distinction between the permissible and the required, 
 between innocent and sinful, between the world in its good sense 
 and the world in its bad sense. It was unmindful of the fact 
 that the natural is the creature of God; that of it the Psalmist 
 said, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
 showeth His handiwork ;" and that man, in his making, was 
 crowned with honor in that he bore the image of God. 
 
 The strict rule of Pietism was, "touch not, taste not, handle 
 not," and that without exception. Under the forbidden things 
 were included dancing, theatre, gaming, sumptuous apparel, 
 banquets, light and useless conversation and reading. Dorner 
 says that Spener did not go so far in this respect as did later 
 pietists. He recognized adiaphora, and only disapproved of their 
 excess. He said that lawful pleasures cannot hurt the soul, 
 and must refresh and invigorate the body. After the days of 
 Francke, Pietism entered into a state of decline. Its vigor 
 gradually grew less ; its energetic life ceased. It now began to 
 indulge in pious, stereotyped expression, external discipline and 
 morbid self-introspection. In consequence fanaticisms arose. 
 The Sacred Scriptures were neglected, and professed inner ex- 
 perience and illumination of the Holy Ghost were extravagantly 
 claimed. In connection with these exhibitions, as is always the 
 case, hypocrisy appeared, and Pietism as a distinct movement, 
 having in view the promotion of a vigorous, energetic Christian 
 life, was doomed. Many of its adherents passed into a profitless 
 religious life, and others into rationalism. 
 
 But while Pietism as a great movement has ceased, the 
 
150 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 pietistic spirit is yet in the Church, animating the people of 
 God, and inciting them to noblest endeavor in behalf of the 
 perishing ones of earth, and of the progress of the Kingdom of 
 God among the people of mankind. Earlier Pietism, the Pietism 
 of Spener and Francke, was a priceless blessing to the Church 
 of Christ; later Pietism was a most regretable misfortune. 
 
 With this I close. I have aimed, not to give a history of 
 this great movement under God, but, rather, an exhibition and an 
 analysis of the movement itself. 
 
Ill 
 
 BACCALAUREATE SERMONS 
 
Ill 
 
 BACCALAUREATE SERMONS 
 
 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY— A QUESTION 
 
 My Dear Young Friends: 
 
 AT last you have reached the end of your collegiate career. 
 Agreeable to an impulse of human nature, you are moved 
 with joy. A work is finished. The toil of it is done and a goal 
 has been reached. You are at the threshold of a broader life — 
 a life of more care, deeper anxieties, of higher responsibility, of 
 more exhausting drafts on your vital energy, where a kingdom 
 of noblest worth is to be won or lost. Behind you is a round 
 century, before you the whole of another. The old is nearly 
 complete. The last act of its drama is closing. Quickly the 
 curtain will fall, and all of it will be of the past. The new is at 
 the door, and will soon advance on the human stage to enact 
 more wonderful scenes and play more exciting acts, it may be, 
 than any century has heretofore displayed and wrought. 
 
 The twentieth century is almost here. The twentieth 
 century! The period of this world in which your life-work will 
 be begun, carried on and finished! Precisely what it will be 
 and what it will do, no one can predict. 
 
 Some men of our day profess to have definite knowledge 
 of these points of the future. They can tell you exactly how 
 your century will conduct itself, what it will believe, and what 
 it will achieve. For my part I am of the opinion that the 
 twentieth century will settle its problems in its own way, accord- 
 ing to its own convictions of right and truth, whatever these 
 
154 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 may be. It will take care of itself. In this respect it will act 
 very much like its predecessor. At the dawn of the nineteenth 
 century no man foresaw accurately, as we now know, what move- 
 ments, political, social, intellectual and religious, would figure 
 as its events. The most any one could then do was to surmise 
 and speculate on general principles as to what in all probability 
 would be the course and rounding up of the century now in its 
 closing days. 
 
 There are at present some unsolved problems. These will 
 be handed on to the twentieth century. A solution of some kind 
 doubtless will be wrought out. Precisely what this will be and 
 how it will be done, is quite beyond infallible explanation. A 
 new factor may suddenly appear, or be thrust in, which will 
 materially change the complexion of events, occasion a new 
 course of procedure. The unexpected may occur. The often- 
 mentioned social problem is still an unsettled one. As such, it 
 must pass over to the next century. Whether it will be able 
 to get a satisfactory answer, one that will be final, and thus 
 place the present antagonistic elements in a state of peaceful 
 settlement, is an experiment yet to be tried whose successful 
 operation may involve unforseen contingencies. 
 
 Then there are questions of government — imperialism, if you 
 please, of republicanism and monarchy. Shall the world become 
 all Cossack, or Anglo-Saxon, or both? Will free constitutions 
 everywhere prevail, or will the man on horseback unexpectedly 
 ride down the republics of the world? These are questions the 
 nineteenth century has not finally solved. Who can tell what 
 disposition the twentieth century will make of them? 
 
 It is somewhat surprising to find the final years of this 
 century, in some respects, religiously speaking, similar to those 
 of the first quarter — that is, in deep agitation. What to believe 
 and what not to believe perplexes many minds. Old bottles are 
 thrown away as useless, and new bottles are manufactured to 
 hold the old wine. More, a clamorous demand is made for new 
 wine, as well as new bottles. Everything must be new. The 
 old is no longer serviceable nor agreeable with the best reason of 
 the age. It is narrow and unfree. It clogs the wheels of prog- 
 
The Twentieth Century — A Question 155 
 
 ress, and hampers the human mind in its excursions after truth. 
 Reconstruction is the cry. Everything must be made over under 
 the blaze of the best light of the ages — that of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 A new Bible is called for; the old one is quite misleading, 
 having in it some truth and much fiction. So the critics say. 
 Long time beliefs have been outlived. The entire system of 
 religious thought needs to be revised and brought into harmony 
 with the advanced conception of the present century. "Back 
 to the beginning!" is the shout coming up from many quarters. 
 Eighteen centuries of lixed beliefs must be erased, or treated as 
 though they never had been. A new religion, a new gospel, a 
 new creed is the requirement of the hour. Exactly what these 
 shall be is left to the twentieth century for decision. The result 
 we are perhaps not in a position to declare. However, it may 
 be safely said that, for one thing, the twentieth century will have 
 a religion which is the same as that which for nineteen hundred 
 years has been extant; and for another, that the old doctrines 
 which have been accepted and cherished through all the changes 
 of human thought, and are here today as the solid faith of millions, 
 will persist through the coming century. There are unchangeable 
 principles, eternal truths voiced through the ages. There is the 
 permanent in religion, the same always, and abiding through the 
 coming and going of one century and another. Believe me, the 
 twentieth century will not repudiate the old doctrines of Christian 
 belief, in whatever way it may state them. It will stand for 
 evangelical, orthodox religion. It will not cut down the Cross 
 of Calvary any more than have its predecessors. Some things 
 continue as they were in spite of all that some men try to do. 
 
 Unbelief will abound, as it always has abounded. The 
 various and well-known forms of doubt will reappear in vigor. 
 The usual claim of the natural man that the old Gospel has been 
 exploded and that the Church is in a state of hopeless decline, 
 will be loudly proclaimed. But over against this unbelief and 
 doubt and high boasting, a living faith, a clear certainty and 
 assurance of the Christian man will uplift the twentieth century 
 and crown its years with imperishable glory. 
 
156 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 There may be upheavals of society; revolutions of govern- 
 ment; large desertions from the Church and Christ; and the 
 very foundations may be shaken ; nevertheless, as was said nine- 
 teen hundred years ago, so will it be said through the coming 
 century : "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
 Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 
 No doubt wickedness will flourish, crime be more desperate 
 than formerly, the powers of sin be marshalled against the good 
 with a skill unsurpassed in any former age; but the right will 
 be stronger too, and the true more powerful, and the good 
 mightier. In the twentieth century the world will advance as 
 surely as it has gone forward in the nineteenth. True, there 
 will be two antagonistic forces, the right and the wrong, the 
 good and the bad. Each will move ; the one downward and back- 
 ward; the other upward and onward. There will be a growing 
 worse, but there will also be a growing better. 
 
 And when the last day of the twentieth century shall dawn, 
 I have no doubt that everywhere over the earth, it will be 
 recognized that the world is better than ever before. This is 
 my hope, and with this assurance I, together with my generation, 
 will pass from the toil and struggle of human life into the vast 
 beyond. With no less conviction would I wish to go. With no 
 other can I go and still believe that the powers which make for 
 righteousness are advancing in every age to universal conquest. 
 
 But I turn from these reflections to ask a plain and proper 
 question. You have finished your collegiate course, and are 
 ready, we will say, for life in the world. On your taking leave 
 of these halls, may I not inquire: What solid possessions are 
 you taking with you? What is the good that you have gained 
 that will serve you most helpfully in the toil and battle of life? 
 
 Is it a healthful body? 
 
 Do you query why I make mention of this material organism? 
 Well, it is a wonderful mechanism, a matchless structure, the 
 finest piece of Divine art. No other material form equals it. 
 The different parts, bone, muscle and nerve, are so nicely shaped 
 and so perfectly adjusted one to the other that, over all the 
 physical works of God, the human body stands supreme. It is 
 
The Twentieth Century — A Question 157 
 
 most excellent — at the climax. The purpose of this masterpiece 
 is sublimely wise. It mediates between the realm of the natural 
 and that of the spiritual. It communicates the inner to the 
 outer, and the reverse. It gathers and conveys the earthly to 
 the heavenly. It is the agency whereby the self, of which you 
 ever speak, the knower and the doer, on the one hand, 
 appropriates the wealth of a physical universe and forms this 
 into objects of beauty, thus making a world of sense and spirit, 
 which is its own creation and handiwork ; and, on the other hand, 
 it is the instrument by which this self makes revelation of its 
 thoughts and aims, wishes and emotions, desires and volitions, 
 to other selves, and through which it voices hymns of praise and 
 offers worship unto the Father of us all. By means of this 
 organism, so close is the connection between the physical and the 
 psychical, the material and the immaterial, that they together 
 have one life, the human life. This life in its development is 
 much as the terrestrial makes it. Clearness of thought, quickness 
 of perception, liveliness of feeling, strength of will, energy of 
 action, and endurance of application, are all of them subject to 
 the temper and states of the human body. The joy and success 
 of living are chiefly dependent on this peerless mechanism. What 
 a priceless good to have this magnificent work of Divine skill 
 in the best condition, its organs in the normal state, in smooth 
 running order, without a jar between them, aglow with healthful 
 activity, performing their several functions with ease and force, 
 and ever ready to give quick response to the movements of the 
 spiritual self. 
 
 It is a matter of high moment to you what kind of bodies 
 you are taking with you into a world of push and rush, labor 
 and conflict. Are they vigorous, strong and healthful? The 
 burdens you will be required to bear will be heavy; the contests 
 in which you must engage will be fierce. Long and desperate 
 will be the struggle in order to win the best prize, and make the 
 world better because you have lived. Large reserve force will 
 be needed for the hard tasks of the future, for successful battle 
 with the ills and misfortunes of human experience, and with the 
 unfriendly bearing and resistance of the selfish greed of this 
 
158 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 world. Persistent endurance of physical powers will be needful 
 as the years of hard toil and earnest struggle go by. 
 
 If in the evening time of your days you can still chant your 
 morning song, it will be because unimpaired vigor of body, 
 strength of heart, firmness of muscle, steadiness of nerve, healthy 
 assimilating forces of your physical organism are part of the 
 capital with which you start to do the business of human life. 
 Many a youth has insured for himself failure and defeat before 
 even the days of work and battle were at hand. Prodigal use 
 of physical resources, abuse of finely tempered organs, and prosti- 
 tution of vigorous bodily energy to the pleasures of sin, sowed 
 the seeds of disease, entailed lasting sickness, and poisoned the 
 life-giving blood for all time. It was the beginning of weakness. 
 And when the days came for them in which strength of physical 
 power and ability to withstand and to endure were put to test, 
 they went down in exhaustion, with bitter disappointment, never 
 to rise. It is much, very much for the pleasure of living a suc- 
 cessful career to have a healthful body. If this be your posses- 
 sion, fortunate you are indeed. Long life awaits you, and 
 activity, even though the struggle may be hard and the toil severe. 
 
 Again, I ask, is it a cultivated mind that you are taking with 
 you from college student life? A strange inquiry, you may think. 
 After years of study and at the completion of the undergraduate 
 course surely the student's mind must be in a well developed 
 state. What else and what less could be expected? Observe, 
 I do not have in view so much a stock of information, but, 
 rather, accuracy of operation, strength of movement, power of 
 thought — clear, penetrating, correct thought. To think well any- 
 where and in every pursuit means influence, mastery of the sit- 
 uation, final success. In the everyday occupations of men ever 
 and anon knotty questions arise, plans of operation must be 
 devised, difficulties must be overcome, and courses of action de- 
 cided upon. Successful handling of these conditions requires 
 a mind schooled in careful, exact thinking. What is there in 
 human life, human history, human achievement which does not 
 involve this mental operation ? Nothing. The works of men, in 
 whatsoever calling, are one constant putting things together. 
 
The Twentieth Century — A Question 159 
 
 From the garments you wear, the houses in which you live, the 
 books you read, to the society in which you move, the govern- 
 ment in which you live, and the world where you exist — all are 
 the result of this power of mind. Under whatever circumstances 
 you may find yourselves, wherever on this wide earth you dwell, 
 in whatever profession, business or trade you may engage, one 
 thing above all others you must do, namely, think. And to get 
 on well and realize the best results, your thinking must be intense, 
 accurate and broad. To possess this ability is surely a most 
 valuable asset. Without it you are illy fitted to accomplish any- 
 thing beyond keeping body and soul together a short while. 
 With it you are qualified to go forth into the great world of 
 human endeavor and perform your work of life with credit to 
 yourselves and profit to others, leaving behind you at last an 
 achievement worthy of a being possessed of an immortal mind. 
 I pass on to inquire further: Is it a tender conscience and 
 a warm heart you are taking with you away from your college 
 associations? Conscience, the power within us which takes note 
 of our individual acts and accredits them good or bad, right or 
 wrong ; which approves or condemns us for what we do — a 
 tender conscience, sensitive to the honorable, the noble, the 
 worthy, the pure, the true; which hates all vileness and loves 
 all beauty — this is a priceless treasure. It may be kept; it may 
 be lost. The latter always proves to be disastrous to a good 
 and truly happy life. And what other kind of life becomes 
 you and do you really desire? Are you not constituted for 
 goodness ? The beast of the field is not so made, and no amount 
 of development can ever bring it to be in nature and capacity 
 what it is not. The human creature is otherwise. While he 
 possesses all that the animal has, still he boasts of something 
 more. A something more not gotten out of his environment 
 and by the magic of naturalistic evolution, but that is his from 
 the beginning of his existence, that is not of the earthly, but 
 of the heavenly, and that puts him in kinship with the infinite 
 soul. The human mind as reason knows the right, the good as an 
 unchangeable principle. Conscience declares that you are right, 
 you are good, or that you are wrong, you are bad in the deeds 
 
160 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 you perform. A tender conscience is quick to note the moral 
 quality of your acts, and with forceful address approves or dis- 
 approves your individual conduct and course of living. And is 
 the presence of this high authority of little moment in the work- 
 ing out of the mission of your existence? Can a tender con- 
 science be suppressed, or conscience itself be pushed far into the 
 background of your life, and you still be able to build up and 
 maintain for yourself a character, noble and good, one that will 
 ever bear the light of a clear day? Can you take a place beside 
 the princes of righteousness, and know yourself to be of the 
 glorious company of the good, if conscience is not supreme in 
 the judgments of self? 
 
 Suppose it were so, which I trust it is not, that in these days 
 of college life you have lost a tender conscience, and that now 
 you view the moral quality of your acts with indifference, how, 
 in going out to do your life work, will you treat your fellow- 
 men? In your dealings with them how will you act? What 
 judgment will be the rule of your conduct? Conscience has been 
 put out of sight, and you even sneer at the mention of the word. 
 What will be your guide? Policy? Policy has never been 
 introduced to the right. Or will you justify your course on the 
 basis of "whatever is, is right?" But wrong is, therefore it is 
 right ! In what absurdities such reasoning will plunge you ! Or 
 will you undertake to frown down all moral obligation, and ease 
 yourself by claiming that there is no fixed rule of right, and that 
 the injuction, '"'Love thy neighbor as thyself," is the emptiest 
 speech ? Who loves his neighbor as himself ? Who does not try 
 to get all he can; and if he must cheat his fellowmen in order 
 to gain a point and flourish, what is that to conscience? Any- 
 thing to win is always justifiable because it wins. 
 
 But, my young friends, there is a winning which is always 
 a losing, and a losing that is always a winning. And what of 
 your dealings with God? Conscience out of the question, how 
 will you act? What law of His will you obey? What kind 
 of service will you render Him? What need of Him will you 
 daily feel? When His voice calls to you, "Where art thou?" 
 what within you would there be to give quick response, "Here 
 am I?" 
 
The Twentieth Century — A Question 161 
 
 How far you would be from your Heavenly Father, and 
 how utterly cut off from fellowship with Him! And is this of 
 no worth to you? Can your life be what it ought to be amidst 
 the various relations you will sustain in this time, and yet He 
 be treated as though He were not? Some may think so, but 
 as surely as man is a moral being his best life cannot be void 
 of conscience and be perfect without God. 
 
 There is bigger game than the success, the fame, the emolu- 
 ments of this world. A life without conscience and God is never 
 upward, but always downward. And where conscience is put 
 down and silenced, there God cannot dwell. 
 
 Going out into the world under the supposition made, what 
 will you do with yourselves ? How live ? How act when honor, 
 right and truth are before you? What will you do with them? 
 In what way recognize their claims? What clear distinctions 
 will you make between that which you ought and that which you 
 ought not to do? What place can there be for the word 
 Conscience in your vocabulary? And if you use it, what sig- 
 nificance could it possibly have? Surely it would be without 
 meaning — a word whose employment would be mockery to your- 
 selves and a lie before God and man. Is the tender conscience — 
 no longer a hating of all vileness and a loving of all beauty — not 
 yours? And how has this come to be? In days gone by, when 
 conscience disapproved, did you then persistently argue with your 
 better self, "This that I have done is not so bad ; it is innocent ; 
 others do it ; why not I ? Few, if any, perhaps, know that I have 
 done it, my act was secret, and until it becomes public, why re- 
 prove and condemn? I will not accept your decision, Con- 
 science; you treat me badly in giving adverse judgment of my 
 conduct, and by trying thus to humiliate me before myself. I 
 will seek other fellowship." 
 
 Sad, indeed, would be the condition of your moral self, if 
 such treatment of conscience on your part were a fact. But I 
 know better of you, and am sure that you are taking leave of 
 college associations with a conscience whose judgments of your 
 acts you are ever ready to heed, and accordingly direct the move- 
 ments of your life. 
 
162 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 In going from us, I trust also that you are taking with you 
 a warm heart. There will be need of it in the world of sorrow 
 and care whither you are going. On every side you will find 
 those who are in need of comfort and help. Ills and misfortunes 
 have overtaken them. The shadows of suffering have crept over 
 their hearts. They are cast down in spirit. They need to hear 
 a cheerful voice, and have extended to them a strong hand. 
 There are many, many aching hearts today, hearts pierced with 
 the arrow of sin, hearts burdened with sorrow, and they need 
 the cheering words of sympathy, the touch of loving souls. What 
 opportunity for tender ministry this world of ours affords ! And 
 are you not prepared to give it ? Ah ! it is the warm heart, the 
 heart of tender, loving sympathy that draws to itself other hearts, 
 finds a place in their truest affection, and moves them to noble 
 deeds and a better life. I trust you have not grown envious 
 through these years of college life, and jealous hearted, and 
 selfish, and are departing from us with the avenues of your 
 better nature closed. This would be to live only half a life, to 
 be more than half dead. On the contrary, I believe it is with 
 sympathetic soul and loving heart for the needy and distressed, 
 the careworn and the weary, the unfortunate and the outcast, 
 that you go forth. This will be to live most truly, and be like 
 Him who, while here in the world, poured out His great soul 
 on sorrowing and sinful humanity in loving kindness and tender 
 mercies. 
 
 Once more, are you taking with you as the best possession of 
 all, a Christian soul ? In comparison with this, all else pales into 
 littleness. Paul fitly describes it when he says: "Nevertheless 
 I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I 
 now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me 
 and gave Himself for me." This is the Christian soul, "Christ 
 in you the hope of glory." What can this soul say? "If God 
 be for me, who can be against me ? Who is he that condemneth ? 
 It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again. Neither 
 life nor death, nor things present nor things to come, neither 
 angels nor principalities, neither height nor depth, nor any other 
 creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God which 
 is in Christ Jesus." 
 
The Twentieth Century — A Question 163 
 
 What can this soul do? It can do all things through Christ 
 who strengthens it. It can resist the tempter ; it can endure 
 trial; it can war a good warfare; it can hold fast to the eternal 
 God; it can live the life of the just; it can scatter seeds of kind- 
 ness all along the way of earth's rugged road ; it can be a minister 
 of joy and comfort to the weary and disconsolate ; it can win for 
 itself an eternal crown of glory. Do you have a Christian soul 
 to take with you into a world of distress and sin? Then will 
 you prove a blessing indeed to the men and women of your day. 
 Your life will be a ray of light to the weary, forlorn traveler, 
 guiding him to the way of peace and joy. To be this is what 
 even an angel might envy. 
 
 And now, to have all these — a healthful body, an improved 
 mind, a tender conscience, a warm heart and a Christian soul — 
 what a solid basis for a true and honorable life ! How priceless 
 the possession! With this you cannot fail. Immortal success 
 will crown the days of your pilgrimage. And you will surely at 
 last be found among those whom the King delighteth to honor. 
 
THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN LIFE 
 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 I ADDRESS you in the name of your Alma Mater. I speak 
 not as a scientist, or a philosopher, but as a Christian teacher. 
 The subject of my remarks to you is, "The Problem of Human 
 Life and its Solution." I speak positively and say that it is 
 the greatest of all problems which concern human beings; that 
 it has invited for its solution the most stupendous undertaking 
 which has ever been contrived and set on foot, and that in the 
 face of most stubborn difficulties it has been most triumphantly 
 solved ; and, lastly, that this solution is within the reach of possi- 
 bility by every human creature. We are this afternoon to 
 traverse no uncertain ground; nor are we to turn our backs on 
 the greater light to walk in the dim glow of an earth-born fire; 
 nor are we to extinguish the heavenly luminaries, and then, in 
 the shadows of beclouded reason, seek a clear answer to the 
 questions, "Whence came we? How came we? Who are we? 
 Whither are we bound?" 
 
 Contrariwise, our position is on well accredited knowledge, 
 and in the brightness of the supernal day. We see men, not 
 as trees walking, but as the sons of an eternal, personal God ; 
 and we behold human life in its height reaching unto the Divine, 
 in its depth fathoming the natural, and in its length and breadth 
 touching whatever there is of existence, whether earthly or 
 heavenly. 
 
 Three points present themselves for our reflection: 
 
 I. What is human life? 
 
 II. What is the problem of human life? 
 
 III. What is the solution of this problem? 
 
The Problem of Human Life 165 
 
 I 
 
 What is human life? 
 
 Human life is a complex fact. The elements are natural 
 and supernatural, or physical, intellectual and moral. These 
 are distinct in kind, not merely different in degree. Man is a 
 rational being, and the life which he lives is rational life. This 
 is the prime characteristic of the human creature. If it be in- 
 quired, "What is the basis of human life?" the answer must 
 be ; first, not the physical and animal ; second, not the moral and 
 spiritual alone, but the union of all these energies, such a union 
 as creative power alone can produce. 
 
 Plainly speaking, human life is the resultant of a welding 
 together of the earthly and the heavenly. The purely natural 
 has a life peculiar to itself, well marked, clearly defined. Like- 
 wise the spiritual. These two, namely, the natural and the 
 spiritual, in themselves considered, have, so far as we know, 
 nothing in common. Each has absolutely its own realm. Hence, 
 neither one can by itself be taken as essentially constituting human 
 life. If it be the natural only that we have in mind, and purpose 
 to state all truth relating to human life in terms of the physical 
 and animal, then we admit the existence of but one world, the 
 material, and our life sums itself up as so much nervous energy. 
 
 If, on the other hand, it be the spiritual that we recog- 
 nize, and mean to express all facts concerning ourselves as in 
 essence spiritual, then we must adopt that view which idealizes 
 both the seen and the unseen. 
 
 So far as the universe goes, we reject the doctrine of 
 Monism, that is, that everything is either matter or spirit. The 
 spiritual has not been developed out of the physical, and the 
 moral has not produced the material. The one is not a different 
 state of the other. Both, in themselves considered, are inde- 
 pendent existences. Both come from the same source, are 
 effects of the same cause, the eternal self-conscious God. The 
 one is impersonal force, the other is rational energy. 
 
 According to the teachings of our Scriptures, these originally 
 existed apart from one another. There were the world of matter 
 
166 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 and the world of spirit, each with its own capacities, powers and 
 life, and without immediate communion. The universe presented 
 the spectacle of a dualism unresolved. Up to this stage in the 
 process of making finite creatures the Creator's work was mani- 
 festly unfinished. The creative act of putting these diverse 
 worlds together in the most perfect unity still remained to be 
 performed. This was finally done, and as the result there ap- 
 peared a creature who represents, on the one hand, the natural 
 world in all its forces, and, on the other hand, all the energies 
 of the spirit world. 
 
 And this is man, a being who, in the constituent elements of 
 his structure, is neither matter only, nor spirit only, but a union 
 of the two in such a way that the higher nature communicates 
 of its fullness to the lower nature, thus lifting up the natural 
 above its native sphere, imparting to it a refinement which other- 
 wise it could not possess, and endowing it with a vitality which, 
 in a state of insolation, it never could have possessed. In this 
 union lies the deep mystery of human existence — a mystery no 
 science or philosophy of man is able to expound. 
 
 Of the two natures in the human creature each has its own 
 life. Each was made to have life in itself. But as these 
 natures are joined together in an inseparable unity, so likewise 
 is the life of the one united with the life of the other, giving 
 as a result living energy, not as we find it in the kingdom of 
 plants and animals, but as we know it in the kingdom of man — 
 of human life. 
 
 This is truly a peculiar fact; peculiar in what it is, a union 
 of the material and the immaterial, of nature and spirit ; a union 
 in which the dualism of the personal and impersonal disappears 
 and by virtue of which there exists a living unity, namely, a 
 living soul. Moreover, it is peculiar in that it is an original 
 fact; original because it is an existence entirely new, its exact 
 likeness never having previously been ; original, because it is the 
 only solution of the problem of matter and spirit existing as 
 parts of the same universe, but in perpetual harmony ; and, lastly, 
 original because it is typical of that higher unity between the 
 Creator and His Creation which has found historic reality in 
 the incarnation of the Son of God. 
 
The Problem of Human Life 167 
 
 Again, this fact of human life is peculiar in its mystery. 
 There is, we all know, a strange mystery of life everywhere. 
 In plant and animal we see something of its operation, but our 
 eyes fail to penetrate its depths and behold the secret of its 
 existence. Much more is our own life sealed against our under- 
 standing and hidden from our acutest thought. We cannot 
 comprehend the life that is our own. At times we think we have 
 worked our way into the light of clear day, and are able to say 
 how human life has arisen, and what its process of coming into 
 being. We congratulate ourselves that much of its mystery has 
 been made to vanish. Presently, however, we face the fact that, 
 in our attempt to solve the mystery of human life, the fact 
 itself has been cast out of our apprehension, and that which we 
 judged ourselves to have apprehended is only the invention of 
 our own imagination; not human life, the union of nature and 
 spirit, but only a higher form of one element of this existence 
 — natural life. The mystery of human life is the mystery of 
 creation and not of evolution. 
 
 Furthermore, human life is peculiar in the range of its 
 possibilities and the reach of its capacity. For one thing it has 
 capacity to appropriate the natural in the widest extent and weave 
 it into the fabric of its own development. Comprehending as it 
 does in itself all there is essentially of the physical and irra- 
 tional, it has for these the closest affinity, and can with readiness 
 lay them under contribution for the products of that evolutionary 
 process of which it is the causal agent and guiding genius. For 
 another thing it has capacity to appropriate the supernatural, and 
 is able to join it with the natural into a history of ever advancing 
 deeds. Having within itself truly the divine, it is not limited 
 in the reach of its ability to the boundaries of the natural world. 
 It transcends these and becomes the possessor of an excellence 
 that is not of the earth, earthy, but of heaven, heavenly. Human 
 life is the mediator between nature and God. It forms these 
 into perpetual union, and in its own upward development, or 
 evolution, if you please, evolves, not nature only, as naturalism 
 holds, nor God only, as some pantheists teach, but the divine 
 and the natural into an unified existence, thus producing a 
 
168 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 history that is not mere natural product, nor merely a series of 
 Divine acts, but a great fact which is a human work, having for 
 its elements material appropriated on the one side from nature, 
 and on the other from the inexhaustible fullness of the Divine. 
 
 In the light of the foregoing statements, how manifest the 
 superlative value of human life ! What a profound meaning it 
 has ! Nothing earthly is comparable with it ! Nature in its 
 most perfect types has no existence comparable with it in worth. 
 Natural force, however powerful, is never able to do or achieve 
 what human life in its evolutionary activities constantly accom- 
 plishes. Nature produces no human deeds, nor does God live 
 human history. But human life ever unfolds itself by means of 
 God and nature into a history of work and achievement that is 
 pre-eminently rational, and shows forth the unity of the material 
 and the immaterial, the oneness of Creator and creature. 
 
 At the same time it is evident that man occupies the supreme 
 place in the existing universe. He is not a part of this universe, 
 as the animal, the plant and mineral are parts of the several 
 kingdoms of nature. He is not one among many. He dwells 
 in a higher sphere. He is above nature, and yet inseparably 
 connected with the natural world. He is beneath God, but still 
 everlastingly associated with Him as His image. Both spiritual 
 and natural, he stands forth the last and fittest work of creative 
 power, and holds in the universe of creatures the first and 
 highest possible position. There is no higher creature, there 
 never can be. Man is at the head of all created existences, the 
 summation of their powers, the lord of their movements, whose 
 work and destiny are to evolve spirit and nature into an organic 
 unity. 
 
 This leads to our next inquiry : 
 
 II 
 
 What is the problem of human life? 
 
 Human life has a problem, the great supreme problem 
 of creative existence. It has an end to reach, a purpose to 
 realize. There is with human life a final cause. Otherwise it 
 
The Problem of Human Life 169 
 
 would be mere blind movement, not rational fact. It is not 
 sufficient to say that every energy always proceeds in action 
 according to its nature, for the reason that this nature which is 
 its distinction is but the reflection, or, rather, we may say, the 
 impress, of its final cause. No one can with consistency deny 
 the doctrine of ends in reason. The very act by which he at- 
 tempts such effort is proof of his inconsistency; for what does 
 an analysis of his argument evince? Have not the arrangements 
 of his proposition an orderly movement, and are they not so con- 
 nected as to give a specific conclusion? The facts which the 
 objector uses, are they not the same that he employs to get other 
 results that have a bearing directly on final ends? Finding 
 arguments to support a given proposition, and using facts in 
 different ways to get different results, what is all this mental 
 procedure but action under the impulse and guidance of final 
 cause? If human reason, as we know it, always acts in the 
 light of seeing the end from the beginning, what less conviction 
 can we have that the Absolute Reason eternally proceeds in the 
 clearness of an infinite wisdom? And now, since human life 
 finds its source in the creative power and knowledge of a rational 
 Author, it must have a final cause. The attainment of this high 
 end constitutes its problem. 
 
 But for what reason did God make and set it going? I 
 answer, for the purpose of obtaining, in the fullest measure, a 
 reproduction of Himself. God is eternally reproducing Himself. 
 This is the mightiest act of infinite power and goodness. This 
 is what creation means, if it means anything. The natural world, 
 with its diversity of living forms, is an expression of divine ex- 
 cellence, and just so far is a revelation of the Supreme Being. The 
 world of spirit is likewise an expression of the divine nature in 
 its moral aspect, thus furnishing a more advanced revelation of 
 the infinitely holy and righteous One. And, lastly, man, who 
 combines in himself spirit and nature, expresses the harmony 
 of these two factors as it exists in the possibilities of the Divine 
 nature, thus comprehending more of God than either nature or 
 spirit taken separately displays. 
 
 In the production of man God has made a creature most 
 
170 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 like Himself — a creature whose life in its immortal development 
 will perpetually reproduce more and more nearly its infinite 
 original, the eternal life of the Most High. This likeness to 
 God is the final aim and purpose of human life. It is at the same 
 time the highest good, as the Psalmist has truly said : "I will 
 be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." True, this phrase, 
 "the highest good," is used in different senses. What is it? 
 Many answers are given. All, at last, are resolvable into two 
 classes, one representing a false conception, and the other the 
 true. The first is the heathen notion ; the second, the Christian 
 idea. Our Savior has stated them, according to the record of 
 Matthew's Gospel, on this wise: 'Take no thought saying, 
 What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal 
 shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles 
 seek. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteous- 
 ness, and all these things shall be added unto you." There is 
 a natural good, but it is not to be for man the chief good. Man 
 is capable of appropriating vastly more. His life transcends the 
 sensuous just by so much as it contains the rational and moral 
 element. The end of this life is not to be like the natural, but 
 like Him who is the source of both nature and spirit. And this it 
 accomplishes by transforming the natural and the spiritual into 
 the most glorious expression of the divine perfection. In de- 
 claring that the Kingdom of God is the highest good, Christ 
 does not reject a natural good; He simply teaches this order: 
 God first, the all-satisfying portion; nature second. The heathen 
 reverses this order, making nature the final cause of human life, 
 and lays down the rule for our living on this fashion : "Let us 
 eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." Christianity, 
 on the other hand, teaches that for man God is the Supreme 
 Good, and that without Him human life would be left utterly 
 destitute. 
 
 The true mission of the soul of man is to be partaker of 
 the divine nature in its fullness. To realize the sublime con- 
 ception of the Divine mind ; to attain the final purpose of the 
 Divine will, and to possess both for the ages of this world and 
 those which are beyond — this is the problem of human life — 
 
The Problem of Human Life 171 
 
 human life as it is manifested in the family, in society, in the 
 state and in the individual. 
 
 Ill 
 What is the solution of this problem? 
 
 In stating the correct answer to this question we must take 
 human life as we find it. No abstract or imaginary view will 
 suffice. Beyond debate human life is not now as it originally was. 
 A disastrous mischance, somehow, sometime, has taken place. 
 Human life did not begin in barbarism. The connections of the 
 generations point backward to a most happy state of the human 
 creature in the dawn of his existence — a golden age, when heaven 
 and earth were in full unison and human life was Paradise. 
 
 But a fearful revolution occurred. God and man were rent 
 asunder. The nobler powers of human life were paralyzed. A 
 foreign element insinuated itself into the human soul, blinded 
 its understanding, corrupted its imagination, perverted its activity, 
 and destroyed its hope. It was sin — that moral disorder which 
 has permeated the life of the human creature and made it utterly 
 impotent to reach the sublime destiny for which it was con- 
 stituted. Human life is lost. This is its condition under the 
 reign of sin. 
 
 I know full well that other views are entertained, but in 
 support of what I have said, I first call to the witness stand 
 individual experience — your own experience, limited as this may 
 be, the experience of every age, the historic recital of crime and 
 vice, of the wickedness and ungodliness of men throughout the 
 long centuries. What is this testimony? Is it not that human 
 life is cursed with sin? And then, second, I call the Gospel as 
 witness, and inquire, "Why are you here ? What work have you 
 to do that could not be done as well and even better without 
 your presence ?" The answer comes clear and full : "I am here 
 to rescue and recover sinful man, to seek and to save the lost." 
 
 The real question, therefore, is, "What is the solution of the 
 problem of sinful human life?" If the soul of man were as it 
 was originally, then it would be easy to say how the problem of 
 
172 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 human existence could be solved. It would have gone on in its 
 divinely intended career without a halt or jar, joyously attaining 
 the divine end in view at the beginning. But sin has come into 
 the life of the human creature and wrought a change. Moral 
 disobedience and guilt have polluted and robbed the fairest work- 
 manship of God of its beauty and strength. Human life has 
 been sadly marred and weakened, so that when it would do good 
 evil is present. It finds a law which brings it into captivity, 
 making it cry out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death?" 
 
 And now the question comes, How can this life, so deeply 
 hurt by sin, fulfill the purpose of its origin? How solve the 
 problem? A method which has been proposed and much adver- 
 tised is this: Assume that sin is not sin, not moral wrong and 
 guilt, not an assault on the divine nature and a defiance of holy 
 law, but only a defect which belongs to the nature of finite things, 
 the imperfection of unfinished development, a necessary element 
 of progress, and then the best state is surely reached in a most 
 natural way. For one thing, it is sufficient to obey the laws of 
 nature ; for another, to acquire scientific knowledge ; for a third, 
 to attain aesthetic culture ; and for a fourth to practice the teach- 
 ing of natural religion. 
 
 The first is worthless as a chief direction under any circum- 
 stance, for human life in its superior element is moral. The 
 second is far too partial, for the human soul is vastly more 
 than intellect. The third is altogether deceptive, because man 
 is pre-eminently ethical: while the fourth is inadequate either 
 in Paradise or out of it, since the human soul is evermore athirst 
 for God and cannot be at rest without the communion of His 
 love. Especially are all these efforts futile when it is remembered 
 that the soul of man is dead in trespasses and sins and lost. 
 Laws of nature, scientific knowledge, culture of the beautiful, 
 light of a natural world — none of these, nor all together, can 
 furnish a solution of the deep problem of sinful human life. 
 
 But if not these, what can? How get the true answer, the 
 resultant originally designed? What must be the first step in 
 the process? There is but one reply — Salvation. Sinful human 
 
The Problem of Human Life 173 
 
 life must first be saved ; otherwise the problem not only becomes 
 impossible of solution, but ceases to be a problem. But what does 
 salvation mean? It means rescue, recovery, and redemption. 
 
 And how can human life, ruined by sin, be redeemed? 
 There is only one way — by atonement. "Without the shedding 
 of blood there is no remission of sins." This is God's way, de- 
 manded by the divine righteousness and approved by infinite 
 love. Nothing less could by any possibility avail. It was an 
 enormous undertaking, vast beyond the highest finite conception, 
 involving in its execution heaven and earth. With human life 
 corrupted and ruined, everything was at stake. But nature dare 
 not fall into nothingness. Spirit must not vanish. Perpetual 
 antagonism between the two great worlds of creation cannot 
 be. Human life must be saved, else the great purpose of God 
 in making a universe will be defeated, and this cannot, must not 
 be. With the human soul steeped in sin everything is involved — 
 the majesty of the divine law, the integrity of the divine govern- 
 ment, the inexhaustible resources of eternal love, and the ex- 
 istence of the finite creature. For God to lose human life is to 
 lose His universe, precious in His sight. If there were no human 
 life any more that God can call His own and in which He may 
 dwell, then the keystone of the great arch of creation is gone 
 forever. 
 
 On account of what the life of man is, the unity of nature and 
 spirit, redemption is a necessity. On account of what sin is, 
 the highest evil, this redemption can only be accomplished by 
 means of blood atonement. And this is precisely what has taken 
 place. "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth 
 His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to be the 
 propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins 
 of the whole world." "But Christ being come, our great High 
 Priest, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with 
 hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of 
 calves and goats, but by His own precious blood, He entered in 
 once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption 
 for us." 
 
 A little more than eighteen hundred years ago in human 
 
174 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 history this event occurred. It was on Mount Calvary that the 
 climax was reached. It was there that the sinless Jesus laid down 
 His life, and through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without 
 spot unto God as our atoning sacrifice — the ransom for the human 
 life. It was on the Cross, through inconceivable suffering and 
 death, the just for the unjust, that the offended justice of a holy 
 God was satisfied, and the riches of the divine love were exposed 
 to view. There a fountain was opened, "drawn from Immanuel's 
 veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty 
 stains." Christ died for us ; but more, He rose from the dead 
 for our justification. On the Cross He laid down His life; in 
 the grave He lay. That was a dark hour seemingly for the 
 human race when the Second Adam yielded up the Ghost. The 
 kingdom of sin had marshalled its legions. He who had come 
 to rescue and save, Himself was dead. But on the morning of 
 the third day, how changed the scene! At the door of the 
 sepulcher there stands the Crucified One. He lives again, and 
 is alive forevermore. The hosts of sin who have camped about 
 His tomb are gone. Looking into the empty tomb, He calmly 
 but triumphantly exclaims: "O death, where is thy sting? O 
 grave, where is thy victory?" 
 
 This is the Savior of the world, He who, with garments dyed 
 in His own blood, has come by the way of Mount Calvary, 
 glorious in His apparel, travailing in the greatness of His 
 strength, mighty to save. 
 
 "Soul of a lost race, awake from thy sadness ; 
 Awake, for thy foes shall oppress thee no more; 
 Bright o'er the hills dawns the Day Star of gladness, 
 Rise, for the night of thy sorrows is o'er. 
 
 Strong were thy foes, but the arms that subdues them, 
 And scattered their legions was mightier far : 
 
 They fled like the chaff from the scourge that pursued them; 
 Vain were their steeds and their chariots of war." 
 
 Through the Cross of Calvary and the riven tomb, sinful 
 human life has been rescued and saved. Though lost and dead, 
 it is found and alive again. God in Jesus Christ has rescued 
 
The Problem of Human Life 175 
 
 sinful human life, and for Himself thereby solved the problem 
 of a lost soul. 
 
 Man is not an eternal outcast. Humanity is not a hopeless 
 wreck. The human soul is not shattered in pieces and left in 
 endless ruin. It has been redeemed, not with corruptible things., 
 as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lamb that 
 was slain. It has been rescued from the dreadful power of the 
 arch enemy. It has been delivered from the captivity of sin by 
 the omnipotent hand of an Elder Brother, and now flourishes 
 with immortal vigor in the Kingdom of God. It is now safe 
 forever. No unfriendly power can ever again strike it down. 
 Exalted above all principalities, even to the right hand of God, 
 it is beyond the reach of any danger, and will through the future 
 ages become more and more like Him who first formed it in 
 His image, and afterward by His own strong hand and priceless 
 life saved it from eternal death. Behold it as it appears in the 
 heavenly places, so pure, so lovely, so great. How it shines, even 
 beyond the noontide splendor of the sun, and declares in loftiest 
 speech the glory of God! This is the Lord's doing, and it is 
 marvelous in our eyes. 
 
 My young friends, how can you solve this problem? It is 
 before you. With it you must grapple. You cannot escape it 
 or evade it, saying, It is of no concern to me. Or do you intend 
 to try over again that old method which so many have attempted 
 and utterly failed — the way of the natural man? How foolish 
 this would be ! Deceive not yourselves. The great life you 
 have — not great only in its origin, but in its possible destiny — 
 has been deeply wronged and harmed. It is sinful and lost, 
 and if it abide in this state, must go to wreck and ruin. Believe 
 me, my friends, I am telling you no fable or myth. Open your 
 eyes. Look back over the long course of humankind. See how 
 men of this world have tried to win the inheritance of a 
 glorious immortality, and have gone down in the vain struggle; 
 and do you have it in mind to repeat this folly? Oh, no! In 
 this matter let your conscience be supreme. Whatever you do, 
 do not stifle its convictions by insisting, "I am not bad. I have 
 no guilt whose stains blot my soul. I am not sick, but well. I 
 am not dead, but alive." 
 
176 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Do you turn to me and say, "I'll show you whether I am 
 not strong. I can take care of myself, remove every hindrance, 
 overcome every difficulty, and win immortal success." Ah! 
 that is an old speech. Millions before you have made it, but 
 they are catalogued in the history of the human soul as those 
 who fought for a kingdom and crown and lost the battle. They 
 serve as your painful warning, and not as your illustrious en- 
 samples. Never by the power of nature, however refined it may 
 be, however potent, can you solve the problem of your life. 
 There is but one way, and that is the way of the Gospel. 
 
 Your soul is lost in sin. First of all, it must be saved. It 
 is useless to talk about development into something better or 
 evolution of something higher, nobler. Development there will 
 be. Evolution will go on. But what unseemly, worthless pro- 
 ducts will result. Instead of being upward, the movement must 
 be even downward; instead of improvement, deterioration. 
 
 Quickly you turn to me and say: "Look at the history of 
 the race. Here is evolution, a striking movement from the 
 lower to the higher, and from the good to the better. What 
 progress has been made through the centuries of human action ! 
 What successes have been achieved, and how far advanced in all 
 the elements of a great civilization, the arts, the sciences and 
 politics, is the man of today beyond the man of five thousand 
 years ago !" 
 
 Precisely so. But there have been through these, over against 
 the energies of sin, good powers, the powers of redeeming love. 
 Their influence has reached into every nook and corner of 
 human history. They raised up the fallen, cheered the faint, 
 strengthened the weak, comforted the distressed, and inspired 
 the despondent with buoyant hope. They have saved the 
 evolution of human life in history from being the annals of 
 perdition. Against principalities and powers, against the 
 rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness 
 in high places, they have kept the way to the tree of life. 
 
 These are the powers that you need in your life. Without 
 them, at last you will fail. With them as your ever present 
 possession, you will go forward in a most illustrious career. You 
 
The Problem of Human Life 177 
 
 will ever evolve the noble, the good, the godlike, always showing 
 that human life is no mistake, but the noblest creature of God. 
 
 Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone can you solve the 
 problem of your existence. These are my last words to you as 
 the graduating class of Wittenberg College. Be assured that 
 you go forth from us with the hope on our part that you will 
 reach a most happy end, and with the prayer that the grace of 
 God will keep your minds and hearts through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
LIFE'S TRUE IDEAL 
 
 The Twentieth Baccalaureate Address 
 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 TODAY is for you a time of peculiar interest. You have 
 finished a course of study, and have reached a stage in 
 your lives where a decision must be made, a far-reaching decision. 
 You are now to determine what course you will take, what end 
 you will pursue; in short, the concern with you now is, what is 
 the vocation which shall rule your whole future life? 
 
 Above and beyond such decision, however, is another of 
 vaster moment. In this time the supreme question with you is 
 not, "What calling in human life shall I undertake and prose- 
 cute?" This is, after all, not the chief concern. But the vital, 
 searching decision is, "Wherever I shall be, in whatever pursuit 
 engaged, whatever my calling, one purpose shall be the rule of 
 my action ; a single aim shall govern my life : namely, the best use 
 of all my powers, powers of body, powers of mind, powers of 
 soul, for the highest good of myself, my fellows, and for the 
 discharge of my obligation to Almighty God." 
 
 You wish to pursue a successful career? Surely. But in what 
 does a truly successful life consist? The man of this world, the 
 twentieth century man, says : "To be something, to be at the 
 top, is to get and to have the goods of time. Such achievement 
 marks the successful man, the man who does something that is 
 tangible, and perforce is something. He shows what he can do. 
 He can make money, and to have money is to have the highest 
 good." But it is one thing to possess means and to possess them 
 abundantly ; it is quite another to use them and to use them wisely. 
 
 If I were directing you how to live a truly successful life, 
 I should say, first, you must have a right governing purpose, 
 such as I have indicated. Second, you must ever cultivate a 
 
Life's True Ideal 179 
 
 tender conscience ; third, you must ever maintain a pure 
 and upright heart; fourth, you must keep fresh in exercise a 
 Christian faith; and, fifth, you must put your veritable self into 
 the work you do. 
 
 The truly successful life is not ephemeral, the impersonal, 
 but it is the permanent, the personal. At last the truly suc- 
 cessful life is what man, the union of nature and spirit, the 
 personal creature, makes himself to be, or into what, by the use 
 of all the means at his command, it is possible for him to develop 
 himself ; or, again, it is the largest realization of the possibilities 
 of rational existence. The sum of it all is character, human 
 character, the only work of man which is immortal. To build 
 a character whose climax is the likeness of divine excellence is, 
 in the end, the ultimate business of the human powers, the reason 
 for which they exist and are framed precisely as they are. 
 
 To do this work, namely, develop a godlike character, is to 
 achieve success — that success whose memory never perishes, and 
 which needs no shaft or towering dome to perpetuate its fame. 
 It abides everlastingly. It is as immortal as the good man him- 
 self ; it is the good man. 
 
 To this undertaking my young friends, namely, the develop- 
 ment of a godlike character, I advise and urge you. As 
 sources from which you may gather the needful material, you 
 have around you the natural realm in all its diversified forms, 
 and within you the supernatural grace and power in their com- 
 municable fullness. With these elements at your disposal you 
 can go forward, wherever you may be and in whatever calling, 
 in the prosecution of your life work, whose accomplishment you 
 have been well fitted to perform. 
 
 After the opinion of men of this world you may attain a 
 certain kind of success ; but according to the ordainment of God, 
 it may prove to be an ultimate failure. In the end it will surely 
 come out that, following the wisdom of this world, you will have 
 entirely misconceived the meaning of your existence ; and so, 
 while you thought you were getting much, at last you will have 
 found you had nothing. 
 
 I know there are those who would give you different counsel. 
 
180 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 They would impress on you the idea that a man's life consists 
 in the abundance of the things he possesses, and that the only 
 success about which you need to concern yourselves, is the suc- 
 cess after the fashion that this world reckons success. They 
 would tell you that the end of human existence is happiness, and 
 that the sure way to get it is to secure the largest number of 
 objects for sensuous gratification. In other words, such coun- 
 selling would bid you obtain as much as you can eat, drink and 
 wear. As for knowledge, that is useful only so far as your 
 business goes ; as for morality, that is a matter of expedience 
 only; and as for religion, that is simply phantasy. 
 
 Human life, in the ultimate reckoning, is only a huge joke, 
 they tell us ; only the arena for sport and hilarity. The final 
 meaning of it all is: "Seek success in business, in professional 
 activity, in whatever calling you pursue, in order that you may 
 have the largest amount of pleasure. After this comes the grave, 
 where there is no trade, no commerce, no business, no professional 
 pursuit, no sport, no enjoyment; for there we are not, and beyond 
 we do not go." 
 
 Do not understand me to say that you should have no con- 
 cern for the things of this lifetime. By no means. These have 
 their rightful place, their necessary use. Without them you can- 
 not attain the fullest development. So far as concerns the 
 human creature, the natural cannot be divorced from the spiritual, 
 and still permit this creature to become what he ought to be and 
 was meant to be. Asceticism is a mistaken view of human life, 
 and of the perfection man in his striving should seek to reach; 
 just as Epicureanism, the opposite extreme, is also thoroughly 
 mistaken in its conception of human existence and the purpose 
 for which, by its endowments, it is clearly destined. The one 
 counts the physical worth nothing, and hence no object for 
 striving: the other estimates it to be the only value there is, and 
 therefore its pursuit and possession the supreme aim of our 
 living. 
 
 The true view is this : the natural is a means, a necessary 
 means, for human development; likewise the spiritual; and these 
 two, brought into union in human life by the process of approp- 
 
Life's True Ideal 181 
 
 riation and forming, constitute man at the climax of his existence, 
 what he can be and what he ought to be. The human creature 
 at perfection is the union of nature and grace. He is the con- 
 solidation of the earthly and the heavenly. And so I come back 
 to what I previously said; let the supreme aim of your life be 
 to use your God-given powers in such wise that you will achieve 
 the best for yourselves, and for your fellows, and fairly meet 
 the high responsibilities of a human being. In all your doing, in all ■ 
 your pursuing, aim to build your enduring house of fit material 
 and in such way that it will ever be your joy and glory. 
 
 Much is expected of you. Your opportunities for improve- 
 ment have been excellent. You have had time and advantage 
 for the strengthening of your powers unto the day of action and 
 struggle. Your friends are hoping for much from you. The 
 college expects you to do superior work, and the world, with 
 critical eye, will watch to see of what mettle you are and what 
 you are able to achieve. Take up your life work with courage, 
 and faith, and hope. Live to become great, great in those 
 virtues which adorn an immortality of honor and glory. Choose 
 for yourselves the best ideal of human life, and make its realiza- 
 tion in your history the aim of ceaseless endeavor ; ever resolving, 
 "this one thing I do; I press toward the mark of the high 
 calling." 
 
 This ideal you will not find in nature, neither in the lives of 
 men, however renowned, nor in the teachings of science, the arts, 
 or philosophy. True, they say much about the ideal of human 
 life ; indeed, their aim seems to be to exhibit the climax of man's 
 best endeavor in its fullness, in its perfectness. In answer to 
 the question, "What is this ideal?" they respond, "Culture." 
 One party says intellectual culture; a second, scientific; a third, 
 aesthetic. All agree, however, in claiming that the perfection 
 of human life in culture, whether it be of logical thought, or 
 of natural truth, or of aesthetic sentiment. 
 
 But I must remind you that the best ideal of our life does 
 not consist in culture of any sort, not in the perfection of any 
 quality, neither in the sheer absence of natural defects, nor in 
 any kind of abstract conception. 
 
182 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Again, this ideal is that which can be and may be. It is 
 not only the possible, existing merely as a conception of the imagi- 
 nation but without objective reality; on the contrary, this ideal 
 is a fact, a concrete reality. It exists. The perfect man lives; 
 He is the man of Galilee. Jesus of Nazareth is humanity's 
 climax. He is what you and I ought to be, what the 
 whole human race ought to be. Not only so, but He is 
 what Adam and his sons can become — the perfect man before 
 God. It must ever be observed that this perfect man exists 
 through union of the divine and human, and is a complete unity 
 — in fact, is this union. 
 
 The world's ideal of the perfect man is of an entirely dif- 
 ferent order. Here the human creature stands alone, and is 
 assumed to possess an ability sufficient in itself to attain the state 
 of the perfect one. There is no need of the communication of 
 a higher fullness. No union of God and man is requisite in order 
 that the human creature may realize in his own life the highest 
 possibilities of his endowments. The world's ideal of man's per- 
 fection supposes that he is altogether self-sufficient for his life 
 task. When he has reached the goal, he will be dependent on no 
 one. God Himself will be entirely separate. They will be two, 
 not one. If, however, a union or unity be claimed, and it be 
 said emphatically that this ideal of the perfect one expresses the 
 oneness of God and man, it must be borne in mind that this world's 
 conception of a perfect humanity is the conception of the same 
 thing at a certain stage of its evolution. The world ideal of 
 perfect humanity must, therefore, be called the perfection of 
 nature. 
 
 The Christ ideal, on the other hand, exhibits a vastly dif- 
 ferent view. Here we have the great historical reality, human 
 life lived unto perfection. Here is this perfection of which the 
 human powers are capable, not separate from, but in unison with 
 God. This perfection, I say, is perfectly realized, existing, not 
 as a perfection in a thing, originally and essentially unconscious 
 will, but in a person who possessed the fullness of human nature, 
 as well as of the Divine, is very man and very God, the two in 
 incomparable union. He is the unparalleled reality in the history 
 
Life's True Ideal 183 
 
 of the human race. He is not an individual among individuals, 
 like Caesar and Shakespeare, but the individual of all individuals 
 of the universe. He is not a man among men, eminent above 
 the men of mankind, but the man of all men. He is not a son 
 of man standing at the head of other sons, but He is the Son of 
 man. He is solitary and alone. There is none other. His dis- 
 tinction is without exception. He is the sublime, historical, 
 personal reality. 
 
 The basis of His existence is person ; His life is the 
 life of person ; His perfect excellence is the excellence of 
 person. He is the ideal personality. Personality of what? 
 Of perfect obedience. He is the obedient one. Of perfect self- 
 sacrifice ; He gives Himself for the redemption of a ruined world. 
 Of suffering love; He is the one who was made perfect through 
 suffering. Whatever virtue of moral character there may be, 
 it has its reality, as a personal excellence in its most perfect form, 
 in Jesus of Nazareth. He is the virtue. He is the excellence. 
 This is the best ideal of human life — the only true ideal, the 
 only ideal of human bliss that is possible for realization by the 
 human creature, by you and me; and for the simple reason that 
 it exists, not as a dream of the imagination, but as a sublime fact, 
 as an immortal reality. Jesus of Nazareth, who is now in the 
 heavenly places, even at the right hand of God, is this ideal. He 
 is the pattern for you and me, and for all men. To live as He 
 lived ; to toil and struggle as He struggled and toiled ; to be sub- 
 missive to the Divine will as He was submissive ; to love God as 
 He loved God, and our neighbor as He loved His neighbor — ah ! 
 this is our inspiring possibility, our opportunity ; it is to realize the 
 only true and perfect model of human life. This is the ideal 
 that, above all things, you should choose as the supreme end 
 of your life. To realize this in your history more and more, 
 as the days and years go by, is the noblest task that you can 
 achieve, and the only experience that will prove to be thoroughly 
 satisfying. "I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." 
 Let this be the purpose of your hearts : "This one thing I do. 
 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God 
 in Jesus Christ." 
 
184 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 You are going out into a restless, dissatisfied, and yet, withal, 
 a self-trusting world. You will find much to encourage you in 
 your toils and struggles ; and, I must admonish you, much to 
 discourage you as well; nevertheless, press toward the mark. 
 There will come times when all is fair and promising, and other 
 days when the very foundations seem to be slipping from under- 
 neath your feet; nevertheless, press toward the mark. As the 
 years go on, the burdens of life will grow heavier, and people 
 will rise up to thwart your aims, and conflicts will deepen, and 
 you may become weary and faint and sad; nevertheless, press 
 toward the mark which God has set for you in Jesus Christ. 
 Doing this, be assured you will shine more and more brightly 
 unto the perfect day. 
 
 Wherever you may be, in whatever circumstances, in pros- 
 perity or adversity, in joy or in sorrow, in toil or in battle, keep 
 steadily before you the eternal pattern of your life. In short, 
 be Christian men and women. Develop a Christian manhood 
 and womanhood after the model set before you in Jesus Christ. 
 This, this, above everything else, I charge you before God and 
 this assembly to do. Then will your life be an immortal success. 
 In the ages coming you will shine as the sun in the eternal king- 
 dom of God. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we 
 know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we 
 shall see Him as He is." 
 
 With this I close my twentieth baccalaureate address to the 
 graduating class of Wittenberg College. From first to last it 
 has been my aim to set Jesus of Nazareth before you as the 
 wisdom and power of God, and as the joy and hope and life of 
 the human soul. Over against the notions of men of this world, 
 I have proclaimed Him as the Redeemer and Savior of a sinful 
 human race, as the only true pattern of a perfect human life, and 
 the only one' possible of realization. Over against the theories 
 of men concerning the highest good and its attainment, I have 
 known Jesus of Nazareth only as the highest good for the human 
 soul, and, therefore, emphatically a personal being; no mere 
 abstract conception of the human mind, but the supreme Personal 
 Existence of the universe. I have declared Him to be the in- 
 
Life's True Ideal 185 
 
 dividual of all individuals, the kingdom of all kingdoms; which 
 means that He, in His personal reality, is the absolute principle 
 of the universe, the Unifier, yea, the true Unity of all things. 
 
 This is the problem of the ages. Men have sought the way 
 of its solution. They are trying now, with an earnestness which 
 perhaps has not been characteristic of the past. But they are 
 failing just as their predecessors have failed. They are following 
 the pantheistic methods. They adopt the theory of the imper- 
 sonal essence as the fundamental reality, and expect by the means 
 of an abstract idea to work out the harmonious unity of all men 
 and the world. This is the gist of the whole humanitarian move- 
 ment of the day, the chief movement of the times. At bottom, 
 it is pantheistic in the idea it seeks to realize, and the view of 
 human life it so vigorously advocates. Men of today 
 will fail, are failing in their attempted solution of the mighty 
 problem of the universe. The unifier of men and their ways is 
 no principle of law or force of nature. I point them, as I point 
 you, to Jesus of Nazareth, the great Personality of the universe, 
 the Man of men and the eternal God in one person. He is the one 
 who, in Himself and by virtue of what He is, is the eternal solu- 
 tion of the great problem of existence. He is their unifier and 
 their unity, joining all things in Himself. He is the kingdom of 
 all kingdoms, the King of kings. The pre-eminently real, the 
 pre-eminently enduring is the personal, and this personal finds 
 its sole exhibition in the Man of Galilee, who is the eternally 
 begotten Son of God. This is Paul's idea, and the voice of 
 revelation. For it is declared that, in the dispensation of the 
 fullness of times, "God will gather together in one all things in 
 Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even 
 in Him; in whom we have obtained an eternal inheritance." 
 
 The peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your 
 hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. 
 
THE GKEATEST NEED 
 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 I CONGRATULATE you on a succssful termination of your 
 college course. The first period of your individual career 
 is drawing to a close. In a few days you will go out from these 
 academic halls into a sphere of new activity. Before that hour 
 comes it is wise that you should consider whither you are going 
 and what you will most need through the remaining years of your 
 lifetime, to achieve truest success, and assure yourselves of the 
 possession of that substantial good without which human life is 
 written in the record of eternity as a disastrous failure. 
 
 You are about to enter a world of intensest action. Never 
 in previous times were the stir and bustle and movement of a 
 generation so hurried as now. The time in which we live is not 
 asleep, nor half awake, nor moving at a jogging rate. It is wide 
 awake and moving forward with impetuous speed. Busy men 
 and women are everywhere observable. Pushing, rushing mill- 
 ions, eager, energetic, from the scene of an age that lives as 
 much in a day as have some ages of the remoter past in a hundred 
 years. Once the most enlightened people on earth, with staff in 
 hand, walked through time ; then with quickened step they moved 
 along their pilgrimage, but now with amazing speed they run in 
 haste to reach the goal of their earthly career. Action! action! 
 busy, lively, intense action describes a marked feature of our 
 time. 
 
 Again, the world of today is in an agitated state. A deep 
 unrest prevails. Dissatisfaction with the present order of things 
 is clearly manifest. The vast populations of working people are 
 in a disquiet mood. They are restless, discontent, under a con- 
 viction that their lot is hard, and that, under the oppression of 
 capital, they are forced to be "hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water." Cast amid the whirl of a greedy living, they feel that 
 
The Greatest Need 187 
 
 no chance is given them to rise to something nobler and better, 
 and attain a happier state. Their seer discerns no coming of a 
 brighter day. They toil and struggle to win their bread, im- 
 patient with the fortune that classed them with the hired workers 
 of the world. As the years go by, this troubled way of life 
 becomes rougher, and diminishes into a narrow passage, crowding 
 the multitude together in their rush to get upon a higher plane 
 where there is clear sunshine, pure air, and room for healthful, 
 vigorous exercise of the greatest energies of the human soul. 
 
 Further, this world of mankind, so restless and dissatisfied 
 with its socialistic state, is tossed about in a high wave of doubt. 
 The more substantial realities of existence are imagined to be 
 myth or legend. Religion, with its deep concerns, is classed 
 among the vagaries of the human mind, and conscience is 
 reckoned to be only an evolution from experience, ever changing 
 with the onward movement of the process. The old paths in 
 which the fathers walked have been largely forsaken. A new 
 way is sought, marked out by the latest speculations of scientific 
 and literary thinkers — a way that winds its course among the 
 facts of nature, and evermore proceeds on the dead level of 
 natural law. On this way no place is found for the old religion, 
 with its creating God, its providential Governor, and with its 
 miracles both of knowledge and life. It is a way which begins in 
 nature, runs its course through nature, and ends at the boundary 
 line of nature. Whatever life appears along this way is, in its 
 origin, its purposes and its destination, simply natural. Beyond 
 the region of the seen, whatever may be, is not a subject of 
 query but of doubt. 
 
 The skepticism of supernatural reality is both daring and 
 extensive. It is present among all grades and conditions of 
 human life; in journals of divers types of thought and books of 
 almost every kind. The pride of the age seems to be its doubt; 
 its boasted wisdom, skeptical assertions ; its highest knowledge, 
 ignorance. The agnosticism of the day is the plausible mode of 
 explanation by which the unseen and supernatural are easily 
 dismissed from recognition. It describes not so much a school 
 of thought as a habit of mind. Agnosticism knows one universe 
 
188 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 only — the universe of phenomenal reality. The seen, the tangible, 
 is the world of positive knowledge. Physical sense is the prime 
 source of all our certain information. Behind the realm in which 
 the senses act are the forces of the unseen, intangible universe, 
 which in their real nature are forever unknown and unknowable. 
 With these the people of this world have nothing to do, and in 
 them they find no deep and lasting interest. Men must concern 
 themselves only about the appearance of things themselves. 
 Causes can have no significance, further than that they are the 
 background of this phenomenal universe in which we live and 
 move and have our being. Existence behind the world we touch 
 and see is not denied; on the contrary, it is strongly affirmed, 
 but with the affirmation once for all dismissed as without bearing 
 either on our present welfare or future good. Supernatural be- 
 ing, a personal God whose nature is ever active and unchangeable 
 love, if such exists, is beyond the range of human power to know. 
 Phenomena and their ways of working alone are matters of 
 positive understanding. The realm of spiritual being, with all 
 its momentous facts, is excluded from contemplation, and is 
 classed among the things about which there must be everlasting 
 doubt. 
 
 In its cruder grades agnosticism assumes the form of 
 secularism. These two systems, in reality, are the same — the 
 latter being the practical theory of human life, the former its 
 speculative phase. Secularism confines attention to the study of 
 nature and ignores religion. Another has truly said : "It is a 
 study of life and its duties founded exclusively on a study of 
 natural laws. With regard to the origin of these, it commits 
 itself to no hypothesis. They are accepted simply as facts. No 
 question is raised as to whether there is a future life. The 
 secularist is not called upon to be either a theist or an atheist." 
 
 This non-religious system lays down the principle that prece- 
 dence should be given to the duties of this life over those that 
 pertain to another, on the simple ground that the duties which 
 pertain to this life are known to us, while those which pertain 
 to another life are, at best, only matters of conjecture. The 
 gospel it preaches is summed up in the maxim, "Be worldly 
 
The Greatest Need 189 
 
 minded; think much of this life, and as little as possible of the 
 next." Secularism knows no providence but science, and affirms 
 that it will go well with us simply as we understand and learn to 
 apply physical laws. Morality, not religion, is the proper busi- 
 ness of life. In the idea of the general good of the greatest 
 number we have a rule of action independent of God, immortality 
 and revelation. In the practice of human duties, in the seeking 
 of ends compressed within the scope of human life, we have 
 sufficient incitement and sufficient reward. According to Pro- 
 fessor Clifford, an avowed agnostic: "Human society is the 
 highest of all organisms ; sociology the only foundation of society, 
 and this present life the only moral basis of human action." 
 
 This summarized statement well expresses the genius of that 
 habit of mind which in our day is so widely popular, and views 
 man in his ways as altogther circumscribed by the boundary line 
 of phenomenal facts. Secularism, in its practical force, is 
 atheistic, although it neither affirms nor denies spiritual reality. 
 It only passes by religion with its superior truths with utter in- 
 difference, and allows for man no higher communion than inter- 
 course with his own kind, and invites him to no loftier destiny 
 than a world of fleeting appearances can show. It views man 
 merely as a natural organism, capable of variable states of con- 
 sciousness, which has arisen through the operation of physical 
 law, and by the same law returns whence it came. It recognizes 
 man simply to be a creature of nature whose highest good is 
 found, not in living, personal fellowship with a loving God, but 
 in those rules of prudence and utility which are drawn from re- 
 peated past experiences. In its bearings it is thoroughly natural- 
 istic, and in the words of Paul it may fitly be described as the 
 one who does not like to retain a knowledge of God, and who 
 changing the truth of God into a lie, worships and serves the 
 creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore. 
 
 And now, my young friends, this is the world into which 
 you are going, a world whose philosophy is agnosticism and 
 whose practical spirit is secularism. In the face of such indif- 
 ference to heavenly and spiritual things, nay, I will say, before 
 such a repudiation of a living, personal God in whom we live 
 
190 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 and move and have our being, of the revelation of His glory in 
 the face of Jesus Christ, and of the divine origin and destiny of 
 man, and of his eternal redemption by the Cross of Calvary from 
 the power and guilt of sin — what is it that you will most need to 
 live a true life, a good life, a glorious successful life, and have it 
 to say at the end of your career, "I have overcome the world, I 
 have won the fight, henceforth there is for me a crown of glory." 
 
 What is your greatest need? I answer, Christian faith. I 
 take this to be a good reply for three reasons : First, Christian 
 faith gives you a true and certain knowledge of spiritual realities ; 
 second, it gives you irresistible power ; third, it imparts the most 
 animating inspiration. 
 
 Faith is a word of varied meaning. For one thing, it sig- 
 nifies assent to the truth of doctrine. This is intellectual belief 
 — that conviction of mind which has its source in a given 
 process of thought. For another thing, it means the spontaneous 
 assent to the first principles of knowledge, or what is commonly 
 known as axiomatic truth, or the ready conviction of invisible 
 reality, such as the scientist is frank to acknowledge. This is 
 the persuasion of rational insight, that kind of mental conviction 
 which is best known as faith of reason. These senses refer us 
 only to an exercise either of intellectual logic or of intuition. 
 
 But there is a broader deeper meaning for this familiar 
 word. It has more than a dialectic and intuitive significance. In 
 its whole scope, it embraces all the powers of the human soul, 
 knowing, feeling and willing. Hence, it expresses an act, not 
 of awakened mind, or an affected sensibility, or isolated will, but 
 of the human soul in the entirety of its being. This act is 
 Christian faith. It is Christian faith for the simple reason that 
 the object offered the soul of man for acceptance and appropria- 
 tion is Jesus Christ, given of God for the recovery of the lost 
 and ruined world. To trust Him, to yield itself to Him, to 
 appropriate Him, to rest in Him for this life and the life to come, 
 this is the soul believing, this is Christian faith. And this is the 
 faith which can give you a true and certain knowledge of super- 
 natural reality. 
 
 In the history of the human race there stands forth a most 
 
The Greatest Need 191 
 
 remarkable Person. He surpasses in every noble and excellent 
 way all members of Adam's posterity. He is clearly distinguish- 
 able from those that preceded Him, as well as those who have 
 come after Him, in the purity of His life, in the sublimity of 
 His character, in the grandeur of His bearing, in the amazing 
 triumph of His achievement. He wrought for Himself the 
 greatest personal history. He gave to the world a new religion, 
 the simplest in its form, the highest in its reach, and the grandest 
 in its teaching of any which has ever been extant among men. 
 It is a peculiar religion, peculiar in that He is the source and 
 climax, in that He is the life and power, and in that He com- 
 prehends in the truth of Himself all that it is and everything it 
 is possible for it to be. And this remarkable person is Jesus of 
 Nazareth — remarkable not because He was a pure good soul, a 
 perfect man, but pre-eminently remarkable because His person 
 is "God manifest in the flesh." He is a new personality, the 
 great supernatural reality of the ages, looming up before the 
 gaze of men as the cleanest, divinest revelation of the eternal 
 God. At the same time He stands before the world, its Recon- 
 ciler, its Redeemer, declaring Himself mighty to save, and 
 inviting the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him that they 
 may have rest for their souls. 
 
 This Person, so exceptional in His life and deeds, men doubt 
 to be supernatural. At most, they see in Him only the sage, 
 the man superior to all others, but not the eternal Word made 
 flesh whose glory we behold "as the glory of the only begotten of 
 the Father, full of grace and truth." This skepticism runs back 
 through eighteen centuries. It is not a modern invention. It 
 is quite ancient in its origin. The Christian mind in dealing 
 with it has employed evidences of various kinds to remove this 
 doubt which is so radical and disastrous. Logic has been en- 
 listed in the good cause. Powerful arguments have been framed 
 to show that on no other ground than that of supernatural fact 
 could a reasonable and satisfactory account be given of the 
 historic Nazarene and His wonderful religion. 
 
 These arguments possess high value, and hold a place of large 
 importance in the apologetic field; but they are proofs which, in 
 
192 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 their distinctive forms, are temporary, for they are convictions in 
 thought and not evidences of a practical experience based on a 
 living faith of the soul. In the time of Jesus there were skeptics. 
 These saw His person, heard His teaching, witnessed His 
 miracles, but still they remained agnostics. Some knew Him to 
 be what He is, the Son of God in the likeness of men, but these 
 were they who believed on Him with all their soul. On one 
 occasion Jesus asked His disciples : "Who do men say that I, 
 the Son of man, am?" To the natural eye He was the Son of man. 
 This was the person whom men saw, and touched with their 
 hands. And so the answer was : "Some say thou art John the 
 Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others Jeremiah, or one of the 
 prophets." In each case, you perceive, the thought is only of an 
 inspired man. No reach is made beyond the apprehension of the 
 senses. Then Jesus turns to His disciples and inquires: "But 
 who say ye that I am?" And Simon Peter answers, "Thou art 
 the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter beheld, in the 
 One who was before him, more than a prophet, more than a Son 
 of man. He saw the Christ, the Son of the living God. His 
 conviction was no conjecture, but profound certainty. He re- 
 plied with both ready and positive speech. His confession was 
 the confession of Christian faith. In consequence of this, Jesus 
 replies : "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood 
 have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.'' 
 This is the revelation which one gets through the faith of the soul. 
 At another time Jesus was speaking in the presence of the 
 Pharisees and said: "I am the good shepherd, and know my 
 sheep, and am known of mine." Here is indicated reciprocal 
 knowledge. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. 
 They know Him in His real character and true nature as the 
 good shepherd who has come down from heaven to seek and to 
 save the lost. They know His voice as the voice of the only 
 begotten Son of God, and they follow Him. The voice of the 
 stranger who doubts and denies the Gospel as the gracious reve- 
 lation of God, they do not follow, for they know not the voice 
 of strangers. And this assurance which God's people have in 
 every age is not the assurance of reason, but the humble trust of 
 
The Greatest Need 193 
 
 the heart, which opens the way to the apprehension of who Christ 
 is, the great supernatural reality of the world's history ; of what 
 He is to the human soul perishing in sin, its Redeemer; and 
 whose voice it is that calls to the sons of men, "follow me" — the 
 voice of that Shepherd and Bishop of souls who was conceived 
 by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 And this assurance of Christian faith is the evidence of 
 which you will stand in need. In the world whither you are 
 going, bold, persistent doubt concerning Jesus of Nazareth and 
 His Gospel as the way, the truth and the life will confront you. 
 Mere argument, however logical, will not put it down effectually 
 and cause you to rest in immovable conviction of the supernatural 
 truth of the Man of Calvary. Something more is necessary, 
 namely, that overpowering evidence of reality which comes only 
 by actual contact of the human soul with Jesus Christ, and by 
 an experience possible in no other way save through faith which 
 rests on Him alone for salvation. 
 
 Intellectual evidence is variable, changing with the change- 
 able modes of skeptical assault. Now it is Deism, then Panthe- 
 ism; now Rationalism, then Agnosticism. But whatever the 
 shape of doubt and whatever the age, whatever it be in the third 
 or the nineteenth century, the evidence of Christian faith is 
 always unanswerable, furnishing a proof to the individual soul 
 for the Gospel of Christ as a supernatural reality that no skepti- 
 cism can gainsay or overthrow it. With this evidence, my friends, 
 you can stand firm with believers of every age, before Deism, 
 Pantheism, Rationalism or Agnosticism, and say : "I know whom 
 I have believed, and know that He is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto Him." Men may puzzle your natural under- 
 standing with difficulties of criticism and objections against 
 certainty of Gospel truth, but your spiritual apprehension of the 
 deep things of God through justifying faith will always be clear 
 and grounded in a depth of conviction which will be invincible 
 against all doubt. 
 
 My second thought is that Christian faith will give you 
 power, irresistible power. 
 
 The skeptical world with which you will come in contact 
 
194 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 is by no means small and weak. It has great strength. It is a 
 mighty power. The wisdom it exercises is, with the natural 
 man, indeed forceful and all-sufficient, and its knowledge entirely 
 conclusive. This world, so well furnished with weapons of 
 skeptical warfare, will seek to take you captive. In order to 
 make a successful defense, and hold fast to the truth of things 
 seen and eternal, those spiritual realities which the eye does 
 not see nor the ear hear, a power beyond the natural will be 
 essential. 
 
 Intellectual might, gained by discipline and culture, has high 
 value, and will serve you well in the struggle of this life ; but 
 intellectual might alone cannot avail against a world of disbelief 
 in God and heavenly things. You will need power more than 
 natural energy can afford, a power which comes from the super- 
 natural only, the power which Christian faith bestows. It is 
 spiritual might that you must have, if you would be a true hero, 
 and win a kingdom for your crown. Such power belongs to 
 justifying faith. This truth is forcibly exhibited in many familiar 
 Scripture sayings : "Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall 
 find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." "Say to this 
 mountain, Be thou plucked up and cast into the sea, and it shall 
 obey you." "Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, that 
 He will do." Here is the plain recognition of the exercise of 
 power, a mighty, irresistible power, which has at command a 
 whole universe of spiritual thought. 
 
 The same fact finds Biblical illustration in individual in- 
 stances. According to Scripture, the world of mankind had gone 
 off into most shameful wickedness and presumptuous unbelief. 
 The patience of God had been wearied to its limit, and the day of 
 vengeance was at hand. One man alone stood forth from the 
 millions of the debased and infidel of earth, unspotted and 
 righteous before his Maker. Through a space of one hundred 
 and twenty years he warned his fellowmen of the coming doom. 
 They only scoffed at his preaching and ridiculed his entreaty. 
 But in the presence of a world of doubt and most daring unbelief, 
 he kept his trust in God and showed himself to be the only man 
 of that awful age. He proved himself to be the mightiest man of 
 
The Greatest Need 195 
 
 his time, a man of renown. "By faith, Noah, being warned of 
 God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark 
 to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, 
 and become heir to the righteousness which is by faith." 
 
 Thirty-seven hundered years ago a native of Chaldea settled 
 in the land of Canaan. He was the friend of God. The divine 
 promise made to him was of astonishing proportions and far- 
 reaching effect. In the course of time as a pledge of its fulfill- 
 ment there was born in his old age, a son. By and by the order 
 came to him: "Take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou 
 lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and there offer him 
 for a burnt offering." Isaac was the divinely promised heir, the 
 hope of his father's old age, the light and joy of his heart. And 
 yet without delay the patriarch arose, and hastened to the place 
 of which God had told him, and there he built an altar and laid the 
 wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, 
 and then far above the stir and bustle of a noisy world, amid the 
 stillness of the mountain top, he stretched forth his hand and 
 took the knife to slay his son. It was enough. Faith rose grandly 
 and triumphantly above all the hosts of doubt, and invested this 
 man with a power altogther irresistible before astounding diffi- 
 culties, nay, in the very face of impossibility itself. "By faith 
 Abraham offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promises 
 offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In 
 Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to 
 raise him up from the dead ; from whence also he received him in 
 a figure." Justifying faith in its divine power has lifted Abra- 
 ham far above the men of this world, has immortalized him as 
 the father of all who believe, and crowned him with a glory which 
 is the admiration of every age. 
 
 In the Median kingdom there once lived a young Hebrew. 
 He was prime minister of the Chaldean court. He was a man of 
 excellent spirit. Though far from his native land, a captive, 
 still he was faithful to the religion of his fathers, and always 
 feared and trusted God. He was a deeply pious soul, and amid 
 the heathen infidelity of Babylon, kept fresh in his heart the 
 statutes of the Lord. 
 
196 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 But the day of trial came. The princes and governors of 
 Darius looked with bitterest envy on the first president of the 
 realm. They denied his God, hated his religion, despised the 
 man. They set their wits to work to find how to humiliate him 
 before the empire, to cover him with disgrace, and even to destroy 
 his life. They sought occasion in his administration, but none 
 was discernable because he was faithful, neither was there to be 
 found in him any error or fault. At last they said, "We shall not 
 find any occasion against this man except we find it against his re- 
 ligion." Shortly afterward the expedient is devised in the 
 shape of a royal statute that, "Whosoever shall ask a petition of 
 any god or man for thirty days save of thee, O King, he shall 
 be cast into the den of lions." The royal decree is made accord- 
 ingly. But Daniel lived on as before. "He went into his house, 
 and his windows being open in his chambers toward Jerusalem, 
 he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and 
 gave thanks to his God, as he did aforetime." He made no extra 
 show, nor with defiant air observed his usual devotion. Neither 
 was he disturbed by fear. He calmly trusted that Divine Being 
 who was his shield and exceeding great reward, and went on in 
 a quiet way maintaining unswerving faithfulness to Israel's God. 
 His enemies are jubilant. At last they have found against him 
 sure accusation. The command is given and Daniel is cast into 
 the den of lions. But mark the man. He is so much at ease. 
 He does not tremble, nor start back in fright, nor show a pallid 
 countenance. He walks with firm step and easy tread, and with 
 bright face toward the inmost, just as he was wont to go into 
 his own house three times a day. The opening of the den is 
 closed and sealed, and Daniel lies down among the wild beasts 
 in calm repose and quiet sleep. When the morning comes, he 
 awakes in strength, and at the call of his king comes forth unhurt, 
 to testify that before his God he was innocent and that to his 
 royal master he had done no harm. Then comes the climax of 
 victory, when the great monarch publishes to all people and 
 nations and languages of the earth the most notable decree, that 
 "in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before 
 the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and steadfast for- 
 
The Greatest Need 197 
 
 ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. He 
 delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in 
 heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power 
 of the lions." 
 
 Darius, a vain man, puffed up with ambitious pride, issuing 
 such a decree which recognizes the majesty, the supremacy of 
 the God of heaven, and extols Him as universal and eternal king, 
 and magnifies His providential care over those who humbly put 
 their trust in Him — all this is astonishing, and shows the faith of 
 Daniel to be a power which is more than a match for the intrigues 
 and machinations of his enemy, stronger than the mouths of 
 fierce lions, and irresistible in its influence to extort from the 
 proudest monarch of the world a confession of the supreme 
 majesty and omnipotent rulership of the God of Israel. 
 
 "But time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, 
 and of Samson, and of Jepthah, of David also, and Samuel and 
 the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought 
 righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 
 out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and 
 turned to flight the armies of the aliens." 
 
 This is the mighty, irresistible power which you, my friends, 
 will need. The power which will make you strong to withstand 
 the scoffs of vulgar infidelity, the objections of a well-trained 
 skepticism, and the doubts of a cultured rationalism. The power 
 which will fit you to practice a hearty self-denial, to make with 
 submissive willingness the most painful, costly sacrifice for the 
 sake of Him who died for you, and to rest with unshaken firm- 
 ness on the precious promises of God. It is the power which 
 will gain for you the spirit of godly excellence, which will keep 
 you steadfast in a good and noble life, make you mightier than 
 all the foes combined, and achieve for you a victory that will 
 declare the glory of God to earth's remotest bounds. And this 
 power, the humble trust of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles in 
 the all-sufficient God, is the irresistible power of Christian faith. 
 
 My last reflection is that Christian faith will afford you the 
 most animating inspiration. 
 
198 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Human life would be a dull reality if there were in it nothing 
 to inspire. It would be cheerless, hopeless, without expectation of 
 better things to come. The pessimistic view of this world and 
 the future is void of anything to awaken hearty interest, beget 
 a buoyant spirit and prompt a warm enthusiasm. Man, hence, 
 turns from such a blank theory of existence and of living, and 
 looks for what will give him a lively hope and inspiration. For 
 this he is athirst — a quickening motive power by which his 
 energies may be refreshed and moved to earnest action. Without 
 it life is mere drudgery and grind. Man ever searches for some- 
 thing to move and thrill his powers. Aside from it he is never 
 satisfied. This something is truth. Wherever it is found, there 
 is inspiration. And the greater the presentation of its fullness, 
 the intenser is the degree of its affection. Truth always is in- 
 spiring. This is why the study of nature constantly excites the 
 higher powers of men. Nature is an expression, an embodiment 
 of the true. It is a great book of verity. When, therefore, the 
 human mind investigates the natural world, it is enlivened by an 
 interest most serene, and awakes anew into a fresh, buoyant life. 
 The treasure which it finds is not an empty form, but a truth of 
 divinest mould, expressed in the fashion of material mode — the 
 truth in the beautiful, the truth in the good. 
 
 Consequently, the sacred poet, while in his study of a uni- 
 verse, he sees reflected the most perfect of all beings, is caught 
 by the spirit of enraptured enthusiasm, and sings, "The heavens 
 declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handi- 
 work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
 showeth knowledge." 
 
 An English poet has said, "The proper study of mankind 
 is man." Quite true ; but we must add, this man is neither Adam, 
 Plato, nor Shakespeare, but the man Christ Jesus. He is a 
 peculiar person. While, on the one hand, He is the representa- 
 tive of true humanity, He is, at the same time, on the other hand, 
 the image of the invisible God. In Him is centered, consequently, 
 the truth of human nature and the divine. To the soul of man 
 Jesus Christ is an object of absorbing interest. His moral bear- 
 ing is of the loftiest; His character, the most perfect; His life the 
 
The Greatest Need 199 
 
 divinest possible in the human flesh. In Him all virtues find the 
 completest realization. His devotion to principle is without a 
 parallel. His fidelity to the stupendous work given Him to do 
 is unequalled. His ardor in rescuing a perishing world is match- 
 less. And the depth of His love for the sinful and distressed 
 is most amazing. Taken altogether, He stands amid the gen- 
 erations of men the most wonderful person, with the grandest 
 life, the sublimest work, the most triumphant achievement. No 
 one of Adam's race is comparable with Him. He attracts uni- 
 versal attention. He absorbs the deepest thought of the human 
 mind. Men never tire of making mention of Him. They write 
 volumes concerning Him; they preach Him; they travel oceans 
 to proclaim Him; they brave the wild fury of a godless world 
 to publish Him to the miserable and lost ; they cut off the right 
 hand, they pluck out an eye, they die for Him. He draws and 
 captivates and excites and thrills the human soul as no other being 
 ever has or ever can. To hear Him speak is to hear the sweetest, 
 most persuasive voice; to see Him is to look on the purest, the 
 loveliest one possible to be found. To come in contact with Him 
 is to be healed, to be quickened from the dead, to become a new 
 creature, having new thoughts, new feelings, and a new com- 
 munion which incites the human soul to the noblest, grandest 
 living. His presence is inspiration itself. And this He is be- 
 cause He is the sum of all truth — the truth in nature, the truth 
 in man, the truth in God. Jesus Christ is Himself the revelation 
 and perfect embodiment of all truth — truth not for a bodily organ- 
 ism only, with its wants, not for an intellectual understanding 
 with its acquired knowledge, not for aesthetic taste with its 
 sentiments of perfect beauty, but, pre-eminently, for the human 
 soul with its unquenchable desires and its Godward aspirations. 
 In Him the spirit of man sees the righteousness of the divine 
 nature, the wisdom of the all-wise God, the infinite compassion 
 and measureless sympathy, the victorious mercy of Him who "so 
 loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting 
 life." 
 
 In Jesus Christ man sees his Elder Brother, who has faced 
 
200 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 for him the powers of sin, faced them in the terrors of the wilder- 
 ness, faced them in the midnight hour in Gethsemane, faced them 
 in Herod's court and Pilate's hall, faced them on Mount Calvary, 
 and always proved Himself their overmatch; and, lastly, He 
 faced them in the kingdom of death, and there He 
 "spoiled principalities and powers and led captivity captive." 
 And today He lives at God's right hand, resplendent in glory 
 and invested with all power in heaven and on earth, the one 
 Mediator between God and man, able to lift out of the depths 
 of woe and exalt to a place of peace and joy, every son and 
 daughter of Adam. 
 
 My young friends : the work which you will have to do 
 between this and your eternity, the struggle in which you must 
 engage, and the life you ought to live, demand the most animating 
 inspiration. Inspiration you must have, an inspiration that will 
 invigorate your energies, enliven your powers, and excite your 
 soul to high aims and endow it with a courage which makes the 
 great moral and spiritual heroes of the world. Whence can you 
 get such inspiration ? It were vain to seek it in the best acquaint- 
 ance with nature and its laws. It were idle to look for it in the 
 philosophies of the human mind, or in the life and deeds of the 
 wisest sage. It is but a miserable delusion to seek it anywhere 
 save in the Great Nazarene. 
 
 And here, you must know, this all-quickening, all-powerful 
 inspiration for the human soul can never be gotten by any sort 
 of intellectual exercise or knowledge. For He is to be known 
 most intimately, most deeply, in the truth of His being, what He 
 is for you, power, life, salvation and destiny, by no process of 
 reflection, but by the humble trust of the soul which gives to Him 
 everything and says, "I am Thine and Thou art mine." 
 
 This is the inspiration which comes to the soul through 
 Christian faith, the inspiration which can animate most intensely 
 your highest powers and make your life to shine with a heavenly 
 light. 
 
 Do you want an illustration ? A young man is going from 
 Jerusalem to Damascus. A dazzling light flashes about him, and 
 he has a heavenly vision, and a voice says, "Saul, Saul, why 
 
The Greatest Need 201 
 
 persecutest thou me?" The blinded man asks, "Who art thou, 
 Lord?" The answer comes, "I am Jesus of Nazareth." Enough. 
 By and by the fierce persecutor believes with all his soul on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. And then a new career opens up before 
 him. The most illustrious human life begins. Paul, the Apostle, 
 starts out with the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord. He 
 hastens to Antioch filled with zeal, enthusiastic to preach the 
 Cross. Thence he goes forth to the cities of Asia Minor; he 
 passes on to Ephesus, to Corinth, to other cities, and lifts up the 
 standard of the Gospel before the eyes of vain and pleasure- 
 loving worshippers of heathen gods. On he goes, incited by an 
 ardor that moves the very depths of his soul, thrilled by inspira- 
 tion to undertake the revolution of heathendom, and, single- 
 handed, to win a prodigal world back to God; on he goes, until 
 one day he stands on Mars Hill, amid the greatness and glory of 
 ancient culture and art, in the presence of the wisdom and power 
 of the world, and there alone, undismayed, without a tremor of 
 fear; unabashed, beholding with the eyes of faith One more 
 beautiful than Apollo, One mightier than Jove, and One trans- 
 cendent in the glory of love, infinitely beyond the whole race of 
 immortals, the Apostle Paul, with an eloquence unsurpassed, and 
 courage undaunted, preaches Jesus and the resurrection. This 
 was true heroism. Here was inspiration, the deepest and most 
 powerful; inspiration which nerved the energies of this remark- 
 able man for the most wonderful career, and which pressed him 
 forward through dangers on land and sea, and into a deadly 
 struggle with all the powers of moral night, and made his life 
 the greatest of the great. 
 
 It was the inspiration of Christian faith — such an inspira- 
 tion as nothing earthly ever could create — the inspiration which 
 has its source in that simple trust of the soul which takes Jesus of 
 Nazareth for all He is, the life and hope of lost and guilty man. 
 If in all your living you are animated by this inspiration, it will 
 always be well with you, and at the end of your career you can 
 chant in peaceful voice and jubilant strain your morning song. 
 
IV 
 LECTURES 
 
IV 
 LECTURES 
 
 MARTIN LUTHEK 
 
 I STAND here this evening to tell you about a man who lived 
 three hundred and fifty years ago. History mentions a host 
 of men who, in former days, shaped the cause of human ends. 
 Some were philosophers who laid the foundations of profound 
 intellectual systems. Some were poets who inspired nations 
 with their patriotic songs. Others were mighty warriors who 
 led their invincible legions to victory and fame, and thus changed 
 the currents of the world's affairs. 
 
 But the man of whom I wish to speak was not simply a 
 philosopher, nor a poet, nor a warrior. He was only a German 
 monk. The story of his life is plain and simple. He was no 
 common character. He was one of heaven's noblemen, an honest 
 soul who loved to do the right. Some have styled him a rough 
 man, uncouth in words and severe in manner. In a measure 
 very true. He was not an angel, nor always select in his mode 
 of speech, nor perfect. He belonged to the family of mankind. 
 While his nature was not wholly tempered by the mildness 
 of the lamb, nevertheless it was quickened by the boldness of the 
 lion. He was divinely chosen to act a great part in the drama 
 of religious history. He was moulded to be the agent of a 
 mighty revolution, whose effects should go down to the latest 
 day. He came to the front in a strange and gloomy age. The 
 hearts of the people were cast down; conscience was in bonds; 
 the wildest superstitions were common merchandise; and the 
 Church, which went forth originally from Jerusalem as the 
 
206 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 heavenly bride, was wasting away in the prison house of the 
 Vatican. One can scarcely imagine that the pure and holy Gospel 
 of the humble Nazarene could ever be so perverted as to give 
 rise to the monstrous abuse of the Romish hierarchy. It is hard 
 to conceive that such a simple religion might be distorted so as 
 to present before the world the spectacle of an infallible papacy. 
 It seems altogether improbable that the beautiful Cross would, 
 along with the ages, be buried and hidden from sight by the false- 
 hoods and traditions of men. 
 
 And yet all this had come to pass, not suddenly, it is true, 
 but gradually and surely. Like the Arctic night, whose shadows 
 day by day grow darker, until the sun has sunk out of sight 
 leaving all in gloom, so the papal night drew on, age by age, 
 until, at the opening of the sixteenth century, the densest dark- 
 ness covered the nations. 
 
 What arts and trickery must have been set to play! What 
 schemes and shameless pride and ambition must have spurred 
 on the keepers of the Christian faith to conjure up such a spiritual 
 despotism as the empire of modern Rome ! How the right must 
 have been violently thrust aside, and the wrong bolstered up! 
 How the truth must have been scorned and error fondled ! How 
 the glories of Mount Zion must have been obscured! How the 
 darkness of Moloch must have driven back the new-born 
 day before the dark ages had fairly spread their pall over 
 Christendom ! 
 
 To describe these particulars at length would be beyond my 
 purpose. It is sufficient to say that the papacy took its rise in 
 the earlier Christian centuries, and advanced step by step to the 
 consummation witnessed in medieval times. At the close of the 
 fifteenth century the condition of the Gospel lands was indeed 
 deplorable. On the banks of the Tiber sat a man in great temporal 
 dignity. His palace was filled with the choicest treasures. His 
 sanctuary was the most costly cathedral where the skill of 
 Michael Angelo immortalized itself. His courtiers were crafty 
 cardinals and avaricious bishops. His ministers were the mul- 
 titude of idle monks and ignorant priests who harassed the 
 people in almost every quarter of Europe. His subjects were 
 
Martin Lather 207 
 
 the millions of hardy men and noble women, who were vigorously- 
 forced to endure the worst of ignorance and oppression, while 
 they longed to see the dawn of a brighter day. This man was 
 the so-called vicar of God, the Pope. He proclaimed himself 
 the king of kings before whom every knee must bow. He de- 
 manded alike the homage of emperors and lords, of masters and 
 their slaves, of the wise and the foolish, the learned and the 
 ignorant, the rich and the poor. He announced himself to all 
 peoples as the shepherd whose business it is to lead the sheep of 
 God into green pastures and beside the still waters — but, some- 
 how, he always managed to leave them in a dry and thirsty 
 land. He kept a strict watch over the great light of the world, 
 and hid it securely from the gaze of men, so that not a single 
 ray might fall on the faithful. He smiled on iniquity, he laughed 
 at crime, and was happiest in sin. The voices of complaint he 
 instantly smothered; the cry of the desolate and the wail of the 
 suffering he instantly hushed. The prayers of the good he 
 ridiculed, and the sermons of the pious he condemned. He gloried 
 alone in himself, and ever as he walked in his palace he would 
 mutter, "Is not this Holy Rome which I have built by the might 
 of my power and for the honor of my majesty?" He heeded 
 neither the call for reform nor the words of respectful advice. 
 He heeded no pleadings for relief, and in answer to the plain, 
 unvarnished Word of God, he had but one argument — death. 
 He was monarch of all he surveyed. He ruled in the councils 
 of nations ; set kings one against the other; marshalled the legions 
 of Europe for the bloody field ; broke treaties ; dissolved com- 
 pacts; robbed the widow and the orphan; made faggots, planted 
 stakes, pinioned the helpless and suffering and laid them bound 
 on the fatal pile; he struck the fire from the flint, lighted the 
 torch, burned the heretic and reddened his hands in the blood 
 of the innocent. 
 
 Such was the man who sat on the banks of the Tiber, and 
 at the beginning of the sixteenth century ruled the world. 
 
 Men feared to utter their protest against the tyranny of 
 this despot. For they remembered how aforetime he handled 
 those who dared to dispute his claims and ventured to champion 
 
208 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the cause of truth. They thought of the Bohemian, John Huss, 
 and called to mind the history of the Lollards. 
 
 But presently one appeared who openly thundered against 
 the corruption of the times, and grappled with the strong man 
 of the Vatican in the fearful contest for the right and the welfare 
 of the world. And this man was the monk of Erfurt. 
 
 Permit me to give a brief sketch of his life, the work he did 
 and its effect. The subject of my story was born in 1483 in 
 the town of Eisleben, Germany. His parents were honorable 
 folks in the medium walk of life. At an early age they sent 
 their son to the Latin school of Mansfield, and afterwards placed 
 him at Eisenach. 
 
 Financial misfortunes having befallen the family, the father 
 was hard pressed to keep his boy at school. Like many others, 
 the lad was presently forced to seek a livelihood for himself if 
 he would continue his collegiate course. The hours of recreation, 
 instead of being used in frolic, were spent in seeking bread at 
 the houses of the wealthy. On a cold, stormy night, while stand- 
 ing at the door of one of the better families of the town and 
 singing his usual song, the door was drawn ajar, and a kind 
 voice bade him come in. He unexpectedly found himself in the 
 midst of a lovely Christian household. His manners so favorably 
 impressed husband and wife that they resolved to give him a 
 home at their fireside while he attended school. 
 
 He closed his eyes that night with a light and joyous heart. 
 There was no more going from door to door asking alms. The 
 wintry nights would find him no longer standing in the open air 
 shivering, and singing for a morsel to quiet the cravings of 
 hunger. He had found a pleasant, delightful home, where all 
 was cheer and comfort and good will. 
 
 The years passed and the miner's son had grown to be a 
 young man. He now began his studies in the University of 
 Erfurt, and was also trying to settle in his mind which of the 
 professions should be his life work. His father had always 
 wished his son to fit himself for the law rather than the office of 
 the priesthood, and in his conversations around the hearthstone 
 ever insisted that he must be a lawyer. Owing to the religious de- 
 
Martin Luther 209 
 
 generacy of the day and the profligate manner of the clergy, the 
 stern father, though a good man, had an intense dislike for the 
 priestly order, and positively commanded his promising boy to 
 become a jurist instead of a companion of ecclesiastical fools. 
 
 Providential circumstances, however, ordered otherwise, and 
 guided the young doctor of philosophy to a career other than that 
 chosen for him while yet a minstrel on the streets of Eisenach. 
 He was naturally studious and of a religious turn. He was 
 sensible of complete dependence upon God, and every day began 
 his work with prayer. He passed no time in idle play, but spent 
 his leisure hours among the books of the University. He thirsted 
 for knowledge. He was an incessant reader and spent much 
 time in the University library. "One day," as another has said, 
 "he opens many books in the library, one after another, to learn 
 their author's names. One volume especially attracts his atten- 
 tion. He has never until this hour seen its like. He reads the 
 title ; it is the Bible — a rare book, almost unknown in those times. 
 His interest is greatly excited; he is filled with astonishment at 
 finding other matters than those fragments of the Gospels and 
 Epistles that the Church has selected to be read to the people 
 during public worship every Sunday throughout the year. Until 
 this day he imagined that they composed the whole Word of 
 God. And now he sees so many verses, so many chapters, so 
 many books of which he had no idea. His heart beats as he 
 holds the divinely inspired volume in his hands. With eagerness 
 and indescribable emotion he turns over these leaves from God. 
 The first page on which he fixes his attention narrates the 
 story of Hannah and the young Samuel. He reads, and his 
 soul can hardly contain the joy it feels. 
 
 "This child, whom his parents lend to the Lord as long as 
 he liveth ; the song of Hannah, in which she declares that Jehovah 
 raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from 
 the dung hill, to set them among princes; this child who grew 
 up in the temple in the presence of the Lord ; those sacrificers, 
 the sons of Eli, who are wicked men, who live in debauchery 
 and make God's people to transgress — all this history excites 
 feeling till then unknown. 'Oh, that God would give me such 
 
210 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 a book for myself !' is the earnest wish which comes from the 
 depth of his heart." 
 
 The miner's son had found the light in which lay the Refor- 
 mation of more than three centuries ago. Deep convictions took 
 hold of his soul, and would not down even at the bidding of 
 Aristotle and his disciples. The young student's heart was 
 troubled and he sighed for that rest which cometh neither through 
 the inventions of man, nor by the wisdom of the world. In the 
 summer of 1505, during the regular University vacation, he 
 visited the scenes of his childhood and passed some days in the 
 society of his parents. Doubtless he then laid before his father 
 the dimly defined purpose to which he had been brought by the 
 discovery of the Divine Word, and asked parental authority for 
 its execution. His father, however, who wished him to shine 
 on the theatre of the world, was altogether unwilling to give up 
 the proud hopes he had cherished for his son. 
 
 Already, although only in his twentieth year, he was a teacher 
 in one of the most celebrated schools, and was speedily rising to a 
 place of distinction. Little, therefore, could the father entertain 
 the thought of his son linking himself with the brotherhood, only 
 slightly esteemed and notoriously corrupt. But "there is a 
 divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will." 
 
 The young doctor left his father's house to return to his 
 University duties. A violent storm overtakes him on the way. 
 The lightning flashes about him ; a bolt falls at his feet. Instantly 
 he casts himself on the ground. Filled with the anguish and 
 terror of death, he makes a vow that, if God delivers him from 
 this danger, he will abandon the world and devote himself en- 
 tirely to God. The thoughts which formerly disturbed his quiet 
 came back with increased power. "What if I should then have 
 died, and appeared before the great Judge with my impure heart !" 
 he tremblingly mused. His ardent thirst for knowledge was 
 changed into eager search for holiness. 
 
 But whither shall he go for this choicest treasure? Surely 
 not to the University. He had often heard of another school 
 where, it was reported, was to be found the power to change 
 the heart and make man perfect. Thither he will direct his steps. 
 
Martin Luther 211 
 
 He is back again in Erfurt. His mind is finally decided. One 
 evening he calls his friends to a cheerful entertainment. It is 
 the farewell of the miner's son to the world. Hereafter, instead 
 of the lively companions of his pleasures and his studies, he will 
 have monks ; instead of this gay and witty talk, the silence of the 
 cloister ; for these merry songs, the solemn strains of the sombre 
 chapel. The sound of cheerful music has died away into the 
 stillness of the night. The jolly companions are gone, The 
 miner's son is alone. Presently he quits his lodgings, leaves be- 
 hind him all his worldly goods, save a heathen epic and several 
 comedies. With these in hand, he repairs to the convent of the 
 Augustinian Brotherhood. He knocks for admittance. The gate 
 opens and closes. The brilliant doctor of philosophy is shut 
 in from the associations of long and faithful friends. The 
 student singer of Madgeburg is cut off from the society of the 
 kind souls who ministered to his needs when in dire distress. 
 The miner's son is locked against the anger of a good father 
 and the tears of a dearly loved mother. He is dead to the world 
 and wears the robe of the cloister. He is a monk. Once within 
 the gloomy monastery, he begins to apply himself more strictly 
 than ever to his studies, as well as to perform most carefully the 
 religious routine of the place. His brother monks, however, were 
 not well satisfied with his studious habits. It was not the custom 
 there to pour over books, to dive into the deep philosophies of 
 the poet, and much less to study the divine Word. They were 
 greatly amazed to find this newcomer devoted so entirely to the 
 pursuit of learning. The discovery shocked their monkish taste 
 and stirred the pious jealousy of their hearts. That this youth 
 should spend some hours every day in quest of knowledge and 
 mental exercise, was far beyond the tolerance of those holy men. 
 Although joyful when this distinguished doctor left the Uni- 
 versity to become one of their order, they resolved to humble the 
 youthful philosopher and thoroughly convince him that learning 
 was a very little thing in the eyes of holy friars. They soon devised 
 a plan to put an end to study, and consume the young monk's 
 time. They appointed him to the office of porter, to open and 
 shut the gates, to wind up the clock, to sweep the church and to 
 clean the cells. 
 
212 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Still, after the performance of this menial service each day, 
 he had some hours left for intellectual work. He secluded 
 himself entirely from the society of his brethren, and gave him- 
 self exclusively to his beloved pursuits. But they soon found 
 out his secret, and coming upon him with scowling faces, tore 
 him from his books, exclaiming, "Come, come, it is not by study- 
 ing, but by begging bread, corn, eggs, fish, meat and money that 
 a monk renders himself useful to the cloister. Away with your 
 wallet through the town." 
 
 There was no alternative. Of course, he must take up the 
 bag and wander through the streets of Erfurt, stand at the 
 doors of former friends, and beg for lazy monks. There was 
 bitter humiliation in the task; yet he went through the ordeal 
 without a murmur, never regretting that he had taken upon him- 
 self such a yoke. Such was the temper of his mind that, having 
 decided on a course of action, nothing could swerve him from 
 his purpose. The University with which he had been associ- 
 ated was not willing that he should be made to do the drudgery 
 of a cloister, and hence interposed in his behalf. Through its 
 intercession he was released from all menial service. He now 
 returned to his studies with renewed zeal, looking through 
 fathers, prying into the famous scholastic theologies, critically 
 examining the Scriptures, and laying the foundation by a thor- 
 ough study of Hebrew and Greek for his future translation of 
 the Bible. 
 
 But though he applied himself diligently to silent thought, 
 and observed minutely the sacred service of the cloister, the 
 troubled conscience which drove him to a hermit's life remained 
 unquieted. Every day increased his disasters. The oftener he 
 repeated the mechanical prayers of his church, and the more he 
 fasted and bewailed his condition, the worse he grew. In after 
 years, in speaking of his experience as an ascetic, he said : "While 
 I was yet a monk, I no sooner felt assailed by temptation than 
 I cried out, T am lost.' Immediately I had recourse to a thous- 
 and methods to stifle the cries of my conscience. I went every 
 day to confession, but that was no use to me. Then, bowed down 
 by sorrow, I tortured myself by the multidude of my thoughts. 
 
Martin Luther 213 
 
 'Look,' exclaimed I, 'thou art still envious, impatient, passion- 
 ate. It profiteth thee nothing, oh wretched man, to have entered 
 this cloister.' " 
 
 This terrible anguish of soul went on increasing in poig- 
 nancy week after week, causing him at last to wander like a ghost 
 through the dismal halls of the cloister. There was rest neither 
 day nor night. His brethren knew nothing of the fearful storm 
 that was raging in his soul. His confessors everlastingly pointed 
 him to the works of law for relief, but this only increased his 
 anguish. His fellow monks could not help him, did not under- 
 stand his case, nor cared to know. At last his body became 
 exhausted under the fearful strain, and he sank down in despair. 
 
 But one day an aged monk, who had found the better way, 
 entered his cell, addressed to him a few words of comfort, and 
 then led him back to the creed which says, "I believe in the for- 
 giveness of sins." By and by the distressed man repeated, "I 
 believe in the forgiveness of sins." "Ah !" said the monk, "you 
 must believe not only in the forgiveness of Daniel's and Peter's 
 sins, for even the devils believe. It is God's command that we 
 believe our own sins are forgiven. The testimony of the Holy 
 Ghost in thine heart is, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee.' " 
 
 The awful struggle is over. Light gleams into his cheer- 
 less soul. A new day has dawned for him, gloriously bright. 
 He has found the peace for which he has so long sighed. His 
 conscience is still. In a little while he walks forth from his cell 
 a wiser, better, happier man. Very true, he still goes to the 
 confessional, and takes part in the service of the mass. He is 
 still a pious monk. 
 
 Yet a mighty change had taken place, a wondrous reforma- 
 tion which one day would manifest its power, that would stir 
 the nations. In his soul had been enacted a drama, yea, a revo- 
 lution that no friars' walls could confine, and that would shortly 
 go forth under the leadership of this Augustinian monk on the 
 wide fields of Europe, causing the very earth to tremble under 
 its victories, and reaching forth in its happy influences to the 
 isles of the sea and the uttermost parts of the globe. 
 
 The scholarly attainments of our young Saxon soon brought 
 
214 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 him to the favorable notice of one of the noted princes of the 
 day, and he was, contrary to his desire, invited to take the chair 
 of philosophy in the lately founded University of Wittenberg. 
 After much earnest persuasion he was induced to give up the 
 secluded life of the convent, come out among his fellows, and 
 engage in the noble work of spreading the power of knowledge 
 throughout Germany. The fame of his talents soon spread 
 far and wide, and many young men from all quarters of his 
 nation flocked to the new University to study under the brilliant 
 Augustinian monk. The little town of Wittenberg was speed- 
 ily growing famous, and soon would be celebrated throughout 
 the empire of the Goths, and even in distant countries, as the 
 center from which went forth the streams of truth to make glad 
 the people of every clime. For the distinguished monk not only 
 taught the speculations of philosophy, but more especially dis- 
 played the living truths of the Sacred Word, so long concealed 
 from men, to the minds of enthusiastic students who heard with 
 bated breath the wonderful story of eternal life. 
 
 Affairs in the religious world were almost beginning to ap- 
 proach a crisis. The spirit of general intellectual inquiry was 
 growing more active. The schools, so long closed, were throwing 
 open their doors, and inviting the youth of every section to con- 
 gregate within their walls. The mental dullness of the preced- 
 ing age was passing away, and learning was fast coming into 
 repute. The fountains of knowledge, so long deserted, were 
 being frequented by the thirsty of every rank and profession. 
 Brighter, healthier faces than had been seen for centuries were 
 looking out from the humble dwellings of peasants and the stately 
 mansions of the nobles. The signs of the times were indeed 
 auspicious. But the darkness which had cursed the people for 
 centuries still encompassed the so-called Christian lands. The 
 grossest superstitions prevailed among the high and low, among 
 bishop and priest, among peasant and nobleman, kings and monks. 
 
 And the catalogue was still incomplete. Another must be 
 added, baser than any that had ever paraded before a blinded 
 world. The great Church of St. Peter at Rome was sadly in 
 need of repairs. The rain and hail had beaten against its walls 
 
Martin Luther 215 
 
 so many years that its beauty was marred, and the mighty fabric 
 might fall into utter ruin. But the treasury of the Vatican was 
 empty. The lofty Vicar had squandered the gold of the mil- 
 lions in luxury and vain pomp. There was nothing left with 
 which to adorn the most celebrated building of Christendom and 
 make it surpass the greatest achievement of the past. But the 
 ingenuity of the old man on the banks of the Tiber was equal 
 to the emergency. The happy thought of indulgences occurred 
 to his much perplexed but fertile mind. No sooner did this 
 fortunate expedient suggest itself to his eager wits than he calls 
 his ever ready agents to his presence, and commissions them to 
 traverse the countries of his dominion, and expose for sale the 
 precious wares of salvation, which the kindness of the lofty 
 monarch of Rome had devised for his miserable subjects. One 
 of these willing salesmen without delay turns his face north- 
 ward, crosses the Alps, and with loudest demonstration enters 
 the Fatherland. He is no sooner there than he mounts the stand 
 and expatiates in stentorian tones on the matchless value of 
 his blessed wares. The people gather from every quarter; they 
 crowd around the greedy vendor of papal grace. As they learn 
 the meaning of his presence, and hear him extol the merits of 
 his traffic, their hearts are all aglow. With one hand they 
 reach forward to receive the precious letter of indulgence, from 
 the most holy father, while with the other they drop their scant 
 earnings into the consecrated box. 
 
 All went well at first. The new business flourished. The 
 needed money poured into the treasury, and St. Peter was happy. 
 The busy seller of indulgences was meeting everywhere with 
 proud success. His journey through the German towns and 
 cities was like the triumphal march of a great hero returning 
 from a victorious campaign. He scattered his wares broadcast 
 among all classes and scooped for his master the heard-earned 
 pittance, and snatched from the widow and the orphan their 
 daily bread. With a high hand and a boastful voice he scoured 
 the country, and as the hireling of the great shepherd fleeced 
 the flock of God. 
 
 But the impudent agent of the Vatican is soon brought to 
 
216 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 a halt in his career. Amid the noisy jingling of the people's 
 money into the papal box, and the vociferous harangues of the 
 pompous pretender from Rome, a strong clear voice rings out 
 on the air of Germany from the University of Wittenberg. It 
 protests against the outrageous sale of indulgences, and in thun- 
 dering tones denounces the glaring impudence of the vendor. 
 It is the monk of Erfurt who speaks. The trafficker in heav- 
 enly goods at first halts, surprised at the sound he hears; but 
 soon, recovering himself, he resumed his bellowing in a manner 
 that one would have supposed it was a mad ox rushing on the 
 people and goring them with his horns. He roared and reared 
 and threatened, and boasted how he would presently destroy 
 the Augustinian friar. 
 
 But he little knew what sort of mettle he must meet, or 
 who it was dared to dispute his boastful speech. The monk 
 of Wittenberg was in nowise frightened by the loud noise of 
 this ignorant priest. On the festival of All-Saints, he marched 
 forth from his study, and nailed on the church door the mem- 
 orable Ninety-five Theses in which the infamous traffic of in- 
 dulgences is condemned, and the keynote of the Reformation 
 is sounded. The challenge was thereby thrust before the pomp- 
 ous vendor of human souls to make good his pretensions and 
 defend his miserable traffic. It was the signal for the fray. 
 It was the first move in the fierce struggle which turned the world 
 upside down. 
 
 In the beginning the contest was confined to the little monk 
 and the trafficker in spiritual goods. But the doctor of Witten- 
 berg soon drove his antagonist to the wall. Thinking to escape 
 from the assaults of his opponent and to bring the monk of 
 Erfurt to a speedy ruin, Tetzel somewhat changed the subject 
 of dispute, and planted himself behind the superhuman author- 
 ity of his infallible master. But this wily step could not shield 
 him from the powerful weapons of the Saxon monk. It is 
 true, at first he meant by no means to assail the authority of the 
 papacy, believing, as he had been taught in his boyhood, that 
 the bishop was the true head of the Church and the legitimate 
 lord of God's heritage. 
 
Martin Luther 217 
 
 He himself declares : "From the bottom of my heart I 
 revered the Pope's Church as the true Church, and I did so 
 with far more veneration than all those scandalous corrupters 
 who, to oppose me, now extol it so mightily. If I had despised 
 the Pope as those men really despise him in their hearts, who 
 praise him so much with their lips, I should have trembled lest 
 the earth would instantly have opened and swallowed me up 
 like Korah and his company." 
 
 The Pope himself in the beginning was indifferent to the 
 controversy waged between these two priests. " 'Tis a mere 
 monkish squabble," he said one day; "the best way is not to 
 meddle with it." At another time he observed, "It is a drunken 
 German that has written these theses ; when the fumes have passed 
 off he will talk differently." But the proud Vicar was altogether 
 ignorant of the nature of the struggle going on, and the char- 
 acter of the man who raised his voice against the market of 
 indulgence. In a little while he would learn how serious is the 
 fight, and how much it involved the stability of his throne. 
 Tetzel, vanquished at Wittenberg, betakes himsef to Frankfort, 
 where before three hundred monks prepared for the occasion, 
 he reads his notorious theses, among which are the following: 
 "We should teach Christians that the Pope by the greatness of 
 his power, is above the whole universal Church, and supreme 
 to the councils, and that we should implicitly obey his decrees. 
 We should teach Christians that the Pope alone has the right 
 of deciding in all matters of Christian faith; that he alone, and 
 no one besides him, has power to interpret the meaning of Scrip- 
 ture according to his own views, and to oppose all the words 
 or writings of other men. We should teach Christians that the 
 judgment of the Pope cannot err in matters of Christian faith, 
 or that are necessary to the salvation of the human race." 
 
 Thus the field of battle was transported from the indulgence 
 market place to the halls of the Vatican. 
 
 The monk of Erfurt was astonished. He had no thought 
 of assailing the head of the Church, or calling in question the 
 authority of the Roman see. He still revered the Pope, though 
 he had lost some respect for him. Existing circumstances now 
 
218 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 led him to look more closely into the grounds of papal power. 
 He corresponded with his friends, and searched the Scriptures 
 carefully to see whether this assumption of divine authority was 
 well founded. He found no proof for it. 
 
 Still he was undecided as to his course until the famous 
 scholastic theologian, Dr. Eck, entered the arena, and challenged 
 him to combat. The question of dispute was whether the power 
 and authority of the Pope were derived from God or man. The 
 monk of Erfurt boldly and triumphantly maintained the nega- 
 tive, proving from the inspired Word that God had not ordained 
 the Pope as head of the Church, and therefore no reason 
 existed for believing in him as the guardian of the truth and 
 the keeper of the salvation of mankind. The mighty man 
 of Wittenberg was no longer in a doubtful frame of mind. 
 
 He had taken the needful step. He had drawn the sword 
 against the unlawful head of the Church. He was now in open 
 rebellion against the hierarchy of Rome. The Reformation 
 had begun. His friends were alarmed, and begged him with 
 tears in their eyes to desist from further assault against the 
 doctrines and ancient bulwarks of holy faith. But well had he 
 reckoned his course. He had counted the cost, and it was not 
 rashly that he placed himself against the tide of papal arro- 
 gance and superstition. He lifted up the standard of the Cross 
 in the eyes of all the people, and proclaimed with increased ardor 
 the Gospel of life and light through Jesus Christ. 
 
 While his scholastic antagonist flees to Rome and obtains 
 the fierce decree of condemnation, the monk of Erfurt by 
 tongue and pen heralds the glad tidings of divine love through- 
 out the kingdoms of Germany. And when the infuriated doctor 
 returns with the presumptuous edict of Rome, with which he 
 meant with one blow to crush the daring monster of Witten- 
 berg and rid the world of this dangerous man, the Saxon monk 
 comes forth afresh, and like the irresistible avalanche, bears 
 down his adversary, and moves forward in his mighty work to 
 triumphant success. 
 
 He was not a self-conceited man, trusting in his own wisdom 
 and boasting in his own power. The conflict in which he was 
 
Martin Luther 219 
 
 enlisted he did not deem his own fight, but the battle of God. 
 With a childlike simplicity and a faith unequalled in his day, 
 he appealed to the divine Founder of the Church. When those 
 who had joined him in the fierce struggle grew fearful and 
 faint at heart, he was calm and strong, upheld by an earnest 
 trust in his God which made him glad in the thickest of the fight. 
 He was eminently the Christian hero of his age. Never since 
 Apostolic days had such undaunted courage been exhibited in 
 the face of an angry enemy. 
 
 The fury of an enraged papacy was at its highest pitch. 
 The rage of an infuriated Pope knew no bounds. The blood- 
 thirsty shrieks of a godless priesthood rent the air of all Christ- 
 endom; and the strong arms of civil power were reaching out 
 in all directions with death warrants in their hands. The shout 
 went up from Romish inquisitors, "It is high treason against 
 the Church to allow such a heretic to live an hour longer. Let 
 the scaffold be instantly erected for him." 
 
 But amid the rage of the Pope, the death warrants from 
 the empire and the thunders of the inquisition, the monk of 
 Erfurt was undaunted. "Go," said he to the blood-thirsty 
 inquisitor, "go, thou raving murderer who criest for the blood 
 of thy brethren. It is my earnest desire that thou forbear to 
 call me Christian and faithful, and that thou continue on the 
 contrary to call me heretic. Understandest thou these things, 
 blood-thirsty man, enemy of the truth? And if thy mad rage 
 should hurry thee to undertake anything against me, take care 
 to act with circumspection and to choose thy time well. God 
 knows my purpose if he grants me life. My hope and my 
 expectation, God willing, will not deceive me." 
 
 The defiant speech of the German monk aroused his country- 
 men, and penetrated the halls of the Roman palace, causing 
 papal iniquity to tremble at its very foundation. Bribes, en- 
 treaties and threats had all alike failed. The deep-laid schemes 
 of wily cardinals were no sooner presented than they were thrust 
 through and through. The philosophic arguments of profound 
 schoolmen were triumphantly confuted. The Saxon monk was 
 everywhere victorious, marching on as the great leader of an 
 
220 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 irresistible revolution. The successor of St. Peter and his 
 crafty ministers looked aghast at one another. The colossal 
 fabric of which they were the keepers was • tottering under the 
 heavy blows of the Augustinian monk. Immediate action was 
 demanded. One more desperate stroke must be made. All 
 Germany is in a blaze of excitement. France is being stirred, 
 and the writings of Luther shake the throne of England and 
 move the people. Then a diet is proposed. Worms shall be 
 the place. The king must preside, and the merciless legates 
 of Rome conduct the trial. The German monk is summoned 
 
 to appear. The elector of Saxony, his protector, feared to let 
 him go, judging that it would cost him his head. But he nobly 
 declared, "I will, when cited, if it shall be in my power, rather 
 procure myself to be carried there sick, if I shall not be able 
 to go there in good health." 
 
 Here sat the scowling legate of the Pope, before whose 
 majesty the kings of the whole world tremble, impatient for 
 the final onset and thirsting for blood. And yonder stood the 
 monk of Wittenberg alone, unprotected, without anyone who 
 dared to plead his cause, without armies to draw the sword in 
 his defense. What an exciting scene ! Never had a man stood 
 before such an august assembly. The chancellor rises and breaks 
 the oppressive silence by asking the monk whether these books 
 are his production. He acknowledges that they are, and at 
 the same time requests that time be granted him for careful 
 reflection before he answers more at length. It is granted. 
 On the following day he appears again before the illustrious 
 emperor, and without dismay explains the nature of his works, 
 and with undaunted courage in the presence of the greatest 
 monarch of the world, reminds him of the Pharaohs, the kings 
 of Babylon, and those of Israel, who by resisting God brought 
 on themselves speedy destruction. When he had concluded, 
 the chancellor said roughly, "You have not answered the ques- 
 tion put to you. You are required to give a clear and precise 
 answer. Will you or will you not retract?" Without a 
 moment's hesitation the monk replied : "Since you, most serene 
 majesty, require from me a clear, simple and precise answer, 
 
Martin Luther 221 
 
 I will give you one, and it is this : I cannot submit my faith 
 either to the Pope, or to councils, because it is clear as the day 
 that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. 
 Unless, therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, 
 or by the clearest reasoning; unless I am persuaded by means 
 of the passages I have quoted ; and unless my conscience is 
 persuaded by the Word of God, / cannot and I will not 
 retract/' And then, looking around on the assembly before which 
 he stood and in whose hands was his life, he said : "Here I 
 stand; I can do no other; God help me!" 
 
 It was thus that a monk spake before the emperor and 
 princes of the nation. The empire and the Church and this 
 obscure, despised man had come together. But he was greater 
 and mightier than them all. The wisdom of these kings and 
 haughty prelates was utterly confounded. The assembly was 
 thunderstruck. The emperor in amazement exclaimed : "This 
 monk speaks with an intrepid heart and unshaken courage." 
 It was a critical hour. The destiny of a nation, the cause of 
 humanity, the weal of millions and of generations to come hung 
 on the "yes" or "no" of a single monk. His enemies labored 
 to terrify him. His friends trembled and wished for com- 
 promise. 
 
 The chancellor again insultingly addressed him: "The em- 
 peror calls upon you to say 'yes' or 'no,' whether you will re- 
 tract." "I have no other reply to make than that which I have 
 already made," the monk calmly answered. Firm as a rock 
 was he. The waves of human power dashed against him, only 
 to be hurled back with redoubled fury. The power of his 
 words, his noble bearing, his piercing eyes, his unshaken firm- 
 ness clear as the sunlight on the rough outlines of his German 
 face, had overwhelmed the most illustrious assembly of the age. 
 The princes and their august emperor were amazed. The pre- 
 lates and inquisitors of Rome were dumb. The monk of Erfurt 
 alone had conquered these mighty ones, and had dared to say 
 "no" to the Church and the empire. This was playing the 
 hero; this was Christian intrepidity of the highest order. 
 
222 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 We have heard of the valor of Thermopylae, where three 
 hundred brave Spartans stood against the proud Xerxes, and 
 hurled back his Persian hosts. We have read of Marathon and 
 Leuctra, fields of courage and victory. We are familiar with 
 the mighty ones who blaze out in the constellation of heroes. 
 But theirs was a valor and heroism outdone by the "solitary 
 monk who shook the world ;" single-handed, he fought the battle 
 of conscience, and won. 
 
 In 1546 he left the scenes of strife and toil to join the 
 great cloud of witnesses. But only a few years later the great 
 Charles V. visited his tomb, and paid honor to the dust of him 
 who once defied his majesty. While reading the inscription 
 on the grave-stone, one of the courtiers who accompanied him 
 proposed to open the grave and give the ashes of the heretic to 
 the winds. The monarch's cheeks flushed with indignation. 
 "I war not with the dead," said he, "let this place be respected." 
 And there are others who, deeply stirred by the bravery of his 
 life, have turned away in their proud march for empires, to take 
 a look at the silent spot where lie his remains — Frederick the 
 Great, Peter of Russia, Wallenstein, Napoleon. But these 
 names, the sounds of which still shake the casements of the 
 world, are impotent beside the dust of the champion of Worms. 
 
 The Saxon monk was a remarkable man, bold as a lion in 
 the conflict, mild as a lamb in his home. The service he has 
 rendered Germany and the world can never be forgotten. That 
 beautiful, full-sounding language, of which the German is so 
 proud, was lifted by the great reformer out of its barbaric state, 
 and shaped and polished into its present form by his genius. 
 The Word of God, which for centuries was kept in darkness 
 in a lifeless tongue, he brought from the dusty shelf, put it in 
 a new intelligible dress, and sent it out into every household 
 of his native land. He dispatched it over the dividing lines of 
 nations and across the seas to go on in its work of regenerating 
 the families of the earth. With his voice he spake to his 
 neighbors and his countrymen, and through the press he awak- 
 ened the slumbering millions of other lands, and called forth the 
 suffering pious few of remoter regions who had fled to the caves 
 
Martin Luther 223 
 
 and mountains to escape the fury of Rome. These he called 
 forth, and by his manly speech and dauntless courage inspired 
 them to defy the mightiest power of the Roman despot. He 
 laid down as the grand principle of his work justification by 
 faith alone, not in the sense of an abstract doctrine, but of a 
 living, practical truth to be received by the heart. He main- 
 tained the highest religious liberty, insisting on the freedom of 
 the Christian man as being paramount to the authority of popes 
 and bishops and all civil power. And these sentiments, which 
 were so distasteful to the great ones of his day and opposed 
 to the oppression of the times in Church and state, have not 
 perished with his death. Though his own countrymen have 
 somewhat ignored the principles of civil and religious liberty 
 which the monk of Erfurth so fearlessly advocated, drawn as 
 they were from the Gospel of liberty; yet these thoughts have 
 been caught up by other peoples, and in far distant lands, and 
 have ripened into those institutions of religious liberty and civil 
 freedom which are now the praise of the world. 
 
 Three hundred and fifty years have gone, and the world is 
 all the better that this monk once lived. There have been good 
 men through these centuries who have done much for the wel- 
 fare of the race. There have been great men who have been 
 the leaders of their generation in the onward march of God's 
 Word. There have been mighty men who have figured high 
 in the stage of life, and whose memory is cherished by mil- 
 lions. But the monk of Erfurt stands amid them all as the 
 leader of that great revolution in modern times which rolled 
 back the widespread sea of Romish folly and superstition, and 
 cleansed the stage of human history for better deeds and hap- 
 pier lives. 
 
 As a poet and scholar he stood high in his day. As an 
 orator and theologian he was renowned. As a Christian re- 
 former he was the greatest, and is the heritage of all coming 
 time. 
 
 He has long since gone from the world, but his works do 
 follow him. He made for himself a name and fame that will 
 
224 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 never perish. He is the father of Protestantism; the might- 
 iest man of modern days. 
 
 There are some names that will never die — names that will 
 shine out brighter and brighter through the ages to come ; names 
 whose mention will stir the souls of men and inspire the sub- 
 limest heroism. Among these is the name of Martin Luther, 
 the hero of modern times. 
 
PHILIP MELANCHTHON 
 
 I DEEM it a privilege to say a few words about a man whose 
 life-work attracts general attention. He is an historic man, a 
 universal man. His name is familiar to evangelical Christen- 
 dom, and is respected wherever learning has a seat. 
 
 Philip Melanchthon is one of the select spirits of our race 
 — one among the few who have stood at the strategic points 
 of human history and turned its stream into new channels. As 
 such, he belongs not to a single generation, or a single century, 
 but to all the ages and people following his time. He is a 
 world-wide man, and lives in all the times succeeding his day. 
 Without him the history of our race would lack one of its chiefs. 
 Modern civilization would not be as it is. Precisely what it 
 might be I could not say, but I am sure it would be a different 
 fact. I do not presume to tell. 
 
 When we sum up historic achievement, the figures gotten 
 are a few personalities such as Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, 
 Washington, Lincoln on the one side; Moses, Paul, Augustine, 
 Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin and Wesley on the other. These 
 are men of commanding power, the immortal company of the 
 great, the agents of destiny. Personalities, I said, not things. 
 Persons there are, and things; but things are only the minis- 
 ters of persons ; perhaps, rather, the servants of master souls 
 who compel them to do their bidding. Supreme personalities 
 they are, who by thought and will sway the multitudes of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Among these eminent ones stands Philip Melanchthon. By 
 common consent this is the high place accorded him. Three 
 hundred and thirty-seven years have gone since he died, and yet on 
 his four hundredth birthday the story of his life is rehearsed 
 throughout the civilized world. Scholar and theologian, Greek 
 and Roman, German and Englishman celebrate the natal day 
 
226 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 of the armourer's son. The elite of mankind pay homage to 
 Master Philip. 
 
 The average man scarcely lives beyond his generation ; at 
 most a century entombs his memory. Or if it occur that here 
 and there along the course of centuries one appears who, fat- 
 on beyond his day, evokes admiration and grateful recollection 
 of his distant fellows, they are of his clan or tribe and not his 
 brothers of all mankind. 
 
 But why this praise today? Why this song and speech 
 of high honor which sound around the world and thrill the 
 hearts of millions? Why is it that press, pulpit and forum 
 vie with one another in eulogism? The reason cannot be a sub- 
 ject of vulgar fame. No; it is about a man, a rare man, a 
 broad tall man, whose form, like that of the Alpine peak, was 
 encircled by the glory of the rising sun of a new day. So tall 
 was he that men centuries away distinctly see his radiant, 
 majestic figure, and are filled with admiration and delight. 
 
 To the Lutheran world he is especially interesting. He 
 was the companion of another great historic personage, Martin 
 Luther. By the side of this monarch among men he sat, with 
 him he toiled, with him he battled for the truth, with him he 
 shared the sweetness of joy and the bitterness of woe. With 
 him he prayed, with him he searched out the treasures of grace 
 and with him he wrought the work which has turned the world 
 upside down. Two halves of a whole were these two com- 
 plements of each other. One was the miner who dug up and 
 brought out in rough shape the precious truth of God's Word; 
 the other fashioned this truth into classic speech and scientific 
 form. Wonderful men they were, each in his sphere without 
 a peer, and when taken together, they furnished the well-rounded 
 personality of a complete man. Luther was not Melanchthon, 
 neither was Melanchthon Luther ; but the two united formed that 
 unique man, who stood before kings and emperors in confession 
 of the faith with unshaken courage ; who, in the presence of 
 the populace, spoke in persuasive voice the words of eternal 
 life; who, in graceful, dignified, well-chiseled sentences, the 
 language of the schools, before the learned and cultured of his 
 
Philip Melanchthon 227 
 
 age, matched the elegance and skill of the long-famed orators 
 of the world; and who with facile pen engraved in imperish- 
 able form his insight into those wonderful revelations of the 
 Man of Nazareth. 
 
 It was, indeed, a splendid providence that these wise and 
 mighty men joined hands on the stage of the world's theatre to 
 perform the last great act in the drama of human career. 
 How well they played, each his part, is matter of universal 
 fame — the pride and boast of their posterity. 
 
 With unusual interest, we in the closing years of the nine- 
 teenth century recall, on this fourth centennial birthday, the 
 noble life and service for the Church and world of one of 
 these two illustrious men of God. We do honor to him as a 
 man, a scholar, a theologian. We are not ashamed to say be- 
 fore a Christian gathering, he was a Protestant, and he was 
 a Lutheran. 
 
 Two services, I take it, Philip Melanchthon gave to the 
 Christian Church and to modern times : First, the exhibition of a 
 new view of the relation between nature and grace, the thought of 
 science and knowledge of faith; second, an exhibition of the 
 ethical conception of man in the fullness of this idea.* 
 
 First, then, the young Melanchthon came in contact with 
 the new learning, that of the Renaissance, which had been saved 
 from the hands of the marauding Turks and had been brought 
 into central and western Europe — the philosophy and classic 
 literature of Greece. He opened this wonderful volume of 
 human knowledge with indescribable eagerness. The wider he 
 opened its pages, the intenser grew his interest. He caught the 
 fullness of its spirit, and became, without reserve, enlisted in 
 pursuit of its mastery. He fathomed its depths ; he encompassed 
 its breadth ; he searched its height ; he absorbed its life, and made 
 
 *It is a matter of regret that here, at the last moment, a section of 
 Dr. Ort's manuscript is found to be missing. In order to preserve the con- 
 nection we take the liberty of supplying the first sentence and part of the 
 second sentence of the next paragraph — that is, to the word "inde- 
 scribable." Evidently, however, the doctor had dwelt at some length on 
 the Renaissance, and we regret that his keen and comprehensive analysis 
 of that great historic movement has been lost. — Editor. 
 
228 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 himself possessor of its truest culture ; he grew to be the ripest 
 scholar of his time, and gained for himself a chief place in the 
 realm of natural knowledge ; he became a man of broadest learn- 
 ing, and was called a humanist. 
 
 Such was the Melanchthon of youthful days. Admirable, 
 however, as was his personality in the earlier period of his life, 
 still it exhibited but one chief factor — the culture of learning 
 and natural knowledge. It was merely Erasmus reproduced. 
 And such in all probability it would have continued to be had 
 not providential circumstances ordered otherwise. One day 
 the youth of classic mould came to Wittenberg. His fame for 
 learning had spread among the cultured elite of Germany. From 
 different universities voices came to his ears calling him to a 
 preceptor's chair. One of them, an earnest, urgent voice, he 
 heeded, and thus became a teacher of the new University of 
 Wittenberg, now rapidly rising to distinction. He found him- 
 self at once amidst new circumstances, new influences, new 
 companions. He was in a new world. 
 
 One man in the University was the chief spirit. He was 
 the embodiment of the great movement just starting, destined 
 to encompass the world, and fill the ages with its mighty power 
 and benign influence. For himself, after a long and desper- 
 ate struggle, he gained the new wisdom which is not from be- 
 neath and earthly, but from above and heavenly — the wisdom 
 which searches out the deep things of God, and is not discerned 
 by natural acumen. It was the wisdom of faith. Coming in 
 contact intimately, day by day, and hearing often fresh expo- 
 sitions of this wisdom, the youthful professor and skilled Greek 
 soon observed its superior value, and saw that a whole world 
 of new and precious truths was in process of discovery. He, 
 too, believed as Luther did, and henceforth walked in a purer, 
 brighter light. He, too, had gained the new wisdom. The 
 realities of the kingdom of grace stood before him in clear view. 
 He knew as he had not known before, and a whole realm of 
 most glorious possessions presented itself to his astonished gaze, 
 even what eye cannot see, nor ear hear, nor does it enter into 
 the heart of man to conceive — the things that are spiritual, eter- 
 
Philip Melanchthon 229 
 
 nal. A higher, truer knowledge of the everlasting verities filled 
 his soul — a knowledge which came to him, not through the cog- 
 nition of natural reason, but in the apprehension of saving faith. 
 
 Two kinds of knowledge were now in his possession. One 
 represented the old wisdom, and pertained to the first creation. 
 The other expressed the new wisdom, and found its source in 
 the second creation. One is the first Adam; the other of the 
 Second, who is the Lord from heaven. 
 
 And now what shall he do with these acquisitions? Must 
 he hold them to be antagonistic, the one unfriendly to the other? 
 As a true and faithful child of God, must he regard the learn- 
 ing and culture of human reason as a weapon of evil; the first 
 creation a contradiction of the second ; nature and grace in end- 
 less opposition? As a Christian man, must he henceforth hate 
 the products of reason, art, science and philosophy, and resign 
 himself to the culture of the spiritual in divorcement from the 
 natural? To have assumed such an attitude would only have 
 been an imitation of the earlier Luther, or, perhaps more truly, 
 the expression of an abstract spiritual man, who imagines nature 
 to be the kingdom of Satan and all its contents agencies of his 
 power. 
 
 Luther, great, hearty soul that he was, had already, with 
 the glance of his eagle eye, discerned the truth of things. He 
 saw that in Christ nature and grace are one; that in Him the 
 two revelations agree; that creation does not exclude redemp- 
 tion, but redemption saves creation; that faith and science con- 
 stitute the true unity of all knowledge. This was the conviction 
 of the great reformer, the belief of his religion. It was the 
 unity of faith. There needed yet to be the expression of this 
 unity in fact — in other words, a Christian philosophy, a Chris- 
 tian science. Luther had found a new source of knowledge, 
 and had brought to light thereby a great world of spiritual realities. 
 It remained for Melanchthon to exhibit the contents of this 
 knowledge under the form of reason — in short, to unite in 
 thought the old wisdom and the new. This he did, and as 
 the result there appeared the union of humanism and the Gos- 
 pel, not in the form of religious belief, as was the case with 
 
230 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Luther, but under the laws of intellectual understanding, a 
 Christian philosophy of the universe. In this union we have 
 a personality altogether unique, distinct, neither an Erasmus on 
 the one hand, nor a Luther on the other, but a Melanchthon. 
 As a reformer, Luther in a most remarkable manner exhibited 
 the union of the individual soul with Christ by personal faith. 
 As a reformer, Melanchthon exhibited the union of this faith 
 with reason. While the one stands pre-eminent as a person- 
 ality in the spiritual realm, the other is no less pre-eminent in 
 the intellectual sphere. In Melanchthon Protestantism and 
 Lutheranism find their union with the learning and science of 
 human understanding, and we see this union of the man of 
 reason and the man of God personally exhibited. 
 
 What service has Melanchthon rendered modern times? 
 He has set forth, as the Christian and the humanist, the agree- 
 ment of human learning with Christianity; he has freed the 
 Reformation principle from mere subjectivity, from a one-sided 
 mysticism on the one hand, and from scholasticism on the other; 
 he has eliminated from it "accidental and purely incidental fea- 
 tures of personal, inward experiences and intuitions ;" and in the 
 language of another: "He showed how the newly discovered 
 mines of antiquity subserve the study of the Scriptures; how 
 every art and science would, through the refreshing return to 
 the sources, blossom anew, in order to present their spices to an 
 ennobled human existence; and finally how, through all the 
 arts and sciences and through the whole house of humanity, the 
 precious ointment of the Gospel would penetrate like a heavenly 
 odor." 
 
 Long had the human mind busied itself with finding the 
 true relation between faith and science. Away back in patristic 
 days men sought hard to exhibit the harmony of nature and 
 grace. Then down through the Middle Ages most powerful 
 intellects, such as Aquinas and Bernard, sought diligently, by 
 means of abstract thought, to resolve the dualism of reason and 
 Gospel; but not until Reformation times did one appear who, 
 on the one hand, was thoroughly filled with the spirit of 
 natural knowledge, and, on the other, by a high experience had 
 
Philip Melanchthon 231 
 
 learned to know the widely significant truths of the Gospel. 
 Not until then did there stand forth a man who in himself, in 
 the apprehension of his intellectual understanding, found ex- 
 pression for the living unity of the principles of nature and the 
 truths of grace ; who took the old forms of rational thought and 
 filled them with the contents of Christian faith, and thus wedded 
 the old and the new. 
 
 And this man was Philip Melanchthon, who in his intel- 
 lectual and spiritual personality expresses the union of faith and 
 science, the great truth realized in its entire fullness in the person 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thus the Reformation of the sixteenth century apprehended, 
 in the intellectual thought of Melanchthon, the unity of the king- 
 dom of nature and the kingdom of grace, and thus furnished the 
 final philosophy and a correct Christian science, the contents of 
 a valid education. 
 
 I now pass to a brief survey of the second service rendered 
 by Melanchthon, namely, the ethical conception of man. What 
 a man is fixes his relation to existences other than himself. If, 
 in the range of his capacities, he rises no higher than a thing 
 of sense, his connection with whatever is outside himself will 
 be determined accordingly. If, in his better powers, he reaches 
 no further than the intellectual, his highest relationship will be 
 limited by the laws of thought. But if he, in the possession 
 of ethical excellencies, rises to the moral sphere, then will he, 
 in the exercise of corresponding powers, be free. In short, he 
 is a person. And this is the conception which man, by his 
 career of more than five thousand years, has distinctly evinced. 
 The history of the human centuries consists pre-eminently of 
 moral deeds. The fierce struggles and desperate conflicts of men 
 have always involved moral principle. Man, the actor, has ever 
 shown himself to be a personal being, and as such continually 
 strives to possess the highest good. 
 
 But he is a sinful creature, and as such is not now as he 
 was at the outset of his existence. To what extent has he 
 fallen from his original estate? This is a perplexing question, 
 and to it three answers have been given: First, that the native 
 
232 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 moral powers have not been impaired by sin; second, that they 
 have been weakened; third, that they have been lost, and that 
 it is now beyond the power of man to will the spiritually good. 
 Or as Dr. Shedd phrases it: "According to the first, sinful 
 man is alive; according to the second, he is sick; according to 
 the third, he is dead." In theological speech the first is called 
 the Pelagian, the second, the Semi-pelagian, and the third, the 
 Augustinian. 
 
 In the fierce controversy of the fifth century involving this 
 question, Augustine, a man of great intellect and comprehensive 
 soul, prevailed. His conclusion, which denied to the human 
 creature all freedom in spiritual things, became the recognized 
 belief of the orthodox Latin Church. This view of sinful man 
 found its way down through the Middle Ages, finding such 
 advocates as Anselm, and then appeared as an early doctrine 
 of the Reformation. Luther especially schooled, as he had 
 been, in the doctrines of Augustine, and even Melanchthon at 
 first, were its supporters. But the Christian humanist could 
 not long rest satisfied with a teaching which pushed human per- 
 sonality almost out of sight, robbed man entirely of the very 
 jewel of his possessions, and made him to be in the initial work 
 of regeneration an absolutely passive thing. While he recog- 
 nized the truth of human inability in heavenly things, the im- 
 potency of our native will to begin the good work of grace, and 
 that it is God alone who from beginning to end produces the 
 great change, nevertheless, he was not unmindful of the fact 
 that man by his fall had not lost every good. There still re- 
 mained conscience, whose presence the human soul in its nat- 
 ural state evermore evinced. Schooled, as he had been, in the 
 best Greek thought, and led thus to recognize the high concep- 
 tion of personal freedom which the rational mind had gained; 
 instructed, as he was by the Gospel, that the saving grace of 
 Christ is for all men; led, on the one hand, by the Theism of 
 Plato and Aristotle, and, on the other, by the Theism of the 
 Gospel to believe in a personal God, a God who' is absolutely 
 free ; and again, convinced by the Greek idea of man, and also 
 by that of the Gospel, that the human creature is a person, — 
 
Philip Melanchthon 233 
 
 Melanchthon was unable to adopt a view other than that which 
 ever emphasized the fact that the relation between God and His 
 human creature is evermore personal; that in all His dealings 
 with man the Divine Being will constantly proceed according to 
 this relation; and that in every divine act, and especially in that 
 which concerns the highest well-being of the individual human 
 soul, the fact that man is a person will be preserved inviolate. 
 
 While for one thing he rejected in part the Semi-pelagian 
 theory, he still recognized in it a most important truth, namely, 
 a right regard for the ethical nature of man and the mainten- 
 ance of a true personality. While in part he rejected the Augus- 
 tinian view, he still recognized in it a most fundamental truth, 
 namely, that God alone works regeneration. 
 
 This view, which preserves the true personality of man at 
 every stage of the work of individual salvation, and which is 
 a modification of the Semi-pelagian and Augustinian positions, 
 a limiting of Greek anthropology, on the one side, and of Latin 
 anthropology, on the other, is that apprehension of the operations 
 of divine grace and the sinfulness of man which is known 
 as Melanchthonianism. It gives to Lutheran theology one of its 
 prime distinctive features. 
 
 This apprehension of the great theologian of the Refor- 
 mation pervades the structure of the Augsburg Confession. 
 Through this apprehension the two theologies, Greek and Latin, 
 are placed within right limits and in systematic unity; the one 
 emphasizing the ethical in man, the other the sovereignty of 
 God. These two streams of Christian teaching, after having 
 coursed through the centuries side by side, come together in the 
 clear, profound thought of Philip Melanchthon, which in 1530 
 received an outward, permanent expression in that masterpiece 
 of the human mind, the Augustana. 
 
 Humanism and theology are joined in everlasting wedlock 
 by the quiet man at Wittenberg. Their union is a system of 
 doctrine, comprehensive, profound and imperishable. It com- 
 prehends the articles of faith for the Church of the Reforma- 
 tion, and contains the elements of the true Lutheran theology 
 in its widest scope. It sums up in systematic relation the best 
 
234 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 and truest thoughts of the Christian ages, and in so doing must 
 ever be recognized as the mediator between a false Semi- 
 pelagianism and an extreme Augustinianism. Its expression 
 — the Confession produced at Augsburg — will ever stand in 
 history as the sublimest work of reconciliation between the truth 
 in man and the truth in God. And this achievement is the pro- 
 duction of Philip Melanchthon. 
 
 No wonder he yet lives ! Not strange that, after four 
 hundred years, his birthday is celebrated with gladdest enthusi- 
 asm. The vast and massive thoughts which took shape in his 
 mind are the imperishable truths of creation and redemp- 
 tion, which, in the onrolling of the centuries and the upward 
 movement of the race, the Christian mind will apprehend more 
 and more in the fullness of their reality. 
 
 When a thousand years shall have gone by, the conceptions of 
 Philip Melanchthon will be the subjects of the intensest medita- 
 tions and profoundest belief. Aye, this grand personality, ex- 
 hibiting the union of man and God and the Man of humanity, 
 will still be an object of high admiration, and in it men will see, 
 as they can see now, the solution of the problem of the ages. 
 
 Philip Melanchthon can never pass from human recollec- 
 tions. His is one of the few immortal names that were not 
 born to die.* 
 
 *In this eulogy, delivered before a promiscuous audience on Melanch- 
 thon's four hundredth birthday anniversary, Dr. Ort evidently did not 
 feel that it would be seemly to indulge in criticism. Let it be remem- 
 bered that he does not refer to Melanchthon's theological work after the 
 writing of the Augsburg Confession. Knowing Dr. Ort as we did, we 
 feel sure he would not have commended Melanchthon in the compromises 
 he advocated in the Variatas of 1540 and 1542, nor in the Synergism 
 which he subsequently developed. Indeed, we often heard Dr. Ort defend 
 the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. — Editor. 
 
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 I AM here this evening to tell you a story. It is the story of 
 a great life; great because of what it was and what it did. 
 It was a serious life, and hence gives little, if any, room in the 
 recital of its deeds for mere entertainment. The witty and 
 humorous please and entertain, but the beautiful, the true and 
 the good move the deeper sensibilities of our natures. Our Isaac 
 Steins and Lebensbergers tickle our fancy and are well enough 
 for pastime. Our Williams the Silent, our Gladstones, our 
 Washingtons and our Lincolns, in the portrayal of their char- 
 acters and of what they wrought, absorb attention and stir the 
 soul with deeply thrilling emotion — these for our sober moments 
 and graver mental moods. 
 
 But to my task. Two hundred and fifty years ago ! This 
 seems a long time, far back in the world's career. And yet 
 comparatively it was not so distant — only two centuries and a 
 half. In those times, perhaps, we have little interest, but we 
 must not forget that then our very great grandfathers and grand- 
 mothers lived. They were days somewhat different from ours, 
 it is true. There were no railroads then, and telegraphs, and 
 steamboats ; no sewing machines, except the kind God made ; 
 no telephones, no trolley cars, no daily papers, no stocks well 
 watered, no trading in wheat margins in towns like Chicago, and 
 no trusts. The face of things wore quite another expression. 
 The people of those times had the old-fashioned way of living. 
 They dressed, of course, according to the style of the day. They 
 ate homely dishes, such as "sauerkraut and speck," and drank 
 their mugs of beer. They walked and talked, they sat and rode 
 much as people do today. They courted and flirted, they mar- 
 ried and divorced somewhat after the present fashion. They 
 gossiped and scolded, fussed and fumed, blessed and cursed, — 
 
236 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 in short, they were very natural, and lived homespun lives of 
 drudgery and toil, of suffering and struggle, of sorrow and joy. 
 Theirs was an age of mighty stir; an age of radical change, 
 when gray-bearded notions were upset and set adrift on the 
 stream of forgetf ulness ; when beliefs long cherished were 
 scathed and riddled and flung to the ground; when institutions, 
 fostered by many centuries of prejudice, were upturned and 
 demolished ; when wild superstitions, which had long been the 
 plague of simple-minded, plain, honest folk, were shivered in 
 pieces and swept from their credulous minds. It was an age 
 of grand revolution ; a day when the minds of men began to 
 start up from their long inaction, and work out thoughts fresh 
 and strong — thoughts which startled hierarchs and oppressors 
 of the people and whose power made the mightiest thrones of 
 the old world to tremble and totter; thoughts which awoke the 
 sleeping energies of thousands, nerved them for the hard task 
 of setting right the progress of mankind, and persuaded them 
 to stake home and country for a new order of things and a hap- 
 pier lot. It was the Reformation age — that eventful time when 
 the darkness of the night of papal tyranny was being dispelled 
 from the nations by the light of the Gospel truth ; when the 
 dignity and right of human conscience were openly asserted, 
 and the awful struggle for religious liberty was taken up. 
 
 It was an heroic age. Brave men came to the front ; cour- 
 ageous men; men who dared to resist the oppression of the 
 times and grapple, single-handed, with the greatest empire of 
 the day; an empire which stretched from the Mediterranean 
 Sea to the North Sea and from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
 dominions of the Russian Bear; an empire whose rulers were 
 narrow-minded, bigoted, selfish men ; rulers who were the truck- 
 ling servants of one master monarch, and did with pleasure and 
 servile devotion the bidding of his will ; rulers who had no con- 
 science, and who would rather wade through seas of blood to 
 gratify their hate for honest-hearted, inoffensive people, than 
 scatter seeds of kindness among the much-abused subjects of 
 their realm. 
 
 Luther, the giant of his time, had come upon the stage, 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 237 
 
 acted his part to the astonishment of kings and cardinals and 
 popes, and had retired from the scene in triumph. The revo- 
 lution, of which he was the guiding mind, had swept over a large 
 part of Europe, and had especially changed the religious order 
 of things in the kingdoms of Germany. Protestantism had become 
 a great fact ; and its strong arms were reaching out into all quar- 
 ters. The new movement set on foot by a Saxon monk had steadily 
 pushed on, at first eliciting merely the contempt of the so-called 
 wise men and the keepers of the old world's destiny ; but by and 
 by making their faces grow pale, startling them out of their 
 dream, choking with painful fears, and driving them to under- 
 take the most desperate policy for stopping the onward march 
 of that power which has turned the world upside down. Threats 
 rent the air as mere idle words. Trickery and deceit were alike 
 useless, edicts, diets, all failed to stay the waves of trouble and 
 change which came rolling over the Fatherland. 
 
 Charles V., who was the political head of the German Em- 
 pire during the earlier part of the Reformation period, had 
 exhausted his powers of wily strategy to no effect. Protestant- 
 ism still lived and flourished. His shrewd, calculating prom- 
 ises were fruitless. The assertion of his imperial dignity was 
 but child's babble. The unsheathing of his sword and his tramp- 
 ing over the fairest fields of Protestant kingdoms ended in 
 total failure. Protestantism still survived. In bloodless war- 
 fare it had always triumphed and gone forward with renewed 
 vigor; and now, when challenged to measure swords with an 
 empire by the haughty Charles, it buckled on the armour of war, 
 met its old enemy on the field of battle, and drove the proud 
 emperor from his throne, far from the scene of defeat into a 
 Spanish cloister. 
 
 It was in 1556 that he laid aside the crown. In the pre- 
 vious year the peace of Augsburg was concluded — a peace that 
 was to be lasting and unconditional. Years passed and affairs 
 grew more and more ominous. The two parties, Protestant 
 and Catholic, were not at ease with one another. The rumb- 
 ling sounds of discontent became more and more frequent. 
 The papal power was not willing to surrender so large a terri- 
 
238 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 tory without another struggle. The signs of the times pointed 
 clearly to the coming storm. The imbecile rulers, Rudolph and 
 Matthias, had been shuffled to one side, and a man of different 
 mettle was called to the throne. This man was Ferdinand 
 the Second, at this time forty years of age. He possessed 
 some qualities of the great, such as penetration and sagacity, 
 undaunted perseverance, irresistible energy of character, res- 
 ignation and fortitude in adversity, and a mind never enervated 
 by success. But these great qualities were sullied and disgraced 
 by the most puerile superstition, inveterate bigotry, and un- 
 bounded ambition. In his government he was influenced by 
 narrow views of intolerance and hate. He broke up the peace 
 and happiness of his hereditary dominions; he ruled the empire 
 as the head of a sect and chief of a party, and plunged Germany 
 and Europe into thirty years of anarchy, persecution and blood- 
 shed. In this he was the bane of his family, the enemy of his 
 country and the scourge of his age. Brought up in the school 
 of the Jesuits, he looked upon toleration as a dangerous heresy, 
 and was highly fitted to execute the most daring schemes. 
 
 Although the peace of Augsburg guaranteed religious rights 
 to all the Protestant German states, yet he trampled these under- 
 foot, and used to say that he would rather govern a wilderness 
 than a country peopled with heretics. He paid no respect to 
 the righteous claims of millions of his subjects, and boldly 
 violated his solemn oath of protection, setting up as an excuse 
 the miserable maxim that toward a heretic neither faith nor 
 oath is binding. 
 
 The first theatre of his unholy persecution was the native 
 country of John Huss, Bohemia. On the people of this land 
 Ferdinand had been foisted as king by his uncle. No sooner 
 had he taken charge of governmental affairs than he began to 
 act the role of the religious tyrant, closing some of the churches, 
 destroying and casting into prison the most zealous of the citi- 
 zens. He prohibited all gatherings of the people for Protestant 
 worship, and thereby meant to crush by a single blow all "her- 
 esies," as he termed them. To all this flagrant outrage the 
 Bohemian lords could not quietly submit. And when firm pro- 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 239 
 
 test proved vain, and the abolition of their privileges and liberty 
 of conscience were openly proclaimed, their indignation knew 
 no bounds. Armed men, headed by the deputies of the Prot- 
 estant provinces, marched to the palace of Prague, where the 
 officers were sitting, and demanded the president and his col- 
 leagues to answer who was the author of the imperial response 
 denying them religious freedom. 
 
 Two of these officers answered nobly; the other two in- 
 sultingly and with threats. The first two were simply driven 
 from the room; the rest were seized by a maddened people and 
 hurled from the window eighty feet above ground into a castle 
 trench. And with this event began the famous Thirty Years' 
 War; a war of awful crime and bloodshed, on which were 
 staked the most precious liberties of the people and the better 
 destiny of the world. After this bold handling of the imperial 
 officers, there was left for the Bohemians but one choice — to 
 arm themselves and defend their homes and religion. 
 
 They formed a national government, organized an army, and 
 took the field. At first victory attended their march, and two 
 successive defeats taught the imperialists how hard it is to conquer 
 a people fighting for their independence and religion. In a short 
 time the enemy was thoroughly beaten, and the Bohemian army 
 arrived triumphantly at the gates of Vienna. The conquest of 
 the empire seemed at hand. Thus far the Bohemians had been 
 alone in the struggle. But now, in order to make success certain 
 beyond the possibility of failure, they offered the throne to the 
 German elector, Frederick V., hoping by this means to enlist all 
 Germany on their side in the fight. But Frederick was a weak 
 man, fond of show and luxury, without influence in the Germanic 
 states, or force of character sufficient to rally around his standard 
 the Protestant people of the Fatherland. He accepted the king- 
 ship offered, but found himself without allies. Given to carnal 
 pleasures, he left the enemy to gather their forces and surround 
 the capitol of his new state. In consequence he was quite soon 
 ousted from his dominions and driven without his crown into 
 the distant country of Holland. Ferdinand triumphed. The last 
 hopes of the Protestants were shattered by disgraceful defeat 
 
240 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 under the walls of Prague. The cause of religious freedom in 
 Bohemia was lost, and the iron scepter of papal tyranny was 
 flourished by an unmerciful hand over a suffering people. Many 
 of the nobles were beheaded, the estates of others were con- 
 fiscated; the Lutheran and Calvinistic clergy were banished, 
 and in the hands of the Jesuits was placed the sole control of 
 national education. 
 
 The ambitious emperor, however, was not content with 
 having brought Bohemia under the yoke, nor, regarding himself 
 as the right hand of the papacy, did he feel that the last blow 
 had been struck. There were still left the fields where the seeds 
 of the Reformation had first been sown — Germany. 
 
 Accordingly his great general, Count Tilly, was ordered to 
 undertake the conquest of the evangelical states. He at once 
 entered on his work, vanquished the Protestant princes, and made 
 Ferdinand's despotic power supreme. His savage gangs scoured 
 the German provinces, plundering and ravaging everything, and 
 brought upon innocent, harmless people all the miseries of war. 
 Weary of the yoke which crushed them and exasperated by per- 
 secution, the states roused themselves to a death grapple with 
 the merciless foe. They rallied under their standard an army of 
 sixty thousand men, and defiantly confronted the blood-thirsty 
 general of the empire. With such an adversary Tilly was unable 
 to cope. And now it looked as if the scales would turn, and that 
 he who had vowed to enforce the worship of the Holy Virgin 
 in all countries where his power could reach, even at the peril 
 of his life, would meet with deserved and disastrous defeat. 
 
 But just when the crisis had come, fortunately for Ferdinand, 
 another stepped on the scene. Wallenstein, the richest nobleman 
 of Bohemia. A writer says of him: "He was a strange man, 
 born to command. His very appearance inspired reverence and 
 awe. His figure was truly warlike. His jet-black hair was cut 
 close above his high commanding brow, while in his bright pierc- 
 ing eye was expressed depth of thought, combined with the coldest 
 mystery." 
 
 A man of destiny, he was the terror of his day. In accord- 
 ance with the wishes of his master, he gathered around him an 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 241 
 
 army composed of various nationalities, desperate men, ready for 
 the most terrible crimes. He went forth on his mission of ruin, 
 speedily defeated the ablest general of the Protestant armies, 
 swept like a whirlwind over the German states, scattered his foes, 
 and made himself master of their kingdoms. He robbed the peo- 
 ple, murdered their wives and children, burned their towns, 
 sacked their cities, plundered their homes and spread the most 
 awful devastation throughout the land. His army was a minister 
 of vengeance. 
 
 Another has fitly said : "It numbered 120,000 men. In its 
 midst waved the green standard of the conqueror, emblazoned 
 with the figure of the goddess fortune, the only deity worshipped 
 in the impious host." The camp was filled with plunder of the 
 nobles and peasantry, and throngs of peddlers purchased at low 
 rates rich armour and rare goods, sometimes stained with the 
 blood of the owner. Prisoners were sold or ransomed; fair 
 women became the prey of human monsters ; dreadful deeds of 
 violence amused the godless host; deserters were hung or shot 
 on every side, and the army of Wallenstein was believed to have 
 exceeded the enormities of all other armies and to have sold itself 
 to Satan. On all these crimes the mighty chief looked with the 
 coldest indifference. 
 
 His ambition knew no limit, and so, not satisfied with having 
 brought the Protestant German states to the border of extinction, 
 he cast his eye across the northern sea, and thirsted to subdue 
 the wintry kingdoms of the Goths. But there was a barrier in 
 the way, the free city of Stralsund, on the Baltic coast. The 
 brave citizens rejected with disdain every demand for submission. 
 The enraged conqueror besieged the city, and vowed its utter 
 destruction. "Though Stralsund were linked by chains to the 
 heavens above," he boasted in his pride, "I swear it shall fall." 
 But weeks passed on. The heroic citizens beat back the insolent 
 foe. Sweden gave them an exhibition of generalship and courage 
 such as they had never witnessed. Twelve thousand soldiers of 
 the haughty chief fell in vain assaults. Wallenstein gave up the 
 siege, and was forced to admit himself checked in his mad career. 
 
 Noble defenders of their homes and their priceless boon of 
 
242 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 liberty, these people of a little city on the shores of the Baltic 
 put to shame the Protestant princes of Germany, and showed 
 what might have been done to roll back the tide of war and crush 
 the cruel invader, had all united in a common defense. But 
 Wallenstein had conquered, and no Protestant leader of any con- 
 sequence remained in the field. The Reformed cities and states 
 sank into hopeless despondency, gave up the contest and awaited 
 their doom. Protestantism was laid low in the dust. The good 
 work of a hundred years had seemingly been brought to naught. 
 Conscience was again enslaved, and the despotism of two previous 
 centuries spread its pall over the people. It was a dark hour. 
 The edict of restitution had gone forth, and the emperor was 
 resolved to extend the authority of the Papal Church to the 
 farthest limit of German rule. Two hundred thousand soldiers, 
 veterans in war, constituted the watchdogs of Ferdinand, and 
 stood ready at any moment to inflict still deeper wounds on a 
 discouraged and suffering people, and if need be to enter on the 
 devilish work of extermination. 
 
 What hope could there be for a better day? How drear 
 the prospect! Surely the glorious Reformation was torn up by 
 the very roots. Its days were apparently numbered, and Protes- 
 tantism seemed to be forever dead. 
 
 But night brings out the stars. Just when the darkness grew 
 the thickest, and there was no sign of a coming morn, another 
 actor suddenly rushed on the stage. He came from a little king- 
 dom beyond the sea — a small country, not much known, swept by 
 the chilly winds of the north, where the Snow King sat enthroned. 
 He came like the storm of his native land, quickly and mightily, 
 to rescue a shattered cause, lift up a downcast people, and avenge 
 the wrongs of his brethren in the faith. It was Gustavus 
 Adolphus, the young and valorous king of Sweden. He was born 
 in 1594, amid furious times. The dogs of war were let loose, and 
 Sweden was just taking her place among the nations as an 
 independent kingdom. High expectations were entertained by 
 the people concerning this heir to the throne, and oftentimes there 
 passed from one to the other the prophecy of a prince who should 
 render himself illustrious in the states of Europe, and save the 
 Evangelical Church. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 243 
 
 Gustavus in early life gave evidence of more than ordinary 
 talent. He made rapid progress in all branches of study, and was 
 known as a musician, poet and scholar. His instruction was 
 thorough and laid the foundation for that unselfish devotion to 
 the principles of the Reformation, which one day shone so bright 
 on German battlefields. Charles IX spared nothing to render 
 his son capable and worthy of being his successor. In his last 
 farewell he said to him: 
 
 "Above all, fear God, honor thy father and mother; show 
 a deep respect for thy sisters and brothers; love the faithful 
 servants of thy father, and reward each according to his merits ; 
 be human toward thy subjects ; punish the wicked, love the good, 
 trust everybody, though not unreservedly ; observe the laws 
 without respect to persons; injure nobody's well acquired privi- 
 leges, if consistent with the law." 
 
 Under such advice he grew up to years of manhood. Every- 
 thing was done to fit him for the responsible place he must shortly 
 fill. With his mother he traveled throughout the kingdom to 
 learn something of his subjects, and to gain that knowledge of 
 them which would help him to rule wisely and well. Through 
 the wise care of his father, he was brought early in contact with 
 the officers of the crown and made familiar with that kind of 
 practical life which books never teach. While still quite young, 
 he showed striking fondness for military art and took great 
 pleasure in talking about battles, sieges and the armaments and 
 tactics of war. 
 
 When in his eighteenth year his father died and he was 
 called to perform the responsible duties of the crown, so brilliant 
 were his talents, so mature his judgment, so marked his attain- 
 ments, and such confidence did the Swedes repose in him, that 
 two months after his accession, his guardians voluntarily resigned 
 their authority, and procured an act of the states declaring Gus- 
 tavus officially of full age. On this occasion the young king 
 behaved with highest modesty and dignity. Addressing the 
 Senate, he alluded in becoming terms to his youth and inexperience 
 as serious difficulties in ruling a nation in times of commotion 
 and upheaval. But, on the other hand, he declared that if the 
 
244 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 states should persist in making him king, he would endeavor to 
 acquit himself with honor and fidelity. No sooner had he been 
 crowned king of his native country, than he was challenged to 
 accept the issue of the sword. The neighboring Danes had long 
 sought to enlarge the borders of their principalities and blot 
 Sweden from the map of nations. On the other side the Catholic 
 sovereign of Poland, breathing hatred against the Reformation, 
 strove to seat himself on the throne of Gustavus and restore the 
 ancient worship of the Holy Virgin. With these powers he at 
 once undertook to decide the existence of his kingdom, and settle 
 the question of Protestant supremacy. In two years he van- 
 quished the Danes, and extorted from them a peace which for- 
 ever put Sweden alongside the governments of Europe. He met 
 the Polanders on the field of battle, and proved himself their 
 conqueror, insuring to his country the continuance of that simple 
 religion first proclaimed among the Judean hills. "In a few 
 years," it is recorded, "he conducted three wars to a successful 
 end, reduced and conciliated three formidable enemies, and pre- 
 vented in the meantime disorder and confusion in his own 
 kingdom." 
 
 During all these years of struggle and defense he had not 
 been an idle observer of the conflict on the continent. Often did 
 he cast a wistful, anxious eye toward his suffering brethren, and 
 in his heart yearn to beat back the savage hords of Wallenstein 
 and Tilly. And then, too, he knew what schemes were being 
 plotted in the palace of Ferdinand, and how ambition and relig- 
 ious bigotry were crouching like a tiger to leap on his kingdom 
 and people as the next object of prey. He saw the form of 
 Protestantism wounded and bleeding on the battlefields of super- 
 stition. He' heard the rattling of the musketry, the roar of the 
 cannon and shouts of the papacy. He saw the legions of Rome 
 pushing their way northward, devastating the fertile lands, 
 spreading desolation far and wide, and defiantly marching and 
 countermarching along the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. 
 
 And as he looked on these frightful, stirring scenes, and 
 thought how dear are the liberties of conscience, and how 
 righteous the cause of evangelical truth, he once more took up 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 245 
 
 the sword, beckoned his tried and trusty soldiers to his side and 
 flew to the rescue of Germany and the evangelical faith. It was 
 November, 1629. He called his senate into extra session, and 
 set forth the sad misfortune of their German brethren, and the 
 dangers which were gathering thick and fast around Sweden. 
 His chancellor was opposed to war, because of the unequal nature 
 of the contest, and advised the king to give up the undertaking. 
 But Gustavus was firm in his purpose. Having laid before the 
 senate his plans and hopes, he ended with these words : 
 
 "What can or cannot be done God alone knows. He only 
 wishes into projects, wills into execution, and brings a good be- 
 ginning to a glorious end. In eternity alone I shall find rest." 
 
 Preparations were now made with the greatest activity. 
 Ferdinand heard the news with contempt, and said, "We shall 
 now have to contend with another little enemy." Wallenstein 
 boasted: "I will soon whip this school-boy back to his home." 
 In a few months all things were in order; an army had been 
 gathered together and equipped ; the kingdom was well guarded ; 
 the ships were in readiness to bear the soldiers of liberty to fields 
 of war and destiny. 
 
 On May 20, 1630, Gustavus appeared in the diet to bid the 
 estates a solemn farewell. "Not lightly or wantonly," said he, 
 "am I about to involve myself and you in this new and dangerous 
 war. God is my witness that I do not fight to gratify my own 
 ambition. But the emperor has wronged me most grievously in 
 the persons of my ambassadors ; he has supported my enemies, 
 persecuted my friends and brethren, and tramples my religion 
 in the dust, and even stretches his arm against my crown. The 
 oppressed states of Germany call loudly for aid, which by God's 
 help we will give them. I am fully sensible of the dangers to 
 which my life will be exposed. I have never yet shrunk from 
 them; nor is it likely that I shall escape them all. Hitherto 
 Providence has wonderfully protected me, but I shall fall at last 
 in the defense of my country. For the prosperity of my subjects, 
 absent and present, I offer my warmest prayers to heaven, and 
 now bid you all a sincere, it may be a final and eternal, farewell." 
 
246 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 The ships were waiting in the harbor. Gustavus and his 
 little army were moving to embark. The last words were spoken, 
 the final farewells given, the final look into the faces of kindred 
 countrymen taken, and hands were warmly pressed that would 
 never grasp each other again, and eyes peered into eyes whose 
 sight was closed forever ere another meeting came. The king 
 and his veteran legions were all on board. The sails were hoisted, 
 and well freighted ships stood out to sea. There had been vessels 
 in the olden times trimmed and steered for foreign shores, bear- 
 ing mighty armies to distant lands, and moving amid the dazzling 
 pomp of Persian gold, but they carried no such precious freight 
 as these Swedish ships bore on the bosom of a storm-tossed sea. 
 Once the proud Armada of Spain skirted along the southern 
 shores of Europe and swept defiantly toward the isle of the seas, 
 the grandest maritime array on which the sun ever shone ; but 
 the Armada was the minister of darkness, while the transports 
 of Sweden carried the defenders of bleeding truth, the noblest 
 army that ever trod the fields of war. It was a little band already 
 tried and scarred in the bloody struggle for country and home 
 but sixteen thousand strong, going to breast and roll back the tide 
 of ruin which had swept over the neighboring kinsmen according 
 to the flesh and faith, and to exalt before the nations the standard 
 of liberty and right. They might have left their armor to hang 
 and rust in the loft ; they might have kept their swords sheathed 
 and laid them away as curious relics for their posterity; they 
 themselves might have settled down to the pursuits of peace, and 
 gone in quiet to sleep with their fathers, and their king might 
 have sat on his throne now doubly firm, and ruled amid pleasures 
 and the homage of a devoted, trustful people, departing at last 
 like one who lays himself down to pleasant dreams. 
 
 But they were true hearts, grand souls, that in their devotion 
 to humanity went out beyond the narrow confines of their beloved 
 land. They heard the piteous calls of suffering strangers for 
 help. They saw the blazing fires of tyranny and wrong shooting 
 up into the skies of Protestant states. They beheld from afar 
 the untamed soldiers of a grasping empire trampling underfoot 
 the dearest objects of earth and filling once happy lands with 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 247 
 
 the wildest scenes of dismay and desolation. They loved their 
 homes, their fatherland, their wintry skies, their icy streams and 
 snow-clad hills ; but they loved the cause of right, the cause of 
 conscience, of humanity and God — this they loved above all else. 
 For this they answered once again to the bugle call of war. For 
 this they came from mountain and field, from cottage and cabin, 
 bade farewell to wife and children and friends and home to come 
 back no more, and for this they were now on the sea borne by an 
 angry wind to face the relentless foe of their inalienable rights. 
 Grand souls, noblest spirits of their age of whom the world was 
 and is not worthy — we bow in reverence to your lofty daring and 
 sublime consecration to the great work of the ages. 
 
 History tells us of a Spartan band that stood at Ther- 
 mopylae against the myriad hosts of Persia, and there died for 
 Grecian liberty, their deed enshrined in the world's admira- 
 tion. But they were not so noble as ye. Their hearts swelled 
 not with feelings so high and grand as do yours while sailing to 
 the rescue of suffering Christian hope. Ye are men of truth, 
 select spirits of our race, whose bosoms swell with love to God 
 and man, and whose brawny arms are strong enough to wield the 
 sword against the outrage of the times, and beat back the savage 
 hordes of carnal might. 
 
 We bid you all hail, valiant soldiers for the right, and say: 
 "Go, invade the unholy despot's empire, storm his cities, conquer 
 his strongholds, scale the highest ramparts of his empire, strike 
 down the rude and blood-thirsty enemy of your rights and the 
 freedom of mankind. March on, march on to victory ; the world 
 looks on; the tortured bleeding millions of your brethren are 
 crying from the depths of their woe, 'Come!' All heaven is 
 shouting till the very pillars shake, 'Go ! save the cause of right.' " 
 
 Ye winds that waft the ships of men on the high seas, be 
 swift to move these noble ships across the deep. Ye storms that 
 toss about the waves of oceans, and lash into fury the great 
 waters, harm not those sails, nor break the timbers of those 
 ships. They bear the heroes of the ages, the champions of the 
 crushed and wounded souls, the defenders of destiny, the soldiers 
 of the Cross. 
 
248 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 And thou rolling sea, whose waves mar alike the Armada's 
 pride and the spoils of Trafalgar, deal kindly with these lofty- 
 spirits committed to thy care; dash not to wreck this precious 
 treasure of hope and light; bear up these freighted ships and 
 bring them soon to the desired haven. They hold those mighty 
 men whose deeds shall whiten thy wide expanse with the sails 
 of peaceful commerce rather than deck it with the armaments 
 of war. Be not treacherous, nor swallow up the liberties of a 
 thousand years, but be obedient to Him who scooped out thy 
 depths, and deliver on the farther shore this army of conscience 
 and of God. 
 
 On the 24th day of June, 1630, Gustavus landed on the 
 southern shores of the Baltic Sea. Just one hundred years 
 before this, the German princes, in the presence of Charles V, 
 at Augsburg, made that celebrated Confession which served them 
 as a rallying standard. The principles of the Confession were 
 now endangered, and Gustavus hastened to their defense. It was 
 a striking coincidence, a great anniversary. And when he re- 
 called that glorious past, and thought of the undaunted courage, 
 the immovable energy, the firm faith and deep piety of those 
 heroic men, his zeal was inflamed and he himself inspired with 
 confidence in the future. The thought of that solemn event in- 
 fused into him a new life, and gave him a spirit of daring and 
 enthusiasm which swept before it all enemies, and made him to 
 be indeed the "Lion of the North." He took up the spade with 
 his own hand, his whole army following his example, and in a 
 little while the camp was fortified against the enemy. And the 
 king, wishing to animate his soldiers and nerve them for the 
 great campaign, addressed these words to them: "Do not be- 
 lieve that I undertake this war for myself or my kingdom. We 
 march to the relief of our oppressed brothers. You will by 
 brilliant victories accomplish this generous glory. Be not afraid 
 of the enemy whom you are going to meet. They are the same 
 that you have already defeated in Prussia. Your gallantry has 
 just forced Poland to conclude a truce of six years. If you 
 show the same courage and perseverance now, you will procure 
 for the Evangelical Church and for our German brethren the 
 security and peace which they need." 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 249 
 
 All things were now in readiness for the onward move. 
 But what of the German princes whom the northern king had 
 come to defend? Did they hasten to greet the noble Swede 
 and welcome him to their prostrate land? Did they join hands 
 and swear eternal allegiance to each other and unfaltering devo- 
 tion to the cause of their fathers? Did they open wide the doors 
 ■of their kingdoms and bid Gustavus and his army enter? It is 
 surprising that they did nothing of the kind. Instead of hailing 
 him with shouts of joy, and rushing to embrace him in their 
 arms of love, their tongues were silent, and not a soul of them 
 bade him welcome to their shores. They shut the doors of their 
 kingdoms against his march ; they stirred up difficulties ; they 
 created troubles; they aroused suspicions; they played into the 
 hands of the enemy; they stubbornly refused to join the great 
 Swede in defending their homes and battling for the hope of the 
 world. 
 
 But amid all these rebuffs and discouragements Gustavus 
 pressed on, never for an hour yielding to despondency, nor re- 
 gretting that he had left his country to undertake the dangerous 
 task of conquering the barbarous legions of Ferdinand. 
 
 The imperial troops were pressed back from one fortress 
 and then another, until in a few months two leading kingdoms 
 were cleared of these destroyers. But still their princes refused 
 to own Gustavus as their friend. They were animated by petty 
 jealousy, and inclined to block his way. The people, on the 
 other hand, hailed him as a savior, an angel sent from God for 
 their relief, and gladly would have enlisted under his all-conquer- 
 ing banner. But their rulers were selfish, jealous men, who 
 would rather crouch before the emperor than stand up side by 
 side with the valorous Swede in defense of German liberties. 
 
 In the meantime an event occurred which seemed to forbode 
 the final doom of every Protestant state in Germany. On the 
 banks of the Elbe stood the fair city of Madgeburg. The 
 historian tells us: "It had early become one of the chief cities 
 of manufacture and trade; its riches had been won from the 
 commerce of the south and east; its wealthy burghers lived in 
 palaces and their coffers were stored with gems and gold ; its 
 magnificent cathedral, its fine churches, its crowded streets, its 
 
250 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 busy people, had long awakened the envy of the dull and haughty 
 nobles, and its vigorous Protestantism aroused the bitterest hatred 
 of the Catholic League." 
 
 Madgeburg, which had stood out against an empire, and had 
 first risen in revolt against the imperial rule, was now to be made 
 an example and a warning to Protestantism. Tilly surrounded 
 it with his well-trained army, and demanded its submission, but 
 the proud citizens refused to surrender, and waited in patience 
 for their deliverer, Gustavus. But the king was detained. The 
 electors of Brandenburg and Saxony refused to grant him per- 
 mission to march through their dominions until the hour for help 
 had passed; and Madgeburg fell. It was an awful day. The 
 richest city in Germany was plundered and drenched in the 
 blood of its inhabitants. The historian records that neither 
 innocent childhood, nor helpless old age, neither youth, sex, rank 
 nor beauty could quell the fury of the conquerors. Wives were 
 abused in the arms of their husbands, daughters at the feet of 
 their parents. No place, however obscure or sacred, escaped the 
 rapacity of the enemy; children were thrown into the fire, and 
 babes were stabbed on their mothers' breasts. Some of the offi- 
 cers ventured to remind the proud conqueror that he might stop 
 the reign of death. He answered : "Return in an hour. I will 
 see what I can do. The soldier must have some reward for his 
 danger and toils." 
 
 The awful scene went on. The winds roared, the flames 
 blazed up in the wildest fury everywhere, clouds of dense smoke 
 hung like dark night over the doomed city ; heaps of dead bodies 
 filled the streets, while the clash of swords and the crash of 
 falling ruins made the tumult still more hideous. In a few hours 
 this flourishing city was reduced to ashes, and 30,000 of its people 
 slaughtered. 
 
 And now all Germany was stirred, and Gustavus was blamed 
 for not having saved the city from the destroyer. The weak- 
 minded princes were at length brought to feel how uncertaiu 
 was the throne on which they sat, and how likely it might be that 
 their own cities would share the fate of Madgeburg. The earnest 
 persuasion of a Christian soul had failed; the entreaties of one 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 251 
 
 who had staked his own kingdom on the issues of their war 
 were in vain. They were insensible to most tender appeals. 
 Even when their people, despoiled of everything, and their wives 
 and daughters, exposed to the violence of human beasts, cried 
 out to them for refuge, they turned a deaf ear to these pitiful 
 prayers and shut their eyes on scenes that ought to have awakened 
 in them the resolute will to offer up their life, if need be, to 
 avenge these horrid wrongs. But it needed more than the per- 
 suasions of Gustavus and the mournful appeals of their subjects 
 to arouse them from their jealousies and impel them to deny 
 the mighty power of Ferdinand. It needed the ruin of the 
 fairest city of Germany. It needed the butchery of helpless 
 women and children to wake up these vain princes to a sense 
 of their dangers, to realize that they were standing on the brink 
 of ruin, and that the fires of the volcano were about to burst 
 forth and consume their estates. 
 
 Gustavus was now all the more busy. He watched his 
 adversary with an eagle eye. Though his army was but 16,000 
 strong, he marched to meet the imperial general, the invincible 
 conqueror, the hero of a hundred battles. It was a moment of 
 deep suspense. The liberties of Germany depended on the 
 victory of the Swedish king. Few, however, believed that the 
 contest would be favorable to freedom, or that the soldiers of 
 the North would be able to resist for a moment the victorious 
 legions of Tilly. The Catholic League were full of confidence 
 in their favorite chief. The emperor looked to see the Snow 
 King and his squadrons melt swiftly away before the invincible 
 soldiers of Tilly. It was an hour of deep suspense. As the 
 two armies drew nearer to one another, the interest deepened. 
 The eyes of all Europe were fixed on the two great chieftains 
 of the day, who were to determine its destiny for ages. At length 
 the hour had come. 
 
 The battlefield is chosen. It is the plain of Leipsic, the one 
 on which Napoleon went down before the allied armies of 
 Europe. On this plain the imperial army was drawn up, 35,000 
 strong. About midday the battle begins. The cannon roar from 
 the hostile lines. The army of Tilly is being decimated by 
 
252 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Swedish balls. A charge is made upon the Saxon allies of Gus- 
 tavus. They flee at once before the attack, and are soon no more 
 on the field. And now the victorious Tilly and his heavy troops 
 charge with shouts and yells on the little company of Swedes. 
 They hurl back the heavy horsemen and practiced soldiers of 
 Tilly. Again they form their lines and rush to the charge, and 
 again they are beaten back. The charge is repeated seven times. 
 The fine army of Tilly, which never had been conquered, melts 
 slowly away. The field of Leipsic is strewn with the Austrian 
 dead, while the remorseless Tilly is nonplussed by the genius of 
 his antagonist, and is filled with shame as he feels that all Ger- 
 many will soon ring with the news of his defeat. The Swedes 
 now leap upon their foes and rout them from the field; and as 
 the sun goes down the smitten enemy throw down their arms and 
 flee in wild dismay. 
 
 The day is won ; Gustavus takes his place as the first general 
 of the age. Protestant princes and nobles now throng around 
 his standard. He was the hero of the people, the idol of their 
 hearts. His dauntless courage, his gracious manners, his win- 
 ning words, his piety and faith, gained for him the love of the 
 multitudes whom he had saved from ruin. 
 
 He caught up the fruits of his great victory and quickly 
 pressed forward until he had swept the imperialist general from 
 the theatre of war, and was now far away in the south of Ger- 
 many. Two years had not yet passed since he looked for the 
 last time on the towers of Stockholm, and he had already subdued 
 every enemy and threatened even Rome itself. The proud city 
 trembled lest the heretical Goth might once more sweep over the 
 Campanza with fire and sword. France was alarmed at his 
 triumphant march ; and Vienna, the capital of the vast empire 
 of Ferdinand, was within his grasp. It seemed as though he 
 would soon sit on the throne of the Caesars, and be the first 
 Protestant emperor. The house of Austria was thunderstruck. 
 Its once victorious legions had been driven from the field of 
 battle, and its ablest general had perished in the last battle. 
 Tilly, the renowned, was dead. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 253 
 
 And now, what can the emperor do? That something de- 
 cisive must be done was very clear. Gustavus was gaining power 
 every day. The princes were giving him their hands in alliance, 
 and the people were flocking to his standard. He had captivated 
 the hearts of all Germany and won to his favor the noblest men 
 of the age. The throne of Austria was tottering, the empire was 
 dismembered, and the "Lion of the North" was the master of 
 the scene. Something must be done. And what, pray, shall it 
 be? Ah, the haughty Wallenstein, the man of the stars must be 
 recalled. After much earnest entreaty, and an agreement which 
 clothed him with almost imperial power, he sounds the bugle call. 
 His old veterans hear the sound, and in a little while 40,000 men 
 rally round his green banner. The struggle is renewed. There 
 was again the old plunder and pillage and ruin. Wallenstein 
 was still the same strange, mysterious man and relentless foe. 
 He had not changed, neither had his hordes imbibed a better 
 spirit. Gustavus hastened to the rescue. He had long declared 
 that he would unearth Wallenstein; and the hour drew near. 
 He swept with rapid marches through forest and town and over 
 plain, and came upon his foe at Lutzen. For many months the 
 eyes of all Europe were fixed on these rival chiefs. Of all who 
 trod the fair fields of Germany, Wallenstein and Gustavus alone 
 seemed worthy of attention. These mighty men had now met, 
 and in one desperate battle were to decide the most vital question 
 of their time, aye, the most vital question for the coming ages. 
 
 There had been, in the course of the centuries, desperate 
 conflicts, involving the rise of nations and the downfall of 
 empires — mighty conflicts which brought millions of men on the 
 field of blood, and whose captains were the most famous war- 
 riors of the world. But the battle of Lutzen takes rank among 
 the most formidable ever fought under the sun. It was not a 
 struggle to gratify a vain ambition, nor for bare empire, but a 
 conflict for principles, those eternal principles of right and truth 
 which inhere in the constitution of man — the liberty of conscience 
 and the freedom of man as a rational being, so dear to every 
 human soul; principles for which our forefathers laid down 
 their lives in the struggle for independence. These principles 
 were the priceless issues at stake. 
 
254 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 And it was here, on this field of battle, that answer was to 
 be given whether these principles should maintain supremacy, or 
 whether the despotism of a papal hierarchy should prevail. 
 Around Gustavus hovered the spirit of evangelical truth and the 
 immortal good of the ages past. On his success rested the hopes 
 of all the coming generations, of the freemen of the world, the 
 existence of Protestantism and the better welfare of mankind. 
 
 If Wallenstein should conquer, the world must linger for 
 many a century under the gloom of the densest ignorance and 
 the darkest superstition. Lutzen was the death grapple in modern 
 times with the enemies of human progress ; on it hung the results 
 that in their far-reaching effects would go down to the latest day. 
 
 It was a cold November morning. A heavy mist hung over 
 the armies camped on the plain. All through the night there was 
 hurrying to and fro. Wallenstein's orderlies gathered in the 
 distant outposts. Gustavus was seated in his coach awake, wait- 
 ing for the appointed hour to begin the fight. The sun had risen 
 in full view. The command was given, and then there was 
 mounting in hot haste; the steed, the mustering squadron, and 
 the clattering car went pouring forth with impetuous speed, 
 swiftly forming in the ranks of war. 
 
 Gustavus knelt in prayer, and his soldiers chanted the battle 
 hymn composed by the king himself. He then mounted his horse. 
 His infantry rushed on to the foe, shouting amid the roar of the 
 cannon, "A mighty fortress is our God." Just then a body of 
 cavalry stopped their advance. "Charge the black horsemen !" 
 shouted Gustavus, and led his cavalry in the onset. But the 
 smoke descended, his horsemen retired, he was left alone ; his 
 arm was broken; he was wounded in the body; he fell to the 
 ground ; the enemy rushed upon him, stripped his body, and 
 pierced him with many wounds. Gustavus Adolphus was dead. 
 
 "Soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er; 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows no waking; 
 Dream of battlefields no more; 
 
 Days of danger, nights of waking; 
 Another hand thy sword shall wield, 
 
 Another hand thy standard wave, 
 Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
 
 The blast of triumph o'er thy grave." 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 255 
 
 Gustavus was dead, but on pressed the noble Swedes. The 
 hordes of Wallenstein give way. The soldiers of conscience rush 
 on like the irresistible avalanche. They sweep before them the 
 savage foe; they rout the serried ranks of desolation; they 
 conquer, even though their great captain is dead on the field ; and 
 Lutzen is the victory for liberty, humanity and God. 
 
 Gustavus was indeed the hero of the age. His name was 
 a ray of light to the oppressed of all nations. The lustre of his 
 virtues dazzled even the great ones of the earth. The Pope 
 recognized his power and said he was the greatest king in the 
 world; and even Wallenstein declared: "It is well for him and 
 me that he is gone ; the German empire does not require two 
 such leaders." While Ferdinand, when he learned the fact of 
 his death, shed tears, thus acknowledging the heroism of a 
 mighty foe. 
 
 Gustavus possessed the most brilliant qualities. He was a 
 genius, and in the military sphere takes rank with the greatest 
 captains of the world. Even Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon 
 were not greater than he. As a statesman he had no superior in 
 his day. More than a match was he for the crafty Richelieu. 
 He was in the truest sense unselfish. He remained true to his 
 mission. He fought for the eternal principles of right. He 
 saved Protestantism. 
 
 And if there is any man of the past two centuries to whom 
 this age of ours owes the deepest gratitude, it is to him who died 
 on the field of Lutzen, the hero of the Thirty Years' War. 
 
 All honor to the noble Swede who died for freedom, human- 
 ity and truth. The years shall not steal his praise. His deeds 
 live on ; his works survive ; his memory shall still be green in 
 the hearts of men when a thousand centuries shall have rolled 
 around. On that bloody and fatal field he has reared for him- 
 self a monument of heroism stronger than the hills, loftier than 
 the Alps, and more enduring than the pillars of our globe. The 
 cause for which he poured out his life went not down with him 
 in the fight. It rose in mighty triumph over the scenes of that 
 bloody day and has been marching onward through the centuries. 
 It is here today, this same cause of conscience and right, pressing 
 
256 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 on through the ranks of our modern Tillys and Wallensteins, 
 winning for itself fresh laurels in every conflict; and with ma- 
 jestic stride is pushing forward to the conquest of the world. 
 
 Some day the Author of this cause will call together the 
 heroes of his truth for coronation, and among them will stand 
 in loftiest bearing, Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of his age, the 
 savior of Protestantism, the defender of the faith. 
 
V 
 OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES 
 
V 
 OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES 
 
 THE SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL 
 
 An Address to a College Class 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 JT IS with unspeakable sadness that I rise to address you on 
 this occasion. But I must turn from personal feelings, and 
 enlist your attention in facts which pertain to the busy, struggling 
 world of mankind. We are quite near the closing year of the 
 nineteenth century — a century remarkable for radical change, 
 unsurpassed progress, and superior attainment. The achieve- 
 ments in politics, science and religion are the surprise of the 
 whole world.* 
 
 A third movement to which I wish to cite your attention is 
 that of a better recognition of the supremacy of the moral. It is 
 very gratifying that such is the fact. There have often been 
 times in the past when moral obligation was hissed from the 
 stage, and even quite recently, and perhaps to some extent even 
 now, the sentiment obtains in some circles that might makes 
 right. A vivid sense of moral principle seems to be lacking in 
 many minds. Indeed, the idea has of late been quite current that 
 fraud, dishonesty and corruption are entirely legitimate when 
 they are successful. All this involves, of course, a low estimate 
 of man. It in effect repudiates the truly moral, and reckons the 
 
 *NOTE — Here a number of pages are missing from Dr. Ort's manu- 
 script. This will account for the break in the thought. The reason for 
 the "unspeakable sadness" referred to in the opening sentence of this 
 address is nowhere indicated in Dr. Ort's manuscripts. — Editor. 
 
260 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 best motives for action to be those of sensuous gain. Under the 
 impulse of such conviction men never do the right because it is 
 right, but only from motives of expediency. Whenever selfish 
 interest demands that the claims of righteousness be set aside, 
 wrong is easily committed under the false notion that "whatever 
 is, is right." But the human creature, that creature who has a 
 moral nature just as surely as he has an intellectual and physical 
 being, and who thereby is capacitated for something inexpress- 
 ibly more than the highest possibilities of thought and extension, 
 this human creature can never drift away from the truth of his 
 being. He may imagine that he can, and for a while run a wild 
 reckless career ; but by and by the more excellent element of his 
 being will assert its supremacy, and demand submission to its 
 righteous authority. For a while men may strangle and repress 
 the moral, and even exclude it from their judgment and plans; 
 they may, in a bold and positive manner, treat it with contempt, 
 and maintain with a confident air that the sensuous and the 
 perishable constitute man's highest good ; but at last the recogni- 
 tion of moral principle, that principle which is independent of 
 times and places and changes, and is eternal, will force its way 
 into the rule of human conduct. 
 
 It is to be observed that the high disputes and contests be- 
 tween men have always been settled on moral grounds. The 
 great conflicts of the ages have been moral conflicts. The great 
 ideas for which men have battled to the death, and in whose 
 interest they have expended treasures and life, have been moral 
 ideas. Figure it as you may, the ethical, with its eternal principles 
 of the good and the right, evermore shows itself to be lord in the 
 realm of human experience and human history. 
 
 Hence, it is not surprising that now, in spite of the deter- 
 mined effort to relegate the claims of morality and obligation 
 to the rear, there should again be manifest the disposition to view 
 the questions of practical concern in the light of the principles 
 of moral truth. So it is. As evidence, I simply refer you to 
 the fact that earnest and vigorous discussion of the ethical is in 
 progress. This discussion is being conducted vigorously and per- 
 sistently by men of thoughtful temper. The attention of the 
 
The Supremacy of the Moral 261 
 
 public is being called away from matters of sheer material or 
 intellectual concern to that wider realm of abiding realities and 
 to those unchangeable principles of righteousness which have 
 their foundation in the constitution of moral being. A few years 
 ago we heard only of the natural. Men thought and talked only 
 about what we can see and handle. The highest good was said 
 to be in a nature of things, and the laws which govern men and 
 their ways, the laws of the natural world. 
 
 But all this has changed. A different view is beginning to 
 find expression. Thoughtful minds are showing a lively interest 
 in a greater subject than the world, and by their earnest expres- 
 sion are enlisting the attention of the public in the graver 
 questions of moral right, moral obligation, man's duty to society, 
 to the state, to his fellowmen, and to God. This clearly indicates 
 the trend of a movement whose influence will be felt as a mighty 
 moral power amidst all the relations of human life. The coming 
 issues will undoubtedly be moral questions. The basis for the 
 settlement of the disagreements among men, the disturbances in 
 the industrial world, and the correction of evils, social and 
 political, will be moral principle. On no other ground can a 
 righteous adjustment be made, and the highest welfare of the 
 people in all their varied associations be conserved. On this 
 foundation alone can right prevail, and the greatest good be 
 assured to all. Never despair of the final outcome of this world. 
 Wrong, it is true, at times is very daring and vaunts itself amaz- 
 ingly, but right is imperishable. It may for a while be pushed 
 into the background, or be put down, and the forces of evil sport 
 themselves in high glee before a dazed humanity; but be not 
 dismayed; conscience can never be killed. Sometime, somehow, 
 somewhere, it will rise up and come forth with old-time energy, 
 and clear the stage of human action for holier scenes and better. 
 It will again ascend the throne, and wield the sceptre of a 
 righteous dominion over the heart of man, over his life, over the 
 history he makes. It will reign with undisputed sway. It will 
 sit supreme over the deliberations of men in their social gather- 
 ings, over their dealings with one another, in their halls of legis- 
 lation, in their administrations of government, and in all the 
 works which they do. It will be the king. 
 
262 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 Men may laugh at the mere mention of moral principle ; they 
 may sneer and ridicule ; they may connive at moral wrong and cor- 
 ruption, and for a few dollars barter away justice, corrupt and 
 debauch the public mind, and familiarize the people, especially 
 the youth, with vice and crime; but the human conscience will 
 reassert its righteous demands, and in the exercise of its God- 
 given authority vindicate the eternal principles of righteousness, 
 and arouse men everywhere to battle against the foes of honor, 
 integrity, justice and purity. 
 
 Again the moral is moving to the front. Its firm and 
 heavy tread is awakening the drowsy, sleepy multitudes. It is 
 calling them to action, to high, noble, godlike action. Be not 
 impatient, nor think that there is no hope for a better day. The 
 forces of wrong, now rampant, cannot always prevail. The true, 
 the good, the right are not dead. They will yet stand in the 
 foreground of human action, and show themselves master over 
 the kingdom of man. Only be true to what you are. You have 
 conscience, an enlightened conscience. Follow its guide, obey its 
 dictates, dwell in its light. Always do the right. No matter 
 where you are, under whatsoever circumstances, do the right, 
 even though the heavens fall. Do the right, because it is the 
 right. Fling policy to the winds, and evermore act like creatures 
 who wear the moral image of their Great Original. Keep down 
 the selfish feeling, that little, miserable, contemptible spirit of 
 selfishness which is behind so much that curses the world. Keep 
 this down, and love thy neighbor as thyself. Live to make others 
 happier and better. Put yourselves in heartiest sympathy and 
 co-operation with charity, that charity "which suffereth long and 
 is kind, which vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not 
 behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily pro- 
 voked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth 
 in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things." 
 
 This is the life you ought to live. May that God, who has 
 kept you unto this day, keep guard over you in the coming years, 
 and guide you with His eye. 
 
WHY YOU ARE HERE 
 
 An Address at the Opening of the Seminary Year 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 MY desire today is to speak to you relative to your life in 
 this divinity school. What should that life be? 
 
 For one thing it should mean intense application to study. 
 To make use of a colloquialism, there is study and there is study. 
 However, that only is deserving the name which is characterized 
 by undivided attention of the mind to the subjects offered for 
 examination and thought ; and not only undivided, but prolonged, 
 constant application of the knowing powers. Without this, no 
 real, serviceable attainments in knowledge can be made. Under- 
 stand, you are here not merely to have minds crammed with a 
 lot of information and learning, and then to be sent out to deliver 
 it to the people from week to week in small quantities until the 
 stock is exhausted. You are not barrels to be filled. You are 
 young men with rational minds. You are not machines. While 
 it is true that in the acquisition of knowledge you are to be more 
 or less passive, it must never be overlooked that in the appropria- 
 tion of knowledge you must be intensely active. 
 
 Knowledge, whatever its character, is serviceable to you 
 only in so far as you make it over. This you do, first, by getting 
 a clear understanding of it, and, second, by putting it in the 
 mould of your own thought. Then it is no longer mine nor that 
 of my colleagues. It is positively yours, and is easily and always 
 at your service. 
 
 All this means that, in the getting of knowledge, you must 
 be persistently and intensely active in the exercise of your intel- 
 lectual powers. The instruction of your professors may in 
 itself be considered valuable, but it will prove to be of no special 
 value to you until you have thought it over and through for your- 
 
264 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 selves and thus made it your own possession in the truest and 
 highest sense. It will not be enough for you at last to be able 
 to recite what men of the past have thought, or men of the 
 present think, but you must be able to tell your fellowmen what 
 you think, what you know concerning the great and enduring 
 themes of Sacred Scripture. 
 
 Bear in mind that you are here to make theologians of your- 
 selves, and this you can do only by hard study. Perhaps it has 
 been hinted to you by some men out in the field that a minister 
 does not need to be a theologian in order to be a successful 
 preacher. They may have told you that it is altogether proper 
 for the schools, but has little place in the pulpit. It may have 
 been suggested to you by someone that a course in a Theological 
 Seminary is chiefly useful for the examination and licensure or 
 ordination, but beyond that it is of little service. And still 
 further, you may have been told that much of . what is studied 
 in the Seminary is of little account; then, as evidence, blandly 
 say, "Since my departure from these divinity halls, I never opened 
 my Hebrew Bible, my Greek Testament, my Church History or 
 Dogmatics. What the people want is the simple Gospel and not 
 theology. I want you to know that this is what I give my people 
 — the simple Gospel." And no doubt this is true, as is evidenced 
 by his frequent flitting from pastorate to pastorate. 
 
 I said that you are here to make theologians of yourselves. 
 I say this because it is the only way by which you can fitly 
 qualify yourselves to be competent ministers of the Word. In this 
 connection I cannot refrain from quoting an observation from 
 Dr. Henry B. Smith, one of the nation's greatest theologians. 
 He is speaking of the matter to which I have referred. First, 
 quoting the Apostle in his charge to Timothy, "Meditate on these 
 things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear 
 to all," Dr. Smith continues: "The Christian minister is called 
 to the very highest position as respects the solid essential of 
 teaching the human race. He must keep the highest place, or he 
 will not be able to keep any. And he can keep that place only 
 as he grasps the all-commanding subject which he is set to teach. 
 He must be a theologian or he will be nothing. Christian the- 
 
Why You Are Here 265 
 
 ology is the science of divine things, and it cannot be mastered 
 without profound study by day and by night. A minister is 
 bound to study this science. If he does not, there will come 
 times when sagacious men will say: 'His profession is but a 
 name; he is not fit for a crisis; he cannot answer an objection; 
 he does not really understand what he is preaching about;' and 
 they will go to someone else in important cases and questions 
 when they need the best advice. Whether a man has really 
 mastered his profession or not, will soon be found out. Some 
 ministers are not very eloquent or social — they may be even shy 
 and awkward, and those who go to Church for the sake of 
 sensations may call them tedious; but there they stand, year in 
 and year out, for half a century. They have mastered their work, 
 and men honor them for it. When a solid piece of work is to be 
 done, they do it. When time demands leaders, the very instinct 
 of the Church turns to them, and turns away from mere sensa- 
 tional preachers, who amuse vain and giddy people by talking 
 against the clear, sharp, scientific statements of the doctrines of 
 our faith." 
 
 Do not understand me to say that you should leave the Semi- 
 nary finished theologians. By no means. This is not possible. But 
 you are to make a beginning, to lay the foundation deep and 
 solid, and then in after years to prosecute the work of building 
 on this foundation an enduring superstructure, which will be the 
 development of Christian doctrine in your own thought. 
 
 For the accomplishment of this work, you will ever need 
 to employ as helps the studies in the curriculum of a theological 
 seminary. 
 
 But, specifically speaking, you are here to make of your- 
 selves Lutheran theologians. This means that you must be 
 industriously active in the study of the teachings of your own 
 Church, so that you will be able to defend the faith of your 
 Church and to teach the people correctly the Lutheran conception 
 of saving truth, as the most Scriptural view of the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Again, you should be intensely studious because of the 
 present-day state of religious thinking. The very bulwarks of 
 
266 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 the Christian faith are being assailed; the foundation of the 
 Gospel is being undermined; a new Christianity, destitute of 
 the fundamental truths of the religion of Peter and Paul, is now 
 being delivered to the world under the authority of the so-called 
 advanced scholarship of the age. With the liberalism of the 
 day you must thoroughly acquaint yourselves in all its bearings, 
 and at the same time you must thoroughly familiarize yourselves 
 with the grounds of orthodox belief, and with the belief itself. 
 All this will require long and patient study, investigation and 
 research. 
 
 But for this you are here. This is now your business. Side 
 affairs must be kept entirely subordinate. One thing you are 
 now to do, and that is study, study. The Church that needs you, 
 the age that is bewildered in a fog of uncertainty, alike appeal 
 to you as candidates for the ministry of reconciliation, to be 
 diligent, faithful, earnest in your preparation that you may be 
 workmen who need not be ashamed, and who will rightly teach the 
 truth which the people need to know. 
 
 Again, your life in the seminary should be a life of spiritual 
 growth. The true theologian must be a Christian man. The 
 truth with which he deals is Christian truth. The deep and 
 certain apprehension of this truth can be gained only through 
 the enlightening presence of the Holy Spirit, whose power be- 
 comes more largely manifest as we grow in grace and in the 
 knowledge of God. 
 
 Further, spiritual growth means the getting of more power 
 which is not of man, nor by man, but by the Spirit of God. 
 This, no doubt, is what you want. I am sure it is what you need 
 — the power that is to be found only in the life of Christ in you. 
 Mere intellectual understanding may be sufficient for the world 
 and worldly affairs, but it will not prove sufficient in the great 
 work of the Kingdom of God in which you propose to be en- 
 gaged. It is the power of Christ, the power of His Spirit, the 
 power which the Christian who is much in communion with God 
 possesses ; that you need, and will need of its fullness more and 
 more. While you attend to the development of your brain power, 
 and the getting of understanding, you can in nowise afford to 
 
Why You Are Here 267 
 
 neglect your hearts. Here, at last, is the seat of strength and 
 power both with God and man. These you must have if you 
 would make full proof of your ministry. 
 
 While, therefore, on the one hand, you devote yourselves to 
 intellectual pursuit, be sure also to attend most carefully to the 
 development of your spiritual energies, in order that you may 
 indeed be men of God and be able to wield a power of which 
 the natural man is altogether destitute. This means that you 
 will daily spend some time in private devotion. Be much in 
 company with your Lord and Savior. Yes, pray without ceasing, 
 and meditate much on the great and precious teachings of the 
 Gospel. Thus will you come to have more and more the mind of 
 Christ and the fullness of His life. This will be to you an ever 
 increasing power, a power that is influential with God and over 
 men. This possession you certainly need to be truly great 
 preachers of the Gospel of the Lord. For this reason I declare 
 that your student life in the Seminary should be eminently 
 characterized by spiritual growth. 
 
 In this connection I must remark that your life here should 
 be marked by unreserved consecration of yourselves, your 
 energies, your strength, your all, to the calling of your choice, 
 the ministry of the Gospel. Be assured that in no calling can the 
 divided man be successful. In that of the ministry this is 
 especially true. The getting of all of yourselves wholly into the 
 Gospel ministry, so that when you go out from these halls you 
 will be men for God in the highest sense, is of chief est importance. 
 You should know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 
 You dare not be entangled with the affairs of this life. The 
 enlistment of your whole life in the ministerial vocation should 
 begin now, and be continued throughout your Seminary course, 
 so that, when you enter on the practice of its duties, you will 
 have only one mind — that of being true ambassadors of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Finally, be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving. 
 Avoid the mere thought of being discourteous, unfriendly or hurt- 
 ful to any of your fellow-students. Ever seek one another's good. 
 Help one another. Never seek to advance your individual 
 
268 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 interest at the expense of your Christian brother, and this, too, 
 with the hypocritical pretense that you are working for the Lord 
 and His Church. 
 
 Be true Christian men in all your relations here, active in 
 some good work, striving constantly in every possible way to 
 school yourselves for the greatest calling in human life. Aim 
 to be examples of noble Christian living to all with whom you 
 come in contact, and before the student body of this institution. 
 Show yourselves at all times and everywhere to be men who 
 walk with God. 
 
 By so doing you will make your student life in this Seminary 
 of priceless value to yourselves, and will come to the practice of 
 your calling equipped in every way to prove yourselves workmen 
 who need not be ashamed. May the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ bestow on you abundantly His grace! 
 
YOUR LIFE PLAN 
 
 An Address at the Opening of the Seminary Year 
 My Young Friends: 
 
 WE have great reason for devout thankfulness to Almighty 
 God. Through His favoring grace we are in this place, 
 this school of the prophets. Some of you are here for the first 
 time, others in continuance of a course of study previously begun. 
 All of you are enlisted in the same cause, and purpose doing the 
 same great and precious work. 
 
 It falls to my lot to address you on the occasion of the 
 opening of this Seminary year. In the performance of my duty 
 I shall aim to direct your serious attention to a very practical, 
 and for you a most vital, matter. 
 
 Before doing so, however, I wish to make an observation 
 or two on the aspects of religious thought and belief which are 
 current in our time. It is with the religious that we have espec- 
 ially to deal in this school. Our investigations are of the the- 
 ological order. We have a positive and well-defined view of 
 Scripture teaching, in perfect harmony with the Confession of 
 the Evangelical Church of the centuries, and in strict accord with 
 the apprehension of the Divine Word maintained by the Church 
 of the Reformation. This view it is our business as teachers 
 to exhibit to you, while it is your duty, under the advantages 
 offered, to acquire a sound and thorough knowledge of the body 
 of doctrine which it embraces. At the same time we would have 
 you know what is the drift of religious thought and belief 
 characteristic of the age in which you live. 
 
 We hear much in these days about the Church having lost 
 her power and commanding position ; that she has sunk into a 
 state of decadence ; that the old Christianity has been supplanted 
 by a new Gospel, and that the religion of the fathers has been 
 
270 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 outlived. We have reached an age of new realities, an age of 
 broadcast learning, advanced scholarship, scientific and literary 
 culture. The old is worn out, no longer serviceable, narrow, 
 inconsistent with the wisdom of this late age. There must be 
 new bottles for the new wine ; that is, traditional Christian doc- 
 trine both as to form and content must be set aside. A revision of 
 religious belief is demanded by the intelligence of the day. Up- 
 to-date statements of Christian doctrine are required by present- 
 day progress and development. The new age must have a new 
 religion — new especially in this, that it either minimizes the real 
 presence of the supernatural and miraculous in the life and 
 history of man, or, which is perhaps nearer the truth, disallows 
 this presence altogether. 
 
 The theory of naturalism, which is to the effect that all 
 realities in the religious as well as in the secular sphere are 
 explainable only in the light of the operations of natural energy 
 — this theory assails the fundamentals of the Christian religion, 
 such as the existence of a personal, triune God, the incarnation, 
 the vicarious atonement, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
 In fact, naturalism, in its last analysis, rejects entirely Christianity 
 as a supernatural religion, a revelation of the eternal, personal 
 God in the reality of His being and in His relation to the universe. 
 While it has appeared in times past as idealistic pantheism, and 
 now assumes in popular way the form of materialistic pantheism, 
 still, in the end, it is to be known simply as pantheism, which 
 repudiates the substantial reality of both matter and spirit, 
 teaches that God is the infinite nothing, and that the universe is 
 this deity in process of an eternal evolution. Its fundamental 
 error consists in this, that it positively rejects all real distinction 
 between God and the universe. It has no place in its scheme 
 for eternal personality. This it claims is a limitation, hence 
 inconsistent with the idea of the Absolute. The God of Panthe- 
 ism is, therefore, neither eternally self-conscious nor self-de- 
 termining. It is the impersonal, and in all its movements is 
 constrained by the law of necessity. 
 
 This doctrine of an impersonal God is showing its influence 
 in some tendencies of the present day, manifest in the social 
 
Your Life Plan 271 
 
 and industrial spheres. It is obvious that just now individual 
 personality is much belittled, and often ignored. 
 
 If you ask "Why?" a true answer can be found in the 
 teachings of present-day naturalism, which knows no personal 
 God, and hence has no proper conception of the personality of 
 the individual man. Pantheism is religious, even devoutly so. 
 Nevertheless, it is anti-Christian. In the final analysis there 
 are found only two systems of religious belief, Pantheism and 
 Christianity. 
 
 Again, we often hear the cry, "Back to Christ." This im- 
 plies that in the course of religious thought there has been a 
 wandering away from Christian truth. There needs to be a 
 return to the original teaching. We must betake ourselves to 
 Christ. We must abandon the exhibitions of Christian doctrines 
 by Christian minds of the past centuries as misleading, unfaithful, 
 a mixture of philosophy and religion. All confessions and creeds 
 must be laid aside ; all developments of Christian doctrine, all 
 theologies, even the doctrinal discussions of Paul must be passed 
 by. Religion and philosophy must be divorced; theology and 
 metaphysics separated. In short, the Christian mind must begin 
 anew by going back to Christ, and then, by a most careful ex- 
 clusion of all elements pertaining to the human reason, develop 
 a system of Christian doctrine which will exhibit the principles 
 of Christianity in perfect purity. 
 
 This is the theory advanced by Ritschl, Herrmann and others. 
 It is known as the Neo-Kantian movement in the theology of 
 the nineteenth century. It is from this movement that so much 
 harsh criticism of the old theology has arisen. It has gone out 
 from Germany to the thinking world. In this country it has 
 taken on the form of what is known as liberalism. 
 
 It should be said that, notwithstanding the severe censure 
 which advocates of this new theology lay on Christian dogma, 
 because, as is charged, of its philosophical cast; yet their ex- 
 hibitions of the teachings of the Word of God are remarkable 
 in that they proceed from the metaphysical view-point. They 
 have by no means succeeded in avoiding the very fault which 
 they charge against the theology of the Church. Christian 
 
272 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 thought must have forms of expression. These forms must come 
 from the source of all forms of expressions for man, the human 
 reason. Reason furnishes the forms ; the revelation of God in 
 Jesus Christ the content for these forms, so far as Christian 
 theology is concerned. Just as the revelation of God in nature 
 furnishes the content for natural theology. 
 
 Once more, we hear much in our day about criticism of the 
 Bible. "Higher Criticism" it is called. By this is meant historic, 
 literary criticism as distinguished from lower criticism. Higher 
 criticism raises the questions : "Who wrote the books of the 
 Bible? Are they compilations, revisions, or redactions of pre- 
 existing documents ? Is the traditional view concerning the for- 
 mation of the Sacred Scriptures correct? Was the Pentateuch 
 produced in the time of Moses and under his supervision ? Were 
 there two Isaiahs? Is the book of Jonah a record of fact? Is 
 the Genesis account of Creation, the temptation in the Garden, 
 the flood, real history or mere myth? Was there an individual 
 man called Abraham? What is to be done with the disagree- 
 ments in the historical books of the Bible? In short, is not the 
 Old Testament a late production, appearing, as we now have it, 
 about two hundred and fifty years before Christ, and edited from 
 documents of various sources, many of them setting forth crude 
 religious ideas of peoples long ago extinct? Is it not, after all, 
 a human book containing some truth, divine truth, but mixed 
 with much error, historical, ethical and religious ?" 
 
 These are the questions about which Higher Criticism con- 
 cerns itself, and which, in the extreme form, it answers in such 
 a way as to lead to the conclusion that the Bible must be rejected 
 as the record of divine revelation given by inspiration. It is, in 
 fact, an application of the theory of naturalism to the formation 
 of the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
 The results of conservative Higher Criticism are not de- 
 structive, but are consistent with the belief of the Church of all 
 ages, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are 
 the Word of God. I have mentioned these theories and move- 
 ments in the theological world so that I might say to you as 
 divinity students that you owe it to yourselves, and to the Church 
 
Your Life Plan 273 
 
 whose ministers you propose to be, to study and investigate 
 thoroughly these theories and movements in your time, in all 
 their bearings, so that you may have a clear understanding of 
 them in their nature and in their tendencies, and thus become 
 immovably grounded in the conviction of the evangelical and 
 orthodox faith, that the Holy Bible is not the work of man, but 
 in deed and in truth the Word of God. 
 
 This, I take it, is the true view. The individuality and 
 freedom of the inspired writers were not set aside, but were 
 maintained in their integrity, and therefore the production of 
 these Scriptures occurred through the union of the natural and 
 the supernatural, the divine and the human. Properly speaking, 
 the Bible is a divine-human book, giving us infallibly the revela- 
 tion of eternal love for the redemption of the human race, lost 
 and perishing in sin. In this connection you should firmly and 
 intelligently establish yourselves, so that when the winds of con- 
 trary doctrine blow around and against you, you may not be 
 torn from the safe moorings of evangelical belief and set adrift 
 on the sea of doubt, if not of downright unbelief, which, un- 
 fortunately, has been the case with not a few persons of our time. 
 If you cannot go out from this Seminary with the clear con- 
 viction that our Scriptures are the divinely inspired Word of 
 God ; if you should have misgivings on this point and be inclined 
 to lean toward the liberalism of the day, then I must say to you, 
 "Halt ! Don't go that way !" It will only be another case of 
 the blind leading the blind, and both will fall into the ditch. 
 
 By what authority can you speak words of life to those 
 who are without life? If only by human wisdom, your teaching 
 and preaching will only be that of vain philosophy, which begins 
 in doubt, moves in doubt, and passes away in doubt. 
 
 And now, my young friends, I pass on to say a few words 
 on a subject which concerns you in a very special way. You 
 are now in the Theological Seminary. You are certainly here 
 by force of very high reason. It is to be presumed that you 
 have a positive and well defined end in view ; that you have 
 made a far-reaching decision ; that you have formed a life plan, 
 and that this plan is the Gospel ministry. It is not to be thought 
 
274 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 that you are still in doubt as to your life work, or that you have 
 come here to see how you might enjoy the ministerial profession, 
 should you finally determine to make this the pursuit of your 
 life, or that you have only decided to be ministers of the Word 
 provided nothing else more inviting and promising greater 
 worldly comfort be available. We are not to believe that you 
 have no deep and abiding conviction on this matter, but have a 
 settled purpose to preach the Gospel, and that this purpose you 
 propose to maintain against all the beguiling offers of this world 
 and the persuasions of the natural man. 
 
 I must say that you have chosen wisely and well. The 
 Gospel ministry has its distinctive characteristics. It is a divine 
 calling. It is not of man, but of God. It is, in a specific sense, 
 the high calling of God. It has to do with the highest, truest, 
 and most enduring relation, namely, union with God in Christ, 
 brought about through the mediatorial work of the Son of God, 
 and realized in the human soul by the operations of divine grace. 
 It is the ministry of reconciliation between heaven and earth. 
 No other calling is equal to it. It is pre-eminent. And this 
 calling you have made your life plan. Noblest choice! Most 
 fortunate election! Thereby you have placed yourselves in a 
 sphere far above sheer secular pursuit, and devoted the powers 
 of your life to the most sacred work possible among men. 
 
 The successful execution of this plan, this is the matter of 
 chief est moment with you. How can it be accomplished? 
 
 I answer, first, by making this plan, in the highest sense, 
 the growing purpose of your whole life. All else must be held 
 subordinate. No matter what worldly disadvantages may occur 
 in your history, what self denials and sacrifices may be ex- 
 perienced, what difficulties and discouragements may confront 
 you, do not be daunted or turned aside. Remember that your 
 life plan, young men, can never be realized except as you make 
 it the growing purpose of all your activities. 
 
 And this brings me to say, for another thing, that the suc- 
 cessful execution of your life plan depends on the most diligent, 
 careful and comprehensive preparation of head and heart. The 
 first is secured by study, faithful, persistent study, extensive 
 
Your Life Plan 275 
 
 reading and sincere thought; or, briefly, attention to thinking. 
 The second, namely, preparation of heart, is secured by constant 
 reading of the Scriptures, sacred meditation, and daily com- 
 munion with God. Power is the possession you need successfully 
 to carry out your life choice — intellectual power supported 
 and enlivened by spiritual power. With such preparation you 
 can hope to achieve both joy and success in your chosen calling.* 
 
 And now let us entreat you to cherish a firm purpose to 
 remain settled in the Gospel ministry, and permit no worldly 
 temptations to draw you from it. Some men have entered this 
 vocation, but soon have become weary in well doing. The world 
 has stolen their hearts, and chilled their interest in divine things ; 
 and so, because of a desire to gain and hoard the goods of time, 
 their life plan of the Gospel ministry was given up. Sad to 
 say, it ceased to be the governing purpose of their life ; perhaps 
 chiefly for the reason that it never in the truest sense was made 
 their governing purpose. It was, after all, only a desultory 
 resolution, and a desultory volition never wins the most enduring 
 success. 
 
 Be assured, young men, if you prosecute the calling of the 
 Gospel ministry with zeal and devotion, you will not fail, but 
 will, on the contrary, achieve a success which will be a blessing 
 to many precious souls, and an abiding joy to your own heart. 
 ■Be ambitious above everything else to make of yourselves min- 
 isters of Christ, who "need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the 
 Word of truth." 
 
 *At this point, a portion of the manuscript is missing, and so, as 
 best we could, we have had to supply the hiatus, which runs to the word 
 "interest" in the next paragraph. — Editor. 
 
CURRENT THOUGHT— SCIENTIFIC 
 AND ETHICAL 
 
 An Annual Address Before the Ohio Teachers' Association 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 MY subject this evening is, "Current Thought, Scientific and 
 Ethical." I deem it wise that we as students and edu- 
 cators should have a clear understanding of the prevailing thought 
 of our time. There is no other idea that enters so largely into 
 the thinking and living of the present. It engages the attention 
 of the theologian, the lawyer, the physician, the teacher, and 
 shapes the convictions of the general reader. It is expounded 
 in text-books, discussed in magazines, preached from the rostrum, 
 taught in the school-room. It is the index of the times ; the 
 sample of that lively, bustling spirit which marks the age. It 
 is the mighty power which stirs the energies of men into play, 
 builds the factory, makes the machine, rushes commerce over 
 the land and across the sea, opens to our sight the treasures of 
 the earth and reveals the wonders of space. 
 
 The thought of today stands out distinct from the thought 
 of any preceding age. This distinction, however, is not grounded 
 on a difference in the questions handled. In all periods of the 
 world's history human thought has been concerned about the 
 same great inquiries. Long ago men worried their brains pre- 
 cisely as they are doing now with the queries, "Whence ? What ? 
 Whither?" While every age has its own peculiar thought, still 
 the diversity is not so much in the questions to be solved as in 
 the methods used and the solutions proposed. On the one hand, 
 the subjects are the same; on the other, the ways of viewing 
 them are diverse, the one class being speculative, the other largely 
 experimental. 
 
Current Thought — Scientific and Ethical 277 
 
 Two points claim attention: First, the aim of current 
 thought; second, its tendency. 
 
 In the outset of my remarks it may be proper to state that I 
 mean to look at the thought of today as a whole rather than 
 discuss its several departments in detail. If you wished to 
 ascertain the outline of the North American continent and its bear- 
 ings, the readiest mode of study would be by means of a terres- 
 trial globe, on which at a glance could be seen the figure of all 
 lands and seas and their several relations. But if you desired to 
 acquaint yourself with the geography of Ohio, then, instead of a 
 globe, a map would be the most serviceable to use. Since it is not 
 any special state of knowledge, but the whole continent that I 
 desire to present to view, attention is called not to any particular 
 field, but to the entire territory known as the science of nature. 
 
 The world around us, of which we form a part, has always 
 been an object of interest to the human mind. Even in the 
 earliest ages man looked upon nature with the deepest concern. 
 He realized himself to be in the midst of an abiding presence. 
 Beyond its scope he found it impossible to go, and soon learned 
 that with its forces he must constantly grapple. Thus situated, 
 one might suppose that he would speedily inform himself with 
 respect to the character of the company amid which he had been 
 placed, and, in a great measure at least, make it obedient to his 
 will. On the contrary, however, he seems to have been content 
 with a mere superficial knowledge of things, and at the same 
 time to think of nature as the profound mystery whose secrets 
 are to be learned by the gods and not by men. Natural 
 knowledge, consequently, during the remote ages never advanced 
 beyond the ruder stage of intellectual acquirements. Whatever 
 inquiries were started or attempts were made to possess the 
 better understanding of the more familiar facts, yet mans 
 acquaintance with the elements of things and the laws of their 
 ongoing continued as of old, the same simple, narrow, childish 
 knowledge of the natural world. Forced to give some heed to 
 the objects with which he came in daily contact, and on which 
 he was dependent for the extension of his life, still, rather than 
 take them in hand, penetrate them, or break them in pieces, to 
 
278 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 learn somewhat of their real constitution, he chose to keep aloof 
 as far as possible from them, scarcely venturing even to lay his 
 fingers on these ever-present and interesting objects. Instead 
 of appearing to him like a mighty object or instrument over 
 which he should learn to play the master, nature, in his vision, 
 seemed a great sanctuary, sacred to the immortals, and forbidden 
 to human touch; where all must walk with uncovered heads, 
 and reverently listen to its oracles. Content with enough to eat 
 and wear, he went on in his usual way, amusing himself with 
 the creation of an ideal world, passing his time with empty dis- 
 cussions of what might be, or trying to settle the great questions 
 of human life by the invention of various philosophies. 
 
 Different schools, in course of time, came into existence, 
 each aiming to answer the earnest inquiries of the human soul, 
 and professing to tell man how he should live, and what sort of 
 intercourse he should hold with the surrounding world. Amid 
 the conflict of opinions, nature still passed before the gaze of 
 men, the same mysterious something it had been to the race in 
 its infancy. Bald abstractions became the incessant rage. Men 
 thought long and hard ; they reasoned boldly and well, and yet 
 man was forced to jog on, just as his fathers for ages before 
 had done. Nature still held firmly in her grasp the secrets 
 whose possession would enable man to take the strides of a giant, 
 and use these wild unbridled forces as swiftest steeds to bear 
 him up the slopes of progress, even to the most commanding 
 heights. 
 
 The scientific investigations of olden times designed the 
 construction of a universe according to abstract ideas, and in this 
 way proposed to determine what nature is. But the philosophers 
 understood as little about the great universe around them after 
 their prodigious work was completed as when they began. The 
 world with which they had made themselves familiar was not 
 the active, real world, against which we knock at every step. 
 
 Thus, while the thinking of the Middle Ages was not abso- 
 lutely empty, and has worked results in the domain of truth 
 that are valuable, still it has failed as a system of thought to 
 enlarge and improve the sphere of natural knowledge. It re- 
 
Current Thought — Scientific and Ethical 279 
 
 mained for the new philosophy which has explained it as we 
 have it today, to call back the minds of men from their ex- 
 cursions into the territory of speculation, and instruct them to 
 explore the vast, fruitful field of nature. This new philosophy 
 differs from the old in the manner by which it proposes to enlarge 
 man's knowledge of the natural world. The old philosophy con- 
 tented itself with the handling of abstract propositions. These 
 it tossed about much as the juggler does his balls, or used them 
 as one would use bits of glass in a kaleidoscope, merely to show 
 how many combinations in different shapes can be made. 
 
 But the new philosophy, instead of trying to squeeze some 
 knowledge out of mental gymnastics, goes down into the natural, 
 takes up one fact and then another, makes special note of the 
 phenomena in their constant flow, pries into the reason for things, 
 and seeks to ascertain their most intricate relations. The key 
 which it employs to unlock the doors that shut in the secrets 
 of nature is not some fine abstraction, but a process at once plain 
 and readily put into use. It seizes a fact and proceeds to divide 
 it into its parts. There is no doubt that, even without the aid 
 of analysis, the mind may know a fact, but its knowledge of 
 this could only be a knowledge of something which is, in short, 
 a knowledge of bare existence. What the fact is in itself, its 
 inner nature, whether simple or complex, and what its elements 
 — all such knowledge would yet be outside of its possession. 
 Only after the fact in hand is cleaved asunder and revealed in 
 its constituent elements, does the mind know, not simply that 
 the fact is, but what it is. This latter kind of knowledge, then, 
 is knowledge additional to that previously possessed — a veritable 
 insight into the make-up of something which actually is. The 
 new philosophy, therefore, moving along the highways of 
 observation and experiment by means of analysis, reveals to man 
 a fund of knowledge of which he has been much in need, and 
 whereby he can go forward from consequent to consequent, until 
 he shall have gained an actual supremacy over the natural powers. 
 At the same time it acquaints him, not only with the constitution 
 of facts, but also with their several relations ; shows how one is 
 dependent on the other; how one issues from the other; why 
 
280 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 one precedes and another follows; according to what laws the 
 ceaseless changes in nature are going on, the planets move, the 
 tides have their ceaseless ebb and flow, shadows cross the sun 
 and moon, and a thousand other movements in the outer world. 
 It seeks to trace phenomena to their sources, and thus determine 
 what are the efficient agents which move the vast and com- 
 plicated machinery of the globe. 
 
 The new philosophy, it can at once be perceived, opens to 
 the human mind a fresh track of research and investigation, and 
 familiarizes man, in a more satisfactory and useful way, with 
 the world in which he moves. It suggests to him the superior 
 wisdom of first grasping the particular, and then ascending to the 
 general; first resolving the mechanism of the universe into the 
 varied parts and then fitting them together, thus exposing the 
 great principles and mighty forces by which the Master Architect 
 shapes and manages the kingdom of matter. 
 
 Another has fitly said: "Whether it be a consequence of 
 long-continued development, or an endowment conferred once 
 for all on man at his creation, we find him gifted with a mind 
 curious to know the causes of things, and surrounded by objects 
 which excite the questionings and raise the desire for an ex- 
 planation." 
 
 It is related of a young prince of one of the Pacific islands 
 that, when he first saw himself in a looking glass, he ran around 
 the glass to see at whom he was looking. So it is with the 
 human intellect in general as regards the phenomena of an ex- 
 ternal world. It wishes to get behind and learn the causes and 
 connections of these phenomena. What is the sun? What is 
 the earth? What should we see if we came to the edge of the 
 earth and looked over? What is the meaning of thunder and 
 lightning, of hail, rain and snow? These and a thousand other 
 inquiries the new philosophy labors to explain by searching out 
 their cause, and thus designs to give man a reasonable insight 
 into the strange, though common, facts of natural life, as well 
 as the successive changes and regular motions of the planets 
 and their central guide. 
 
 The new philosophy plainly recognizes the truth that a most 
 
Current Thought — Scientific and Ethical 281 
 
 proper study for man is the world in which he lives ; that 
 nature exists for man, and that his material progress is, on the 
 one hand, crippled by ignorance of natural things, and on the 
 other, hastened forward by a sound acquaintance with the objects 
 of touch and sight. A first and prominent aim, therefore, which 
 this system of thought has in view is to improve and enlarge 
 man's knowledge of the natural world. The thought of today 
 in its scientific aspect examines nature, not for nature's sake, 
 for this would be absolutely foolish, but for man's sake. It 
 means to put into his possession the precious treasures of knowl- 
 edge infolded in natural things, to teach him how to handle the 
 objects constantly under his eye, and to stimulate his intellect 
 to definite and practical effort. It assays to be the faithful 
 interpreter of nature in order that man, the superior organism 
 of the universe, may learn how to deport himself in the wisest 
 manner amid the sportings of eternal phenomena, and make his 
 way most speedily to that consummation for which he is destined 
 by natural law. As the expounder of facts, it claims to include 
 all the knowledge which can concern the human mind. The 
 high purpose of its effort, therefore, is to impart this needful 
 knowledge. And this education it deems the pearl of greatest 
 price. How to live is the essential question. The general 
 problem, as one says, which comprehends every special problem, 
 is the right ruling of conduct in all directions and under all 
 circumstances ; how to treat the body ; how to treat the mind ; 
 how to manage our affairs ; how to bring up a family ; how to 
 behave as a citizen ; how to utilize all those sources of happiness 
 which nature supplies ; how to use all our faculties to the 
 greatest advantage to ourselves and to others ; how to live com- 
 pletely. This being the greatest thing needful for us to learn 
 is by consequence the greatest thing which the thought of today, 
 in affording broader natural knowledge, designs to teach. 
 
 It at once proceeds to gather up the results of thorough 
 experiment and special observation, and to make deductions with 
 reference to the every-day life of man, and by this means seeks 
 to find the basis for all reciprocal duties and the leading motive 
 for action. 
 
AGNOSKO— I DON'T KNOW 
 
 Gentlemen of the Literary Club: 
 
 I VENTURE to invite your attention to a most profound 
 subject. It is the chiefest of all subjects. The affirmation, 
 "I don't know," denotes a living question. It is the problem of 
 the ages, the endless study. The human mind has ever been busy 
 to find a clear and definite solution. It has pressed into service 
 every agency of its knowledge — science, philosophy and theology. 
 And yet today it is both certain and uncertain. It knows and 
 it does not know. Assertion and counter-assertion are pitted 
 one against the other in our own time as before. The conflict 
 of judgment still goes on and is more intense, I am of the opinion, 
 than previously. In all probability it will continue down through 
 the ages unto the last day. The vigorous and profound dis- 
 cussion of this age will no more finally determine the issue than 
 that of past times. One thing, however, it will do, and of this 
 we should be quite observant : it will settle the question for our- 
 selves. This is the most that any age can do, namely, solve to 
 its own satisfaction the problem raised. 
 
 And what is the problem of highest moment before the 
 present generation, the problem that will absorb the acutest 
 thought of the twentieth century? I answer, the problem of 
 human knowledge. It is not entirely new or peculiar to our day. 
 In divers forms it is a long-time question — as to substance ever 
 the same, as to mode intensely variable. 
 
 During the ancient period of human thought the leading 
 inquiry was, "What do I konw?" In modern times, the search- 
 ing question is, 'What can I know?" Three subjects, and only 
 three, concerning which we exercise our knowing powers are 
 given ; God, man and the natural universe. I can and do know 
 positively, nature. I can and do know positively, man. Can and 
 do I have true knowledge of God? In short, is God knowable 
 by me? 
 
Agnosko — / Don't Know 283 
 
 What is it to know? An answer given is, to be conscious 
 of an object. How does this consciousness arise? Through 
 contact of myself with that which is object to myself. By means 
 of this contact there results a union of self with that which is 
 over against self — a finding out of something as object, together 
 with another thing as subject. In other words, the unity of 
 conscious mind with the material given for knowledge, this is 
 knowledge. No knowledge without an object; no knowledge 
 without a subject. The two taken together, subject and object, 
 constitute knowledge. In this unity of subject and object there 
 is a positive knowing of the object by the subject, not of the 
 object as it is by itself, but under the conditions according to 
 which the mind acts in the process of knowledge. Human knowl- 
 edge, consequently, is knowledge of the relative only. 
 
 Accordingly, it is maintained by some that the thinkable 
 alone is the knowable. The thinkable is the relative. Hence 
 only the relative is knowable. This means, according to the 
 theory of some, that man and the natural world alone are sub- 
 jects of our knowledge. God, since He is absolute Being, is 
 not only unknown, but the unknowable. The claim put forth and 
 emphasized is that the unconditioned, the infinite, is beyond the 
 range of possible human knowledge. This is Agnosticism; and 
 the advocates of the theory are called Agnostics. This class of 
 thinkers is not confined to any particular order of men. The 
 Agnostic in his belief is not always a skeptic or an infidel. He 
 is here a leading Churchman, there a Christian philosopher, as 
 well as a disbelieving scientist or a thorough-going man of the 
 world. Agnostics are in the Church as well as outside ; they are 
 religious as well as non-religious. On the possibilities of human 
 knowledge they agree with one exception, namely, that of know- 
 ing the absolute, the infinite, the eternal, in short, the Being 
 independent of the limitations of the universe — of this existence 
 they with one accord maintain it is impossible to know anything 
 positively, adequately. 
 
 Agnosticism, hence, is the philosophy of the limits of human 
 thought. If God exists, we cannot know Him; if He does not 
 exist, of course the impossibility is the same. The final result 
 
284 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 is to shut ourselves within the boundaries of the natural, and 
 the problem of inquiry becomes in the end the problem concern- 
 ing man. What is he ? Is he the product altogether of natural 
 forces working through an endless process of evolution, or the 
 workmanship of an eternal, personal God whom we know and 
 in whom we believe? 
 
 The question before us, let it be carefully noted, is the 
 problem of human understanding. On this point, for one thing, 
 the view has been set forth that all our knowledge is derived from 
 experience. "There is nothing in the intellect which was not 
 previously in the sense," is the dictum of the long-famed phi- 
 losophy of Sensationalism, whose first apostle in modern times 
 was John Locke. Sensations are the prime elements of our 
 knowledge, and out of these are manufactured all complex ideas. 
 Knowledge in consciousness is, hence, knowledge only of appear- 
 ance. Such was the teaching of David Hume, who said, "For 
 my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, 
 I always stumble on some particular perception or other of heat 
 or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never 
 can catch myself without a perception, and never can observe 
 anything but the perception. In truth mankind are nothing but 
 a bundle of different perceptions which succeed each other with 
 inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux." 
 
 In this deliverance of David Hume is given a philosophy of 
 human consciousness which confines all possible knowledge to 
 mere appearance. Phenomena are all we know. Even self, of 
 which we so often speak, is only a collection of sensations. This 
 is the only reality we cognize. Beyond this is the region of the 
 eternally unknown. Phenomena alone are ever in consciousness. 
 Beyond these we know nothing. The Humist, if asked whether 
 mind or matter or the supernatural exists as reality, answers, 
 "I don't know." Behind these appearances of the sense some- 
 thing is, but what it is I cannot tell. It is beyond the possibility 
 of my knowing powers to determine. The known and knowable 
 absolute of this philosophy is the totality of world phenomena. 
 Of the infinite existence behind the phenomena it knows nothing 
 whatsoever. It is an Agnostic. 
 
Agnosko — / Don't Know 285 
 
 In harmony with the foregoing theory of knowledge is the 
 critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Both agree that our 
 understanding is of the phenomenal only. They differ in the 
 view taken of the factors which enter into the constitution of our 
 knowledge. For instance, Sensationalism teaches that percep- 
 tions consist simply of impressions as received. The critical 
 philosophy, on the other hand, insists that every phenomenon 
 consists of two elements, matter and form. The latter, namely, 
 the form, is that which the mind contributes. But the matter 
 of a thing is always conditioned by the plan of it, which is the 
 form, or, as Plato says, the idea. Hence every fact or phe- 
 nomenon appearing in consciousness is determined to be as it 
 appears, not by that which is external to the mind, but by that 
 which belongs to the mind itself. Consequently our perceptions 
 of things are not perceptions of the things as they are independent 
 of the forms which the mind imposes on them. They are in 
 consciousness, and it is there only that we know them under 
 limitations. They are conditioned by that which pertains to the 
 perceiving mind. Hence that which is known in consciousness 
 as fact, whether it be a perception whose material is received 
 through the senses, or a thought which is the combination of 
 ideas, is there under the form which is conditioned by the 
 principles or laws which inhere in the very constitution of the 
 human intellect. To illustrate: Yonder is a pile of lumber, 
 stone or brick. But it is only a pile. It is no organized some- 
 thing. When, however, this unorganized heap is received by a 
 builder and subjected to a definite plan, there presently stands be- 
 fore your view a house. The material given was conditioned, 
 put under limitation; that is to say, the various elements were 
 brought into relation with one another according to the prin- 
 ciples which determined the plan. The result is not wood, stone, 
 brick, but a house — an object which is the unity of these elements, 
 a unity made possible and realized only by the employment of 
 certain principles which give rise to a definite form. Sensations 
 like wood, stone and brick are prime elements. In themselves 
 considered they are not knowledge. It is only when they are 
 brought into unity or unities that they are knowledge. But this 
 
286 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 unity is effected by the mental agency acting according to prin- 
 ciples which are conditional, first, for all perceiving; second, 
 for all conceiving; and third, for all reasoning. These prin- 
 ciples belong not to the sensations, but to the mind. Sensations 
 furnish the material, principles the form for all phenomena in 
 consciousness. Knowledge is, hence, the unification of the two. 
 It is not one or the other taken separately, but the two taken 
 together. 
 
 Experience in consciousness is knowledge. This is re- 
 solvable into two elements, one given by sensation, the other by 
 the principle of mental action. These principles make possible 
 and condition all experience. Sensations without the principles 
 are meaningless ; principles without the sensations are empty, 
 and hence illusory. Knowledge is, therefore, of the conditioned 
 only. There can be no science of the unconditioned. 
 
 And now, if the question be raised, Can we by thought alone 
 extend our knowledge beyond experience of sense? Is knowl- 
 edge of the supersensible possible? the reply of the Agnostic 
 must be a decided "No." 
 
 Accordingly, if it be inquired, Do we know an external 
 world as it is by itself, and do we know the thing itself? the 
 answer is : "By no means : we know it only as we perceive it, and 
 not as it is independent of our perception. We know it as 
 limited by the conditioning principle of our minds, and never as 
 a reality entirely objective to us. Of its existence, hence, we can 
 furnish no proof. At most, this must remain as mere assumption. 
 On the other hand, we are equally unable to disprove its inde- 
 pendent objective reality. Whether it actually exists or does not 
 exist, we cannot establish by any process of argument. As to 
 what it is, believing that it does actually exist, we are evermore 
 unable to say. It is unknown and unknowable. Ideas, as regu- 
 lative principles, are valid only for the objects given in experience. 
 Beyond that they have no significance. They are not real things, 
 nor can it be made to appear that there are existences which 
 realize them. They are for the mind only and beyond that have 
 no meaning." 
 
Agnosko — / Don't Know 287 
 
 Now, we have the idea of a Supreme Being. It is a neces- 
 sary idea: necessary, however, only in the sense that the human 
 mind without it could not secure the highest systematic unity 
 of its knowledge. To gain this end it is of service ; beyond this 
 it means nothing. It in nowise points to an actual Supreme Being 
 existing as an external objective reality. As a fact of knowledge 
 the critical philosophy knows no God as a real existence. Its 
 God is a Supreme Being in idea, that and nothing more, and 
 this idea is merely necessary to the human mind for conducting 
 its operations in the highest unification of all possible material 
 of its knowledge. If this philosophy be asked whether God 
 actually exists and what He is, it says: "I do not know. I 
 cannot know. To me He is unknowable." 
 
 We have the idea of God, of the most perfect Being. Can 
 the objective reality of this idea be established by proof? Can 
 we, in other words, demonstrate the being, existence and nature 
 of an eternal, personal God, who is the realization of our idea? 
 The critical philosophy answers, "No !" Each of the forms of 
 argument is shown to be insufficient. The most we get is a 
 world-builder, a wise architect, but not an Author and Creator 
 of the universe, supreme in every way. The critical philosophy, 
 consquently, knows no personal Absolute, and lays down as its 
 final conclusion that such knowledge is entirely impossible. 
 
 In addition and in this connection, it is to be observed that, 
 on the question that I am discussing, much is made of the doc- 
 trine of the relativity of knowledge. All our knowledge, main- 
 tains the critical philosophy, is relative. We know not things 
 themselves, but their relations. But since these can be known only 
 under certain conditions, and these conditions are fundamentally 
 space and time, that which transcends them is out of all possible 
 relation, and therefore must necessarily be excluded from the 
 list of the knowable. 
 
 The Kantian philosophy, in its speculative aspect, is the 
 philosophic source and arsenal of modern Agnosticism. All 
 possible human knowledge, speculatively considered, is of the 
 limited, the relative. The Absolute, as a real existing personal 
 God, as well as in its impersonal form, is no subject for human 
 
288 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 knowledge. It must forever be relegated to the realm of the 
 unknown and unknowable. When interrogated on this most vital 
 and all-absorbing question concerning the transcendent, the eternal 
 One, speculative reason must always answer, "I don't know." 
 
 Although the critical philosophy judged that, by a profound 
 analysis of the human understanding, it had forever exploded 
 the philosophic doctrine of the Absolute, nevertheless the human 
 mind could not rest content with the conclusion, "I don't know." 
 In a little while after the publication of the Kantian Metaphysics, 
 a numerous host of philosophies of the Absolute arose, each in 
 its own way claiming to furnish both a true and exhaustive 
 knowledge of the One and All. These philosophies with high 
 boastfulness and without any hesitation or fear of mistake, tell 
 us what the Absolute is. They enunciate positive knowledge. 
 One says it is mind; another, it is matter; another, it is 
 neither mind nor matter, but their identity ; a fourth, it is 
 thought; a fifth, it is will; a sixth, it is the unconscious; a 
 seventh, it is force. These theories are all reducible to one con- 
 ception, namely, Pantheism. Each resolves everything into one, 
 and then turns about and deduces a universe of existence from 
 the one which is the Absolute of the system. In nature, con- 
 sequently, there is no distinction between this universe and its 
 Absolute. The one can be taken for the other. 
 
 The moment, however, we recall the showing of Hume and 
 Kant concerning what we know, namely, phenomena in their 
 relations, all this boastful claim of the philosophies of the Abso- 
 lute falls to the ground. The universe, concerning which they 
 are so wise, and their Absolute, are, after all, sheer phenomenal 
 existence, neither of which transcends the limitations of human 
 knowledge. Hence, in itself considered, the Absolute of Panthe- 
 ism is utterly unknown, and has truly been styled by Herbert 
 Spencer the Unknown and the Unknowable. 
 
 Spinozism, or, as it is called, Absolute Pantheism, insists on 
 this position as the only one allowable. No attribute can be 
 predicated of the Absolute, because predication always means 
 limitation. We dare not say it is mind, nor can we say it is 
 matter. We must be satisfied with utterly refraining from any 
 
Agnosko — / Don't Know 289 
 
 assertion other than to declare it is nothing, the infinite nothing, 
 which simply means in this case the absence of any possible 
 conception. This is, of course, the most extreme Agnosticism, 
 and signifies that by what God is, namely, absolute impersonality, 
 no understanding of this Absolute ever can be had. 
 
 And yet, with all this, Spinoza is everlastingly telling what 
 God is and what God is not. Remarkable ! The human mind 
 is able to know what the Absolute is negatively! To do this 
 unerringly requires peculiar insight, enormous ability. It must 
 be able to traverse the whole field of conceptions, and at the same 
 time to discern that no one of them can be applied to the Infinite. 
 Why not say at once, and be done with it, that man possesses 
 the faculty of cognizing the supernatural, and that is why he is 
 able to discuss the question of the supernatural, and why it is 
 to him the subject of most absorbing interest? What makes 
 possible human science? Surely the faculty for such achieve- 
 ment. The animal is not a scientist and never can be. The 
 human mind, if it could perceive only phenomena and connect 
 them together in experience, would never be able to produce a 
 science of this experience. But it can systematize the facts of 
 its knowledge ; it can cognize or apprehend principles. It knows 
 truth. This power of knowing elevates it above the natural, and 
 makes possible for it a knowledge which otherwise it could not 
 have. Man has in him the supernatural ; under finite form, 
 it is true, yet really the supernatural. And it is on this account 
 that he is able to discuss the great question of the existence and 
 nature of the eternal God, as the history of human thought affords 
 proof. In spite of the limitations of sense and knowledge, he 
 is, nevertheless, competent to transcend these limitations, and 
 truly know Him who is independent of the world, and who, at 
 the same time, finds it possible to make communication of Him- 
 self under the conditions which obtain for the human mind in its 
 knowing. The God who exists is knowable. 
 
 This we say, first, because of what He is — a personal Being, 
 who from possibilities of His nature has created a universe, and 
 while He transcends this universe, still is in and through it, its 
 life and overseer ; second, because of what man is — a creature, 
 
290 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 a personal existence, bearing the image of God, and thus capaci- 
 tated to receive communication from his Creator; third, God is 
 knowable because an experience is rendered possible and is actual, 
 by virtue of the fact that man possesses a supernatural capacity. 
 In this experience God, who is absolute love, can be and is found 
 and known in the truth of His being. And fourth, God, under 
 the conditions rendered actual by virtue of what He is and what 
 man is in the constitution of his rational nature, is known by 
 revelation of Himself in the natural world, and above all by 
 revelation of Himself through the manifestation of Jesus Christ. 
 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
 has given the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. 
 
 As another has said: "God cannot be found in His majesty 
 — that is, outside of His revelation in His Word. The majesty 
 of God is too exalted and grand for us to be able to grasp it. 
 He, therefore, shows us the right way and says, 'Believe in me 
 and you will find out what are my nature and will.' The world, 
 meanwhile, seeks in innumerable ways, with great industry, cost, 
 trouble and labor, to find the invisible and incomprehensible God 
 in His majesty. But God is and remains to them unknown, 
 although they have many thoughts about Him and discuss and 
 dispute much ; for God has decreed that He will be unknown 
 and incomprehensible apart from Jesus Christ." 
 
 Again, God is not the absolutely incomprehensible God of 
 philosophy. He knows and comprehends in His knowledge Him- 
 self. He makes Himself relatively discernible and comprehensi- 
 ble to the creatures made in His likeness. It has been well said 
 that to apprehend a being is to know it in its relations, and if 
 it did not pertain to the nature of God to enter into relations, 
 to make Himself intelligible, He would not have revealed Him- 
 self. Human theories and speculations commit the error of sup- 
 posing that pure Deity is better than God, the living God, who 
 reveals Himself in a variety of ways. 
 
 While, therefore, we claim positive knowledge of Deity in 
 our searching His depths, still it is always to be said of us : 
 "No man hath seen God at any time, seeing that He dwelleth in 
 light unto which no man can approach." 
 
Agnosko — / Don't Know 291 
 
 And now, to sum up : I have shown, first, what Agnosticism 
 is ; second, on what its claims are founded ; third, considered 
 the validity of these claims ; fourth, have called attention to the 
 fact that the God who actually exists by virtue of what He is, 
 namely, personal love, and by virtue of what man is, can and 
 does enter into relation with His rational creature in such way 
 that a revelation of Himself is truly given. In this relation, 
 which He has pre-eminently established in Jesus Christ, He 
 makes Himself known in the fullness of His nature. In con- 
 sequence we have a true, though not a complete and perfect 
 knowledge of Him, that is, face to face, but a knowledge which 
 is true in principle, true in its tendency, and true in the goal at 
 which it aims ; true, too, because it goes out from and leads back 
 to God. Human reason, left to itself, is agnostic. From the 
 nature of the case it could be no other. But human reason 
 furnished with the revelation of the Absolute, the personal, liv- 
 ing God, knows Him as its Creator, Preserver, Redeemer. In 
 the revelations of the carpenter's Son it comes in contact with 
 Him, and apprehends Him in the truth of His nature — what He 
 is in Himself and what He is to the human soul. Philosophic 
 agnosticism is Atheism. The teachings of the Nazarene are 
 Christian theism. In these teachings we have the only true and 
 final philosophy of all things, the true Gnosis, the right knowledge 
 of God and His ways. 
 
 The human mind, when left entirely to itself, must always 
 say concerning God, His nature and His true relation to the 
 universe, "I don't know !" When, however, it is enlightened by 
 the revelation of the living, personal God in His Word, it can 
 always declare, with glad assurance, "I know." 
 
THE GREAT PROBLEM 
 
 Gentlemen of the Literary Club: 
 
 THE subject of this paper is, as announced, "The Great 
 Problem." What is a problem? The answer, stated in 
 general terms, is, "A question proposed for solution, decision or 
 determination." Or the matter may be put in this way: Given 
 certain principles or facts or realities, to determine by their com- 
 bination a true result — that is, another principle or fact or reality. 
 The given principles or facts or realities are the necessary con- 
 ditions for the attainment of the end proposed. For example, 
 the life germ of the acorn and the ground in which it is buried 
 are the necessary conditions for the production of the oak tree. 
 The natural force which ever tends toward the centre, and the 
 one which moves constantly in the opposite direction, are the 
 necessary conditions for the earth's passage in its orbit. Their 
 combination gives us as a resultant a well known fact. 
 
 Every problem states certain conditions by means of which 
 the answer is to be found. There are problems of divers kinds, 
 such as the problem of knowledge, "What can I know?" The 
 world problem, "To what must the facts of nature be referred 
 as their source ?" The problem of the mind, "What is the nature of 
 the human soul? and what are consciousness, intellect and will?" 
 The problem of conscience, which deals with the principles of 
 right and wrong in their origin and nature. The social problem, 
 which has to do with the right relation of individuals in society, 
 their mutual obligations and responsibilities. The industrial prob- 
 lem, which concerns the best interests of the capitalist and laborer 
 in combination. The commercial problem, which considers the cor- 
 rect methods and principles of trade and commerce and how best 
 to use them. The problem of government, which inquires after 
 the greatest good of all citizens. The problem of human history, 
 which concerns itself about the attainment of the best civilization. 
 
The Great Problem 293 
 
 And finally the religious problem, which deals with man's rela- 
 tion to God. 
 
 This enumeration is not an exhaustive statement of all the 
 questions which attract and hold the attention of the human 
 mind, but merely furnishes an outline of the almost numberless 
 problems which in the centuries past have stirred, and are now 
 stirring, the thoughts of man. The problems I have stated are 
 the chief questions concerning which the men of today busy them- 
 selves. I do not mean to say that all men are seeking a solution for 
 all these problems, but I do mean to say that, while some are 
 devoting the strength of their best powers to searching out a 
 final answer to one class of these problems, the other part of 
 mankind are bent on finding a satisfactory solution of another 
 class. Questions relating to society, to the individual sphere, to 
 business and to government are very popular; they are living 
 questions, or, in the parlance of today, up-to-date. They occupy 
 intensely the attention of the masses. 
 
 And, gentlemen, should I not add religion to the list of pro- 
 foundly interesting problems? I think so. With all the hurry 
 and push and struggle and conflict of the times, the people do 
 have many thoughts concerning questions of religion, and in one 
 way and another they are earnestly trying to satisfy themselves 
 with some sort of a solution. Whether in the Church or out of 
 it, they do have many serious thoughts about God and how to 
 be in right relation with Him. 
 
 However, be all this as it may, the age is, nevertheless, 
 striving with all its might to find and possess the highest good — 
 what it conceives to be the highest good. This means that it is 
 putting forth its utmost endeavor to solve the problem of human 
 life. How far it will be successful and advanced beyond a like 
 attempt of its predecessor, is to be shown by the future. I have 
 to do this evening, not with any of these questions pertaining 
 to the human sphere, nor with all of them as such, interesting 
 and vital as they are, whose discussion would easily gain your 
 vigorous thought. I have before me a problem far more com- 
 prehensive and fundamental than the concerns of this world. 
 It may fitly be styled the great problem, not only because it is 
 
294 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 all-inclusive, but also because its answer lies in the final cause of 
 all existence. 
 
 What is this problem? Let us see. Take, if you please, 
 any object, such as a stone, analyze it, and you get as a result 
 an indefinite number of stones. Each of them taken separately 
 is not the stone, but all taken together make the object so known. 
 Their union constitutes its existence. Or select any natural ele- 
 ment, such as water, and the same truth by chemical inspection 
 is manifest. Or take specimens of the vegetable and animal 
 kingdoms, and a like result is found. The same holds with 
 respect to the structure of our globe, of our solar systems and 
 of all the systems taken together. Natural existences are unities, 
 unities of different orders, it is true, and of gradual ascent, 
 but still actual unities, the many in one. Astounding diversity 
 of elements, yet all in unity — this is, the material universe. 
 
 Note additional illustrations. Knowledge, what is it? You 
 say it is composed of two elements, subject and object — the 
 knower and the thing known. Very true. No subject, no 
 knowledge; no object, no knowledge; but subject and object in 
 unity — this gives knowledge. You call yourself a business man. 
 Business, your business, what is it? An analysis, I think, will 
 show three factors ; yourself, your shop with its material, and 
 your fellowmen. Now you are not your business, your shop 
 is not your business, neither are your fellowmen your business. 
 You must have something to sell to somebody who will buy, else 
 you are not a business man. Business for you is yourself, the 
 product of your shop, and your fellowmen as consumers, all taken 
 together. It is, hence, a unity. Human life, what a complex 
 reality! How many elements of different order, coming from 
 every quarter and from above nature, enter into its make-up! 
 Your life — what a diversity of factors as you live it every day 
 form its composition ! It is ever a unity, an advancing unity. 
 And human history — what diverse agencies and powers unite in 
 its production ! Ever going forward, ever tending toward a 
 larger unity. History is progress, but progress is the process 
 of unification. Human history as a fact is a unity, a unity of 
 natural and experimental powers constantly advancing to a 
 wider scope. 
 
The Great Problem 295 
 
 And now, I think sufficient illustration has been given to 
 make plain that the unity of all natural things is an existence. 
 It might yet be added that man in his existence is the unity of 
 the rational and irrational elements of the entire universe. He 
 is the highest creature. He stands at the head of all things that 
 have been made. His existence is the unification of the two 
 worlds, the natural and the spiritual. And these two worlds 
 make up the whole universe. Man is, hence, the unity of the 
 universe. He solves the question, "Can the rational and irra- 
 tional be united?" This is the great problem. Its answer is 
 fundamental. But it is solved, and its solution we see and know. 
 Because man is, the universe is. 
 
 But the final question is, Can God and man, or God, man 
 and the natural universe, be united in such a way that their most 
 perfect unity will be an existence, a personal existence? I said 
 a moment ago that man is the unity of the universe. But man, 
 if he is anything, is a person ; therefore the unity of the universe 
 is a personal existence. But the highest of all unities, the unity 
 of all realities, cannot be less than the one which is next to the 
 highest; and therefore the final unity, the unity of all realities, 
 must be a personal existence. 
 
 This, then, is the great problem, namely, the highest possible 
 unity of God and man, or God, man and the natural universe. 
 The unification of all things, how can it be realized ? . Given 
 God, man and the universe, to determine their unity; or, to put 
 the question in another way, if God, man and the universe are, 
 how is their perfect unity to be attained? That this unity must 
 be, the human mind has always insisted. With nothing less is 
 it satisfied. 
 
 True, there is a view of long-time origin that holds this 
 unity impossible. It is the theory that there are two eternal 
 contradictory principles, the good and the evil ; the first is spirit, 
 the second matter. They are in irrevocable antagonism, and there- 
 fore maintain an endless dualism. Their unity is impossible. 
 
 With this theory the human mind has never been satisfied. 
 It cannot tolerate the thought of perpetual separation and oppo- 
 sition between spirit and matter. It demands that they be joined 
 
296 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 together in such a way that they will be one existence and one 
 life. It seeks to resolve the dualism of matter and spirit. How? 
 In three ways: First, by assuming that matter produces spirit, 
 and this is the theory of materialism ; second, by holding that spirit 
 produces matter, and this is the theory of spiritualism; third, 
 by claiming that matter and spirit are different phases in the 
 manifestation of one and the same being, which in itself is 
 neither the one nor the other. 
 
 According to the first view, matter is the only reality. What- 
 ever seems to be different from it is only a peculiar form of its 
 manifestation. According to the second, spirit is the only reality. 
 According to the third, a something which is neither matter nor 
 spirit, and consequently unknown and unknowable, is the only 
 reality; all else is a mere seeming, an illusion. These three 
 theories are expressed by one word, Pantheism. All things in 
 essence are either matter or spirit or the identity of the two. All 
 existences are resolvable into one substance or energy, and this 
 one is their unity. 
 
 If, now, it be inquired, How are the many objects constituting 
 the universe produced ? the answer is by the process of evolution. 
 By this process one existence and another, and so on indefinitely, 
 rise into reality; in short, the universe exists. But the evolution 
 is that of absolute matter or spirit or their identity; hence the 
 universe is the mode of the existence of the absolute substance 
 or energy, be that what it may. Therefore the universe is God 
 existing. But since the evolutionary process is Deity rising into 
 existence perpetually, this process is the supreme, the only reality, 
 and God existing is the eternally becoming, the eternally evolving, 
 yet never completely evolved. And now, since the universe is 
 Absolute Spirit or Absolute Substance in a state of eternal evo- 
 lution, they are not two, but one. There eternally exists, and by 
 necessity, the most solid unity; that is, the universe; that is, 
 God ; that is, the One. It also follows, accordingly, that God is 
 in and through all things, for He is all things. As another cor- 
 rectly says : 
 
 "The God of Pantheism is not like that of Deism, outside 
 the world, but within it, its life and soul, present in everything 
 
The Great Problem 297 
 
 that is or that lives; in the clouds and winds, in the leaves of 
 the trees, and in every blade of grass, in the bee and bird, en- 
 dowing them with skill to build their cell or nest ; in man inspiring 
 him with lofty thoughts and noble purposes." 
 
 No doubt Pantheism possesses a real fascination for many 
 minds. It seems to answer triumphantly the pressing and great 
 question of the unity of all things that are, and to secure in the 
 fullest measure the everywhereness of God, the indwelling of 
 Deity in every object of the universe from the smallest to the 
 greatest, so that every act and movement are God's movement 
 and act, and every thought is God's thought. He is all 
 cause; He is all eye; He is all everything. As Wordsworth 
 says: 
 
 "For I have learned 
 To look on nature, not as in the hour 
 Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes 
 The still sad music of humanity; 
 Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power 
 To chasten and subdue. And I have felt 
 A presence that disturbs me with the joy 
 Of elevated thoughts; a sense of the sublime, 
 Of something far more deeply interfused, 
 Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 
 And the round ocean, and the living air, 
 And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; 
 A motion and a spirit that impels 
 All thinking beings, all objects of all thoughts, 
 And rolls through all things." 
 
 And yet, in the last analysis, the Pantheistic conception is 
 not satisfactory. The God in whom it would have us believe 
 is a derived Deity, who, in His original state, is destitute of 
 perfection. He is only a slumbering thought or latent force. 
 He does not know Himself; He does not know anything, and 
 whatever He does, He does because He must. He is the im- 
 personal, the "It," not the "He." Pantheism repudiates an 
 eternally self-conscious, self-determining, personal God, and sub- 
 stitutes instead a Deity that acquires consciousness and self- 
 consciousness and personality, so called, along the course of an 
 
298 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 eternal evolutionary process, ever advancing toward absolute 
 perfection, but never reaching it. In this theory the individual 
 man as such has no immortality. His destiny only is and can 
 be swallowed up and lost at last in the ocean of infinite being, 
 impersonal and unconscious. The fault of Pantheism is not 
 with the logic of the system, but with its original proposition 
 which is: There is one substance, one absolute substance, and 
 of it no quality can be predicated. 
 
 In handling the problem before us it, consequently, changes 
 the terms God, man and the universe by identifying them in 
 essence, and, of course, then it easily gets all the unity it wants. 
 Indeed, it has it from the beginning; as much of it then as at 
 any time afterward. All real distinction between God and the 
 universe is obliterated. They are always one, and, according to 
 the principle of this system, must be. 
 
 I do not object to Pantheism because it insists on the most 
 complete unity of God and the universe, but I do object to the 
 way that it apprehends this unity. For the sake of this per- 
 fection I am not ready to surrender my belief in a personal, 
 living God, who, while He is in and through the universe, its 
 life and the one in whom we live and move and have our being, 
 nevertheless is, at the same time, independent of the universe, 
 and in His existence transcends the universe, and who, before 
 the world was created, was Himself absolutely self-conscious, 
 knew Himself and the possibilities of His being, and who, out 
 of these possibilities, chose to bring into existence the universe 
 which now is ; who, Himself a moral Being, has brought into 
 existence, by the exercise of His free power, man, a creature of 
 a moral nature as well as physical, to whom He can communicate 
 His own fullness, and with whom He can unite Himself in the 
 most perfect way ; so that, while God and man become one, they 
 are yet distinct, and each maintains his own individuality. I must, 
 therefore, insist that the kind of unity which the Pantheist con- 
 ceives as existing between the eternal God and man is not the union 
 which satisfies the deeper convictions of the human soul, and af- 
 fords a truly personal communion. Personal communion, observe, 
 is the communion between persons. But the God of Pantheism is 
 
The Great Problem 299 
 
 not a person. He attains personality in me, in you — that is, our 
 personality is His personality. He is dependent on us for being a 
 person. It is plain that communion with this God can never be 
 more than communion with ourselves. A God with a personality 
 such as Pantheism allows can never be to us in our needs, our 
 distresses, in the yearnings and longings and thirstings of our 
 hearts, more than Baal was to his prophets in their anguished 
 appeals for help. 
 
 The question, therefore, plainly is whether God and man, 
 each a distinct personality, can exist together in such a manner 
 that the union will not be an individual soul united with God, 
 but a man in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 
 This kind of union Pantheism declares to be impossible. It is 
 not conceivable by human thought. It belongs to the miraculous, 
 for which no allowance can be made in any philosophic religious 
 scheme. 
 
 Some moments ago we observed that the unity in question 
 must be an existence. To this Pantheism assents, and holds that 
 it is the universe. But since man, the unity of spirit and nature, 
 is a personal being, the union cannot be impersonal, but a personal 
 existence. In other words, the two natures, human and divine, 
 must be united in one person. In this union there is afforded 
 the most intimate communion between God and His personal 
 creature, the communication of the fullness of the one to the 
 other, and in the midst of all the most glorious revelations of 
 the perfection of the Divine Being. God is no longer unknown 
 and unknowable, but truly apprehensible in the truth of His 
 existence, and of His relation to the world and man, as Paul 
 declared on Mar's Hill. Human thought has failed to solve the 
 great problem of the three realities in such a way as to give 
 permanent satisfaction. 
 
 Must it then be given up? So far as the human mind is 
 concerned, yes. It remains with God alone to give the solution. 
 This He has done in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the 
 divine-human personality, and exhibits humanity at the climax 
 where man is one with God and God is one with man. Christi- 
 anity is the revelation of this sublime achievement. It alone 
 
300 Selected Sermons and Addresses 
 
 furnishes us with the knowledge of how the solution is effected 
 so that human nature remains human nature and divine nature 
 remains divine nature, and yet these two have one life, neither 
 human alone, nor divine alone, but divine-human. 
 
 This is the life that man lives with God, in which he is one 
 with Him, or both are one. The solution exhibited by Christi- 
 anity alone answers the eternal purpose of human existence, 
 whatever be the condition of man. This purpose is the most 
 perfect union between God Himself and His creature, man, and 
 stands unchangeable, no matter whether the human creature main- 
 tains his original integrity or whether he becomes sinful. This 
 most perfect union, Christianity holds, is realized in the Only 
 Begotten Son of God made flesh. Here God, man and the 
 universe are one. 
 
 But the human creature sinned, and became opposed to the 
 divine holiness; nevertheless, the eternal purpose of human 
 existence, a creature to whom God could and would communicate 
 His fullness most freely, abides and cannot fail of perfect realiza- 
 tion. Christianity assures us that God is now in Christ recon- 
 ciling the world unto Himself. Where is He doing this stu- 
 pendous work? In the perfect union of God and man, that is, 
 in Christ. 
 
 And, lastly, this same Christianity proclaims that God 
 hath "made known unto us the mystery of His will, according 
 to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself ; that, 
 in the dispensation of the fullness of time, He might bring to- 
 gether in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and 
 which are on earth ; even in Him." 
 
 And this is the only solution of the Great Problem. 
 
VI 
 BIOGRAPHY AND TRIBUTES 
 
VI 
 BIOGRAPHY AND TRIBUTES 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 THE following biographical sketch was written by Dr. David 
 H. Bauslin, Dean of Hamma Divinity School, shortly after 
 the death of Dr. Ort, and was published in the Lutheran World 
 of January 11, 1911. It is accurate as to details, and is the 
 fullest sketch of Dr. Ort's life available at the time of this 
 writing : 
 
 "Rev. Samuel Alfred Ort, D. D., LL. D., a most dis- 
 tinguished citizen of Springfield, Ohio, an illustrious son of 
 Wittenberg College, a scholar and a preacher of great renown 
 in the Lutheran Church, is no more. He was born at Lewistown, 
 Pa., November 11, 1843, and entered peacefully into his rest at 
 his home in Springfield Friday night, January 6, 1911, at the 
 age of sixty-seven years, one month and twenty-five days. When 
 he was but a boy of nine years, his parents moved to Hagerstown, 
 Md., where later he spent four years in the Academy of that 
 city. It was in the summer of 1860 that he entered Wittenberg 
 College, from which he graduated with highest honors, receiving 
 his Bachelor's degree in the spring of 1863. While a student at 
 Wittenberg College he became a Christian, and on February 16, 
 1862, united with the First Lutheran Church, under the ministry 
 of the late Dr. Morris Officer, and with this Church he kept 
 his membership until he was translated to the Church triumphant. 
 
 'After graduating from the college Dr. Ort, having chosen 
 the ministry as his life's calling, entered the Theological Seminary, 
 from which he graduated in 1864 with a class of six, all of whom 
 have preceded him in death. He was ordained to the gospel 
 
304 Biography and Tributes 
 
 ministry by Wittenberg Synod in the fall of 1865. After tutor- 
 ing one year in the college, he was called to the First Lutheran 
 Church of Findlay, Ohio. Here he remained as pastor but little 
 over a year, when he accepted a position in the Hagerstown, Md., 
 Academy, which position he filled until he was called to Witten- 
 berg College in 1869 to teach English and fill the chair of Mathe- 
 matics and Literature, which position he occpuied from 1869 
 to 1874. 
 
 "Great as Dr. Ort was as a teacher, yet he always felt that 
 his special calling was the ministry; and so, when in 1874, the 
 First Lutheran Church of Louisville, Ky., extended him a call 
 to become its pastor, he accepted, and served this Church accept- 
 ably for five years, and helped to lay the foundation for a greater 
 Lutheran Church in that city. He then became pastor of the 
 strong and influential St. James' Lutheran Church of New York 
 City, which he served for eighteen months, and relinquished it 
 only when he was again called to take up the work of teaching 
 in his alma mater and to fill the chair of Sacred Philology. 
 
 "After the resignation of Dr. John B. Helwig as president 
 of Wittenberg College in 1882, the arduous task of leading the 
 educational forces of the institution fell upon the shoulders of 
 Dr. Ort, and he was called to become its fourth president. This 
 position he filled with great credit to himself and with equal 
 acceptability to the Church and college for nearly nineteen years. 
 At the same time he occupied the chair of Dogmatic Theology 
 in the seminary. In 1900 he resigned the presidency of the 
 college, and was elected vice-president and also called to the 
 chairs of Christian Theology and Mental Philosophy. The vice- 
 presidency he held until the last meeting of the Board of Di- 
 rectors, only resigning after the physical man was no longer able 
 to work, though he continued to hold the chair of Christian 
 Theology and Mental Philosophy till the end came. 
 
 "Dr. Ort received the Master's degree from his alma mater 
 in 1866, which institution also conferred upon him the degree 
 of Doctor of Divinity in 1876. In 1893 Wooster University, 
 Wooster, Ohio, honored him with the degree of Doctor of Laws. 
 He was secretary of the General Synod in 1873, 1875 and 1877, 
 
Biography and Tributes 305 
 
 and was elected its president at Omaha, Neb., in 1887. From 
 1873 to the time of his death he was elected a delegate to every 
 meeting of the General Synod. 
 
 "During his pastorate at Louisville, Ky., September 23, 1875, 
 he was married to Miss Ann E. Senteny, who has since also 
 passed to her eternal reward. They are survived by their seven 
 children, who are as follows: Mrs. S. Shaffer, Cannelton, W. 
 Va. ; Mrs. Corinne Nolty, Springfield, Ohio; Dr. Wallace A., 
 Springfield, Ohio; and Lucretia, Margarite, Elizabeth and Regi- 
 nald A. 
 
 "The funeral services were held January 9, 1911, in the 
 Fourth Lutheran Church of Springfield, Ohio, and were in charge 
 of his pastor, Rev. Clarence E. Gardner, D. D., assisted by Rev. 
 Samuel E. Greenawalt, D. D. Addresses were made by President 
 Charles G. Heckert, D. D., Prof. B. F. Prince, Ph. D., Prof. 
 D. H. Bauslin, D. D., and Rev. Jacob Culler, D. D., then presi- 
 dent of the Board of Directors of Wittenberg College." 
 
 Thus a good man and a great passed away, mourned by all 
 who knew him; and yet the heavens are radiant with the hope 
 of reunion in a realm where sin, death and limitation can never 
 intrude. 
 
 Dr. Bauslin has this to say about his last days on earth : 
 
 "To the last his powers of mind were quite unimpaired, and 
 his progressive weakness did not seem to depress his exaltation 
 and hopefulness. Often during his last days, in suffering, daily 
 growing weaker, he bore both weakness and suffering, not only 
 with unmurmuring patience, but also with an unfailing cheerful- 
 ness that astonished his friends. Through the long decay of his 
 physical powers, he not only displayed the strong affection of 
 the devoted husband and father that he was, but also was always 
 interested in the welfare of the Church he loved and into the 
 service of which so many of his years had gone." 
 
306 Biography and Tributes 
 
 TRIBUTES 
 
 Prof. B. F. Prince, Ph. D., Wittenberg College: "Dr. Ort 
 was always held in great respect and confidence by those who 
 met him in the recitation room. He knew the subject in hand, 
 and with a power of expression and earnestness of manner, he 
 won the hearts of his students and led them to recognize the 
 worth of the subjects they were pursuing. His lectures were 
 fresh with thought and pressed home with an enthusiasm born of 
 conviction. Earnest students secured what they wanted, and 
 never forgot the instruction or the instructor. 
 
 "No one who had frequent relation with Dr. Ort could fail 
 to be impressed with his kindliness of manner and sympathy of 
 heart. Many of his students have remarked on these qualities, 
 and have held him in grateful remembrance for their exercise 
 in their behalf. All could approach him, for they knew that a 
 kind reception would be awaiting them in seeking satisfaction for 
 their wants." 
 
 Prof. V. G. A. Tressler, D. D., Hamma Divinity School: 
 "He was born with an intellectual endowment such as not often 
 falls to the lot of man. Largeness was the note of his make-up. 
 As a teacher, his interpretations were on a broad, philosophical 
 scale; as a preacher, his presentations outlined the whole scope 
 of divine life and love; as a theologian, he traversed the fields 
 of theological thought with an easy consciousness of both 
 evangelical and speculative power. Most of all, there was 
 largeness about him as a man, in his apprehension of the view- 
 points of others. This precluded, in large measure, limited and 
 one-sided views of men and things. It was this that made him 
 the student's friend, as he was in essence the friend of man." 
 
 Prof. Leander S. Keyser, D. D., Hamma Divinity School: 
 "Last autumn (1910) was the last time we saw him. He was 
 then bedfast, but was able to converse freely, and was hopeful 
 of recovery. His great desire was to get back to his beloved 
 class-room. So long had he stood before college and theological 
 
Biography and Tributes 307 
 
 classes that this kind of work had become woven into the very- 
 texture of his life. His passion was to teach, to impart instruc- 
 tion; and who was ever better equipped by nature and culture 
 for such a vocation? During the conversation he told us what 
 was his favorite subject of meditation as he lay on his bed of 
 sickness. This is what he said: T love best of all to think on 
 the person and work of Christ.' What a theme for thought on 
 a dying bed ! And he said it in such a way that we felt he was 
 not thinking on Christ so much as a theme for speculation as for 
 devout and happy contemplation and faith. Thus both heart and 
 mind were centered rightly during those last months of suffering. 
 And now that he has gone before, no doubt he has already had 
 the beatific vision of the person and work of his divine-human 
 Redeemer. What a light must have broken on his soul!" 
 
 Dean David H. Bauslin, D. D., Hamma Divinity School: 
 "He was a man of strong faith, and the Christian facts became 
 the prime realities of his life. The central and living reality with 
 him was Christ and His work of redemption. Few men placed so 
 much emphasis upon the great theological principle of justifying 
 faith. Few men have had such ability as he to think a philo- 
 sophical or theological subject through. He knew how to hold 
 a knotty problem in philosophy or divinity before his mind in a 
 strong grasp, until he knew it and could divide it into all its 
 parts. Few men could state truth with the lucidity and sim- 
 plicity that were features of his strong productions. 
 
 "It should be said of Dr. Ort that, with the passage of years 
 and with his growing maturity, he came to be more and more 
 ardently attached to the great Lutheran system of evangelical 
 truth. More and more he advanced to an apprehension of the 
 depth and fullness and richness of that apprehension of the 
 gospel which is set forth in the theological treasures of our 
 Church .... Of the Book of Concord he once said: 'The 
 longer I live and the more I study, the more assured I feel that 
 here is a system of theology that needs no revision.' It was said 
 with an earnestness and a depth of sincerity that made a deep 
 impression." 
 
308 Biography and Tributes 
 
 Prof. Loyal H. Larimer, D. D., Hamma Divinity School: 
 "It is difficult to estimate Dr. Ort's work and influence as an 
 educator, a theologian and leader in the Lutheran Church. How- 
 ever much we may cherish now what he did, as time goes on we 
 will learn to value him still more highly. His life and attain- 
 ments will grow upon us all — even those who knew him best 
 and loved him most. He left upon his students and upon all 
 who associated with him a deep impression of the reality and 
 the abiding worth of spiritual things. A teacher can do nothing 
 greater than that. His strong philosophical mind dwelt in the 
 Holy Scriptures, which he read, studied and accepted with all 
 simplicity and faith. He lived a life of communion with God 
 through faith in Christ Jesus. His greatness was the greatness 
 of faith and love and hope." 
 
 Prof. J. L. Neve, D. D., Hamma Divinity School : "When 
 the writer of these lines was called to teach in Hamma Divinity 
 School (in the fall of 1909), he remembers distinctly that he 
 came to Springfield with one special regret, namely, that Dr. Ort 
 was declining in health, that his days seemed to be numbered, 
 and that consequently the pleasure of laboring with him would 
 be short. At the meetings of the General Synod (since Carthage, 
 111., 1877, he had attended every one of them) it had always been 
 so interesting to listen to this man with his powerful appearance, 
 remarkable individuality and fine mind; with that wide sweep 
 of view when he took the floor and expressed himself in such 
 an attractive and terse mode of speech. How we craved the 
 privilege of profiting by association with him! 
 
 "But his work at Wittenberg was done. He tried to teach, 
 but his weakened condition did not permit him to continue many 
 weeks after the seminary opened. When finally for that winter 
 and the next his branches had to be distributed among his col- 
 leagues, it fell to our lot, according to the wish of the Faculty, 
 to teach Dogmatics. Frequently, on our way to the class-room, 
 we went to Dr. Ort and read our lecture to him, while he lay 
 upon his bed. It was remarkable how everything in Dogmatics 
 was present to him, and how strong his constructive powers 
 
Biography and Tributes 309 
 
 were, when, merely in a conversational way, he began to express 
 himself on these subjects. All of us regret that he did not leave 
 a work on Dogmatics to the Church. When he spoke in such an 
 incidental way from his bed, we thought many times : if only 
 such conversations, as well as the lectures he gave to his students, 
 especially during the last years, could have been taken down in 
 short-hand and published; then we would have had something 
 of abiding value. There would have been originality in it, with 
 no detraction from the faith. 
 
 "Some have said he was more of a philosopher than a dog- 
 matician. True, he loved to approach the problems from philo- 
 sophical viewpoints, but his results were always Biblical. And 
 he was most childlike in his faith. Once in a conversation, when 
 we had spoken of those who reject the supernatural, he said: 
 'They will open their eyes when they get a peep into the other 
 world.' Things unseen were settled realities with him. A man 
 of such genius should never have been burdened with the busi- 
 ness cares of an institution, but should have been able to give 
 his whole time to academic and literary work." 
 
 Prof. Charles G. Heckert, D. D., President of Wittenberg 
 College : "The Lutheran Church of America will always revere 
 the memory of the late Dr. S. A. Ort. He was a distinguished 
 factor in the establishment of our great Church in the central 
 west. He helped to lay broad and deep foundations for a fully 
 developed Lutheranism in our land. His work as an educator 
 and church leader marks him as one of the great figures in our 
 evolution from a branch of the Church that rather loosely clung 
 to a full confidence in our Confessions to our present hearty 
 and unanimous acceptance of those same standards. 
 
 "As president of Wittenberg College and as beloved pro- 
 fessor in both college and seminary, he was a commanding force. 
 His hundreds of students will never cease to be grateful for 
 the inspiration of his class-room. All through the Church was 
 felt the power of his strong personality as preacher, teacher, and 
 conservative leader. His great heart had a warm place in it for 
 
310 Biography and Tributes 
 
 all parts of our divided Church, and his labors were always of 
 the type looking to ultimate unity. God gave him a vision, and 
 he was ever true to it." 
 
 Rev. Ezra K. Bell, D. D., Baltimore, Md. : "It was my good 
 fortune to know Dr. Ort and to be intimately associated with 
 him for more than thirty years. He was my teacher in college 
 and my friend and adviser when I entered the ministry. His 
 richly endowed mind, his profound faith, and his splendid 
 Christian character gave him peculiar favor and influence. When 
 he spoke, it was a rare privilege to listen ; when he wrote, it was 
 in model English and purest diction. He was always genial and 
 kind, and his students loved and honored him. He was a 
 preacher of great power and of the purest gospel. He was a 
 lovable companion and a friend who always rang true. He 
 abhorred that which is evil, and was the persistent advocate of 
 that which is good. He had a great love for his Church, an 
 intelligent appreciation of her history and doctrines, and he served 
 his generation with true fidelity and signal usefulness to the end. 
 Church and school have had but few like him." 
 

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