LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. "St-ns — d^ap. GajtJjt Shelf k.L&- TJNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ?0 Questions of the Heart. HOW REASON HELPS FAITH TO ANSWER THEM. BY HENRY TUCKLEY, Author of " Life's Golden Morning," " Under the Queen," Etc. « » « » " Come now, and let tis reason together." " Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you reason of the hope that is in you." CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS. NEW YORK : HUNT & EATON. 1892. V/VCtX K- Copyright By CRANSTON & CURTS, 1892. r? ci In Memory of pleasant years, delightful fellowship, and profitable study together of great and inspiring themes, I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, as a parting tribute of affec- tion to my H. T. AUTHOR'S PREFACE r I A HE great themes treated in this volume have ■** been called " Questions of the Heart," be- cause they are questions in which every human heart is deeply interested, and because it is only as human beings approximate to a solution of these problems that their hearts can enjoy any real con- tentment. In one sense, the topics might have been called, with equal propriety, " Questions of the Head;" and this fact has been kept conscien- tiously in view in our treatment of them. Our ap- peals have been made, not to the emotions, but to the calm tribunal of the intellect. The great need at the present day is not for more feeling upon these topics, but for clearer vision with reference to them. This need we have recognized, and our effort has been to satisfy and gratify the heart by clearing and enlightening the mind. The founda- tions of human faith have been examined; and while, of course, the light of Scripture has been our chief guide, we have purposely followed, when- 3 4 Preface. ever we could do so with safety, the light afforded by nature and common sense; and it has been a constant occasion of surprise to us, iu pursuing our arguments, to find how perfectly the light reflected from these different sources has harmonized, and how strongly, upon so many of the great essentials, Christian faith is fortified by human reason. Our treatment of these great themes will hardly be profound enough to please the trained theolo- gian. Nor have we flattered ourselves that the arguments offered will bring conviction to the con- firmed skeptic. The book, however, was not written for such individuals as these. It is put forth in the interest of that numerous class — embracing the vast majority in all Christian communities — who know comparatively little about systematic theology, but who are, nevertheless, as far from being skeptics as they are from being accomplished divines. Amongst these there are many who believe with- out knowing why they believe, and many others who are not able to believe so fully as they desire to do, simply from the fact that their information is so limited. To such persons, perplexed as they must so often be by these great questions of the heart, this book comes for the special purpose of showing them, as its title indicates, how reason Preface. 5 helps faith to answer these questions. To the young it is offered as an instructor and guide; to the suffering and bereaved, as a comforter; and to all honest inquirers after the truth, be they young or old, prosperous or unfortunate, as the effort of an honest mind to solve for them in the most reas- onable manner possible some of the great problems of life and destiny. HENRY TUCKLEY. CONTENTS I. THE BIBLE. Page. What Proof have we that it is the Word of God? 13 I. Self-evident Truths which make a Revelation from God Necessary, 17 II. The Argument from Miracles, 21 III. The Great Miracle of Historic Christianity, .... 26 IV. The Argument from Prophesy, 30 V. Objections considered, 34 VI. Some Corroborative Proofs, 41 II. IMMORTALITY. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A FUTURE LlFE ? 47 I. Immortality argued from the Faculties and Aspi- rations of Man, 51 II. Proofs from History and Analogy, 59 III. Man too Noble to be Only a Mortal, . 64 IV. The Song of the Human Heart, 68 V. From the Bird to the Book, 72 VI. An Answer to Ingersoll, 75 8 Contents. hi. HEAVENLY RECOGNITION. Page. What Assurance have wb that we shall know One Another in Heaven ? 79 I. Recognition argued in a Story, 81 II. The Story applied, 85 III. Recognition argued from the Nature of Man, ... 88 IV. Recognition Necessary to Our Heavenly Contentment, 94 V. The Larger View of Revelation, 98 VI. Practical Conclusions, 102 IV. THE RESURRECTION. What do we know about the Resurrection of the Dead ? 109 I. Suggestions from the Realm of Nature, Ill II. From Daybreak to Noontide, 11G III. With what Body shall we be raised? 121 IV. Difficulties considered, 125. V. Some Interesting Questions answered, 131 VI. Comforting and Wholesome Lessons, 135 V. THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING. Ie god is Love, why does He allow Good People TO SUFFER? 141 I. A Calm Review of Fundamental Facts, 145 II. Suffering as a Factor in Human Development, . . 153 III. Utility of Suffering in the Work of Salvation, . . 158 IV. How Suffering magnifies the Divine Mercy, . . . 163 V. Viewing the Problem in the Light of Eternity, . . 167 VI. Concluding Observations, 170 Contents. 9 VI. THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. Page. Is there a Sin which hath never Forgiveness? . 175 I. Is an Unpardonable Sin Possible? 177 II. Is Such a Sin Possible at the Present Day? .... 181 III. In what does the Unpardonable Sin consist ? . . . . 185 IV. How may we know whether or not we have com- mitted this Sin ? 189 V. What Classes are most liable to commit this Sin ? . 191 VII. GUARDIAN ANGELS. What may we reasonably believe wtth Respect to Such Beings ? 197 I. Current Opinions Respecting Angels, 201 II. Angelic Activity in Human Affairs, 204 III. Angelic Guardianship fully established, 209 IV. The Doctrine elaborated and applied, 215 V. Some Interesting Speculations, 220 VI. Practical Lessons 224 VIII. FALLEN ANGELS. What is their Influence upon Mankind? .... 229 I. The History of Fallen Angels, 235 II. Occupation and Probable Influence of Fallen Spirits, 240 III. Conjectures as to their Number and Appearance, . 246 IV. What we know of their Methods 249 V. Admonitions and Encouragements, 254 I. The Bible. WHAT PROOF HAVE WE THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD? " We have not followed cunningly devised fables." —2 Peter i, 16. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." —2 Timothy hi, 16. THE BIBLE. What Proof have we that it is the Word of God? w HEN Paul declares, in his letter to Timothy, that " all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," he alludes solely to Old Testament Scripture. But if the Old Testament was inspired, the New Testament must certainly have been ; that, too, in the same way, and from the same source. These two books stand or fall together. They are the neces- sary complement of each other. The Old Testament is not complete without the New, and the New would not be intelligible were it dissevered from the Old. One is the introduction, the other the finale and grand consummation ; and each makes an equal claim to be accepted as an inspired book. These Scriptures, moreover, claim inspiration of a peculiar kind. There are those who tell us that the great poets were inspired in a sense, and they would have us believe that it is in this sense alone that the contributors to the Bible were inspired. 13 14 The Bible. But look at the difference in the claims set up in the two cases. The claim of Biblical writers is that they "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," and that what they say is, in substance, what God says. Is any such claim as this made by Shake- speare, by Milton, by Dante, by Tennyson, or by Longfellow? On the contrary, these men claim to be only what they obviously are; viz., lesser lights in the firmament of knowledge, who borrow their radiance from another and greater light. How significant that Shakespeare's writings contain over five hundred allusions to Scripture, and that not one of his thirty-seven plays should be without such an allusion ; while, as to the masterpieces of Dante and Milton, these, as every one is well aware, not content with mere allusions to the Bible, are a pal- pable effort, however mistaken in its results, to em- body and illustrate the sublime teachings of that book. We do not hold, however, that every word of the Bible is inspired. What we mean by inspiration is that such a divine influence was brought to bear upon the minds of Scriptural authors that they were prevented from writing what was erroneous, and were enlightened and guided with reference to matters of which otherwise they would have been The Word of God. 15 ignorant, and that, as the result, they correctly and sufficiently voice to us the will of God concerning our highest welfare. This is what we mean by in- spiration ; and that the authors of the Bible were indeed inspired to at least this extent is not merely the belief of the Christian Church, but it is the claim of the Bible itself. Either, therefore, this Bible is the word of God, or it is a fraud. We can not judge of it as of other books, because it makes higher pretensions than other books. Call it a book of morals, and we reply, if it is only a sublime treatise on morals, it is a sublime example of a lack of morals, because it claims to be more than that. To put the case briefly and plainly, if the Bible is not the word of God, it comes to us with a lie upon its pages, and is, there- fore, utterly discredited for any wholesome purpose whatever. But are we to accept this book as the word of God merely upon its own claim to this distinction ? Not at all; and it would be an insult to human in- telligence to expect such a thing. People talk about accepting the Bible on faith ; but if they mean by this, a faith Avhich has no reasons behind it, then, we repeat, not only that this is not expected, but that such a requirement would be an outrage upon human intelligence. 2 16 The Bible. No, my friends, we do not accept the Bible as the word of God' upon faith, we accept it as such upon valid and sufficient evidence. The world sits in judg- ment upon this book. It has done so for hundreds of years. The claim of the book to a divine origin is passed under review. Testimony is given, proofs are adduced, objections are raised and answered. This trial scene has been enacted before every gen- eration since the book appeared, and again and again has the verdict been given — not a verdict based on blind faith, as some have foolishly supposed, but a verdict based upon evidence. Men have said — as they have had, and still have, a perfect right to say — here is a book which claims to be different from every other book, and superior to every other book ; a book which assumes to voice for humanity the will of God, and which, on the strength of this claim, demands from mankind implicit obedience to its precepts. What proof is there that the claim of this book to be divine is a valid one? In a word, as the question has been put for our special consider- ation at this time, "What assurance have we that the Bible is the word of God?" It would, of course, be impossible to answer this question fully within the limits of a single chapter. All we can offer is the merest outline of such an answer as the question deserves. Self-Evident Truths. 17 I. Self-Evident Truths which make a Revelation from God Necessary. We begin with the existence of God. That there is a Being of infinite intelligence, who created all things, and to whom all intelligent creatures are responsible, is shown by the universal intuition we have of such a Being, as well as by the fact that we can not account satisfactorily, upon any other the- ory, either for our own existence or the existence of the world in which we dwell. And the same things which prove that God exists, prove also that his predominent trait is goodness ; while still another self-evident truth — a truth proclaimed in ten thou- sand ways, independently of the Bible — is, that the chief solicitude of the great Creator is for his creature, mau ; that he created man for noble ends, and that his desire concerning him is that he shall be happy. A further self-evident truth is, that the happi- ness of man depends upon his character and con- duct. It was not necessary for the Bible to tell us this. The fact was known long before the Bible was extant, and it is known and felt at this day in 18 The Bible, places where the light of the Bible has not yet been diffused. That certain states of mind produce happiness, and that certain courses of conduct have the same effect ; and that, on the other hand, the opposite states and actions just as surely bring mis- ery and punishment in their train, — these are things which men have known since they have known anything. Evidently, therefore, if men were to be the happy beings which it is clear Almighty God desired them to be, they must have some in- fallible rule for their guidance — some law telling them distinctly what would be for their good and what would not be for their good. But where were they to find such a law? That human opinions would not be accepted as an infal- lible rule of conduct is evident from the fact that these opinions are so contradictory, and have va- ried so in different countries and ages. It is evident, moreover, that reason and philosophy were incapa- ble of supplying this need. To see the best that philosophy can do for men, we have but to look at Greece and Rome. But would any one admit that a beneficent God had in view, when he created the world and placed man upon it, no higher forms of morality than the low sensualism of the Grecian and Roman eras, and no better religion than that of organism ? Self-Evident Truths. 19 If, then, an infallible rule of conduct was nec- essary to man's happiness, and if, as we have seen, man's own resources were insufficient to supply such a rule, what course was left to the God who had created man, and who had designed him to be both happy and virtuous, but to himself speak to his creatures on these great matters? Really, if there was a God, as all nature proclaimed, and if he was good, as all his other works proved him to be, we can not conceive how he could be silent under such circumstances, any more than we can conceive how a loving father could be indifferent to an appeal for help and guidance from his feeble, erring, and imperiled offspring. Such is the line of argument, briefly stated, by which, altogether aside from the Bible, it is shown to be entirely probable, and indeed morally cer- tain, that somewhere, in some way, and at some time, God would reveal his will to mankind. Admitting this, where shall we look for such a revelation ? There ought to be a divinely inspired book somewhere — where is it? We can not con- ceive that the great Father would thrust us into the wilderness of this world, and leave us to make our way without some guide-book; but where is that guide-book ? He would surely send us some 20 The Bible. word, write us some letter, while we were far from home wandering amid dangers — where is that letter? Now, we make a bold affirmation. We feel warranted in declaring that if the Bible is not the word of God, no book in the universe can aspire to that distinction. This is the testimony of both the friends of the Bible and its foes ; and the very best proof that the Bible has no competitor as a revelation from God — none that is worthy of seri- ous attention — is shown in the fact that both infi- delity and rationalism have made this book their sole battle-ground. Other books are passed by as being beneath notice. Believers and unbelievers in all ages — no less in this most intelligent age than in those which preceded it — have united in declar- ing that, as regards the question of a revelation from God, it is either the Bible or nothing ; either this light or total darkness. Because, therefore, we can not reasonably believe ourselves to have been left in total darkness, and because, if the Bible be not the true light, there is no light from heaven for human guidance, it Avould seem to be the most natural thing in the world that we should approach the Bible, for the purpose of examining its claims, not only with no prejudice against it, but with a decided predilection in its favor. The Argument from Miracles. 21 II. The Argument from Miracles. Look, now, at some of the proofs in the case. Those usually presented first are the proofs deduci- ble from miracles and prophecy. A miracle is an act or event wrought by the power of God in attestation of some person who claims to have been sent upon a divine mission ; and the argument from miracles is, that if a man claims to speak in the name of Omnipotence, and, in order to show that he does speak in that name, performs works which no power save the power of God could accomplish, that man substantiates his claim, and his word must be accepted as the word of Jehovah. But what proof have we, the reader will inquire, outside of the Bible itself — what proof have we that those who profess to voice to us in this book the will and word of God really performed miracles? Regarding the miracles wrought through Moses, which we may call the fundamental miracles of the Old Testament, there is evidence the most convinc- ing to the reality of some of these in the records and memorials of the land of Egypt. The very stones cry out in attestation of these occurrences ; 22 The Bible. and scarcely a year passes in which archaeological research does not evoke some new word of testi- mony, and present before us out of the long-buried past some additional witness to the truth of God. If, however, we would have proof of the ve- racity and inspiration of the Old Testament, such as shall be palpable to our own senses, all we have to do is to look at the Jews in their present state of dispersion, and yet of miraculous preservation. How can you account for that marvelous race of people, excepting upon the supposition that they were the people of God and the original possessors of the word of God? Where is their history to be found if the Bible does not give it ? And if the history given of them in the Bible is a spurious history, which has been substituted for their true history, when was this substitution made ? How is it possible such a change could have been made without the world having, somewhere, some infor- mation of the fact? See, too, how this history re- flects upon the Jews, what ingratitude it charges upon them, and what judgments it records against them ! Can we conceive it possible this people would have clung to these records through all these ages, and would have kept themselves separate, solely through the influence of these records, from The Argument from Miracles. 23 the other nations of the earth for nearly four thousand years, had there ever been the slightest ground for doubting that the records were au- thentic? And does it not follow from all this, even as we claim, that the Jewish race, with its traditions, its forms of worship, its clannishness — scattered as it is over the face of the globe, and yet, to a marvelous and really miraculous extent, keeping itself separate from all other races and peoples — is a palpable, living proof that the Bible is what it claims to be ; viz., the inspired word of God, and a faithful record of his dealings, first, with the chosen nation of Israel, and afterward, through that nation, with all the nations upon earth? In the New Testament the proof from miracles is greater even than in the Old. The miracles of Christ's time were performed in a more enlightened age than those wrought by Moses and the prophets. You will bear in mind, too, that they were heralded as miracles, and were received as such by the masses of the people. They were not performed in privacy. They were wrought on the public thoroughfares, in the synagogues, in the grave-yards. Thousands were witnesses to them; and had there been the least sus- picion of imposture, how easy it would have been to expose the fraud ! From the fact, however, that no 24 THE Bible. exposure was attempted, how can we conclude other- wise than that no suspicion of the kind was enter- tained ? These miracles were proclaimed upon the house-tops. Men affirmed them in open court. They believed them so implicitly that they sacri- ficed their goods and even their lives to this faith. We must remember, too, that it was solely upon these miracles that the Christian religion appealed to the world for recognition ; and we must remem- ber, furthermore, that this appeal was first made in the city of Jerusalem, and that it was made there and in adjacent places continuously from the hour of Pentecost. There was no intermission. Had there been, people might have forgotten the occurrences, and thus might have been liable to deception in re- gard to them. But while those still lived who had seen these miracles ; while those still lived who had been the subjects of them; in the presence of the soldiers and the chief priests who had entered into a conspiracy to keep Jesus in the grave, and w r ho, after he had left it, had combined together to persuade the people that his body had been stolen ; under the very shadow of the cross on which Christ had died, and in the very teeth of the people who crucified him, his disciples stood up — a mere handful of them — men of no social position and no education The Argument from Miracles. 25 worth mentioning, and boldly proclaimed that He whom the Jews had crucified and slain, Him had God raised up again and exalted to be a Prince and a Savior to give repentance and remission of sins. Now, had there been any reasonable ground for doubting these miracles upon which the disciples relied to prove the divine authority of their new religion, does any one imagine there would have been the least chauce of their making three thou- sand converts in one day — or three hundred, or thirty, or three, or any ? 26 The Bible. III. The Great Miracle of Historic Christianity. If any one should insinuate that we are proving the genuineness of New Testament miracles from the New Testament itself, then we invite you to leave the New Testament for a moment, and to con- sider facts which are ascertainable elsewhere. And is it not established, from other sources than the Scriptures, that the apostles continued their work of propagating the new religion, and that finally nearly all of them became martyrs to this work? Do we not know, also, that when the first proclaimers of the gospel passed from the stage of action, others took their places, and that many of these likewise suffered martyrdom ? Do we not read of persecu- tions in those times which make the blood curdle ; and yet do we not see, rising up from the ashes of these martyrs, that Christian Church which has with- stood the storms of the centuries, and is to-day the joy of the whole earth? Now, can any one seri- ously believe that a faith founded upon an imposture could have become in three centuries the established religion of the Roman Empire; or, if we grant to such a faith that first remarkable triumph, is it con- Historic Christianity. 27 ceivable that, with the increased enlightenment of succeeding ages, such a faith, with only a lie to sup- port it, could still have stood the test, and could have continued to win its triumphant way as this Christian faith has done ? Thus the strongest proof of the reality of New Testament miracles is that which we see with our own eyes this very day; viz., that magnificent, far- reaching, irrepressible, and indestructible institution, the Christian Church. No system of error could have survived and prospered amongst enlightened people as Christianity has done. A lie may flourish for a time, but only truth is eternal. Crush a lie to earth, and it will remain there ; but " Truth crushed to earth will rise again ; The eternal years of God are hers;" and most grandly does the history of Christian- ity demonstrate this. Voltaire boasted that in less than a hundred years Christianity would be swept from existence ; and O, how that brilliant old mocker would have raved had any one told him at that time that within a century his own printing- press would be used to print the Word of God, and his own house be occupied as a depot of the Geneva Bible Society ! This, however, is precisely what has occurred; and why is it? Why is it that men have 28 The Bible, been unable to destroy or to seriously injure the Christian Church? Why is it that, whilst other systems have crumbled into decay, this Christian system has gathered new vigor from the advancing years, and is to-day the most vital and powerful force in all the affairs of civilized man ? Can we imagine that a career like this would have been pos- sible to Christianity had it been founded upon any- thing save the grandest and most enduring verities? Ah! Talleyrand was right in that memorable re- mark of his, and he spoke wiser than he knew. Le- paux, a member of the French Directory, had complained to him that the new religion they were seeking to foist upon France made little headway. "Not surprising," said Talleyrand, "not at all; it's no easy matter to introduce a new religion. But there 's one thing I would advise you to do/ 7 he said, " and then perhaps you might succeed." " What is it — what is it?" inquired Lepaux. "It is this," said Talleyrand. " Go and be crucified, and then be buried, and then rise again on the third day, and then go on working miracles, raising the dead and healing all manner of diseases and casting out devils; and then it is possible you may accomplish your end." Thus spake Talleyrand, and he was right ; for it was in the doing of things like these Historic Christianity. 29 that Christ accomplished his end, the fact that the Christian system still lives and flourishes being the best possible proof that he really did perform these miracles, as Talleyrand himself evidently believed ; while the genuineness of the miracles proves con- clusively that both the New Testament and the Old Testament, since the two must of necessity stand or fall together, are what they claim to be, and that all Scripture is indeed given by inspiration of God. After this, the argument from prophecy is not necessary, excepting to corroborate that which has already been established. It is, however, equally conclusive of the inspiration of the Scriptures with that based on miracles. 30 The Bible. IV. The Argument from Prophecy. We begin with the generally accepted axiom that no one can correctly foretell remote events that are contingent upon the actions of a large num- ber of people, save the omnipotent God. Any one may guess at events which are likely to transpire soon, and which involve the actions of one person, or even of several persons with whom they are well acquainted, and these guesses may come to pass. But you will see at once that there is a world of difference between predictions such as these, and predictions stretching far into the fu- ture — predictions foretelling in exact language the doom of great cities and nations, or the birth, with all its attendant circumstances, of some great ruler. So palpable, indeed, is this difference, that it is universally conceded, by all persons of good judg- ment, that no one can foretell with certainty events of the latter class, excepting that one Being whose eyes go to and fro throughout the whole earth, and whose prescience is so vast that he knows the end of all things equally with their beginnings. If, therefore, those are found who make such predic- Argument from Prophecy. 31 tions as these, and who claim to make them under an inspiration from God, and if afterwards these pre- dictions shall be precisely fulfilled, what can be the conclusion respecting such persons but that their claim to divine inspiration is fully substantiated ? And to thus indicate the form of this argument is all that is necessary to establish the conclusion; for who does not kuow that repeatedly in the Scriptures events are foretold, as to time, place, cir- cumstances, and causes even — events which human discernment could not possibly have foreseen, and which could not possibly have been brought to pass by any imaginable collusion — events, indeed, the precise forecasting of which can only be accounted for upon the theory that those who made the fore- casts were divinely inspired ? Need we say that the ancient world is dotted with ruins, and that out of nearly all of these voices are appealing to us which unmistakably attest the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy? The silent sphinxes and wasted temples of Egypt proclaim this. Babylon and Nineveh pro- claim it out of their awful desolations. Jerusalem, trodden 'neath the heel of the Gentiles, proclaims it in tones of sorrow and shame. The scattered na- tion of Israel proclaims it ; and this fact we would emphasize ; for if the marvelous preservation of the 3 32 The Bible. Jews as a distinct people is a miracle, and a proof of the genuineness of other miracles, then, with no less certainty, is the marvelous dispersion of this people, and the fearful persecutions they have suf- fered therefrom, a striking proof of the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy. As to the predictions in regard to Christ, it is proverbial that these amounted almost to a complete history of the Savior's life. Hardly a circumstance is omitted. And when it is remembered that these predictions cover a period of two thousand years ; that they were uttered at remote distances from one another in point of time ; that they fell from the lips of men in various stations of life and of widely varying degrees of intelligence — when these things are remembered, together with the fact that all who spoke of the One that should come, presented him in essentially the same light, and that in the fullness of time the whole of these predictions were fulfilled even to the minutest particulars — when these facts are borne in mind, we shall surely be prepared to admit that the proof of the inspiration of the Scrip- tures which we thus derive from prophecy, like that previously deduced from miracles, is so complete and so perfectly conclusive as to leave the honest Argument from Prophecy. 33 inquirer, not only without doubt, but without the least excuse for doubting. And yet there are other proofs. Really, many of the objections urged against the Bible are proofs that it is the word of God — presumptive proofs, at least, if not positive proofs. 34 The Bible. V. Objections Considered. The question is sometimes asked: If God in- tended to reveal his will to men, and to show men the way of happiness, why did he not do it through one medium, in a set code of precepts all given at the same time ? To this we reply by asking, when was there a period prior to the completion of the New Testament when God could have revealed his will to men fully, with any hope of their under- standing it? The race had to be educated to re- ceive the final touches of revelation ; and that these were withheld none too long is shown by the fact they were but poorly apprehended, at first, by even the disciples of our Lord. Thus, what was thought to be an objection to the book is seen, upon closer examination, to be a fact which ought to increase our faith in it. Some one else says : If the Bible is the word ol God, why is there so much evil recorded in it? why does it detract from so many of its leading characters by telling so many bad things they did ? This objection we answer in the suggestive language of Dr. H. L. Hastings, of Boston, who Objections Considered. 35 says : " Do you suppose that if the Bible had been written by some learned doctor, revised by a com- mittee of eminent divines, and published by some great religious society, we should have heard of Noah's drunkenness, of Abraham's deception, of Lot's disgrace, of Jacob's cheating, of Paul and Barnabas quarreling, or of Peter's lying and curs- ing? Not at all. The good men, when they came to such an incident, would have said: ' It is all passed and gone. It will not help anything, and it will only hurt the cause.' If such a commit- tee as this had prepared the Bible, you would have had a biography of men who were patterns of piety, instead of poor sinners. Sometimes a man writes his own diary, and happens to leave it so it is found by some one who prints it after he is dead; but he leaves out all the mean tricks he ever did, and puts in all the good deeds ; and you read the pages, filled with astonishment, and think, what a wonderfully good man he was! But when the Almighty writes a man's life he tells the truth about him; and there are not many persons who would want their lives printed if the Almighty were to write them." Thus is another ob- jection converted into a proof. But some one else says: If the Bible is the 36 The Bible. word of God, why are there such great mysteries in it, so many things that are hard to understand? To this we reply : On the assumption that this book emanated from a divine mind, what else could be expected ? Why, if everything in the book were comprehensible by the human in- tellect, there would be ground for suspicion that the book was a product of that intellect. When, however, we find sublime mysteries in it, and yet discover, at the same time, that what is es- sential to human happiness is perfectly transparent and plain, we involuntarily say to ourselves, That is just what we should expect in a book coming from God. Besides, look at the mysteries there are in the material universe, and see how, through all the ages, men have been puzzling their brains, with only partial success, in the effort to solve these mys- teries. And if the book of nature presents so many difficulties, is it surprising we should find a few in the Book of Revelation, considering that both books emanate from the same Infinite Intelligence? But some other objector says: If the Bible is the word of God, why does it not agree with science? To which we reply: Why does not science agree with the Bible? Nay, more — why does not science agree with itself? This book announces principles Objections Considered. 37 that are eternal, discoveries to which nothing can be added ; and because science seems, in its partial, twilight discoveries, to now and then pick up a fact which apparently does not tally with some of these, is that any reason why science should be allowed to turn upon the Bible, and ask contemptuously why the old book is so out of harmony with modern research? As reasonably might a tallow candle ask in derision why the white-faced moon emits a radiance so different from its own, or a dwarf stand before an athlete and ask why, if the other be a man, he was not made to harmonize in build with his own diminutive self. Ah, my friends, don't bring your tallow candles, lighted in the mines or in the observatory, and, placing them by the side of this blazing luminary from heaven, complain that the two are not in harmony — do n't be so unreasonable — but wait until you know a little more. Wait until the flickering lamp of science shall burn a little more steadily and brightly. One thing is undeniable, and that is, that if the Bible had agreed with the scientific con- clusions of former ages, it would have been alto- gether out of harmony with those of the present age. But the Bible, we must remind you again, is an eternal book, a book for all lands and all 38 The Bible. times; and we submit, consequently, that it will be time enough to expect perfect agreement between its teachings and the teachings of science, when science shall have approximated a little more closely to the completion of her work. Nor have we any doubt that when that time shall have come, the lion and the lamb will lie down together in perfect peace. We venture to predict, too, that if either of the two is then found inside of the other, it will not be science that will have swallowed the Bible, but the Bible which will have gulped down and completely assimilated into itself the meek lamb of science. Still another objector says : If the Bible is the word of God, why does it have to be altered and revised from time to time? To which we respond, that it was thought necessary a few years ago to revise it in order to improve the translation, not to alter the original sense; and you must remember that while we hold that the book was inspired as originally given in the Hebrew and Greek, we do not claim at all, and have no grounds for claiming, that those who rendered it into English were in- spired, though we do believe that they were provi- dentially guided and most graciously helped. Be- cause the English language had changed, it was felt that some words and phrases in the Bible ought to Objections Considered. 39 be changed, to make them express more accurately to this generation what was said in the original. Then, it was thought that new light had been dis- covered. An ancient manuscript had been un- earthed, and it was considered expedient to over- haul the Bible with the object of comparing it with that manuscript. Hence this work of revision was undertaken ; and we ask you to notice the results. We ask you to point out, if you can, a single doctrine of Christianity that has been overthrown or weakened; or a solitary change of any kind that has tended to discredit the Bible as the word of God. In point of fact, the revision of the Bible — so carefully and ably conducted, as it was, and yet leading to so few changes — has strengthened our faith in that book ; and this, no doubt, was what God had in view in providentially ordaining such a revision. It was God's way of showing what the Bible would stand — how much more it will stand than any ordinary book ; his way of demonstrating that the Bible is all right, and always has been so. Perhaps, too, he wanted to exhibit to the world, by means of a striking object-lesson, the wonderful popularity of the Bible ; and who will ever forget what took place when the Revised Version of the 40 v The Bible. New Testament appeared ? Think of it — men offer- ing five hundred dollars for a copy of the book a little in advance of its publication ; the streets of New York in some quarters blockaded, the morning it was published, with express wagons waiting to deliver it; millions of copies ordered before it was out; and then, to crown the whole, and as an earnest of how the inventions of modern science are all finally to be pressed into the service of Christ, the whole of it — from the first of Matthew to the last of Romans — telegraphed from New York to Chicago, 118,000 words, the longest single mes- sage ever sent over the wires anywhere in the world ! Some Corroborative Proofs. 41 VI. Some Corroborative Proofs. In further proof that the Bible is the word of God, we ask your attention to the faultless system of morals it presents us. Where else can such a system be found, or one even that is fit to be com- pared to it? What a paradise of blessedness this world would be if men only acted in their relations one with another as this book teaches they should act! We said at the beginning that if the Bible was only a sublime treatise on morals it was a fraud, because it professed to be more than that. We still say this. The fact, however, that its morals are sublime — more sublime, and more nearly approaching to our ideas of perfection, than those of any other book — proves that it must be superior in its authorship to other books ; and really this fact affords strong corroborative proof that it is the Divine Book which, from other evidence, we know it to be. It would seem, too, that we have a further proof of the divine authorship of the Bible in the mar- velous completeness with which it recognizes and re- lieves all the great wants of the great human family. 42 The Bible. It was not necessary for this book to tell us that the human conscience is oppressed by guilt; this fact is made sufficiently real by the evidence of our own senses. The Bible, however, does affirm that we are guilty, and, happily, it tells at the same time how pardon may be obtained. Then, the sin which has involved us in guilt has also de- filed and polluted us. Not only are we wicked in practice, but we are evil by nature. We know this ; probably we should have known it had the Bible been silent upon the subject. The Bible, however, is not silent upon this matter. On the contrary, it recognizes and emphasizes this deprav- ity, and, what is equally suggestive of its divine authority, the remedy it offers for a nature steeped in sin is the only remedy which could meet such a condition ; viz., a nature created anew and purged from dead works to serve the living God. For our ignorance, it offers the wisdom of the Spirit ; for our weakness, the strength of the Spirit; for our sorrow, the comfort of the Spirit; and the fact that we are mortal it graciously provides against by bringing to light life and immortality. Thus this old Bible, like the most skillful of physicians, cor- rectly and fully diagnoses our condition, and then applies to our every ailment an all-sufficient rem- Some Corroborative Proofs. 43 edy ; the diagnosis being so precise and the remedy so efficacious and perfect as to distinctly suggest that 'the inspiring source of a wisdom so vast and all-embracing could not have been the mind of man, but must have been that Mind which seeth and knoweth all things. And this brings us to our closing observation, which is, that one of our best assurances that the Bible is the word of God, is that which arises from experience. The argument upon this point was forcibly stated by that clear-headed Scotchman who said: "I know nothing about what the learned men call the external evidences of revelation, but I will tell you why I believe it to be from God : I have a most depraved and sinful nature, and, do what I will, I find I can not make myself holy. My friends can not do it for me, nor do I think all the angels in heaven could. One thing alone does it — the reading, and believiug what I read, in that blessed book. That does it. Now, as I know that God must be holy and a lover of holiness, and as I believe that book to be the only thing in creation that produces and increases holiness, I conclude that it is from God, and that he is the author of it." Yes, my friends, here is the best proof, the proof of experience. If any man will do his will, said 44 The Bible. the Savior, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God. O, the countless multitudes who have found out in this way the truth of the Bible ! Every conversion is a proof that the Bible is the word of God. Every happy Christian life proves it. It is proven in the most sublime manner every time a dying believer goes to his final rest, with that pean upon his lips: " O grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" Thus, while a cele- brated infidel was compelled to say that the great bane of his life had been the fear he had that the Bible might not be false, we who believe it, and who have put its doctrines to the test, can bear testimony that the great joy of our lives is that we know it to be true, and are fully assured that it was given to man by the God of truth. II. Immortality. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A FUTURE LIFE? " If a man die, shall he live again?" —Job xiv, 14. " I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord." —Psalm cxviii, 17. IMMORTALITY. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A FUTURE LIFE? "fF a man die, shall he live again ?" The ques- <*• tion of the ages ; a question which is as old as humanity and as new and interesting as the youngest child. Happily, too, it is a question to which an affirmative answer can be given. But how do we know it? How do we know that there \s a future life? For the present we may turn aside from the Bi- ble, and walk solely in the dim light of reason and nature. Your attention is asked to a beautiful spec- imen of the feathered tribe. It is caged, and the cage is in the sitting-room of an ordinary dwelling. Notice the brilliant plumage of the bird. You have seen many bright-winged songsters ; but did you ever see any quite so gorgeous as this appears to be? Listen, moreover, to its sweet warblings. You have heard the chirp of sparrows, the robin's soft call to its mate, and the notes of other songsters of the grove, but did you ever hear anything to equal 4 47 48 Immortality. those notes ? You will observe, too, that this feath- ered curiosity has ample wings, leaving you in no doubt that it could sustain itself in long flights and at a great altitude. Now, what are your conclusions in regard to this bird ? Because the bird is a rare one, you will find hanging from the cage a book which will tell you all about it. But as to certain elementary facts you do not need book-lore; your own common sense and powers of observation will meet the case. What, then, do you conclude in re- gard to this bird? Your first conclusion will be that it is an exile. That brilliant plumage, you will say, could never have acquired its touches of beauty and glory under skies so leaden and changeful as these. There is nothing like it here. The birds which wing their flight through the blue expanse in this latitude are of a different appearance altogether. And that song — it does n't at all harmonize with such surroundings as those in which you now hear it ; it speaks un- mistakably of the languid skies and fragrant bowers and dreamy atmosphere of the tropics. Not only is that bird an exile, but it is a pris- oner. Poorly does it brook confinement in a cage, or even in a dwelling. Notice how often its head is posed in an attitude of attention. What does this Is There a Future Life? 49 mean, but that the caged songster would fain catch, if it could, above the uncongenial sounds within the house, some familiar warble of its own species from without? You will notice, too, how often its wings are used; and yet, in such a circumscribed space, how ungainly they look. Do you suppose such ample instruments of aerial locomotion would ever have been given to that creature had their only use been to lift it from the bottom of the cage to its perch near the top ? Observe, too, in still further proof that the bird is a prisoner and was not orig- inally intended for such close confinement, how anxious it seems to escape ! Why, it was but recently that the flesh at the root of its beak was bleeding; and why was this, but because, in its dreams of the larger liberty for which it was made, the poor pris- oner, forgetting that there were wires about it, would so often start off in vigorous flight, as though it must break away from its prison at any cost ? This much you learn respecting the bird simply from the exer- cise of your ordinary powers of observation and reason. Now you may take down the book, and get the particulars. You are convinced that the bird is an exile and a prisoner ; that it has faculties which fit it to live in better circumstances than those at pres- 50 Immortality. ent surrounding it; you know that it must belong somewhere other than where it is. Now take down the book which has been provided for the informa- tion of visitors, and you shall know all about this feathered curiosity — whence it comes, what its hab- its, and what the full measure of its capabilities. Faculties and Aspirations of Man. 51 I. Immortality Argued from the Faculties and Aspirations of Man. We speak in a parable. The caged bird is man. Look at man. Examine him critically as you did the bird. Use common sense in the scrutiny. Ask yourselves, first, What is there like him in all crea- tion? Observe the dominion he exercises over all other things — how he puts the world under tribute to his ambition. Observe how he reasons, plans, in- vents, creates, combines. Other creatures have in- stinct, but he evidently is endowed with something as far above instinct as the light of the sun excels the glimmer of the faintest star. Where, in all the visible creation, is his mate, his affinity — any being, with whom human beings can hold converse on terms of equality? And if there be no worthy companion for human beings among the intelligen- cies surrounding them in this world, does not that fact make it probable that their final communings will be with a higher order of intelligencies in another world? Then, put your ear to man's heart. Listen to his song. Did you ever hear anything like it? You 52 Immortality. talk about the ten thousand voices that speak to you in nature, but what voice ever spoke in such sublime language as the voice of the human heart? They say that the sea-shell, if you put it to your ear, always voices in softened tones the mighty roar of old ocean. This may be only a fancy; and some may think it no more than a fancy when we say that the heart of man, in its great pulsations, voices to us the language of another world than that in which we are now living. But we ask you in all candor, as you press your ear against the human breast and listen to the singing of the mysterious warbler within, if you ever heard anything like it anywhere else on this earth? And in case yon never did, we ask further, if that fact does not af- ford a reasonable presumption that the song of the human heart is not earthly in its inspiration, but is an echo from the world invisible? We would have you notice, moreover, the su- perior faculties and aspirations which distinguish this caged bird of humanity, and how these, owing to the narrow confines of our earthly prison-house, are limited and thwarted. This human bird has wings. One of these is the love of life. To wish to live is natural ; to desire death is abnormal and morbid. We were started in existence with a Faculties and Aspirations of Man. 53 strong propensity to continue. That hymn, " I would not live alway," would express a lie as re- gards the generality of mankind did it relate to life in the abstract. But it does not; it relates merely to the present form of life. Love of life is really one of the instincts of the human heart. It belongs to us by nature; we brought it with us into the world. More than that, most people manifest this love up to the latest moment of leaving the world. But what a mockery on the part of our Creator to have implanted within us a love of life so intense and irrepressible, had he nothing more in contem- plation for us than a brief period of existence in our present surroundings! For will any one pretend that this craving for life finds anything like a rea- sonable gratification in a world out of which three- fifths of those who enter it make their exit in infancy, and where the average stay can not be much more than thirty years — a world whose atmos- phere, as the poet has said, is "full of farewells to the dying, and of mournings for the dead?" Another bird-wing of our nature is the desire for perfect knowledge. There is that within us which impels us to do all we can to find out how things are, and why they are ; and yet what restraints there are upon us in the gratification of this impulse ! The 54 Immortality, universe, for instance, — is not this to a large extent a book of mystery to us, and yet do we not feel that we ought to understand it? Not only so, but we can not help feeling that if our present material limitations were a little less rigorous, we should understand it. What does it mean, my friends, when we hear Isaac Newton declare, at the very summit of his scientific discoveries, that he has been but as a child picking up pebbles by the sea-shore, while the great ocean still lies before him wholly unexplored ? What does this mean, but that Newton in this world was a caged bird; that he was con- scious of a mind which fitted him to fly, but that the limitations of his present existence made it pos- sible for him to do nothing more than crawl? So when men look away from the universe toward themselves. We feel somehow that we ought, at least, to know ourselves ; and yet we do not. And looking into the eyes of others, it is the same. We can not help feeling that somehow mind in us ought to see mind, and read the operations of mind in our fellow-men ; and yet is it not a fact that every man is a sealed book to every other man ? It seems to us often as if we must discern the thoughts of our fellow-creatures, and sometimes, so strong is the desire, it seems almost as if we could ; yet we can Faculties and Aspirations of Man. 55 not. The veil obscuring them is very ephemeral ; but it is there, and we can neither remove nor penetrate it. So with our desire to know God — another in- stinct of human nature. We did not need the Bible to tell us that in the beginning was God. Mankind has known through all the ages that there was a Creator and Upholder of the universe — a Being of infinite intelligence and goodness. To conceive of God seems to be a necessary part of our mental fabric; and what more natural, when we have discovered this Being sitting in the circle of the heavens, animating and governing all things, than that we should desire to know him — to know what he is, and what the relation he sustains to his creatures ? We must remember, too, that the crav- ings of the human heart in this matter are not fully met, in the present world, even by religion ; for, though revelation says so much about God, how little do we comprehend the meaning of what it says ; and, though Christian experience brings us in one sense, so near to him, yet, nevertheless, owing to our material limitations, how very far are we removed from him, even when we have approached as closely into the secret of his presence as it is possible for us to do! 56 Immortality. Ah ! here again it becomes evident that we are caged birds. Remember, too, that we are not ask- ing now what the Bible says of our origin and des- tiny, but that we are asking merely what common sense and our own powers of observation say upon these subjects. We are looking at man. We are examining him, to see what kind of a being he is — to ascertain whether or not it is possible to recon- cile such a creature with his present surroundings ; and we find that this is not possible. Man, we dis- cover, has wings — instruments of locomotion — which, if given full liberty, would carry him into a larger sphere ; aspirations, which find in his present abiding -place no adequate gratification; tastes, thirsts, instincts, impulses — call them what you will — which indicate unmistakably that he, no less than the bird of which we have spoken, is an exile and a prisoner — a being who, far from having his entire existence in this world, is simply de- tained here for a little time, his natural home and the sphere of his full development being not in this world, but in some other. Another argument for a future life is that drawn from moral obligation. Men everywhere have a sense of right and wrong. The most benighted of earth's children have had this much light, and Faculties and Aspirations of Man 57 everywhere has there accompanied it a presentiment that, while good deeds were certain of their final reward, evil deeds would as surely in the end be visited by their just punishment. Now, how are we to account for this moral perception, and for the fear of retribution attending it, excepting as a reflection from the world beyond — a coming event w 7 hich casts its shadow before? Is it not an axiom that all phenomena must have some adequate cause behind it, and if there be nothing in this life, as there certainly is not, that could give rise in heathen minds to this fear of punishment, are we not justified in referring it to the influence of the life to come ? Astronomy comes to our help in the illustration of this point; for have there not been instances in which, from perturbations in certain planets, unac- counted for by any known influence, scientific men have argued the existence and ascertained the lo- cation of other planets not then dicovered; and when, guided by these conclusions, the telescope has been turned toward the point thus marked out, have not these new centers of light and power started at once into view ? JSTow T , what if the heart of man is subject to perturbations that are not accounted for by any influence of his present life? What if we find a conscience within him, and a fearful looking 58 Immortality, for of judgment and fiery indignation on account of wrong-doing — feelings, the only adequate expla- nation of which is a future life — what conclusion can we reach in that case other than that the pres- ence of conscience and the pressure of moral obli- gation prove the reality of a future life? Proofs from History and Analogy. 59 II. Proofs from History and Analogy. It is an undeniable fact that men generally, if not universally — even those who have had no light whatever from the Bible — have felt that there is a future life; which is another argument in its favor. It may not be true that all men have really be- lieved in immortality; but the race of people has yet to be found which has totally disbelieved in it ; while so general is the expectation of life after death among all the races of mankind that, by common consent, this expectation is regarded as one of the intuitions of our common humanity ; not a fact derived from the Bible, nor from observation, nor from reason, but a conception revealed to man, like a flash, simultaneously with his idea of God and his fear of retribution, when the Creator first lights in his soul the lamp of intelligent consciousness. Ah ! here is another bird-wing which proves that we were not destined to spend our whole existence in this prison-house of clay, and the most savage pos- sess it equally with the most intelligent. Look away back in history at that Arab grave, with the skeleton of a camel lying upon it. What 60 Immortality. does it mean, do you ask? It means that those Arabs believed in a future life, and that they showed their faith in it by causing the camel to die, after its owner had died, that the man might have the use of his beast in another world. Look at that funeral pyre kindled by the ancient Gauls — horses, armor, ornaments, dogs, and sometimes servants, tumbled into a common heap, and then consumed in flames. What does that mean, does some one in- quire? It means that a chieftain is dead, and that those surviving him believe that though he has died he still lives, and that, for the same reason as in the case of the Arab's camel, they are sending these things after him, or think that they are. And who does not know, too, that from time immemorial it has been customary, upon the death of an Indian chief, to bury in the same grave with his body the hunting accouterments he loved so well, this act looking forward to the dead man's probable need of these things in the happy hunting-grounds above? And is not this another expression by untutored minds of the idea of immortality? Then, passing to the other extreme of human enlightenment, look at the arguments and con- clusions of heathen philosophers. Plato and Py- thagoras both believed in a future life. And what Proofs from History and Analogy. 61 must we think when we hear Socrates discoursing calmly and confidently of the soul's immortality, saying in effect, " I shall not die, but live," as he holds in his hand the bowl of hemlock, which presently he will drink, to carry out a sentence of death which has been unjustly passed upon him? Cicero observes : " There is in the minds of men a certain presage, as it were, of a future existence ; and this," he adds, " takes the deepest root, and is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses and most exalted souls." This is in attestation of what, ac- cording to Cicero's observation, others felt on this subject; and coming from so ancient as well as so intelligent a source, you will see at once how valu- able is this testimony. Of his own convictions Cicero says : " When I consider the wonderful activity of the mind, so great a memory of what is past, and such a capacity of penetrating into the future ; when I behold such a number of arts and sciences, and such a multitude of discoveries thence arising, I believe and am firmly convinced that a nature which contains so many things wdthin itself can not be mortal." And then he adds : " But if I err in believing that the souls of men are immortal, I willingly err, nor, while I live, w 7 ould I wish to have this delightful error extorted from me." 62 Immortality. Here, then, is another pair of ample wings — another indication that man, though caged now, was made to fly; the argument being, that if God created us with an expectation of a future life, it is only reasonable to suppose that he intended to meet that expectation ; a conclusion, too, which is greatly strengthened by the analogies of the case; for do we not see, in the divine economy, that natural thirst is provided for by water ; that hunger is met and relieved by food; that the social instincts find their complement in the companions about us; that the propensity to love soon discovers worthy objects of affection, and man's transcendent capability for thought, sublime problems upon which to exercise itself? And if the natural instiuct is met in each of these cases, and in every other of which we have any knowledge, why not in the one now under con- sideration? Can we conceive that the only purpose of our Creator in endowing us with love of life, and with the expectation of a future life, could have been to mock us by holding out to the hope a prom- ise which he had no intention of fulfilling to the heart? Here, then, is another consideration which makes the doctrine of immortality extremely likely, to say the least, if not indeed absolutely certain; and the Proofs from History and Analogy. 63 Bible, you will remember, has not yet been brought into requisition to substantiate a single point; all that has been established thus far having been de- rived by inference from our study of the bird inside of the cage, not from the book of particulars which hangs ready for our use on the outside. 64 Immortality. III. Man too Noble to be Only a Mortal. Speaking again of the caged bird reminds us of bis gorgeous plumage. Our conclusion was tbat he was too bright, too beautiful a thing for a clime like this ; and what other conclusion can we reach respecting man? We speak, of course, of mental and moral beauty — a realm in which, so far as this world is concerned, the human creature has not only no equal, but no competitor ; and we declare to you, in all candor, that, in some aspects and under some circumstances, men are so noble, so unearthly, so godlike in their conduct, as to make the supposi- tion that they are only the creatures of a day, seem not merely unreasonable but almost impious. How the bright, beautiful plumage of this human bird showed itself here and there in flashes of un- earthly splendor from amid the gloom and horror of one of our all too frequent railroad disasters. What a scene of suffering and bloodshed that was, and yet what a scene of heroism and glory ! We recall some of the incidents — stories worthy to be en- shrined in immortal verse and to be celebrated by angel choirs around the throne. One woman was Too Noble to be Only Mortal. 65 burned almost to a crisp, and yet she sat erect with her dead child in her arras. Yes, and who can fail to see in those lifeless and fleshless arms, still en- twining that cherished babe, a suggestion amounting almost to absolute proof that mother-love is inde- structible by death. A man was found lying on the track with a broken leg. To those who proposed help he cried out : " My daughter \s on the last car ; go and save her, and let me lie here !" Taken to a place of shelter, he had no sooner been put in a comfortable position than a girl was carried in and placed on the seat opposite. The girl was crying, "Father, father!" And the man, recognizing the voice and forgetting his own injuries, jumped up with a cry of " Lizzie, Lizzie !" clasped to his bosom the girl, who afterwards died, and then sank in a faint to the floor. There was fatherly love — not quite so impressive a picture as that given of mother love, but good enough to show that such love ought not to terminate at death, and to raise a strong presumption that it will not. " That ? s my Jimmy's voice," said a man ; " God have mercy upon him ! It *s my darling boy, and I can *t help him." The boy's cries continuing, the father jumped to the side of the car and cried, "Keep up your courage, Jimmy; your father is 66 Immortality, coming to save you;" after which he struck a window with his clenched fist and crawled through the opening. Fifteen minutes later he staggered out into the air with his boy in his arms, both covered with blood. There was a smile on the father's face. He kissed the pale lips of his son, and said to him: " Jimmy, you knew I would n't stand by and see you die. No, my boy, I 've saved you." Then he placed him in a seat, looked into his eyes, jumped up, staggered back, and screamed, as he sank by his side in unconscious- ness : " My God ! He is dead !" Yes, the boy was dead in one sense; but do not tell us — O do not tell us, for we could not believe it — that that within him whrch called forth such love from that strong man was dead, or that that in the man which made him capable of such love can ever die. Then, there was the young lady fastened in by the telescoped cars, who said to the rescuers : " Go to the others, who are suffering; I 'm not suffering;" as well she might not be; she must have been beyond suffering, for in a few minutes she was dead from loss of blood. There was, also, that youth of four- teen whom it took four hours to extricate, and who afterwards died, but who said, when first discovered ; Too Noble to be only Mortal. 67 "Tend to that other boy; he's hurt worse than I am." Such are some instances of heroism and glory which occurred only a few months ago. And with these pictures before us — showing what human beings are at their best, and how unselfish and sublime a thing is human affection — we affirm again, with all the emphasis we can command for the purpose, that such creatures, in their highest moods, are too grand, too noble, too godlike, to have their all of existence in a world like this; but that, on the contrary, the God who made them what they are must have made a world to match their lofty capabilities, and must have intended that they shall not die, but live, and, their earthly probation passed in an acceptable manner, declare his works in a grander sphere, amid better sur- roundings, and with more favorable opportunities for development. 68 Immortality. IV. The Song of the Human Heart. We emphasized at the beginning, not only the bright plumage of this caged bird, but his sweet warblings as well. We asked you if you ever heard, in these climes, bird-notes which were like them ? Then we asked you to put your ear to the heart of man and listen to his song, to see if you ever heard anything like that. By the song of the human heart, we mean the great thoughts which well up within us, and which find expression in literature, in the arts and sciences, and in the practical affairs of daily life. Take the product of a brain like Shakes- peare's. If the words and thoughts are immortal, what of the spirit, what of the mind, out of which they came? Can you conceive of such a mind re- lapsing into dust, or falling into slumber, or ceasing to be? And the same must be said of Milton, of Paul, of Wesley, and of hundreds of others both living and dead. The bird must belong to another clime than this, the spirit must have a sphere await- ing in the future, so superior, so unearthly, so di- vine is the song it sings ! The Song of the Human Heart. 69 Often, too, as the end of life draws near, the mind increases in strength and the thoughts take on an added grandeur. It is but reasonable to assume that this is always so in reality, and that, but for the impairment of the mediums of expression by disease, it would always so appear And if the mind does indeed increase in vigor to the last, why is it that it does? Surely not that it may be suddenly extinguished — how can we imagine such a thing? Really the supposition is so violent — so opposed to all our preconceived notions — that we can not im- agine it, and, what is more, we can not help believ- ing the contrary. And when we hear Charles Kingsley say, in dying, " It is not darkness I am going to, for God is light; it is not lonely, for Christ \ is with me; it is not an unknown country, for Christ is there ;" and, then, after telling how earnestly he was looking forward, hear him say, "God forgive me if I am wrong, but I look forward to that country with reverent curiosity," — when we hear so great a man sing in his death so confident and jubilant a song, we can not help feeling that it must be he will continue to sing — that he will not die but live — and that when the body, which has been his prison for a time, shall have fallen into decay, 70 Immortality, the liberated spirit, introduced at last into its native atmosphere, and its own country, will sing to the praises of its Creator more sweetly and sublimely than ever before. So when we hear Charles Wesley, as he dictates in his closing hours the last of seven thousand hymns, the first verse of which, so sweet and beau- tiful, is — " In age and feebleness extreme, Who shall a guilty worm redeem ? Jesus, my only hope thou art, Strength of my failing flesh and heart; O, could I catch a smile from thee, And drop into eternity !" — when, I say, we hear Charles Wesley singing in that strain in his death, after having sung in a sim- ilar strain all through his life, what else can we an- ticipate than that this nightingale of sacred poesy, far from lapsing into inaction and silence when the cage shall have dissolved from about him, will rather, in that supreme moment of freedom, plume his wings for flight into the great empyrean of fu- turity, and raise his voice to a pitch of melody and of glory such as, in his loftiest flights on earth, he had never approximated and had scarcely dreamed was possible. The Song of the Human Heart. 71 But it is time now that we took down the book from the bird-cage. We have discovered without the book that the bird is an exile and a prisoner ; that he belongs elsewhere than where he is — :let the book now give us full particulars respecting him. 72 Immortality. V. From the Bird to the Book. That the Bible teaches the great doctrine of im- mortality every one is well aware. It is a question with some whether this truth is taught distinctly in the Old Testament; and yet how little ground is there for such a question! Excepting that he had in his mind the idea of a future life, what could Isaiah have meant when he cried out, "Thy dead men shall live ;" or Daniel, when he declared that " many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake ;" or Job, when he exclaimed, " I know that my Eedeemer liveth, and that ... in my flesh I shall see God." How can you explain satis- factorily such passages as these, excepting on the assumption that these holy men of old cherished, as a part of their creed, this glorious doctrine of a future life? And if this was not one of the ancient doctrines of the Jews, how came it that, at the time of Christ, the Jewish people were divided into Pharisees and Sadducees, the latter denying that there was a future life, and the former, who were vastly in the majority, affirming it? But whatever some may think of the Old Testa- From the Bird to the Book. 73 ment, the man who should doubt that the New Tes- tament bore ample evidence to the future life is the man who would not hesitate to stand in the full glare of the noonday and declare it to be still mid- night. It is the proud distinction of the gospel that it brings to light life and immortality. This does not mean, however, that the New Testament contains either the sole or the first revelation of the life to come, but simply that it makes plain and clear what had previously been enveloped in more or less of mystery ; that it meets us as we come from the study of God, of man, of creation, of Provi- dence, of reason, of philosophy and of the Scrip- tures of the Old Testament — that the New Testament meets us as we come from our researches within these realms, fully convinced that there must be a future life, and says, You are quite right; and while it makes assurance of the fact doubly sure, informs us, also, what that future life will be ; un- folding to our thought, in connection with the ab- stract idea of a future life, the larger, grander verity of eternal life ; and teaching, too, not merely that the spirit will live after death, but that, by and by, there will be a resurrection from the dead of some elements or particles of the human body, and that spirit and body together will be co-existent in 74 Immortality. the other world with the God who made them, and eternally happy or miserable, accordingly as they im- proved or neglected the opportunities they had while under discipline and tuition in their life on this earth. Such is the teaching of the New Testa- tament in regard to the life to come, and the proof passages are as household words to us. These proofs we may pursue at our leisure. We prefer at this time to close as we began, and have so far continued, by testimony from without. An Answer to Ingersoll. 75 VI. An Answer to Ingersoll. Robert G. Ingersoll, delivering an oration over the coffin of his dead brother said : " Life is a nar- row vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond; we cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cries." So speaks Ingersoll of the future life. But Ingersoll we refute and put to silence by the sublime utterances of Victor Hugo, who says : " I feel in myself a future life. I am like a forest which has been more than once cut down. The new shoots are stronger and livelier than ever. I am rising, I know, toward the sky. Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. For half a century I have been writing my thoughts ; yet I feel I've not said a thousandth part of what is in me. My work is only in its beginning — it is hardly above the foundation. I thirst, like my fel- low-creatures, for the infinite, and this thirst proves the infinite. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight, to open with the dawn." Thus speaks Victor Hugo. And this 76 Immortality. voice is the voice of enlightened mankind every- where. He feels the future life within himself; and so do we ; so do all ; and, as he well concludes, this thirst for the infinite proves the infinite. So, let those follow Ingersoll toward cold and barren peaks who choose to do so ; but give us the faith of Hugo, the faith of the old philosophers, the faith of the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles — Tennyson's sublime faith, as expressed in one of his latest poems, in which, anticipating the time when he must leave the narrows of life and enter the great ocean of eternity, he puts forth this ring- ing note of Christian triumph : 11 Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark ; And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark ! For though from out our bourn of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar." III. Heavenly Recognition. WHAT ASSURANCE HAVE WE THAT WE SHALL KNOW ONE ANOTHER IN HEAVEN? "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, be- lieve also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also." —John xiv, 1-3. HEAVENLY RECOGNITION. What Assurance have we that we shall know One Another in Heaven? TT is always well, when information is needed -*- upon a special subject, to carry our inquiries to those most likely to be familiar with that sub- ject; and this is the course we have pursued on the present occasion. Our object is to obtain in- formation of a particular and decisive character in regard to heaven. Very properly, therefore, we have passed by all subordinate authorities, and have carried our appeal to head-quarters. We have allowed Jesus to speak. He who came from heaven and then returned thither, He who made heaven possible to the human family, He through whose merits all who are faithful will gain access to heaven — He it is to whom we have gone, and whose words we have brought to you as the best possible means of putting to rest any anxieties we may have as to whether or not we shall know one another in heaven. 6 79 80 Heavenly Recognition. It is common to deplore our lack of inofrmation in regard to the heavenly world. Really, how- ever, we know a great deal concerning it. This would be true though we had only the informa- tion embraced in the passage before us. Not only do these words of our Savior settle satisfactorily the question we are now considering, but they set- tle, or at least are capable of settling, every other question of the heart touching that place. It has long been our conviction that we know respecting heaven all it is really necessary for us to know ; and we are convinced now, from considerable thought upon the subject, that all that is really essential to assure us that heaven will be a place of perfect hap- piness is revealed in this single utterance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Recognition Argued in a Story. 81 I. Recognition Argued in a Story. To show the process by which this comforting assurance has been reached, we ask attention to what we trust will prove to be an interesting story. It relates to two brothers. One was much older and wiser than the other, and the parents, when they passed away, made him the younger child's guardian. The elder brother had been left with an immense fortune. It was his own, and yet, as he well understood, it was intended to be used for the ben- efit of both. The elder brother loved the younger very tenderly. A father could not have been more considerate of the boy's needs ; a mother, even, could scarcely have shown greater devotion. It had been clearly evidenced by a most dreadful occurrence that this love of the elder brother to the younger was a love which in its sacrifices would stop at nothing; for while the boy was still of tender years the family dwelling took fire, and only for the heroic efforts of that strong man the boy would have perished. A rescue under more desperate circumstances could scarcely be imagined. The bystanders held their breath in amazement. That brother had literally 82 Heavenly Recognition. to pass through fire both as he entered the dwell- ing and as he left it. He was terribly burned; so much so that his scarred visage and wounded hands made him an object of almost painful interest wher- ever he appeared afterwards. Those who witnessed the scene say that when the man came out of the building he reeled about for an instant, and then fell, utterly exhausted ; still, however, keeping the child pressed close to his heart. The boy, it was found, was not only alive, but had escaped almost without injury This was owing to the way in which his brother had screened him as they passed through the fire by keeping the boy's face and hands closely tucked into his own breast. It was a marvelous rescue. No wonder several historians have handed it down for -admiration by succeeding ages. And need it be said that this incident greatly in- tensified the mutual love of these two brothers; that the elder felt, as he looked at the younger, that the boy was now his own flesh and blood in a nearer and dearer sense than ever before, and that the younger looked upon his brother's scars, contracted in that hour of supreme peril, as the best possible proot that he could safely rely upon him in the adjust- ment of their mutual financial affairs? Recognition Argued in a Story. 83 It was time, at length, for the boy to enter col- lege. His brother has accompanied him to the school, and as they have walked together for a few hours through the halls and about the campus, has imparted to him many loving counsels. Finally, to encourage him in his school labors, he directs his youthful mind toward the future. '" A few years only will you be here," he said ; " then you will come home. Meanwhile," he continued, "you need give yourself no uneasiness whatever about where you will live or what you will do at that time ; I will attend to those matters, and, I pledge you my word, everything shall be satisfactory. I intend," he continued, "to fit up an establishment for you. I can not give particulars now ; I can only say, I know your tastes and needs, and that in this new home I propose erecting for you all these shall be met. As to money," he still continues, — " as to money, you know I have of that an almost unlim- ited supply. And as to my interest in you," he ob- served — and he was about to say more, but the boy interrupted him. He could stand it no longer. His heart had filled with emotion ; the tears had gathered to his eyes. " Brother, brother," he sobbed, as he threw his arms passionately about the man's neck and lav- 84 Heavenly Recognition. isbed kiss after kiss upon his scarred but kiudly visage — " brother, brother, say no more — it is not necessary. I know it will be all right; I trust you with all my heart. A thousand, thousand thanks for all you have done, and for all you say you will do, especially for the home you are going to prepare. I know it will suit because you are to prepare it. God keep me faithful, and make me worthy to take possession of that home !" The Story Applied. 85 II. The Story Applied. That elder brother — you will surmise who he is. The younger brother may be yourself — he may be any of us; for the character is intended to be repre- sentative of humanity in general. We are at school, and the Savior when he left us here sought to make our lot as pleasant as possible by reminding us what was to follow the school life. After school, he as- sured us, w r e should return home where he was. O, blessed thought! And w T e need give ourselves no uneasiness, he said, as to what that home would be like. It would be planned by his own wisdom, and prepared by his own power; and we might rest assured, therefore, that it would exactly suit us. " Let not your heart be troubled " — these were his words — "Let not your heart be troubled; ye be- lieve in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions; if ft were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." 86 Heavenly Recognition. So speaks our Elder Brother; and at once our hearts respond, as in the other case, " It is enough." The facts which make it so certain that the home which is to be prepared for us by the Savior him- self will indeed suit us, are first, that, as his scarred visage and wounded hands so fully attest, he loves us and desires our happiness; secondly, that, as evidenced by his declaration, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," he has unlimited resources at his command; and, thirdly, that, as shown in scores of Scriptural passages, he is thoroughly familiar with our tastes and require- ments. These are the considerations which make it, as we have observed, not probable alone, but absolutely certain, that our heavenly dwelling-place, prepared as it is by our Savior's own hands, will suit us in all respects, and will possess in its ap- pointments all the essentials of perfect happiness. How could this be otherwise? Suppose in Christ infinite love for our souls, perfect knowledge of our needs, and omnipotent power from which to supply those needs ; suppose in the Savior such a trinity of endowments as this — and every one knows that this trinity exists in him — and then, as we hear him say, just before leaving this world, "Let not your The Story Applied. 87 heart be troubled ; I go to prepare a place for you," — what does it mean? What can it mean? Let me tell you, my friends, that what it means to me is, that it satisfies all the aspirations of my longing heart; that it meets every question about heaven, and settles it — the question relating to heavenly recognition not only, but every other that is reasonable and proper. It means, too, that after such an utterance from such a source, I can ask for nothing more, but have only now, as one of the humblest of his followers, to throw my arms of faith about his neck, to bedew his devoted locks with my tears of gratitude, to lavish upon his scarred and holy visage the kisses of my love, and to say, as the boy at school said, A thousand, thou- sand thanks for what thou hast already done, and for what thou hast promised to do; especially for the home thou art preparing. Planned and con- structed by thyself, it can not fail to meet my needs. God keep me faithful, and make me worthy to take possession of that home ! The argument from these premises in support of this special doctrine of heavenly recognition is a very natural one, and to candid minds it will be entirely conclusive. 88 Heavenly Recognition. III. Recognition Argued from the Nature of Man. Assuming that Christ is thoroughly and per- fectly acquainted with us, then we confidently affirm that he knows nothing about us that is more ob- viously true, or more intimately related to our welfare, than the fact that we are beings endowed to a pre-eminent degree with social proclivities. No more is it the nature of the vine to put forth tendrils, and to feel about as it grows for something upon which to lean for support, than it is the nature of the human heart to fasten itself by the soft ten- drils of affection to other hearts. We can not help knowing one another ; it seems, indeed, as though our Creator had thrown us into intimate relations expressly to further this end ; and in many instances, when we know one another, we can not help the uprising within us of these sentiments of attach- ment. How can the mother do otherwise than love her child? It is clearly the will of God that she should love it, for he has gifted her with faculties which make it as natural for her to do this as to breathe. How salutary, too, that mother-love, and how in- Recognition Argued. 89 dispensable; for what but that insures to the child the motherly care which is a necessity to its life? Because she loves her babe, she cherishes it. So with love in other forms. Because the father loves his family, he grudges no toil in providing them a subsistence. Is it not a fact, moreover, that the same love which impels a man to cherish the members of his family in this world, makes it impossible for him to do otherwise than desire to see and know and cherish them in the next? And is it not the same with mother-love? When we see a woman watching in sleepless anxiety by the bedside of her child in its illness, we say involuntarily, That is natural — that is as it should be. But is it not ap- parent that the instincts which impel that mother to make sacrifices for her child while it lives, are the very same instincts which, when the child is dead, send her to the cemetery to keep its grave sweet with flowers, and cause her to cherish, as the fond- est hope of life, the blessed prospect of one day pressing it to her bosom again ? Now, the question naturally arises : If that mother-love be proper, if it be natural, if it be as God would have it, in the earlier form of its mani- festation, why not in the later ? And if we admit that the craving for conscious reunion with the de- 90 He a venl y Recognition. parted is a proper craving of the heart, can we con- ceive otherwise than that our elder brother knows this, and will take it into account in the appoint- ments of that home he is preparing for us in his own presence? The most obvious fact pertaining to our present life is the fact that no man liveth to himself. We are linked together in this world. We must bear in mind, too, that in these mutual relationships the union is one, not of body merely, but of spirit as well — primarily, in fact, a union of spirit. Now, that the spirit will survive the shock of death we do not question ; and admitting this, how can we doubt that those propensities and attachments which seem here to constitute the chief phenomena of spirit will likewise exist beyond the grave? And this granted — granted that we are to take with us not merely the memory of these earthly attachments, but the power and the desire to continue them ; granted that that mother, whose firm expectation, since her child died, has been that she should see and know it again in heaven, does really take this expectation with her into the other world — let all this be granted, and can any one then believe that the Savior, who loves us so fondly and knows us so fully, will have failed, in fitting up our eternal man- Recognition Argued. 91 sions, to make the provision needed to meet and gratify an expectation which is at once so natural, so innocent, so commendable, and, as regards the present life, so obviously beneficial in its effects? Ah ! we must take you again to that scene 'neath the shade-trees on the college campus. "Give your- self no concern," says the elder brother to the younger ; " I '11 prepare a home for you. I Ml war- rant, too, that it shall be just what you will like. If it were not so, I would tell you. Let not your heart be troubled. I '11 see that everything is as it should be." Thus the man spoke, and he seemed to be sincere and very much in earnest. Suppose, however, that the boy's nature were predominantly a sociable one, and that the home, finally provided by his brother, were constructed in utter disregard of this fact. The boy, to be sure, has other likings, and these, we will suppose, are met. He is fond of art. That is the ex- planation of the beautiful pictures you see on the walls. He is interested in knowledge. Hence those ample shelves filled with rare and useful books. He has a taste for music ; and there, you see, are the instruments with which he may indulge that taste. He is something of an epicure, too, and his brother, knowing that, has equipped amply the culinary de- 92 Heavenly Recognition. partment of the new home. He is fond of riding and driving. Think, therefore, of the pleasure with which he will view that fine stable and capacious carriage-house. He has a passion for beautiful flowers, for rich foliage, for green meadows, for majestic shade-trees, and for fountains tossing their rainbow-tinted spray into the sunshine. Hence those ample, tasteful gardens, and the well-kept grounds attached to the place. All these tastes have been provided for, and so far there is no room for complaint. But the boy, we have been assured, is pre-eminently a person of social proclivities — one whose chief delight is neither in music, in art, in knowledge, in gastronomy, in exercise, in sport, nor in the beauties of nature, but in human society. He is a boy who loves company; who, if he is to be really happy, will need to see his friends about him. That ? s the kind of a boy he is, and the kind of a man he will become. Notice, however, that high wall encircling the establishment. Let me call your attention, also, to the moat surrounding the wall, crossible only by a drawbridge. Why, the place looks more like a prison than a dwelling. Surely, you will say, it is not the purpose of his brother to entirely seclude this sociably inclined young man — to make a recluse of one who was born and reared Recognition Argued. 93 for society. If it be, then, you say, he only mocked the boy when he promised to prepare a suitable home for him; for this is not a suitable home for a person of his tastes, nor can such a person ever be happy there. Such would be your conclusion in that case, and it would be a reasonable and valid one. You may rest assured, however, that that man, loving his brother as he does, and knowing him as he does, will commit no such blunder. Just as you may be fully assured, and far more certainly assured, that our blessed Christ will make no such mistake in the home he has gone to prepare for his saints. He would certainly not do such a thing through malice or from indifference — he loves us too well for that; and, of course, remembering his thorough and perfect acquaintance with us, it is equally in- conceivable that he could fail to provide for our social needs through ignorance. 94 Heavenly Recognition. IV. Recognition Necessary to our Heavenly Contentment. So far as we can tell now, heaven could scarcely be a real heaven to such beings as we are, with no recognition of friends there; nor does any one understand this better than our Elder Brother. ? T were useless to merely tell us of the music of heaven — the grand symphonies of angelic choirs ; useless to picture to us the beauties and glories of a city whose streets are gold, whose palaces are jasper, and whose every gate is a pearl ; useless to remind us of the facilities afforded there for increasing our knowledge. Not that we could not find pleasure in such things as these. The point is, however, that none of these things separately, nor all of them together — leaving unsatisfied, as they would, that which is the strongest craving of every human heart — could possibly make up to us the full meas- ure of satisfied contentment. Ah ! what we want to be assured of, in reference to the music of the skies, is whether we shall know any of the white-robed singers — whether in the lofty anthems of that choir angelic we shall hear Recognition Necessary. 95 and recognize that sweet voice we heard so often and loved so well on earth. To interest natures such as ours, you must not merely tell us that the streets of heaven are gold-paved, but you must tell us, if you please, who those shining ones are inhab- iting the mansions on either side of those gold- paved streets. We can have little idea how a gate of pearl would look ; and the majority of mortals, it may be as- sumed, have little curiosity on the subject. Every- thing as to the gate of heaven will depend upon two circumstances : First, the kind of place to which it admits us; and secondly, the welcome we shall get when we have passed the portals of that gate. Do n't tell us when we come to die — do n't try to stimulate faith by telling us how beautiful heaven's gate will be ; but tell us this : Shall we know any of the inhabitants Avho crowd its portals and strain their eyes to catch a glimpse of the new-comer who has been announced? 11 Will any one there, at that beautiful gate, Be watching and waiting for me?" That is what natures like ours are primarily anxious to find out in reference to heaven j nor can we help it. We were made that way. We can not help loving. We can not help forming attach- 96 He a venl y Recognition. ments. We can not help sorrowing over dead friends. We can not help cherishing the sweet memory of the departed. We can not help those longings which point to a reunion in the other world. We are so constituted — God has made us in such a way — that we absolutely can not give up our dear ones entirely. We can let them go. We say, after a time, " Thy will, O God, not mine be done." But to ask us to abandon altogether the feeling that they still belong to us, and the blessed hope we cher- ish that we shall see and know them again in the other world, is to require that which is quite im- possible; for the images of these sainted ones are part of ourselves. You might cut our hearts into piecemeal, and still upon the smallest atom would there be found an image of our departed loved ones. Yes, and it would be gilded and glorified — that precious picture — with the sweet hope of fu- ture reunion. We are made that way ; we can not help it. Clearly, too, it was not intended that we should help it, the best proof of the entire propri- ety of such feelings being that the more refined and saintly our natures become, the more strongly do such feelings assert themselves. And does not our Elder Brother know all this ? He who walked amid the new-made graves and Recognition Necessary. 97 broken households and bleeding hearts of this earth for three and thirty years — is it not a foregone certainty that he knows all about human sorrows, human necessities, and human aspirations ? He who mingled his own tears with those of the sisters at the grave of Lazarus — can we suppose otherwise than that he fully understands that tears wept over the dead can only be effectually stayed by the hope we cherish of one day seeing and knowing them again? And being fully apprised, as he must be, that future recognition of departed friends is nec- essary to our future happiness, is it not inevitable, from the loving care he has shown in all other mat- ters affecting our welfare, that he will provide for this paramount need in fitting up suitable mansions for our dwelling-place in eternity ? This, then, is the way in which philosophy comes to our help in the study of the question, Shall we know one another in heaven? And it will be ad- mitted, we venture to hope, that the argument is both interesting and conclusive. 98 Heavenly Recognition. V. The Larger View of Revelation. Let no one imagine that this doctrine rests solely upon such proofs as have been adduced. It is sup- ported, not only by reason and philosophy, but by the unanimous voice of Scripture. The sacred writ- ers, indeed, assume that no one will question the doctrine, as no one really does; and hence it is im- plied in what they say rather than either argued or affirmed. When our Savior draws the veil from the other world, and presents Lazarus and Dives in widely separated places, he does not stop to explain how it was that they recognized each other; he is content to intimate, in an incidental sort of way, that they did know each other there. And this, by the way, would seem to suggest, not only that the glorified in heaven will know one another, but that the inhabitants of the regions of darkness will possess similar powers of discernment; and that the latter, moreover, will be cognizant of what is going on in the regions of blessedness. Clearly, too, is it suggested in the Scriptures that we shall recognize in heaven, not merely the friends we knew on earth, but many whom we Larger View of Revelation. 99 never saw here. One fact is made very plain — a most blessed fact withal — and that is, that we shall see Jesus in heaven, and shall recognize him as our Savior. Observe, too, how conclusive is this fact of the whole doctrine of heavenly recognition. For how can it be otherwise than that the same faculties of perception and appropriation which enable us to see him, and to recognize him as one to whom we owe a great debt of love, will also enable us to perceive and acknowledge the relationship in which we stand and the obligations we are under to other friends? It is furthermore suggested in the Scriptures that we are likely to recognize in heaven the great characters of Jewish history and of the early Christian Church. Moses and Elias appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the three disciples knew them. How it came about we are not informed ; but the fact is beyond question. So we can not fore- see definitely by what means these and others will become known to the glorified in heaven ; but we believe it. We can not help believing it, because it is a distinct suggestion of Scripture, and because, moreover, it would seem to be necessary to our heavenly contentment and development. How the recognition of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Isaiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the 100 He a venl y Recognition. apostles, and the holy women of Galilee, and the early martyrs, and the great reformers — how our rec- ognition of these will be brought about, we can only conjecture. Possibly, when the limitations of the flesh are removed, we shall know people by in- tuition. Such a supposition is not at all unrea- sonable. Possibly the blessed Christ will take us around and introduce us ; and delightful indeed would that be. Or, it may be the angels will at- tend to this matter; for there are plenty of them, and, from what we know of their natures, they would certainly be qualified for such work. Or, it is possible again, we shall be left to our own re- sources in this matter, and that the process of form- ing acquaintances, being gradual, as it is here, will form one of the perennial delights of that spirit world. Or it may be that one of the first things attended to, after the redeemed shall have been se- curely enfolded, will be the calling of the roll. That would be very interesting, certainly . We have often thought of that young soldier, mortally wounded and lying in the hospital tent. It was near midnight. The surgeons had completed their rounds, and everything was very quiet, when suddenly this young man, who had been speechless before, called out, " Here ! here !" The surgeon hast- Larger Vie w of Re vela tion. 101 ened to his side, and asked what he wished. " Noth- ing," he said ; " nothing ; they were calling the roll in heaven, and I was answering to my name." Yes, perhaps there will be a roll-call in heaven, and possibly that will be God's way of letting us know at once who is there, and of introducing to us those great spirits of past ages whom we are all so anxious to meet, and with whom in heaven we hope to hold such sweet and holy converse. Possibly this may be so. It is all, however, a matter of conjecture. Let it suffice, therefore, to be assured that we shall know one another there; and let our chief concern with reference to that place be, to so live as to be certain — should there indeed be a roll-call in heaven — that we shall be present to respond to it. 102 Heavenly Recognition. VI. Practical Conclusions. An inquiry far more important than the question of whether or not we shall recognize our friends in heaven, is this: Are we sure of getting to heaven, and are we sure that all our friends are journeying to that place of blessedness? And need we remind you that many a man is expecting to meet his child in heaven, and many a woman to re-embrace in heavenly scenes the sweet babe so rudely torn from her by death, when, judging from all appearances, these persons have not only no title to heaven, but are journeying in the opposite direction? Then, assuming that we are Christians, and that some of the friends with whom we hold sweet con- verse now are not Christians, how this thought of heavenly recognition should incite us to labor for the salvation of such as these! You are parents, w T e will suppose, and the thought of final separation from your own flesh and blood is horrifying to you. What you are hoping for— the dearest wish of that loving heart of yours — is that your whole family will be on the right side in the day of judgment, and that when the roll of the ransomed shall be Practical Conclusions, 103 called, your response may be, "Here am I, Lord, and all the children thou hast given me." This is what we hope and desire; and yet how little are some of us doing to bring this consummation to pass! By everything, therefore, in this thought of heavenly recognition, which pleases the mind, or touches the heart, or kindles sweet hope in the spirit, do we urge all who have found comfort in. this thought to quicken their Christian zeal, to increase their Christian activities, and to give them- selves no rest while there shall still remain outside of the fold of the Savior's love a single person either in their immediate family or within the circle of their cherished acquaintances. Recurring again to the probability of intro- ductions taking place in heaven, we can not help saying that the kind of introduction which would seem to be the most desirable is that which was promised by a convert from heathenism to the missionary who had been instrumental in his sal- vation. "When I get to heaven," he said, as he lay upon his death-bed, "I '11 go to my Savior, and throw myself at his feet, and thank him for his mercy in sending a missionary to this land to tell me of the truth. Then," said he, " I '11 come back to the gate, and sit down till you come; and then 104 Heavenly Recognition, I '11 take you to my Savior's throne, and say: 1 Here is the man who first told me of the cross of Christ — here is the man who led me by thy truth into the way of salvation.'" Finally, let the sure prospect of heavenly recog- nition stimulate the gracious process of earthly rec- ognition. In presence of this doctrine, what a let- ting down there should be of the barriers which keep in such severe isolation those great denomi- nations into which the Christian Church is divided ! for if representatives of all these various sects are to dwell together in conscious union and fellowship in the life to come, might we not well find a reason in this fact for closer union and more real fellow- ship in the life that now is? So within our differ- ent Churches; if we are all to be acquainted up yonder, what an impulse should we derive from that thought toward a more general acquaintance down here ! And yet how many there are enjoy- ing membership in our Churches who know only the merest fraction of those who regularly break bread with them at the same communion-table! So in reference to the poor about us — God's poor. Remembering that these worthy sufferers are likely to be our associates in heaven, and that their station then may be far more exalted than our own, how Practical Conclusions. 105 anxious we should be to form the acquaintance of such as these while it is still possible for us to bear some of their burdeus for them ! Above all, however, let us get better acquainted with Jesus, that so, knowing him more, we may love him better, and may love others for his dear sake ; and that thus the confidence which is sure to follow from deeper love and closer intimacy may enable us to realize more and more, as the days and years pass, that he does indeed answer not only this question of the heart, but every other of importance relating to the life to come, when he says to us, in such full - assurance of sympathy : " Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." IV. The Resurrection. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD? "Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of dam- nation." —John v, 28, 29. THE RESURRECTION. What do we know about the Resurrection of the Dead ? OUR Lord had just announced to a promiscuous audience the fact of his equality with God. and in the same connection had appropriated to himself a title which had been given in prophecy to the Messiah. Those listening were astonished at these claims. But without waiting for any expression from them, he continued his discourse in words which must have astonished them still more. I have told you — he said in effect — that I am the Son of man, of whom the prophets have spoken. I have claimed that I possess power to confer life. I have declared, indeed, that already I have conferred life upon dead souls, and am still doing it; and these things have caused you unfeigned surprise. Now, I will tell you something more. Let me assure you now that I can give life, not only to dead souls, but to dead bodies. Marvel not at that which I have already said concerning this Son of man ; re- 109 110 The Resurrection. serve your astonishment for what I am about to say respecting him: " For the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." And thus is there presented to us an unmistakable affirmation, from Christ's own lips, of the great doctrine of the gen- eral resurrection of the dead at the last day. For definite information upon this subject we are indebted, of course, to the Bible ; yet that other book of God, the book of nature, is not without its suggestions of a resurrection. SUG GESTIONS FR OM NA TURE. Ill I. Suggestions from the Realm of Nature. We begin by asking your attention to a dead body — a body from which the life has just departed. Turn off the electric light of divine truth, and view this object in the dim light of reason for a time ; and then, by the same pale light, look at the world about you to see if you can not find somewhere an intimation — at least an intimation, if no more — that that still form may some day start into life again. Without information to the contrary, you would suppose that body to have finished its course. And so, with no experience or knowledge to guide him to an opposite conclusion, would one, who, for the first time, beheld yon glorious sun go down, sup- pose that his career was finished, and that the night which followed would be an eternal one. And yet how different the reality ; for, as all men are aware, to every night of darkness a new morning succeeds. And with the phenomena of sunrise before him, can any one fail to see that, each day, as the shad- ows take their departure, and the sleeping earth wakens to renewed life, our poor humanity is af- forded a suggestion — at least a suggestion — that, 8 112 The Resurrection. after all, there may come a new day of life and ac- tivity to the form that lies so cold and still, await- ing interment, in that darkened chamber? Look, too, at the present aspect of nature in these latitudes. Where are the flowers which a few months ago gladdened us with their beauty and delighted us by their fragrance ? And what has happened to the trees that they look so like gaunt skeletons in the outline they throw upon the wintry sky? What meaneth it that the soil is so hard to the step, and that the insects that caused it to teem with life not long ago have all disappeared? Really, now, is not the aspect of nature at this time very similar to the aspect of a dead body; and in the fact that nature, as we know perfectly well, will rise shortly from winter's grave into the beauty and glory of spring, have we not another suggestion of what may also be the destiny of that form out of whose cheeks the rose-bloom has faded, and from whose skeleton the flesh will soon fall, as the leaves already have fallen from the bare trees ? And when the warmer weather shall come again, we may see another suggestion of the same kind — a worm, a crawling, loathsome worm — as clammy and repugnant to the touch as a dead body proverbially is; and yet is it not a certainty that just about the Suggestions from Na ture. 113 time when the pale beauties of spring are purpling into the gorgeous hues of summer, we shall find that worm transformed into a bright-winged butterfly — one of the most lovely of nature's products, and everywhere the symbol of light-hearted gayety ? So within the realm of vegetation. Take the seed of a flower. Hold it in your hand as you stand by the side of that open coffin. Look, first, at the dead body, and then at that with which you are compar- ing it ; and tell us if the cold form of that cherished friend looks any more dead, or any less likely to have a glorious future than the dry, uuattractive substance in your hand — a substance, however, which you know has within it, not simply the pos- sibility, but the certainty of a future life? But the body, you say, will decompose. Yes, and so will the seed before the larger life can spring from it. But the particles of the body will disperse and disappear, becoming parts of other substances. Yes, we admit it ; and so will all the parts of that seed disperse and disappear, excepting the essential part which goes into the beautiful flower springing out of it. It is amazing, too, how long a seed or bulb will retain its vitality. We have read of peas, dried, wrinkled, and apparently dead, being taken from an Egyptian urn after an entombment of three 114 The Resurrection. thousand years. And yet is it not a well-authen- ticated fact that these germs of vegetation, when placed under glass, and surrounded by the condi- tions of life, at once brought forth after their kind? Now, we are not so absurd as to present such facts as these as being, in any sense, proofs of the resurrection of the body. We may hesitate to affirm that they even give rise to a presumption that the dead body will come to life again. They do show this, however: they certainly show that such a thing is not inconceivable, nor impossible ; and they seem to be intended by a beneficent Creator, whose constant effort appears to be to illustrate the teachings of the Bible by the facts of nature, to familiarize our minds with this doctrine, and thus make it easier for us than it otherwise might be to accept and cherish the doctrine when it is given to us finally, as it is, in the form of a divine revelation. In better language than any which we can com- mand has this thought been expressed by one of the poets ; and what he says is this : " The seed, the insentient seed, Buried beneath the earth, Starts from its dusty bed, Responsive to the voice of spring, And covers mead and mountain, Fields and forests with its life. Suggestions fr om Na ture. 115 Myriads of creatures, too, that lay- As dead as dust on every inch of ground, Touched by the vernal ray, Spring from their little graves, and sport On beauteous wings in fields of sunnied air. Shall this be so? Shall plants and worms Come forth to life again? And 0, shall man Descend into the grave to rise no more? Shall he, the Master of the world, Image and offspring of the fontal life, Through endless ages sleep in dust?" Thus queries the poet, and his questions are in- tended to have all the force of affirmative convictions ; though, of course, as Ave have said, these analogies of nature do not prove that man will live again; they simply suggest that he may live again; thus, however, helping us to believe that he will live again, and making it difficult, on the other hand, for any reasonable man to believe that he will not live again. 116 The Resurrection. II. From Day-break to Noontide. Nature leaves us in the day -break of hope — not by any means in the midnight of total darkness, but in the day -break of hope ; what she says being: " I can not assure you positively that the dead will rise again ; I can only say it is possible, and not un- likely, they will." That, however, which nature shows to be con- ceivable and possible, the Bible makes real and certain. "The hour is coming," our Savior says, " when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth." In this passage we have neither the twilight nor the first roseate streaks of dawn, but the clear eifulgence of noonday. Hap- pily, too, this flash of noontide glory is typical of the clearness and prominence with which this fact of the resurrection is set forth in the Bible as a whole. The doctrine underlies both Scriptural his- tory and Scriptural prophecy. It is held by some that the patriarchs were ignorant of it. But if Abraham was not a believer in this doctrine, then how grossly must Paul have been mistaken about him ; for does he not say distinctly that in offering From Day-break to Noontide. 117 up Isaac he accounted that God was able to raise him from the dead ? Job also hints at this resur- rection doctrine, not only in that passage which is so very familiar to us, but in another passage, in which he speaks of the dead going to their sleep in the grave — a sleep, he says, from which they shall not awake " until the heavens fall." For does not this word " sleep " carry with it, of necessity, the thought that there is sure to be an awakening at some time, and does not the passage, viewed as a whole, bear upon its face the obvious suggestion that this awakening, while it is certain to occur at the last day, need not be expected before that time? It is from this idea of a resurrection that the prophets borrow their loftiest imagery; and had the people not been familiar with such an idea — had it not been a matter of common faith and expectation with them, is it supposable that Isaiah would have illustrated the uprising of the Jewish nation from oppression by saying, " Thy dead men shall live ; together with my dead body shall they come forth?" or that Ezekiel would have set forth the wonders of Messiah's time by his vision of the dry bones, which, though they were very dry, still, under Divine ma- nipulation, developed into living bodies, and stood up to praise God? Others of the prophets, like 118 The Resurrection, Daniel, speak of the resurrection in express terms. We know, too, that in our Lord's day belief in the resurrection of the dead was a leading article in the orthodox Jewish creed. And how can we account for this, excepting upon the assumption that such a belief had been handed down to them from former generations ? The reason we are so tenacious upon this point is, that if it could be proven that God's ancient servants were utterly without light upon a matter so important, and that the Scriptures of the Old Testament nowhere teach this doctrine, as some claim, such a situation would detract from the unity of the Scriptures, and would seem to reflect just a little, we venture to think, upon the Divine good- ness; for how unjust it would appear, to leave these people through so many ages in total ignorance of a doctrine which, to every rational mind, has so much comfort in it for the dark hours of bereave- ment! Manifestly, though, these Jews were not left in ignorance of this doctrine. We do not, of course, claim that the fact of a resurrection was so clear and definite to the prophets as to the apostles. It was not, nor could we reasonably expect it to have been. Like other important truths, it was re- From Day-break to Noontide, 119 vealed to God's ancient people in shadows, dimly and indistinctly. Will any one, however, have the temerity to say that there is anything dim, anything uncertain, in the light thrown upon this subject through New Testament channels? If Christ taught anything with definiteness, he certainly taught that the hour is coming when there shall be a resurrection of the dead. Paul stakes the verity of the whole gospel system upon this truth. Christianity, he tells us, stands or falls by the question of whether or not there is to be a resurrection of the dead. If there be no resurrection, then, he declares, were he and his fellow-laborers following a miserable delusion; for, in that case, Christ had not risen. And not only does the New Testament affirm the fact, but it favors us with all necessary particulars. It as- sures us, for instance, that the resurrection will be universal in its extent, embracing all classes and all persons. Paul says there is to be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust. Christ declares explicitly that "all" who are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; and he adds, as though he were fearful some might still think he meant only all his own followers : " They that have 120 The Resurrection. done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Another fact made known to us is, that these two classes will rise separately. " The dead in Christ shall rise first," we are assured. And elsewhere it is said : " Blessed are they that have part in the first resurrection." It is also intimated that this two- fold resurrection will occur after the second coming of Christ, and immediately prior to the last judg- ment ; while the further intimation is afforded that either just before the resurrection, or just after it, or simultaneously with it, a change will be wrought in those who are alive at that time. " We shall not all sleep," says Paul, " but we shall all be changed;" which means, as Biblical students gen- erally agree, that the forms of those who may be alive at that momentous crisis will undergo a trans- formation, accomplished by the power of God, which will cause them to correspond with the in- corruptible forms of those newly brought forth in resurrection splendor from their graves. These are things in reference to the resurrection which we may be said to know — matters regarding which, among evangelical Christians, there is scarcely any dispute. Touching another matter, however, there is fierce dispute, and the widest disagreement. The Resurrected Body. 121 III. With what Body shall we be Raised ? In Paul's day the question was asked, " How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?" and this is the great question to-day. It is a natural question. We always want to know how a thing is done ; it is the nature of our minds to raise such an inquiry. It is a Scriptural question, too — not only asked in Scripture, but finding in Scripture an abundance of matter bearing upon its solution. It is also an intensely human ques- tion. They tell us that we are spirits — that the body is only an instrument through which the real self expresses itself. But even if we admit this, is it not still perfectly natural that this in- strument, which we use so constantly and which suits our purposes so well, should be au object of tender interest to us? Not only so, but we ven- ture to say that it is impossible for ordinary minds to think of themselves as existing without in some way connecting their existence with some of the functions of this instrument. Because, therefore, from long and close association with our bodies, we have come to regard them as a part of ourselves, 122 The Resurrection. we are naturally and reverently curious to know what will become of them ; whether, after death, they return to dust like other matter, and so remain forever, or whether they will be raised in whole or in part, and continue in a changed form to be in- struments of expression for our spirits in the world eternal. This is the question; and when you bear in mind how strong is our attachment to the body, and remember at the same time the great dislike of human nature to believe, upon any authority, whether human or divine, anything which it can not fully understand, you will find an explanation, as it seems to us, at once of the great interest felt in this question and of the perverse views which some hold in spite of the teachings of Scripture with reference to it. As to what the teaching of Scripture really is, we must bear in mind that to express this idea of resurrection two Greek words are used, and two only, both of which are always rendered just as they are rendered in the New Testament, one of which always means rising and the other raising. Now, in opposition to all theories which deny that there is to be any proper coming forth of anything that has been deposited in the grave, we put these two words — the only words which New Testament The Resurrected Body. 123 writers employ with reference to this subject — and we ask you candidly, if, on the assumption that nothing that was put in the grave is to rise again, or to be raised, these two words are not grossly misleading? Another fact to be remembered is, that repeatedly in the New Testament death is referred to under the figure of a sleep. The Savior and his apostles almost invariably represent it as a sleep. How sig- nificant, too, that this figure of speech should have been so frequently used on the tombs of the early Christians; for does not this suggest that to view death as a sleep was the common habit of those times, and is it not a reasonable inference that those who buried their dead in the catacombs of Rome, where this view finds such frequent and touching expression, had derived this idea from those who first learned it'at the feet of Him who said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth?" And what is the mean- ing of this figure of speech? What is it that sleeps? Not the spirit, certainly. It would be difficult to prove that the spirit sleeps, even when the ordinary sleep of night has fallen upon the eye- lids of the body ; and that it can not go to sleep at death is clearly shown by our Savior's promise to the penitent thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me 124 The Resurrection. in paradise/' as well as by numerous other pas- sages. What, then, can be the possible significance of this figure of speech if it does not mean that the body sleeps, and that the body which has gone to sleep, or some essential elements of it, will be awakened and brought to life again ? Observe, too, how conclusive of this point is the argument from the resurrection of Christ. If his rising from the grave was a pledge and proof of the general resurrection, as Paul unquestionably re- garded it, then must it be also, in its essential fea- tures, an example of that resurrection, instructing us, to some extent, as to what the final resurrection of the dead will consist in. And need it be said that Christ's body came forth the same body essen- tially which was deposited in the tomb? To be sure it was changed, and yet it was the same ; still retaining, though without exposure to either suffer- ing or danger from them, even the fleshly marks left by his crucifixion — the prints of the nails in his hands and the sword-gash in his sacred side. Moreover, Christ's own words, already quoted, are conclusive of this point; for does he not refer specifically to the " grave," and does he not affirm in substance that the resurrected body, of whatever it may consist, shall issue from the grave? Difficulties Considered. 125 IV. Difficulties Considered. This is impossible, you say; and you proceed to give the reasons why it is impossible. You tell us the old threadworn tale of bodies decaying, going into vegetables, and then, through the digestive or- gans, into other human forms, and so on, ad infini- tum, until, you say, the same particles have entered into the organism of a thousand bodies. But let us reflect a moment. Your argument is that this can not be so, because it does not conform to hu- man reason. See, however, where such a view as this will lead you. It is the rationalistic view. Carried to its legitimate conclusion, it will debar you from believing in anything you can not understand. But how unfair — to put the case in the mildest form — how unfair to assume that a Being who is infinite will always act in strict conformity with the preconceived notions of a being who is finite, and will do only such things, and say only such things, as a finite mind can fully comprehend? Why, there are men who know immeasurably more about some things than you and I do, and who could, doubtless, 126 The Resurrection. do some things which we, in our ignorance, should consider antecedently impossible ! Thus, you argue from premises that are fallacious. You leave out of view the omnipotent power of God. The resurrection is to be a great miracle; and that means, you know, something entirely be- yond the scope of science; something contrary al- together to the established laws of nature; something which baffles reason and appeals only to our palpa- ble senses ; the surest proof that it can be, being the fact that it is, whether we understand it or not. The same rule which makes people ridicule the no- tion of a real resurrection, what a titter it would have provoked from these same objectors had any of them been present when God proposed to make man out of the dust of the earth ; and yet that man is made out of the same elements as the dust, with a spirit superadded, is to-day no more the teaching of Scripture than it is the conclusion of science. Imagine, too, how these objectors would have smiled when Christ talked of raising Lazarus. He had been dead four days. His body was decom- posed. The skin was discolored; the sinews and muscles were beginning to fall away. What before had been elastic had now become limp. The eyes were gone back from their natural positions. The Difficulties Considered. ' 121 blood had become congealed in the whole arterial system. What nonsense to think that a machine which has degenerated into such a condition as that can ever be made to work as it did before ! So some would have argued; and yet, at the command of Christ, did not Lazarus come forth and resume at once the functions of a living being? Certainly he did, if the New Testament does not state as a fact something which never occurred. It is worth considering, too, whether the raising of Lazarus was not a greater miracle really than will be nec- essary to the raising of the dead at the last day ; for in his case, you will bear in mind, the entire physical organism had to be rebuilt. This organ- ism was needed in all its completeness for contin- ued use in the present life ; whereas in the case of the bodies which are to be raised on the final day of accounts those elements only will need to be called together which are essential to the future life ; as the apostle distinctly suggests when he says, " It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spir- itual body ; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption." Possibly, too, the theory which some hold that all the particles of the human body go into vegeta- tion and become parts of other bodies, might need 128 The Resurrection. to be qualified, if we only knew a little more than we do ; for it may be that the essential particles do not enter into this process. And moreover, as some one else has ably suggested, "if God intends that there shall be a fixed affinity between the soul and its last investiture of matter, how do we know but that he is taking care, by the operation of some secret law, that the matter composing the last investiture of one person shall not be organic at death in the body of any other person ?" Fortunately, though, we are not required either to fully understand this doctrine or to satisfactorily explain it. We are to take the fact upon the bare statement of the word of God. If that which is revealed comports with reason, all the better of course; that is, it will in that case be easier both for the mind to grasp what is said and for the heart to rely upon it. It is inevitable, however, that in a system of religion which is based upon a succes- sion of miracles there will be many things tran- scending reason. Not contravening reason — we do not admit that — but simply transcending the present capabilities of reason. For, given the unlimited power of God working according to his own will — by laws as we know them, or above such laws and in spite of them — given this, and the product can Difficulties Considered, 129 scarcely be contrary to reason, be it what it may, the creation of man out of dust, or the resurrection from the dead of a human body, the minute parti- cles of which have been scattered to the four winds of heaven. The trouble with all theories advanced in op- position to the plain statements of Scripture is that they present us with something as a substitute for Biblical resurrection which is not a resurrection at all. To hold that the real self is spirit and nothing else, and that this alone will live in the future world, is to hold either that the spirit dies and is brought to life again, or it is to hold that nothing comes to life again, and that, therefore, our Savior, when he speaks of those who are in their graves coming forth, uttered something which has no mean- ing. So with the idea that God clothes the spirit with a new body. That would be no resurrection ; it would be a creation. So, too, with the theory ot some that at the last day the human spirit will clothe itself with a new body from sources that are most convenient to it, and that identity will be pre- served by the fact that the spirit will impress its in- dividuality upon the new particles just as it did upon the old. This is a beautiful idea, and if it were only the will of God it might answer well enough. But 130 The Resurrection. need we remind you again that such a process would not be in any proper sense a resurrection ? Ah, my friends, we prefer God's plan to all these finely-spun theories of man. We may not understand it fully; but when it comes from him we can surely afford to accept it. We can not deny that it presents difficulties to a finite mind ; but we might reasonably expect such things in plans ema- nating from an intelligence that is infinite; and all these difficulties, any one who admits the omnipo- tence of God, and who views the resurrection as a miracle, may surmount at a single bound, without either straining faith or doing the least violence to reason. Questions Answered. 131 V. Some Interesting Questions Answered. Will it, then, you ask, be the same body we have worn in life with which we shall come forth at the resurrection ? The same, we reply, and yet marvelously changed. Much, no doubt, will be left behind. All grossness will — all those things in our bodies which appertain to the lower appetites, as well as every element which makes the body sus- ceptible to disease and death ; for Paul tells us that we shall no longer be either corruptible or mortal, while Christ assures us that in the resur- rection there will be neither marrying nor giving in marriage, but that we shall be, in this respect, as the angels of God. But how about our physical deformities? some one asks. Will this poor body be crippled in the other world as it is now? And we reply: As these deformities are purely physical, arising from the fact that our bodies are susceptible to disease, it is but reasonable to assume that they will disap- pear after the body has been redeemed from dis- ease and made immortal. If in the resurrection divine power shall overcome death itself, surely it 132 The Resurrection. will have no difficulty in overcoming the bodily infirmities which were the precursors of death, and which arose from the fact that we lived here under the impending curse of death. Still we shall not speak positively upon this point. How can we, re- membering that our Savior's resurrected body still had upon it the marks of his crucifixion ? Of one thing, however, we are quite positive, and that is that if these marks of human infirmity are retained in the other world, they will give us neither pain nor annoyance. In fact, they will be, in that case, no longer marks of infirmity, but marks of super- natural beauty — scars of honorable service, which we shall have been allowed to carry with us from the earthly conflict into the heavenly triumph, be- cause they will be needed there as a palpable illus- tration of the power of redeeming grace. But what about the development of the body in the resurrection? Longfellow sings beautifully of the reunion he anticipates with the dead lamb of his fold: " Not as a child shall we again behold her ; For when, with raptures wild, In our embraces we again enfold her, She will not be a child ; But a fair maiden in her Father's mansion." Questions Answered. 133 Thus sings one of our divinest poets. But we think it not unlikely Longfellow has found out since then that he was mistaken in this view, as, no doubt, when we get into the fuller light of the skies, we shall all find we were mistaken in very many of our views. Can we conceive, however, when we descend from the heights of poesy to the practical platform of reason and common sense, that the infant form which we have cherished so fondly and which we so fervently desire to see again will come up on the resurrection morning in the stature of full- grown manhood? We do not doubt that there will be a proces of development both before the resur- rection and afterwards. We are sure that when they emerge from the grave they will be no longer the ailing and helpless things they were when we last saw them ; for they will come up, like the rest of us, in forms renewed, sublimated, and spiritual- ized. But do not ask us to believe that there will be in the other world no bodies wearing still the sweet garb of infancy ; for so fondly did Christ love these little ones when he was upon earth, and so es- sential does their presence seem to the happiness of all good people, that heaven, as the matter appears to our thought, would scarcely be heaven, either for 134 The Resurrection. Him or for us, under such conditions as those. As some one has well sung, "A dreary place would be this earth Were there no little children in it; The song of life would lose its mirth Were there no infant voices to begin it." And precisely thus do most people feel with refer- ence to the existence awaiting us and the music which is to charm us in those scenes celestial. And still the question recurs, With what body shall we come forth? But we can not answer this question. Tell us what the glorified body of Christ is, and we may then tell you what the bodies of his resurrected and glorified people will be. Truly, however, as John says, "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." Comforting Lessons. 135 VI. Comforting and Wholesome Lessons. Yes, we believe in the resurrection of the dead, and we like the view which the Scriptures give, and which the Apostles' Creed holds out, of the resur- rection of the body. We think it a most salutary view. It affords a strong incentive for the proper care and development of the body. It emphasizes PauPs admonition against defiling the body. If these bodies are to be ours only until we die, they are of comparatively little consequence ; but if, after burial, something within them, held by God to be essential to our perfect identity, is to be raised again, then they are worth all the attention and all the cultivation we can possibly bestow upon them. We see in this doctrine, also, a strong plea for the decent treatment of the body after death — a justification of the emblems of beauty with which we adorn our cemeteries, and of that blessed senti- ment in the human heart which prompts us to keep the resting-places of our departed verdant with springing grass and bright with blossoming flowers. We see in it, also, a strong argument against the cremation of dead bodies. Not that this would 136 The Resurrection. render their resurrection any more difficult; for where divine power is enlisted, one thing is no more difficult than another. The point is, however, that to subject the body to the destroying flames is dis- respectful to the body itself, and a contravention, besides, of the manifest order of God, which con- templates, not our incineration, but the gradual resolving of our mortal remains into their original elements by the operation of nature. The fact is, cremation is paganish — the Christian mode of dis- posing of the dead being to bury them. When, too, the Savior speaks of those who are in their graves hearing his voice and coming forth, we can not help feeling that that settles beyond a doubt the question of future recognition ; for we know those whom we put in their graves. We know what they were like. To be sure they had changed greatly in death ; but we still knew them, and we feel certain we shall know them hereafter, spite of the still greater change the resurrection will make. Very beautifully has one of the poets expressed this thought: "And shall I e'er again thy features trace, Beloved friend ; thy lineaments review ? Yes; though the sunken eyes and livid hue, And lips compressed, have quenched each lively grace, Comforting Lessons. 137 Death's triumph ; still I recognize the face Which thine for many a year affection knew ; And what forbids that, clothed with life anew, It still on memory's tablet hold its place ? Though then thy cheek with deathless bloom be sheen, And rays of splendor wreathe thy sunlit brow, That change, I deem, shall sever not between Thee and thy former self; nor disallow That love's tried eyes discern thee through the screen Of glory then, as of corruption now." See, too, how this certainty of the resurrection of the dead will inevitably operate to temper the sorrow of the bereaved, and to irradiate with the sun- light of a divine hope the tears of every mourner ! O, my friends, there is a grief for the dead which is heathenish; it is the grief which refuses to be comforted. And such grief is quite excusable in those whose vision is bounded by the dark con- fines of the grave. Surely, however, Christians — those who lay their dead to rest in certain hope of resurrection and of future reunion — such as these surely should not grieve as the heathen do. Upon this point some poet has tenderly and appropriately admonished us as follows: "Weep for the dead! God bids you not restrain What nature claims, affection's soothing tear. But weep like Christian mourners ! Tho' the bier Bear him away to death's obscure domain, Yet he, with you who still on earth remain, 138 The Resurrection. The summons of the Archangel's voice shall hear; And he, with you, before the Lord appear, Soar to the clouds and meet you there again. Weep then, but do not as the hopeless weep." Finally, as there are to be two resurrections — one of the just, the other of the unjust — let it be ours to do justice and to love mercy, to walk hum- bly with God, and to live for the glory of his Son, that so we may have part in the first resurrection, and may enter with all the redeemed through the gates of that beautiful city, of which we are as- sured that the Lamb is the light thereof, and where Christ himself shall lead us to fountains of living water. V. The Problem of Suffreing. IF GOD IS LOVE, WHY DOES HE ALLOW GOOD PEOPLE TO SUFFER ? " Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? Selah. And I said, This is my infirmity ; but 1 will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. — Psalm lxxvii, 9, 10. " And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. —Romans viii, 28. THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING. If God is Love, why does he allow Good People to suffer? ^T^HE pivotal word in our quotation from the ■*• Psalms is one which in ordinary interpreta- tions of Scripture is entirely overlooked. It is the word " Selah " — a word which means, according to the best light we can obtain, that that which has just been said is something to which calm and seri- ous consideration ought to be given. In the former part of this passage the writer exhibits a complain- ing and even skeptical disposition. His afflictions had been such that it began to appear as though God was dealing ungraciously with him. This feel- ing, held in restraint for a time, finds expression at last. In his bewilderment, in his incipient unbelief, in his semi-despair, as we might almost call it, the psalmist exclaims, " Hath God forgotten to be gra- cious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mer- cies?" Then, as though the utterance of the thought had shown him like a flash how improper and un- 141 142 The Problem of Suffering, holy it was, he immediately puts a restraint upon both heart and lip by the use of this word, " Selah." As though he had said, — What is this sentiment to which I have given utterance ? In what feel- ings did it originate ? What is its full significance ? Upon what grounds does it rest, and whither does it tend ? Let me not be hasty in this matter, but let me pause and reflect — " Selah — Selah !" Thus arrested by that sober second thought which is so essential to wise conclusions, he does pause and reflect. That, too, with the most grati- fying result; for his reflections work an immediate change in his feelings. He sees now that it is not God, but himself who is to blame. "And I said," he observes — when meditation has brought him to a correct view of the case — " this is my infirmity." This complaining mood, this depression, this semi- despair, is the result of my natural weakness and ignorance. But I will endeavor, he adds, to rise above it, and in order to this I will recall the evi- dences of the Divine goodness. " I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." The course to which the psalmist summoned himself by the use of this word " Selah," is that which in similar exigencies s'hould be pursued by ourselves. " If God is love," we ask, " why does Why do Good People Sufeer ? 143 he allow good people to suffer 2" This problem of suffering perplexes us. We are not surprised that people suffer as a penalty for their own sins. We think it perfectly natural that the wicked should suffer. What surprises us is that the good should suffer as they do ; that wave after wave of tribula- tion should be allowed to roll in such mad fury over the lives of those who love Christ and whose obvious desire is to please and serve him. Not only does this surprise us, but in some instances it shakes our faith a little. We are unable to under- stand it, and there are times when in our haste and perversity we are inclined to think it is hardly right. Especially prone are we to such feelings as these when the iron enters our own soul, or the suffering casts its pall over our own dwelling. That Chris- tian man of business, for instance, who, notwith- standing his unquestioned integrity, is buffeted by continual reverses ; that bright and pious girl, w T ho, just as she emerges into the charmed realm of womanhood, finds herself in the grip of some con- stitutional disease; that Christian mother, bending in agony over the cradle of a suffering babe ; those aged parents, whose glistening locks are no whiter than their saintly characters, but who, spite of their purity and life-long devotion, are at last hurried in 10 144 The Problem of Suffering. sorrow toward the grave by the crime of a prodigal son or the shame of a wayward daughter, — how prone are such as these, and others in like circumstances, to be perplexed, and at times even skeptical ; and how often, in thought, if not in words, do they inquire dubiously, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" To all these, however, and to those who may sympathize with them, we bring in this chapter a message of reassurance. It is expressed in this word, " Selah." What we suggest is, that they pause and reflect; that instead of yielding to pas- sion or unbelief, they look at the matter calmly and reverently; and that they follow us, with all the attention and all the faith they can command, in the few considerations we shall offer with the ob- ject of throwing light upon this difficult problem. Review of Fundamental Facts. 145 I. A Calm Review of Fundamental Facts. One thing necessary in judging of the ways of God with his people is, that we take into careful consideration the earthly conditions with which he has to deal. Suppose you were a skillful performer on the piano-forte, and suppose you were invited to play on an instrument of that description newly purchased by some friend. " Come," says this friend, "and discourse to us from my new piano those enrapturing strains we have heard you pro- duce on other occasions." "Certainly," you say; and at the appointed time, well supplied with choice music, you repair to your friend's dwelling. " Now," says he, " we shall hear that which will delight us ;" and he ushers you into the parlor where the new instrument awaits your artistic manipulation. Sup- pose all this, and then suppose that when the lid of the key-board is lifted you find that some enemy has disarranged and mutilated that part of the piano. Suppose, also, that you find, upon further exami- nation, that the wires and cords have met a similar fate. What would you do in such a case? Where, then, would be the sweet music demanded by your 146 The Problem of Suffering. host and anticipated by his guests? What the use of your great skill in playing if no better instru- ment could be found upon which to exhibit it than the broken thing before you? Human life is the instrument, and God is the performer. Ah ! if we were only what man was at the beginning — if the world and human creatures were but now what they were when he first looked at them, and could not help pronouncing them very good — then you would, indeed, hear music that would enrapture you! But the instrument has been broken. An enemy came and threw every- thing into disorder. Sin entered the world, and, by sin, death and all forms of human suffering. To press into service a somewhat famous political phrase, God is met, in his dealings with man, not by a theory, but by a condition, and that condition is aptly symbolized by the situation of the artist who is asked to produce good music from a broken and battered instrument. We must remember, too, how all this came about, and why it is that this sad condition of af- fairs still continues. We were not forced into this abyss of misery ; we deliberately walked into it. Man sinned of his own volition, when there was everything in his situation to encourage and help Review of Fundamental Facts. 147 him to continue happy by remaining virtuous. To have withheld from man the power to sin would have been to deprive him of the crown of his in- telligence. He would then have been but a higher form of the brute species, without the liberty of a free agent, and therefore without responsibility for his actions. Even the angels could sin, and some of them did. The question is asked some- times, if it would not have been possible for God to have made man without the capability of sinning. We reply, He could, without doubt, have made a creature of that kind; but to have fashioned in such a mold this human creature who was to be a fit companion for himself and for the angels, and whose existence was to run parallel with his own — we can not conceive that that would have been possible. But some one else will ask, Why does not God stem the tide of human suffering by making man over again? Let him give the race another chance. Once more let him start us in existence pure and happy, and see what the result would be. Well, what, in all probability, would be the result in such a case? Is there anything in human history favor- able to the supposition that if man were put back in Eden, just as he was at first, he would do any 148 The Problem of Suffering. differently than in the former instance? To ns it seems that everything in human life favors the opposite idea. And if this be so, would you have God blot a race out of existence, and give up as hopeless the effort to reclaim mankind, merely to try another experiment, which would probably, if not certainly, result in the end just as disastrously to man as did the former one? Thus we can not in justice charge our human miseries upon the Creator. They were self-inflicted, and were inflicted, too, when there was no occasion for such a course on man's part, but when, instead, everything within him and everything about him, with the exception of one single malign influence, the presence of which was necessary to the com- pleteness of his manhood, counseled and stimulated him to an opposite course. People talk of human suffering as if it were a direct infliction by the hand of God. Good and in- telligent people talk in this way sometimes. But how monstrous is such an idea, and how very far from the truth ! Human suffering is the result of human transgression. It is the outgrowth of laws set in operation ages ago, by the introduction into the world, against the Divine will and counsel, of that father of miseries which we call sin. The in- Review of Fundamental Facts. 149 strument is perverted from its original design. It is battered and broken — that is the reason it gives such poor music. We must not blame the musician. We should not say, when the head throbs, and the nerves tingle, and the bones ache, that God is send- ing illness upon us; for, excepting in a very remote sense, that is not so. It is because we belong to a race perverted by sin, and live in a world blighted by evil — that is why we get sick, and are hurried by disease into the grave. So when disgrace and grief come as the result of some base act on the part of those related to us. How can we justly call this a visitation from God, when we remember that God, far from influencing that dear one to do wrong, has been striving con- stantly, in ten thousand ways, to entice his erring footsteps into paths which would have led him to honor and happiness? So, too, when our cherished ones are removed from us by death. It is a debt of nature people pay when they die. Shall we say, when a fond mother grieves over the untimely death of her sweet babe, that it is God who has thus afflicted her, as though the child's death were chargeable to some direct and arbitrary act on God's part? To be sure, he takes into his gracious keep- ing, when the body yields it up, the bright spirit of 150 The Problem of Suffering. our dead darling. But the child dies as the result of natural laws ; the only connection of our Heav- enly Father with such an event being — so far as we can speak with any assurance — that he allows it, and that he is ready now, if we will let him, to make the bereavement a blessing to us. Thus the misery that comes to good people, like that which comes to bad, arises from the fact that we are so constituted that we can not help suffering, and are living in a world where suffering is the universal penalty of broken law. Stretch wires across an open space anywhere when the wind is blowing, and then listen attentively , and there will not fail to steal into your senses, like the soft music of a dream, those minor cadences which poets call the strains of the iEolian harp. Why is this, do you ask? Enough to answer that the -world is made that way, and that, given the presence of the wind and wires in that particular relation, the re- sult could not be otherwise. And most strikingly does this illustrate the condition which God meets in seeking the happiness of those who love him. What he finds is, that in this world their sensitive and responsive natures are so played upon by the winds of adversity that those minor strains, the strains of suffering, they put forth are not only nat- Review of Fundamental Facts. 151 ural, but are, in the present constitution of things, unavoidable. But the question will be asked, Could not God prevent his people from suffering by working a miracle in their behalf? To which we reply, How could he render us impervious to suffering, without making us, both in body and mind, totally different from what we are at present? And if he did so completely re-make us, what probability would there be, unless everything about us should be equally changed, that we could continue to exist in a world like this? Think, too, if we were lifted above suf- fering, what kind of creatures we should be. Fancy a mother who could look into the unanswering face of her dead babe without a tear of sorrow or a pang of regret. Fancy a man who could contem- plate without grief the moral ruin of a cherished friend ! Fancy parents unmoved to anguish at the sight of a son immured in a felon's cell, or a daugh- ter making shipwreck of virtue ! Are not these, however, precisely the kind of beings into which God would have to transform human beings, did he lift us entirely above the level of human suffering? Thus, the conditions are bad, irremediably so, while sin shall remain in the world; and, to recur again to our original symbol, it would be just as 152 The Problem of Suffering. unreasonable to expect that even the Almighty himself could produce music from the human heart wholly unmixed by the discords of suffering, as to expect any performer, even the most skilled and perfect, to evoke the unbroken harmony of sweet sounds from a broken and disordered musical in- strument. And this is what we mean when we say that, in judging of the ways of God with his people, the earthly conditions must be taken into account. A Fa ctor in Human De vel opment. 153 II. Suffering as a Factor in Human Development. Another important point to be considered in the discussion of this question is that of design. What is the Almighty's design concerning us? In a jewelry-shop through which we were shown, we saw a friend take numerous pieces of precious metal, and hold them in a blazing fire. They were black when they were put into the fire, and, if any- thing, still blacker when they had cooled off, after being taken out; and, so far as we could see, being only a novice, this process was quite useless, if not destructive. When, however, we beheld, in the pattern-book that was handed to us, the finished article, and were assured that the operation we had witnessed was necessary to the production of this thing of beauty, we saw the matter in its true light. My friends, when you and I rummage through the workshop of the Supreme Architect of the uni- verse, and find, here and there, things which seem to baffle our feeble understandings, or to stagger our poor, weak faith, let us not fail, before we venture an adverse opinion upon any of these processes, to ask the Master Workman to show us his pattern- 154 The Problem of Suffering. book, aud to vouchsafe to us, if he will be so kind, a few words of explanation. Let us only do this, and greatly as we may have been perplexed at first, we shall see then that God's way, after all, is better than our way, and shall be willing, doubtless, to let his great workshop still go on in the same old man- ner, not only without hindrance, but without sug- gestions, and, indeed, with a full and most hearty concurrence on our part in all that is done. God's pattern-book is the Bible, and you will find in this book, not only a sketch of what he wants us to become, but a clear explanation, also, of the different processes by means of which his designs concerning us are to be carried out. One of God's designs is the development of character. He wants to make us strong — strong in our religious convictions and in our Christian faith ; strong in endurance and in the ability to help our fellow-creatures. This is one purpose God has in view; and is it not in harmony with all analogy, as well as with the teachings of Scripture, that such strength as this should be attainable only by hard and painful discipline? If the steel gains its sup- pleness by being beaten upon the anvil; the bow its flexibility by being often bent; the oak its power to defy the hurricane by rough usage in A Factor in Human Development. 155 many storms; the muscle its corded firmness by long and tiresome exercise; the intellect its vigor- ous grip upon great themes by patient and even painful discipline in the school, or by the midnight lamp ; if suffering, or processes which nearly al- ways involve suffering, are necessary to strength within these realms, how could we reasonably ex- pect it to be otherwise within the realm of char- acter? And, in harmony with this view, do we not find that the greatest sufferers have been, as a rule, the greatest saints, and that the periods when Christian character has reached its highest pitch of vigor have been the periods when the Christian profession, not only did not lessen suffering, but rather added to it, by exposing its devotees to martyr fires and to the rage of wild beasts? Another element in strong character is sympathy. It would, perhaps, be no more than the truth to say that man becomes great only in proportion as he feels for his fellow-man, because it is only in pro- portion as he feels for him that he will desire to help him. Development on any other line means growth in a direction that leads away from the ordinary level of humanity. But growth in sympathy means development toward man rather than away from him. If, then, sympathy be so necessary, how shall 156 The Problem of Suffering. it be obtained? Not, certainly, by the mere con- templation of human sorrow; for experience shows that familiarity of this kind leads only to indiffer- ence. If to simply see suffering made people sym- pathetic, you would expect the physician in yonder hospital to have one of the most sensitive natures in the world. Yet the fact is, his nerves are like iron. Ah! the Almighty understood what was necessary to beget true sympathy. He understood, too, how essential was sympathy to those who would win the hearts and improve the lives of their fellow-men. Hence, as we read, " It became him, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering." Inevitably, too, this being the Divine plan, it will be found to comport with human experience and to be justified by human history. And is there not an instinct in the human heart which impels it in its times of sorrow to seek comfort in the bosoms of other afflicted ones? And does not this feeling always find in such people a prompt and satisfactory response? Have we not known men to sit in con- versation for hours — strangers though they were be- fore — held together by the discovery that they had passed through similar experiences of suffering? Have we not observed, when widow meets widow, A Factor in Human Development. 157 or when mothers, recently bereft of children, meet others who have trodden the same low vale of sor- row — have we not noticed in such cases how long the two will remain in affectionate embrace, how tender their mutual confidences, how sweet and how effectual the words of pity and of hope the) 7 ex- change? And what does all this mean but that suffering begets sympathy, and that sympathy is, in its turn, an indispensable requisite to all who would be useful and helpful to their fellow-creatures? And now, does not the design justify the process? If God uses suffering to make men strong, and then uses it, as the jeweler uses the fire and the chisel, to temper strength with tenderness or to adorn it with beauty, producing in the final result charac- ters the most grand, the most godlike, the most Christly in this universe — men and women who, like their Master after he was lifted up in cruci- fixion, become moral and social magnets in the world, lifting up and drawing toward themselves, toward God, and toward heaven, their downcast and sorrowing fellow-creatures, — if the result of human suffering is so gracious, so glorious as this, do n't you think we would better let the process go on, and not trouble the Almighty with any com- plainings or any questions in regard to it? 158 The Problem of Suffering. Ill: Utility of Suffering in the Work of Salvation. Anothek point to be considered is the part which suffering plays in furthering the work of human salvation. Can any one doubt that if there had been fewer beds of sickness, there would have been fewer prayerful hearts than there have been ? Does it not seem to be almost self-evident that many would never have gotten to the cross had they not been led to it by a sad journey through some graveyard? Will it be questioned that the only thing which has saved many a man from losing his soul has been the fact that in some business mis- fortune he lost his money? Is it not proverbial that the afflictions of life are all so many preach- ers of righteousness to our hearts, and that often their voice is more effectual than the most earnest pleadings from the sacred desk ? Is it not an ob- vious fact that many people, and even some pro- fessedly Christian people, are inclined, when all goes well with them, to forget God, and to throw off the restraints of moral accountability ? And would not this seem to indicate that if everything Utility of Suffering. 159 should go well with us all the time, we not only should be no better than we are, but should prob- ably be worse? But for that failure in business, with the humil- iation of spirit attending it, that merchant, profess- edly a Christian though he was, might have be- come utterly worldly. But for the sad circumstance which threw into mourning the household of that Christian woman, who knows, remembering the trend of her life previously, that she would not have been by this time, instead of the meek, strong saint she is, a leader in fashionable dissipation ? Why, that severe attack of illness, which seemed such a cruel dispensation when it first came, proved in the end to be the greatest blessing which ever befell us; for, as all our friends could testify^, we emerged from the experience looking as bright and fresh religiously as the face of nature looks when the sun breaks forth after a summer rain-shower. Thus, while it may be true that our sufferings are weights, yet they are not weights which hold us down to the earth ; but, as some one has aptly put it, they are like weights which have undergone a certain mechanical adjustment. They lift us up- ward to the skies. God wants us to fly toward himself, and he presses suffering into his service as 11 160 The Problem of Suffering. a means of bringing this about. The eagle, when her young are of a proper age, begins by degrees to pick their nest to pieces, and if they still cling to this shelter she is not long in destroying it al- together. This, that the eaglets may fulfill the pur- pose of their being by taking wing and soaring off into the great empyrean. And similarly does God allow our nests to be picked to pieces by suffering, that thus, our earthly delights being removed, the spirit within us, which came forth from himself, and which can only be satisfied by his grace, may wing its flight by faith and love toward the place where finally we are to see him and be like him. Think, too, how God uses the fortitude shown by the good under trial and suffering, to recommend his religion to the thoughtless and wicked. Henry Ward Beecher has well said upon this point : " You may put all the skeptical men that ever lived on the face of the earth on one side, and they may plead in my ears; and all the scientists may stand with them and marshal all the facts of the universe, to disprove the fact of Immanuel — God with us ; and yet, let me see my mother walking in a great sor- row, but from the surface of her sorrow reflecting the light and cheer of heavenly hope — patient, sweet, gentle, full of comfort for others — and that single Utility of Suffering. 161 instance of suffering, patiently borne, is more to me, as an evidence of the truth of Christianity, than all the arguments that the wisest men can possibly bring against it." So speaks one of the master- minds; and who can help feeling that in this esti- mate he expresses the honest conviction of all minds? Who, moreover, can avoid the conclusion to which we are pointed by this estimate regarding the utility — and one might almost say, the neces- sity — of suffering in the spread of the gospel? Really, but for the fortitude it gives in trouble, what is there that religion does for us in this life which would recommend it, in any obvious or palpable form, to our fellow-men? In what do Christians differ from others if not pre-eminently in the way they conduct themselves under suffer- ing? Blot out from the pages of history the blood- red lines traced therein by the bleeding feet of the Lord's anointed, and where would be the relig- ious achievements which are our boasted heritage at the present time ? What if the martyr-fires had never been kindled? What if no beasts of prey had ever glared in savage hunger upon the calm face of Christian virtue? Can any suppose that in that case Christianity would have attained to uni- versal sway in three centuries? And the Eeforma- 162 The Problem of Suffering. tion — what progress would that have made, spite of Luther's theses or of Melanchthon's learning, but for the many who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and went cheerfully to the stake — those blessed bearers of unmerited suffering, of whom it is our just boast to-day that the blood of the mar- tyrs was the seed of the Church ? Here, again, does the jeweler's pattern-book come into requisition. It is the purpose of God to save the human race from sin ; and suffering, we find, is an important, if not, indeed, a necessary agent in bringing this about. It would seem, too, as though a special part had to be played in this work by the suffering of the good — those whose trials have been to so many a cause of perplexity; for the facts we have considered show unmistak- ably that the sufferings of such as these, besides contributing to their own religious steadfastness, serve, at the same time, by the patience and forti- tude they evoke, to recommend religion in the most forcible and palpable manner to their fellow-men. Magnifies Divine Mercy. 163 IV. How Suffering Magnifies the Divine Mercy. Still another thing to be considered is the way in which human suffering magnifies the Divine mercy. How alarmed we should have been if, last evening, we had seen the sun set and the darkness gather for the first time! Afterwards, though, as, in their set- tings of light and glory, the jeweled hosts of heaven began to appear, we should have been reconciled ; and night, showing us so many beauties we had not seen by day, would have been accepted as a welcome and blessed change. So we naturally grow uneasy upon the first appearance of trouble. But when trouble shows us, glistering in the firmament of the Divine mercy, so many exceeding great and precious promises, of the existence of which we had scarcely dreamed in the noontide of prosperity, how can we help feeling that trouble is our friend rather than our enemy, and that he who permits it to come to us gives us therein but another token of his loving- kindness ? For some time, in our earlier manhood, scarcely anything gave us a keener sense of regret than the sight of weeping children. The least thing, we 164 The Problem of Suffering. observed, would start a tear in childhood's sympa- thetic eye ; and we used to feel sorry, and were in- clined to think that for such dear little innocents to be so frequently the subjects of distress was hardly consistent with the fact of God's love for them. Experience, however, has brought us to a different view. From what we have seen in our own home, and in other homes where domestic affection is not restrained, we have become fuJly convinced that childish sorrows are more than counterbalanced by parental comforts. And now, whenever we see on childhood's innocent face these fleeting clouds of distress, Ave think at once what such an experience will shortly mean to the little sufferer — the embrace of affection it will call forth, and the whispered words of motherly tenderness it is sure to evoke. This is what trouble means to the child. Yes, and let me remind you that this — all this, and infinitely more — is what trouble and suffer- ing mean to the people of God. Who can doubt this, with the promise ringing in his ears, " Like one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort thee, saith the Lord?" Consider, too, how abundantly effectual is the comfort which God affords us in our sufferings, and how this fact must operate, if we look at the case Magnifies Divine Mercy. 165 reasonably, to silence our complainings when we presume to sit in judgment upon him. The reason the British Government was so severely censured for the death of General Gordon at Khartoom, was because they had sent him upon a painful and hazardous expedition without having provided him with adequate means of protection. Now, if it can be proven that God keeps his people exposed to the sufferings of this unfriendly world without adequate means of sustenance and comfort, then, we grant, there will seem to be some ground for questioning the righteousness of his dealings with us. If, how- ever, it be true — as all history attests, and all ex- perience demonstrates — that our mission here, like that of Gordon, who went to pacify the Soudanese, is a good one, and that though we are exposed to pains and perils in the execution of this mission, yet, that the great Being who sends us forth sees to it that we do not want for any good thing ; that every trouble has its solace, every woe its balm, every weakness its revelation of strength, and every moment of danger his own mighty arm of deliver- ance ; if this be our situation — as it unquestionably is — then the troubles of life, far from militating against the Divine love, are but so many proofs of the reality of that love, and are things, the con- 166 The Problem of Suffering, templation of which, instead of provoking the question, savoring so strongly of unbelief, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" should incite us to inquire, rather, out of hearts overflowing with gratitude : "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" In the Light of Eternity. 167 V. Viewing the Problem in the Light of Eternity. Finally we throw into the scales in th*e adjust- ment of this issue the weight of eternity. Why should we not? Did not our Savior do this? Is it not said of him that for the joy that was set be- fore him he endured the cross? Is not this, more- over, the course to which we are summoned by the Apostle Paul ; for does he not say, " Fight the good fight of faith;" and then does he not imme- diately add — as though in this expression he would show us by what means Christian valor may be most surely obtained — u Lay hold on eternal life?" The athlete, entered for the Grecian races, had a severe time of it while his training was in progress. But he fortified himself against present hardships by the thought of what the future might bring — the applause of gathered thousands, the laurel- wreath placed on his proud head by the fair hand of beauty, and the fame he might possibly enjoy in all the supervening years. In like manner should the thought of what the future will bring — not of what it may bring, but of what we positively know 168 The Problem of Suffering. it will bring — cheer the heart and brighten the lot of those who have entered for the Christian race. And O, my friends, if there be indeed a time of coro- nation awaiting us — a time when we shall certainly exchange the hardships of our present probation- ary state for the blessedness and glory of an eternal triumph ; if these things are indeed in reservation for us, laid up for our recompense by the forethought of our Heavenly Father, the only condition of their bestowment being our patient endurance as Chris- tians of the sufferings of the present life; if there is no mistake in this matter, — then what a marvel- ous light is thrown by this fact upon some of our greatest earthly perplexities, and what conclusive proof is thus afforded that God can be a God of love, notwithstanding that he allows good people to suffer; that, indeed, the sufferings of his saints, viewed in the light of the glory to which they lead, are our best earthly pledges of his love ! Relating to this very point, we have in Paul's writings, drawn for the comfort of suffering Chris- tians, one of the most striking contrasts ever ex- pressed in language-. This light affliction, he tells us, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Think of it! Here affliction; there glory. The In the Light of Eternity. 169 affliction is light; the glory is a weight of glory. This light affliction is but for a moment; the weight of glory is an eternal one. Nor is this all. It were surely sufficient. Think of it — an eternal weight of glory to offset the light affliction of the present, which is but for a moment ! What more could any one ask? And yet, just when you feel that the picture is complete and the effect abun- dantly satisfactory, this Master Artist takes his brush and gives the outline three additional touches, assur- ing us that the glory which our sufferings are to work out, besides being weighty in quality and eternal iu duration, will also be an "exceeding," a " more exceeding," and even a " far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory." Think of it ! Climb to the top of this climax, if you can, and then look down, just to see how utterly insignifi- cant the sufferings of the present will appear when we view them from the serene heights of our future blessedness. 170 The Problem of Suffering, VI. Concluding Observations. From these serene and glorious heights we look again at that passage in the Psalms, the pivotal word of which is the word " Selah." It opens with a seeming reflection upon the Divine love. But the psalmist checks himself in this train of thought. He summons himself to a calmer and more thorough consideration of these great matters, the result being that he soon attains to a clearer vision and a better spirit. " This is my infirmity," he says. " I am wrong; God is right. God has not forgotten his people; the only trouble is, we too often forget him. In a word, God is love, though good people do suffer — equally so when he allows affliction to come to us as when he casts our lives in ways of pleas- antness and peace." Such was the psalmist's conclusion ; and O that, in every time of mystery and under every ex- perience of suffering, a similar conclusion may be reached by all ! Let us never again say, " Hath God forgotten to be gracious ?" If ever we are in- clined to say this, or even to think it, let us check ourselves by saying, "Selah ;" and in the moments Concluding Observations. 171 of reflection which we shall thereby secure, let us " remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." Thus let us trust God where we can not trace him; and let us constantly strengthen our- selves in such trust by the blissful certainty that, by and by, faith being swallowed up in sight, we shall not only know all, but shall just as surely approve all. As the poet has so beautifully said: 11 Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned, And sun and stars for evermore have set, The things which, our weak judgments here have spurned, The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet, Will flash before us out of life's dark night, As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue, And we shall see how all God's plans are right, And how what seemed reproof was love most true. And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, God's plans go on as best for you and me, How, when we call, he heedeth not our cry, Because his wisdom to the end could see ; And even as wise parents disallow Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now Life's sweetest things, because it seemeth good. And if sometimes, commingled with life's wine, We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrink, Be sure a wiser Hand than yours or mine Pours out this portion for our lips to drink. And if some friend we love is lying low, Where human kisses can not reach his face, 0, do not blame the loving Father so, But wear your sorrow with obedient grace, 172 The Problem of Suffering. And you shall shortly know that lengthened breath Is not the sweetest gift God sends his friend ; And that sometimes the sable pall of death, Conceals the fairest boon his love can send. If we could push ajar the gates of life, And stand within, and all God's workings see, We could interpret all this doubt and strife, And for each mystery find a key. But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart ! God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold ; We must not tear the close shut leaves apart ; Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. And if, through patient toil, we reach the land Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest, When we shall clearly see and understand, I think that we will say, ' God knew the best.' n VI. The Unpardonable Sin. IS THERE A SIN WHICH HATH NEVER FOR- GIVENESS? " Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blas- phemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whoso- ever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be for- given him ; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, niether in the world to come." —Matthew xii, 31, 32. VI. THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. Is there a Sin which hath Never Forgiveness ? / T V HE words quoted on the opposite page seem -*■ to teach that in the vast catalogue of offenses which man may commit against the Divine Being, there is one sin which can never be forgiven. And the words, we must bear in mind, are the Savior's own words. So that if they do teach this doctrine of an unpardonable sin, they announce it upon the authority of one who could not possibly have been mistaken in what he said, and from whose conclu- sions in such a matter no appeal can be taken. How significant, moreover, that this utterance of Christ should have been preserved in the writings of all of the evangelists! Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each give it in their respective Gospels, and each in precisely the same connection. We may reasonably believe, too, that John would have done the same had his Gospel been intended, like those of the others, as a history of our Lord's life. But the fourth Gospel was written, as we are well aware, 12 175 176 The Unpardonable Sin. not from the historic, but from a theological point of view. Naturally, therefore, it omits some things which the others are careful to record ; and among the things omitted is this reference of Christ to the unpardonable sin. Even John, however, refers to this sin in his later writings; otherwise what can he mean when he says there are sins which are not unto death, and there is one sin which is unto death ? Thus each of the four evangelists preserves this utterance of Christ in some form ; indeed they all preserve it in essentially the same form. And this fact is very significant; for it proves conclusively, not only that Christ uttered the words, but that they were put forth by him in an impressive man- ner, that they produced a profound effect upon the listeners, and, furthermore, that they were regarded by his disciples as an important contribution to the system of truth he wished to establish for the guidance and salvation of mankind. Is an Unpardonable Sin Possible? 177 Is an Unpardonable Sin Possible ? Now, what does this passage teach ? Does it teach that there is really a sin which is unpardonable? Suppose it does teach this — what then ? Will any one claim that there is anything in such a doctrine contrary to nature or repugnant to reason ? How is it with human governments touching this mat- ter? Do we know of one, did we ever read of one, which does not hold some offenses to be beyond the pale of forgiveness? Does not the law in every land say, at some point, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther?" Now, we are not so foolish as to hold, simply be- cause this is a universal fact in human governments, that therefore a similar arrangement will of neces- sity be found in the Divine government — not at all. What we maintain is, that as human governments are conducted on these principles, that fact renders the supposition that God conducts his government on the same principles a not unreasonable one. And, of course, when it is remembered that this feature in human affairs finds its sanction in the teachings of Christianity, and is shown by experience to be 178 The Unpardonable Sin. conducive to the good of society, the argument is greatly strengthened. It must also be conceded that this doctrine of an unpardonable sin, besides not being contrary to hu- man reason, does not contradict at all the Bible doctrine of the Divine mercy. As a matter of fact, we do not deserve forgiveness for any sin. Every act of pardon is an act of God's free grace. Think, too, how much he pardons ! Think how many trans- gressions he is willing to condone ! And can we in reason deny to a Being who is so very long-suf- fering — to one who overlooks so much — the right to determine if, at some point, he shall not place a barrier in man's path, and say, Pass this, and you shall no more be counted worthy of my forgive- ness? Not only can God do this and still be just, but we may well question whether strict justice does not make it necessary for him to pursue such a course ; and as to his mercy, if only one sin, or one class of sins, is unpardonable, as these words of Christ seem to teach, and all others, even to count- less myriads, are subjects of gracious remission on his part, such a situation would surely seem, by force of contrast, to heighten, rather than lessen, the Divine mercy. Nor do we find anything contrary to the suppo- Is an Unpardonable Sin Possible? 179 sition of an unpardonable sin in the doctrine of a universal atonement; for the atonement wrought by Christ does not make the pardon of sin uncon- ditional. On the contrary, before its benefits can be realized, there is something to be done on the human side. It goes without saying, also, that there are many who, by failing to meet these conditions, put themselves beyond the reach of the atonement. And if, without detriment to the sufficiency of this sacrifice, men for whom Christ died are lost by their refusal to do that which is necessary to save them, why should it be held to detract from the ef- ficacy of this atonement to say that others are lost through some overt and outrageous act of trans- gression ? Here, again, nothing is proven ; but these considerations, if they do no more, at least prepare the way for proofs of this doctrine ; for if it has been successfully shown that neither in Scrip- ture, in reason, nor in human life, is there any insu- perable objection to this idea of an unpardonable sin, but that, on the contrary, there are many things in each of these realms rendering such a doctrine not improbable; if this be really so — and it surely is so — then our observations thus far have indeed per- formed the office of a John the Baptist for us, and we are ready now, with unprejudiced minds, to make 180 The Unpardonable Sin. our final appeal upon this subject to the distinct testimony borne by Christ in the passage already quoted. What, then, does this passage mean ? Is there such a thing as the unpardonable sin ? and if there be, what is it? So far, you will observe, we have simply said that our Savior's words seem to teach the doctrine of an unpardonable sin. Now, how- ever, our minds having been prepared for such a statement, we have no hesitancy in saying that they do teach this doctrine. There can be no doubt that they do. There never has been any doubt that he did. Upon this point the opinions of those who have given serious and intelligent thought to the matter are in perfect agreement. Hence we shall not dwell upon it, but shall occupy ourselves rather in urging, and in trying to answer, the inquiry — so natural to us and so very important to our welfare — as to what this unpardonable sin is. Is Such a Sin Possible? 181 II. Is such a Sin Possible at the Present Day ? In regard to this point opinions are sadly divided. Some hold that the sin against the Holy Ghost con- sisted in attributing Christ's miracles, which were performed by the power of the Holy Ghost, to the agency of Satan. This is what some of the Jews had done. " He casteth out devils," they said, " by the prince of devils;" and it was in the course of his indignant answer to this charge that our Savior warned his hearers of this unpardonable sin. Those who think this the special sin which Christ pro- nounces unpardonable, hold also that it is a sin which, in. the nature of the case, could only be committed by those who were witnesses of Christ's miracles. But if this was so, one wonders why the Savior, knowing the sin to be only possible in that age, did not expressly say so. You will notice, however, that his language is very general. It is not at all the language we should have expected him to use had he been speakiug of a particular act committed there and then, and only possible to a restricted number, within a given period of time, but precisely 182 . The Unpardonable Sin. the language we should have expected him to em- ploy in warning his hearers against something to which the whole race would be liable. He does n't speak of this blasphemy against the Holy Ghost — he speaks of the blasphemy. He uses also that generic and all-embracing term, men — "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall.be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." Now, why did he speak in such general terms if he meant merely that only a few men were capable of committing this awful iniquity? You will notice, too, that his language appears to be in the future tense. He does not appear at all to be speaking of something that has been done, but seems to have in mind something which may be done. Besides, if this unpardonable sin was a sin possible only in the time of Christ, and even then only to a certain class, how comes it that so many years after Christ's death the Apostle John is found writing about an unpardonable sin ; and why, moreover, does the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews refer to an unpardonable sin? Thus the idea that this sin against the Holy Ghost was a special sin, possible only to those who enjoyed the special privilege of personal association with Christ, is not satisfactory, and we can not accept it. Is Such a Sin Possible? 183 Another idea is, that Christ, when he spoke of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which should never be forgiven, had solely in his mind those who should be witnesses of the miracle of Pentecost, and who, after seeing that miracle, should attribute what they saw, as many did, to the agency of the powers of darkness. But this explanation has even less to support it than the other; for that those who mis- understood and misconstrued the conduct of the disciples under the influence of the great baptism of Pentecost had not committed the unpardonable sin, is shown by the fact that Peter aud others be- gan at once to call them to repentance, and that there and then three thousand of them were con- verted and baptized. Then, too, if the words had only a local application, why did the Divine Spirit cause them to be preserved for the contemplation of succeeding ages? Much that Christ said has passed into oblivion ; why, then, if they were of so little account to us — if they were to be out of date almost as soon as written — were not these words about the sin against the Holy Ghost allowed to take this course? Instead of this, however, we find the words held up prominently to view by each of the four evangelists. We find, too, that pious people in all ages have given a great deal of atten- 184 The Unpardonable Sin. tion to them, and that amongst a certain class they have caused an anxiety of mind which has amounted to absolute torture. Now, must not the Almighty have foreseen all this; and if he did, is it reasonable to suppose he would have allowed such words to remain, to be for- ever a source of anxiety to human beings, had they referred to a sin which no human being could have committed since the day of Pentecost? For one, we can not think this. Try as we may to convince our- selves that these words are out of date, we can not do it. On the contrary, we are compelled to believe that they are not out of date ; that, in other words, there is an unpardonable sin ; that not only was an offense which hath never forgiveness possible in Christ's time and in the days of the apostles, but that such an iniquity is possible in this day, has been possible in all ages since the gospel dispen- sation first began, and will remain an awful possi- bility so long as time shall last. If, however, any one shall ask, What is this sin which is unpardonable? we are forced to admit that we can not tell. We are not wise beyond what is written, and upon this point the Scriptures are sig- nificantly silent. Still, God's word does tell us some- thing about this sin. In What Does It Consist? 185 III. In what does the Unpardonable Sin Consist ? Note, first, that it is a sin against the Holy Ghost; and see the propriety of this. This Holy Spirit is the administrator of the plan of redemp- tion. God devised it, Christ procured it, and the Spirit brings it to our hearts. Then, this Spirit is almost invariably spoken of as the Holy Spirit ; as though he were in a peculiar sense the embodiment of that divine attribute. This Spirit, moreover, would seem to be different from the other member- of the Trinity in another particular. Tell me, my friends, if you ever read anywhere in the Bible of this Holy Spirit of God ever becoming angry. We read often of the wrath of the Father, and some- times of the wrath of the Son ; but who ever read anywhere of the wrath of the Spirit? He is all gen- tleness — all tenderness. The Father uses the rod sometimes in punishment; so also, occasionally, does the Son take the whip of chastisement in his hands ; but the nearest approach to hostility against man of which the Spirit seems to be capable is that of being vexed and grieved. And who, my friends, when these things are considered, can help seeing 186 The Unpardonable Sin. an exquisite propriety in the fact that it is against this most holy, this most gentle, this most tender Spirit that the only sin can be committed which is held by Almighty God to be forever unpardonable ? Notice, again, that this sin, whatever else it may be, would seem to be some sin committed by that unruly member, the tongue. Christ says distinctly that it is " speaking words " against the Holy Ghost. To be sure he intimates, by his figure of the tree and the fruit, that the words spoken correctly rep- resent the inward feelings. Still, the words give expression to the sin, and the words, according to Christ's teaching, are necessary to the sin. Hence, we say, this unpardonable sin would seem to be some sin of the tongue, and well may we exclaim regarding that member, with this fact in mind — as James cries out in one place — " Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth !" Notice, furthermore, that this unpardonable sin is not an ordinary transgression, but an extraor- dinary and most outrageous transgression. It is something which amounts to blasphemy ; and to blaspheme, as any dictionary will tell you, is to speak of the Supreme Being in terms of im- pious irreverence. Notice, too, that according to Christ's teaching, it is blasphemy of a pecu- In What Does It Consist? 187 liarly enormous and aggravated kind. "All man- ner of sin and blasphemy/' he says, "shall be forgiven unto men." All manner — that, we may well suppose, means that all blasphemy against the Father shall be forgiven, and as to himself, Christ distinctly says that " whosoever shall blaspheme against the Son of man shall be forgiven." His meaning, of course, being that they will be for- given if they repent and change their course. But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, he says, " shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in that which is to come;" plainly implying, as we have already said, that the unpardonable sin is a sin of extraordinary enormity — worse, in the Divine estimation, than blasphemy against either the Father or the Son. Still, however, does the question recur, What is this sin ? And to that question no definite answer can be given. God himself gives us no light on that point. Doubtless, too, he has withheld precise information in regard to it for wise and beneficent reasons. Had he plainly pointed out this sin, we can well imagine that many would have been em- boldened thereby to presumption. " Here," they would have said, " is the only spot in the universe upon which unholy feet may not tread and still hope 188 The Unpardonable Sin. to be forgiven. Let us but avoid this pitfall, and we can go to every other extremity of wickedness with impunity ." Happily, however, such presumption is not allowed. God has chosen to be silent in this matter. And thus are rebellious feet checked in their career of evil, and wicked hearts held in awe, and vile lips bridled to some extent by the whole- some fact that somewhere, at some point — the precise location of which the Almighty has thought it well to conceal from them — there is a pit awaiting those wandering steps, which has no bottom to it ; a depth of evil yawning before that depraved heart, from which neither the power nor the mercy of God can ever extricate it; some thought, some monstrous thought, waiting a convenient opportunity to spring into expression from those unholy lips, the awful blasphemy of which shall never be forgiven, neither in this world nor in that to come. Knowledge of Committing this Sin. 189 IV. How may We Know whether or not we have Committed this Sin ? To the question, How are we to know whether or not we have committed this sin? our reply is, That the surest way to avoid committing this sin is to not willfully commit any sin ; and that the most satisfactory evidence any one can have that he has not committed this sin, is the assurance that he is saved — washed from all sin in the blood of the blessed Christ. While, however, these are the best assurances that this sin has not been committed, there are others upon which we may rely; and, really, the situation is such that good people not only have no occasion to despair, but do not need to be even alarmed. Those who are not good do need to be alarmed, because, while they remain in sin, their constant progress is downward, and because, while a man is sinking and while he continues to sink, he can not possibly know at what point he will stop. If there be an unpardonable sin, and if men now are ca- pable of committing it, and if we do not know precisely what that sin is— then, what we maintain 190 The Unpardonable Sin. and what we wish to emphasize is, that every wicked man ought to be apprehensive, and ought to tremble for fear that at some time that awful blasphemy, with its eternally irremediable conse- quences, may be committed by himself. As to the fear some entertain that they have committed this sin already, the very concern of such as these is, as a rule, one of the best possible indi- cations that they have not thus involved them- selves; for it is only reasonable to assume that when a man has committed a blasphemy against the Holy Ghost so heinous as to be unpardonable, the good Spirit, thus shamefully reviled, will leave him, the inevitable consequence, in such a case, being that the man will become utterly calloused, destitute of fear, and entirely without concern. What Classes Commit this Sin? 191 V. What Classes are Most Liable to Commit this Sin ? In looking about us for those who might reason- ably be suspected of having committed this unpar- donable sin, we should not take you to lunatic asylums, where maniacs prate of a despair which arises simply from a disordered brain ; nor to those sensitive souls whose desire to please God is so strong that they are afraid they have committed this sin when they have done the least thing for which conscience accuses them; nor to that man at the altar of the Church who might say to you — as men have said to us — " I should like to be saved, but I have no feeling, and it seems as though there was no hope for me." We are not certain that we should even seek for such persons in any of our sanctuaries of worship; for attendance at church is an indication, generally speaking, that men are not wholly hardened, and that the Spirit has not en- tirely left them. But if we wished to find those who might be suspected of having probably com- mitted this basphemy against the Holy Ghost, or of being liable to commit it, we should go to those 13 192 The Unpardonable Sin. dens of iniquity where human beings, who were once pure as the sons and daughters in any of our families, are lost now to all sense of decency and shame, where every breath is an oath, and every new oath is viler than the one preceding it. Nor should we stop there; but we should continue our search amongst those who were once Christians, and who had that indubitable evidence of the truth of Christianity which those only enjoy who are made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and who now, fallen utterly from grace, have become impious deniers of the faith which once saved them, and shameless revilers in others of those virtues and feelings which are the fruits of this Holy Spirit. We should go also among some of our business houses, into our places of questionable amusements, and into drinking resorts, in search of men who, though accounted respectable, turn their back upon the Church, scoff at the Bible, revile Christianity, and hold its professors — who are what they are by the power of the Holy Ghost— to be lunatics and fools. These, my friends, are the classes amongst whom we should seek for those who are likely to com- mit this unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost j and we ask you to consider, bearing in mind how few of these classes are ever reached by the gospel, What Classes Commit this Sin? 193 how few of them ever seem to repent, how few of them in the dying hour have any light to rob the grave of its gloom, — we ask you to consider, bear- ing in mind the fact that so few of these people ever seek pardon, if the supposition that some of them have committed this sin against the Holy Ghost, or, at least are likely to commit it, is not an entirely reasonable one? And now, in closing, we emphasize again the overflowing fullness of the Divine mercy. Think how many sins He forgives ! Think how aggravated are the offenses he is willing to condone! Think how long he bears with his rebellious creatures! "How can I give thee up?" he says to the way- ward one. "How can I give thee up?" O, it grieves his heart to give us up ! It grieves God more to give up the sinner than the fondest mother is grieved when compelled at last to give up the hopes she has cherished for the child who is a part of her own life. So let none despair who have the least desire to be saved ; for never yet did any poor soul cry to God for pardon that the cry of the penitent was not instantly heard; and never yet, anywhere in the universe, was there an anxious, seeking sinner who did not find himself folded and shepherded at last in the strong but gentle arms of a loving and seeking Savior ! VII. Guardian Angels. WHAT MAY WE REASONABLY BELIEVE WITH RE- SPECT TO SUCH BEINGS? "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." —Psalm xci, ii, 12. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minis- ter for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" —Hebrews i, 14. VII. GUARDIAN ANGELS. What may we Reasonably Believe with Re- spect to Such Beings? TF the reader should ever be in New York City "*■ on a sunny, genial day, and should not be oc- cupied with business, we strongly advise him to go out to Central Park and study nature — particularly human nature. Portions of the park are set apart as play-grounds for children. You will find here none of those tantalizing signs, " Keep off the grass;" for the proper thing in these sections is to keep on the grass. And the children, you may be sure, are not backward in doing this. On warm days you will find hundreds of them enjoying this privilege — little folks of all sizes, from the tiny babe who sits in a perambulator, cooing and play- ing with its rattle, to the boys and girls of larger growth, who romp about the scene like frisking lambs. You will notice, too, that these playing children are not alone. Scattered through the scene of bright- 197 198 G uardian Angels. ness and gayety you will see here and there persons who are older, and whose attire, equally with their occupation, will mark them out as those who have the little folks in charge. For the most part, these are nurses. Into the keeping of these attendants were these children tenderly committed, not long ago, by those who fondly love them. Many were the words of caution uttered as the delighted little ones were sent forth from the family dwelling. Re- peatedly were the nurses charged to take care of them; and not only are the children to be protected from harm, but the nurses are to take special care that at the proper time every mother's darling is brought home again. Yes, and the probabilities are that in every case this will be done. Not, how- ever, without risk. Some of those childish feet may stumble on the homeward journey; but what of that, if nurse have the little hand firmly grasped in her own? The larger children, running ahead, may make wrong turnings ; but what of that, if the voice of the attendant be promptly raised to call them back. It will not be without an effort, perhaps, that in the crowded throughfares of a great city some of those thoughtless little ones will be kept from dis- astrous collisions with pedestrians, or even from getting under the wheels of passing vehicles ; but it What We May Believe. 199 is to prevent such occurrences as these that the nurses are employed. That is their business. As a rule, therefore, you can rely upon them to keep close watch over their precious charges, and the presump- tion is that no catastrophe will happen either going or returning. But what connection has this, some one will ask, with the subject of guardian angels? Well, the play- grounds in Central Park, where so many confiding parents send their children for health and comfort, we compare to this great world, into which the Father in heaven has sent his human children; and the nurses are symbolic to our thought of the angels, into whose care, in large measure, God's children have been committed. The analogy will not hold in all points — no analogies do — but in its general aspects the figure is a good one. And what is best of all, it is strictly Scriptural. This view of the angels is not a matter of the imagination ; it is a matter of fact. It is the germinal idea of the pas- sage we have quoted from the Psalms. All com- mentators agree that it is. " He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Thus speaks one of those holy men of old, who "spake as they were moved 200 Guardian Angels. by the Holy Ghost," and, as all are agreed who have studied the words reverently and intelligently, the idea they are intended to convey is, that as nurses have children in charge, so do the augels have in charge God's children. Opinions Respecting Angels. 201 I. Current Opinions Respecting Angels. This subject of guardian angels is one, it may be assumed, upon which we have all bestowed more or less of thought; and yet how few of us have defi- nite convictions in regard to it! That there are augels — vast multitudes of them — we are fully per- suaded. No believer in the Bible can doubt this for a moment. Another point equally well settled is, that the angels are spirits; that though at times in the world's history they have been permitted to take on the semblance of humanity, yet that their normal state is a spiritual and to us an invisible one. Another fact upon which we are agreed is that angels are superior to human beings in the grade of their intelligence. This is clearly taught in the statement that man, although he is crowned with glory and honor, was still made " a little lower than the angels." It is implied, too, in the fact that the angels who kept their first estate have been from the beginning the immediate associates of Deity, while man has been allowed only occasional and partial approaches to the Divine Being. Upon these points our minds are clear, confusion be- 202 Guardian Angels. ginning to arise only when we begin to consider the probable occupation of the angels and the part they perform in the ordinary affairs of mankind. The idea is held by some that the angels do hardly anything but sing. They certainly are rep- resented as singing a great deal. They sang at the creation ; they sang at the nativity ; and, according to the Apocalypse, they sing frequently in heaven. Hence the idea some have that they are singers only ; that while occasionally they have engaged in other occupations, yet that God made them primarily to be a sort of professioual choir to keep the uni- verse vocal forever with his own praises. Need we remind you, however, that such a notion as this has no countenance in either Scripture or reason? How could we reconcile such an idea with what we know of the character of God ? To suppose him capable of creating an order of intelligences like these for no other purpose than to laud his own ex- cellences in ceaseless song would be to make him one would think, the embodiment of selfishness rather than the incarnation of love. Another erroneous view of the angels is that which supposes them to be employed in carrying forward the great processes of nature ; for if God intended these angels to be his helpers in the Opinions Respecting Angels. 203 material sphere, why is there no suggestion of this kind in the Bible? Instead of this, however, is it not a fact that we invariably find these intelligences, whenever they are introduced to our notice, per- forming a part in history and in the affairs of men, rather than in the affairs of the material universe? Still another view is, that while angels are unques- tionably a factor in human affairs, yet that their in- fluence is general rather than particular, and is ex- erted only when a great crisis may arise ; while still another view is, that, even admitting them to exert a particular influence upon individuals, it is not at all the influence which springs from constant per- sonal companiouship, but is intermittent and ca- pricious, brought to bear upon us only in emergen- cies of extreme individual peril. Such are some of the ideas, more or less erro- neous, which are current among mankind in regard to angels. Others could be mentioned; but we forbear, our p'urpose being to show, not what the Bible does not teach in regard to these intelli- gences, but what it does teach, and what, in conse- quence, human belief ought to be with respect to them. 204 Guardian Angels. II. Angelic Activity in Human Affairs. That which first strikes us as we approach the Biblical treatment of this subject is, that the Bible has in it so many allusions to angels, and gives us an account of so much that these creatures have done. You call the Bible a revelation of God. Some one else calls it a revelation of man. Let me remind you, however, that, with equal propriety, the book might be called a revelation concerning the angels. Let me remind you, furthermore, that next to what it tells us of God and of man, it has more in it respecting angels than upon any other theme. It is worthy of remark, too, how intimately and constantly, in the events of Biblical history, this Trinity of intelligences — God, man, and the angels — lock hands in united effort. Take out of the Bible all the occurrences in which the angels figure, and how little comparatively would be left! Of course the account of the creation would have to go, because, as God himself tells us in the book of Job, the angels and the morning stars in concert fur- nished the grand symphonies on that interesting oc- casion. We should lose, also, much that is inter- Activity in Human Affairs. 205 esting and beautiful from the life of Abraham ; and how could we spare from even so eventful a life as his the visits made to his tent by those strangers who proved to be but angels in disguise? How inexplic- able, too, with no vision of angels to throw light upon it and no wrestling angel to account for the great change which occurred in it, would be the life of Jacob ! Take out all the events in which angels figured, and Sodom and Gomorrah go, with their emphatic and lurid testimony to the divine indig- nation against sin. How much also should we lose, on the same principle, out of the history of the chil- dren of Israel ! Moses and Joshua would both be- come smaller in our eyes than they are. And how the prophets would dwindle! With no augels to stop the mouths of those ferocious beasts of prey, where would be Daniel emerging in triumph from the den of lions? With no form celestial to walk with them, where those heroic youths who passed unscathed through the fiery furnace? And while this is so with reference to the Old Testament, it is even more so, if possible, as regards the New. The interest which the angels took in Christ is one of the most conspicuous of all the facts of gospel history. Man gave him but a cold welcome when he came. There was no room for 206 Guardian Angels. him at the inn — there was little room for him in human hearts. " He came unto his own, and his own received him not." But O, what a stir his coming made in angelic ranks, and how these watched and ministered to him from the beginning of his sad life to the end and final triumph ! It was an angel who announced to Mary that she would become the mother of this Blessed One. And after he was born, how the angels followed him ! Take from his life the incidents in which these fig- ured, and how unsatisfactory, how unintelligible it would be ! No singing angels, no Bethlehem shepherds wakened to the glad announcement that a Savior had appeared. No angel warning, no flight into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod, and that the prophecy might be fulfilled, " Out of Egypt have I called my Son." 'Notice, too, that after the temp- tation in the wilderness, and again after the agony in Gethsemane, angels came and ministered to him. We do not read of angels ministering to Christ amid the agonies of Calvary ; and possibly it was the absence of these heavenly attendants, who had been so faithful to him before, that extorted the cry on that occasion, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The angels, however, were not wanting at the grave. They were more Activity in Human Affairs. 207 constant than even the women after our Lord's death. Angelic hands rolled the stone from his sepulcher while it was yet dark, and while the women, on their sad journey, were wondering how that great impediment ever could be removed. And afterwards an angel, standing at the open door of this empty tomb, proclaimed to the world the glad fact, " He is risen." Still later, too, did an angel stand by as his disciples gazed and saw a cloud receive him out of their sight ; and as at the incarnation, after one angel had spoken many others joined in a great chorus, so now, according to the suggestion of the psalmist, did a multitude of the heavenly host — though the disciples could not hear them — cry out, as the ascending Christ went back to 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." Such was the part the angels took in the earthly career of the Son of God. And now look at the argument from this; for if the interest of these be- ings was so great in the one who made redemption possible, what could be more reasonable than that they should be deeply interested also in those who are the subjects of redemption ? To put the matter on a still broader basis : If, all through the long 208 Guardian Angels. period covered by Biblical history, we find the angels frequently employed in executing the Divine purposes concerning men, and more frequently than otherwise in helping God to bring about the salva- tion of men, how can we conclude otherwise than that these holy creatures were expressly intended for such gracious work as this, and that it is in ministering to man that they found originally, and must still find, at once their highest happiness and their truest sphere of activity ? Angelic Guardianship Established. 209 III. Angelic Guardianship Fully Established. That this guardianship of angels is taught in the passage we have quoted, all commentators are agreed. The psalmist is writing primarily, we have no doubt, concerning Christ; but secondarily, and just as surely, concerning those who exemplify the Christly character. "Because thou hast made the Most High thy habitation, therefore," he says, " shall no evil befall thee ; w for he shall make his angels thy nurses and protectors ; " for he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." A very interesting fact in regard to this passage from the Psalms is, that it was quoted on a memo- rable occasion by Satan, and that it enjoys the dis- tinction, so far as we know, of being the only passage he ever did quote. No doubt he often, even in this day, suggests passages for the purpose of giving them a false coloring. But in this case he distinctly quoted the passage. He deliberately brought it out from the Scriptural arsenal as a 210 Guardian Angels. , weapon which he foolishly hoped might help him in his controversy with the Savior of the world. It was during Christ's temptation. In thought or in reality he and the Savior were on the pin- nacle of the Temple. "If thou be the Son of God," said Satan, "cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concern- ing thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Now, the fact of Satan quoting this passage, and quoting it in the way he did, proves clearly, not only that he understood that it guaranteed angelic protection under certain conditions to good people, but that he felt sure the Savior would indorse that view of it; which Christ really did; for his reply, in which he said, " It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," was not at all intended to deny the general construction put upon the passage, but was intended to show that the words quoted did not warrant any one in being wicked or foolish. The fact is, Satan had done what bad people often do now — he had perverted this passage of Scripture. He had rendered it as though it meant that a good man could presume upon angelic protection under all circumstances, regardless of what his conduct might Angelic Guardianship Established. 211 be; whereas, understood correctly, the passage taught that such protection could be counted upon only while a man's conduct pleased God, only while his steps continued in ways of reason and right- eousness. Thus even Satan indorses this passage, and, what is more, he afforded the Savior an opportunity to indorse it, and to tell us at the same time what its true meaning is — a service for which, upon the principle of giving even the devil his due, we should surely be grateful to him. Let no one imagine, however, that this doctrine of angelic guardianship rests solely for its proof upon the single passage already emphasized. To the testimony of the psalmist must be added that of an apostle. Are not the angels — exclaims the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews — "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" He is empha- sizing the distinction between the angels and the Divine Son. "Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever. But of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire;" and these latter, he af- firms — putting his affirmation in the form of a question, because in the Hebrew that is the strong- 212 Guardian Angels. est form in which he could possibly put it — these angels, he says, are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation ; his obvious meaning being that this ministry of angels is enjoyed, not merely by those who are al- ready subjects of salvation, but by those also who are likely to become its subjects. And how natural it is to infer from such a passage that the angels in some way exert their influence upon men to bring them to Jesus! Indeed, why should they not? If they rejoice when the sinner repents, why may we not suppose them to be constantly working to bring his repentance to pass? Besides being implied in the passage just quoted, this view is in harmony, as it seems to us, with everything we know of these beings. It is just the work to which we should naturally expect their own inclinations to impel them; and it is precisely the work to the performance of which we might expect them to be assigned in the economy of a beneficent Creator. We are also favored with a direct allusion to this doctrine of the guardianship of angels by our Lord himself. He was emphasizing the impor- tance of our becoming as little children. "Whoso," he says, "shall receive one such little child" — a Angelic Guardianship Established. 213 Christian, that is, who is as humble and lowly as a little child — "Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me ; but whoso shall offend one of these little ones, it were better for him that he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Take heed, therefore, he continues, that ye do not offend and that ye do not despise one of these little ones; "for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." Our Savior's purpose in this allusion is not to prove that there are guardian angels. He does not even affirm this; he assumes it; and he of neces- sity assumes also that those he is addressing believe in it, as they certainly did. Not to prove angelic guardianship did he employ those memorable words, but to show that there are different degrees in it; that while all Christians have a share in this holy ministry, yet that all do not share in it alike, and that of all the classes enjoying it, those whose guardian angels stand nearest to God in heaven are they who excel in this grace of humility. Thus our Savior's indorsement of this doctrine would seem to be as strong as it could possibly be made; for the fact that on two separate occasions he alluded to the subject and sanctioned it without 214, Guardian Angels. argument, would seem to be conclusive that in his day popular belief in angelic guardianship was at once so strong and so essentially correct as to render unnecessary, not only argument, but even emphatic assertion of this truth. DociRiNE Elaborated aad Applied. 215 IV. The Doctrine Elaborated and Applied. Now that so much light has been thrown upon it from other sources, let us look again at that pas- sage in the Psalms. " He shall give his angels charge over thee." Not merely shall he place thee in their keeping, but he shall formally and solemnly charge them to take care of thee. To carry out the figure presented to us by the psalmist — just as the anxious mother, when she commits her children to the care of the nurse for a day's outing, charges her how she shall deal with them, how carefully and tenderly she shall guard them, so may we imagine Almighty God calling his angels about him, and solemnly charging them to deal tenderly and faithfully with those children of his who are battling with the temptations of the world. Some hold to the idea of one angel being placed in special charge of each particular person. This idea was common in apostolic times. When Peter, miraculously released from prison, knocked for ad- mission at the dwelling in which a few of the dis- ciples had gathered for prayer, a young girl named Rhoda was sent to answer this summons, and, 216 G uardian Angels. bringing word back that it was the apostle, those within were unanimous in the opinion that she was mistaken. It is not Peter, they said, it is his angel ; the belief evidently being, not only that each indi- vidual had one angel in particular to keep guard over him, but that this angel, should it be seen, would be found to resemble the person it had in charge. How much truth there is in this supposition it is, of course, impossible to tell. That each of us should have at least one angel who is specially in- terested in him, seems reasonable enough ; but that our angelic guardianship should be derived from one exclusively, is an idea to which we can not so readily assent. On the contrary, it would seem to be at once more reasonable and more Scriptural to believe that we each have many angelic attendants, and that in times of unusual danger, whole legions of the heavenly host wait upon our needs. The mountain on which Elisha stood literally teemed with angelic warriors; while our Savior remarked in the Garden, when one of his servants would fain have fought for him, that, if he chose, he could pray to his Father, and he would send him twelve legions of angels. And, from these facts, is not the inference allowable that, as it was with Elisha and with Doctrine Elaborated and Applied. 217 Christ, so, in their special times of need, we may reasonably expect it to be with all having an inter- est in the promise, " He shall give his angels charge over thee ?" Let it be noted, too, that these guardian angels are to bear us up in their hands. Spite of the fact that poets and painters have combined to equip them with such appliances, it is not at all certain that angels are endowed universally with wings. Nor can we conceive that they need such attachments. We can not, of course, speak with absolute certainty upon this point; but the angels, we must remember, are spirits; and though we do not know fully what a spirit is, we do know that it is not a material sub- stance, subject, like the body of a bird, to the law of gravitation. But whether the angels have wings or not — whether they need them or not — we are posi- tively assured that they do possess hands, and the psalmist apprises us, in the passage we are consider- ing, of the gracious use to which these hands are put for the benefit of mankind. " They shall bear thee up in their hands." O, blessed thought ! We may never have known consciously when those hands celestial touched us; but they have touched us many a time, and we have unquestionably been blessed thereby. 218 Guardian Angels. A peculiar thrill results from the touch of some hands. That dying soldier knew the touch of his mother's hand, though he could not see her, and had not been apprised of her arrival. Somehow the touch sent a familiar sensation through his soul, and he said: " That was the touch of my mother's hand." The touches of these angel hands, we can not recog- nize so readily ; but is it not supposable that some of our best feelings have resulted from such contact? When we felt so ready to forgive that enemy — per- haps it was an angel hand that touched us then. When we broke down so utterly as we thought how hard we had been — perhaps some good angel touched us then. When that unusual thrill of re- ligious ecstasy went through our spirit — who knows but that angelic hands had something to do in evoking that? When we realized such an unusual influx of spiritual strength — then again may an angePs hand have touched us; for granting that these angels are, indeed, all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation, who shall put a limit to the use God may make of them in communicating grace to our souls? All a matter of imagination, does some one say ? But we reply : That these angel hands do touch us is not a matter of imagination in any sense. It is a Doctrine Elaborated and Applied. 219 matter of fact. We are distinctly told that God himself gives the angels permission to touch us; that, in fact, he charges them to do so. Nor is this all. Not only do they touch us, but they hold us in a firm grasp; they lift us; they bear us up — up above the dangers which threaten us. They even lift us above trivial dangers. "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone ;" the idea being that to which we have already referred — that of a nurse carrying the child over a pathway in which are obstructions which might wound its tender feet, or cause its infant steps to stumble. This, we repeat, is not a matter of im- agination ; it is a fact of revelation. That much God has made known to us. 220 Guardian Angels. V. Some Interesting Speculations. We have now reached a point at which certainty must give way to conjecture; necessarily so; for how these angels minister to us, how they keep us, how they lift us, and what the precise results are, — these are matters with reference to which God has studiously withheld information from us; and our contention is that every devout person has, in this fact, an implied warrant from the Almighty to go forward and think out these details to his own satisfaction — to take the rough outline of an- gelic guardianship which the Divine hands have sketched for us, and, so long as he shall indulge in no fancies that are unscriptural or unreasonable, to fill out and color up the picture as he may please. Some hold that there are cases in which the angels, acting as God's ministers, ward off sickness. We can not say that we believe this; nor do we wholly disbelieve it. Such an idea is neither im- possible nor irreverent. Some think our premoni- tions are angel whispers. And why not? If the angels warned people of coming danger in olden times, why not in these times? It has always been Interesting Speculations. 221 a popular idea with devout people that the angels are particularly active wheu the curtains of night have fallen, and that they keep special guard over the innocent during the unconscious hours of sleep. From a mother's lips we imbibe this notion. " Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber; Holy angels guard thy bed." And that which is thus suggested to us in this sweetest lullaby of childhood, we may properly carry with us all through life ; for though the Bible does not distinctly teach this truth, the supposition is quite in harmony with Biblical teaching, and is as reason- able as it is comforting. Doubtless, though, the chief service rendered us bv the angels has reference to our soul-needs, and within this realm one may speak with more confi- dence. That these good spirits fight many a fierce battle to protect us from evil spirits, is one of the most natural suppositions in the world. It is but natural to suppose, too, that they help us in times of severe temptation. Did they not perform a serv- ice like this for Christ? and if for the Master, why not for his followers? We may well suppose, moreover, that they render kindly attention in our times of trial ; that they whisper hope in bereave- ment and distill comfort into our souls when we 222 Guardian Angels. are ready to despair. It is popularly supposed, too, that they are not without influence in bringing hu- man souls to decision in favor of Christ, and that afterwards they are employed in carrying to heaven the tidings of that decision. And when it is re- membered that Christ himself represents them as being deeply interested in returning and repentant ones, and that thousands upon thousands have yielded to Christ under the influence of that blessed refrain, so often sung in revival meetings, — ■ " There are angels hovering 'round, To carry the tidings home To the New Jerusalem," — remembering these, things, how can we help believ- ing that the angels do indeed have a part in this gracious work of bringing human souls to decision, and that they may indeed literally "hover around" to note such occurrences, and in some way to com- municate the intelligence of such events to angels assembled elsewhere ? Thus imagination may fill up this picture with much that is agreeable, and with very much which, because it is in harmony with Scripture and is sanctioned by reason, is en- tirely probable and eminently beneficial. One thing Ave hold to be not probable merely, but almost an absolute certainty, and that is, that Interesting Speculations. 223 when good people die, the angels in some way take charge of their spirits. That this was done in one case there can be no doubt; for our Savior himself tells us that " the beggar also died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." And if in that instance, why not in all others ? If these angels are our guardians in life, how natural it would seem that they should exercise special guardianship over us in the last great crisis of life ! Is it not quite reasonable to suppose that these nursing angels have the same charge given to them as have those nurses to whom the anxious mother commits her cherished ones for a day's outing, and that it is understood on the part of both nurse and parent that the chief point of concern is to get the children safely home by the time the day shall decline and the shad- ows begin to fall? Thus, our friends who in the dying hour have told us that the angels had come for them, may not have been mistaken after all ; for probably the angels did come for them. Who shall say, moreover, that the veil of flesh might not have become so ephemeral by that time as to make it possible for such persons to really see these angelic attendants? Ah ! there maybe fewer illusions in the death-chamber than our intense materialism has led us to suppose ! 15 224 Guardian Angels. VI. Practical Lessons. We draw now a few lessons from this subject. The first is a lesson of service. Since the angels are our guardians, let us be the guardians of others. Since they, although so high, so pure, so wise, stoop to be the companions of lowly human creatures, let us, in emulation of their example, be willing to reach down toward those who are lower than we are, and let our life-work be found in the rescue of the perishing. The next is a lesson of wholesome admonition. It is a common saying that, however secret our sin- ning may be, we can not hide it from God. Here, however, is another idea, and that is, that often when men do not see us, and when we think no eye but that of a forbearing Deity is upon us, there are, in fact, other eyes that are cognizant of what we are doing — the pure and penetrating eyes of these guardian angels. Let us think of this, and let the near presence and the scrutinizing gaze of these angelic attendants be at once a restraint upon us when we would do wrong, and a continual incentive to the doing of that which shall be pure and noble. The next lesson is one of encouragement. If Practical Lessons. 225 good angels are on our side, then have we more friends than we have been accustomed to imagine. Alone we never are. It is questionable, indeed, if we are ever, as the sweet phrase puts it, ." alone with God ;" for we may well suppose that, whenever God is with us, some angels are near by. The man who said, " One. and God make a majority," may have spoken more wisely even than he knew. Per- haps this immortal saying is justified not only by what the final outcome is sure to be, but by the facts of the present situation. Perhaps such a man is in the majority literally ; for is it not reasonable to assume that every reformer who has God on his side, will also have with him all those spirits who have been sent forth to help good people bring this lost world back to righteousness? Thus, as one of the poets has said.' " Happy he whose inward ear Angels' comfortings can hear O'er the rabble's laughter; And while hatred's fagots burn, Glimpses through the smoke discern Of the good hereafter. Knowing this, that never yet Share of truth was vainly set In the world's wide fallow ; After hands shall sow the seed, After hands, from hill and mead, Reap the harvests yellow," VIII. Fallen angels. WHAT IS THEIR INFLUENCE UPON MANKIND? " For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. —Revised Version, Eph. vi, 12. VIII. FALLEN ANGELS. What is their Influence upon Mankind? ONE of the most interesting of the stories writ- ten by Charles Dickens is a short Christmas tale entitled " The Battle of Life." The scene is laid on one of the battle-grounds of Old England, in a district where, for years, the soil was made richer by the blood that had been spilt upon it, and the plowman would often bring to the surface some death-dealing missile. One of the characters in this story was an old man of a decidedly cynical turn. Having himself lived a smooth and com- paratively uneventful life, his pet idea was that life must be smooth and uneventful universally, and that the great inward struggles of which some spoke were largely, if not wholly, things of the imagina- tion. He was wonderfully well versed in the his- tory of the conflict which had raged a generation before on the peaceful scene where he now lived, and he had a penchant for referring to it. But the notion that conflicts of equal significance to 229 230 Fallen Angels. that were constantly going on in the mental and moral realm, was an idea at which he only laughed. It was to convince this old cynic, and others sharing his views, how utterly they were mis- taken, that this story was written. It is a love- story, of course, but is not at all to be underrated on that account; for while the human heart re- mains what it is, love-stories will always be pop- ular, and will continue to furnish an impressive method of teaching truth. Two innocent girls fall in love with the same man — two sisters. The idea makes us smile when it is first presented, but in sympathetic natures the smile soon gives place to tears ; for as we follow the struggles of one of these sisters to give up her heart's idol, and to keep the other sister from know- ing or even suspecting that she ever loved him, we can not help feeling — as the old man, the cynical old father, is made to feel, aud to finally acknowl- edge — that there are indeed inward conflicts far ex- ceeding in intensity those in which armed soldiers contend on fields of blood, and involving moral heroism, compared to which that shown by those who face death at the cannon's mouth is scarcely worth considering. Very similar to Dickens's object in this deeply Their Influence Upon Mankind. 231 interesting Christmas tale is that of the apostle in the passage heading this chapter. He also presents life as a battle. His ideas, however, are more ex- alted than those of the novelist ; for to him life is not merely a fierce conflict within the charmed realm of the affections, but it is a struggle between good and evil in moral conduct — a battle of the hu- man soul to overcome the forces of wickedness sur- rounding it. He presents, moreover, a phase of this conflict which is seldom considered. He brings into view for a moment enemies which are usually invisible. Some aspects of this conflict are self- evident. We do not need to be reminded that within us good principles are contending for su- premacy with the bad — for this is a matter of uni- versal consciousness — nor that on every hand out- side bad people are seeking to corrupt us and bad causes to enlist us in their advocacy or support; for we know unmistakably that such a conflict as this is going on from what we see and feel every day we live. The question is, however, whether this is the full extent of our opposition; whether there are not other foes pitted against the human soul — foes which lurk in ambush, and which, be- cause they are unseen, are on that account the more to be dreaded. Certainly if there be such foes we 232 Fallen Angels, ought to be informed of the fact, and we ought to be apprised, also, how to meet and resist them. And this evidently is Paul's feeling on this subject; for in the passage before us, not only does he assure us that these invisible forces do actually exist, but he admonishes us, at the same time, of the course to be pursued by those who would successfully com- bat them. That which the apostle really does in this pas- sage is to draw aside the veil which hides the spirit- world from view. He performs a service similar to that which the scientist renders when he per- mits us to look through his microscope at a tum- bler of water. To the naked eye the water is pure, calm, and beautifully crystalline; but seen through the instrument which science provides, it is found to be instinct with life, every drop containing thou- sands of animalcules. And what that water is under the microscope, the air is when seen through the lens of Scripture, and particularly when we look at it through this passage from the apostle. That is, we find the air — that which is about us and that which is above us — filled with spiritual intelligences. We find, too, that many of these creatures are engaging us in battle — that they are plotting and scheming to effect the ruin of our immortal souls. €i For Their Influence Upon Mankind. 233 our wrestling/' says the apostle, "is not merely against flesh and blood, but against spirits, against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the world's darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." So reads the Revised Version ; and this expression, " heavenly places," means the places in the atmos- phere immediately above us — precisely the places which are referred to when the Devil is spoken of as the prince of the power of the air ; the idea being that these spiritual hosts of wickedness, with Satan at their head, inhabit the air — or the space, at least, which the air is supposed to fill — and con- vert it into a vast camping-ground for the warfare they are carrying on against human virtue. Not that these wicked spirits are in the air in their combined force at all times; nor that they are always opposing us in equal numbers or with equal ferocity; nor that there is always an active conflict going forward between the evil spir- its who are our enemies and the good spirits who are our guardians. On the contrary, we are led to believe that both these spiritual forces have their head-quarters. That of the good angels we know to be in what in Scripture is called " the third heaven," which means the highest heaven ; while 234 Fallen Angels. that of the evil angels, we have the same authority for believing, is in the nether regions, " the bottom- less pit," as the Bible calls the place frequently. Unquestionably, too, is each host directed by a con- trolling intelligence. The good, we know, are under the command of God, and we know just as certainly that the evil spirits bow to the mandates of that prince of this world, that prince of the power of the air, Satan. "The devil and his angels" is the favor- ite Scripture designation of the latter; and these are the fallen angels whose influence upon mankind is to form the theme of our present chapter. The History of Fallen Angels. 235 I. The History of Fallen Angels. The history of these beings the Bible gives us only in the barest outline. We are helped, how- ever, to believe what is said of them by the fact of our own history so closely resembling theirs. Originally they were pure and upright, the imme- diate companions of Deity, dwelling continually in his presence, and finding their supreme delight in the consciousness of his smile. How long this pris- tine happiness continued we do not know. And having no idea how many ages upon ages they ex- isted before man came upon the stage of being, it would be folly to speculate upon this subject. That they should have fallen from this state of exalted purity seems perfectly reasonable, from the fact that man in Eden did the same thing; and that they did thus fall is beyond a question. We are not favored with a detailed account of the circumstances of their fall, but the allusions to the event are both numerous and striking. One of Job's comforters refers to it, showing that at even so remote a period as that it was a matter of com- mon belief. " Shall mortal man be more just than 236 Fallen Angels. God ? Behold, he put no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly." Paul's reference to it not only establishes the fact, but enlightens us as to the cause of this fall. He is speaking of the qualifications of a bishop. He must not be a nov- ice, he tells us, " lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Jude speaks expressly of " the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, and are now reserved in everlasting bondage unto the judg- ment of the great day." Here these angels are represented, you will observe, not only as having fallen, but as being without hope. Peter, more- over, presents the same idea in equally strong lan- guage, when he tells us that " God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be re- served unto judgment." Equally conclusive, too, is the Savior's testi- mony ; for the Devil, he tells us, " abode not in the truth " — a plain implication that he was in the truth at one time, and fell from it. And in an- other place he intimates that he himself was a wit- ness to Satan's fall. I beheld him, he says — "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." And that when Satan fell, those also fell who are now The History of Fallen Angels. 237 associated with him in evil machinations, we are distinctly informed in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation, where we read, beginning at the seventh verse : "And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which de- ceiveth the whole world : he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Such is the Biblical account of the fall of those principalities and powers, those spiritual hosts of wickedness, who are represented by the apostle to be all about us in the atmosphere encircling the earth, and against whom, he tells us, we have to wrestle strenuously in the effort to be good ; and, as we have already remarked, the idea that these evil beings are indeed angels of heaven who have fallen from their first estate does not seem at all unreasonable, because we know that man is a being whose history is closely analogous to this. We can understand, too, from what we know of ourselves, why it is that these fallen angels are foes to human goodness. It is the very nature of wick- edness to be aggressive. Allow in your souls one 238 Fallen Angels. evil propensity, and that malign influence will work constantly to gain complete ascendency within you. So when evil becomes incarnate. Did you ever know a really bad mau who did not seem to take delight in making others bad ? Not only does mis- ery love company, but sin loves company. Wher- ever it exists, it spreads, or, at least, it will make an effort to spread. And if this be so within the human sphere, as we know it is, why not within the sphere angelic ? Thus, that fallen angels should antagonize holy angels, and that, at the same time, they should bring to bear what influence they can against the virtue and happiness of mankind, is only in accordance with a universal law. It is easy for us to believe this, and the fact is perfectly reasonable, because it comports exactly with what we see and know. If any one should object to this view, and should urge that the idea of these spirits being per- mitted to work in this way for human destruction is inconsistent with the goodness of God, we meet this objection by asking a single question. We ask the objector if it is not a fact that there are exactly that kind of spirits in the flesh ? It has been ob- served by an eminent divine that " society is knee- deep with such men " — men who have no other The History of Fallen Angels. 239 function in life than to destroy their fellow-men ; nor can any observant person doubt the substan- tial correctness of this statement. And when it is known that God allows such beings their full lib- erty in human form, how is it possible to conceive of any principle of his government which would make it inconsistent for him to allow equal liberty to the same class of beings in angelic form? Not only is there no presumption against this, but, in reasoning from analogy, all the presumptions favor it ; besides which, it is emphatically taught in Scrip- ture, and that not by Paul alone, but by other in- spired writers. 16 240 Fallen Angels. II. Occupation and Probable Influence of Fallen Spirits. To determine precisely the influence, of these fallen angels upon human beings — the various ways and the various degrees in which they affect us for evil — is not so easy as to determine either what their present location is or what their state was before they fell. In general terms, however, it may be confidently affirmed that the Devil is the universal and everlasting tempter, a being whose constant effort, everywhere and at all times, is to entice men into sin. He began this work in Eden ; he has continued it without intermission to the present time, and according to the Scriptures he will remain in this calling until the day of judgment, when, with no further power to hurt or destroy the good, he will be consigned to that lake of fire — whatever the figure may mean — which was "pre- pared for the Devil and his angels." This is the work the chief Devil is doing; and the demons, the lesser devils — the rank and file of this diabolic host — are, of course, enlisted and constantly occu- pied as Satan's helpers in this work of temptation. Influence of Fallen Spirits. 241 It is not certain that fallen angels are engaged exclusively in this work of temptation. Some hold that they have a power for evil within the realm of nature, that they work mischief through the ele- ments, and that they affect man injuriously, not only in his morals, but in his bodily and mental organism. And who shall say that there may not be some warrant in Scripture for these views? It is beyond a question that demons exerted an influ- ence over the body and mind in Christ's day, as well as in the time immediately following. It would seem as though at that period the evil spirits ob- tained unusual scope and power. Some have thought that this was owing to an abortive attempt on their part to rival the Divine incarnation by diabolic possession. Certainly they did "possess" human beings. From the fact, too, that out of one victim alone a whole legion of them were exorcised — a legion being six thousand — we may form an idea, not only of the great number of such spirits, but of their tendency to combine for the accomplishment of the ends they seek. That these evil spirits do not now affect human- ity in the extreme way in which their influence was shown in our Lord's time, we readily and gratefully admit. This, however, does not prove that their 242 Fallen Angels. power within the natural realm has ceased alto- gether; nor does it raise any fair presumption of this kind, while, on the other hand, there are things in the New Testament which seem to suggest that a measure of this influence may still be retained. Our Savior spoke of the woman who for eighteen years had been subject to a certain bodily infirmity as one whom "Satan had bound." Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, said he should have gone to them once and again, u but Satan hindered ;" and the thorn in his flesh he speaks of as Satan's mes- senger sent to buffet him. Thus it would seem to be established that, in former times, devils affected the body not only by complete possession, but in several other ways; for it can not be supposed for a moment that Paul was in any proper sense "pos- sessed " of a devil, though Satan is directly charged with his bodily and circumstantial misfortunes. And if that was so, then, why may it not be so now? But this realm of conjecture we must leave for the sure and most profitable realm of fact. That the Devil and his angels have enormous power along moral and spiritual lines, the Scriptures make plain enough. Paul, speaking in Ephesians of the prince of the power of the air, characterizes him as " the Influence of Fallen Spirits. 243 spirit that now worketh in the children of dis- obedience." Here this chief of evil spirits is charged with inciting men to rebellion against their Maker ; and we can readily believe that this is, indeed, one of his functions from the fact that he originally led a rebellion in heaven, and that this identical point of disobedience to divine authority was the point at which Eve was tempted and fell. In writing to Timothy, the same apostle warns him of "seducing spirits and doctrines of devils" — as though these spirits were the originators of false and destructive creeds. And when we hear the Devil quoting Scripture to the Savior on the pinnacle of the temple, and misquoting it, we are not surprised to learn that he has gone into theology, nor that his theology is calculated to lead men astray. This same writer, in another place, links the devils with idol-worship, and seems to imply that idol- worship is but a disguised form of devil-wor- ship. And when we remember that it was through pride that these devils originally fell, and that their pride took the form of a desire to usurp Divine prerogatives, we do not wonder at this connection between idol-worship and devil-worship, and are quite prepared to believe in it. In still another place Paul speaks of Satan as " tlie god of this 244 Fallen Angels. world," and declares that he has " blinded the eyes of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them." Here the power of Satan is represented as beiug brought to bear in hindrance of the success of the gospel of Christ; and when we bear in mind how, previously, the same power had been brought to bear against Christ himself, we can readily assent to this view. In the book of Job, Satan is represented as re- peatedly impugning Job's motives. " Doth Job serve God for naught?" Doubtless, too, he impels his emissaries to this course; and when we consider how many there are who are ever ready to attribute good deeds to base motives, who can help feeling that the devil and his angels must be very busy along these lines at the present day ? It was Satan, we are told, who stood up and provoked David to number Israel. There his work was to foster pride, to stimulate that ungodly passion, of which Cardinal Wolsey says so aptly : "Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition! By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then, The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?" By the apostle Paul, the Devil is spoken of as "the enemy of all righteousness;" and in another Influence of Fallen Spirits. 245 place he accuses him of perverting " the right ways of the Lord ;" thus suggesting that he is the author of religious fanaticism. The apostle John does not hesitate to lay all sin at his door. " Whosoever commiteth sin is of the Devil" — which means, doubtless, that the fact of a man's sinfulness shows him to be under the power of the Devil. Still more severe is our Savior in describing Satan's work ; for he charges him with being the author of all lust, of all murder, and of all lying; his words being, " Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, be- cause there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." Such is the sketch given us in the Bible of the character and work of the prince of the fallen angels; and, of course, what he is, they are. It is beyond a question, too, that in the various ways suggested, the rank aud file of the diabolic host afford constant support to their chief in his malign war- fare against humanity; this undoubtedly being the fact which the apostle seeks to emphasize when he assures us that our wrestling is against "spiritual hosts. of wickedness in the heavenly places." 246 Fallen Angels. III. Conjectures as to their Number and Appearance. As to the number of these fallen angels, all are agreed that it must be great, though, of course, no one can give us exact information in regard to it. Some hold that they outnumber man — all the men on the face of the globe. Remembering, too, how small a part of God's creation our little globe is, this idea, we submit, is not at all an unreasonable one. Milton says: " Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep." And Bickersteth remarks with more particularity : "My dwelling had been situate beside The myriads of a vast metropolis ; But now, astonished, I beheld, and lo ! There were more spirits than men, more habitants Of the thin air than of the solid ground. The firmament was quick with life, as when The prophet's servant looked from Dothan forth On Syria's thronging multitudes, and saw, His eyes being opened at Elisha's prayer, The squadrons of the sky around the seer Encamping. Thus in numbers numberless The hosts of darkness and of light appeared, Thronging the air." Number and Appearance, 247 What these fallen angels are like — how they would appear could we see them — we may infer, with tolerable certainty, from what we know of human beings who are .fallen. And we must bear in mind that bad men and women — even the most depraved of them — still wear the semblance of humanity. We must bear in mind, too, that some of these are not without traces of beauty, and even of refinement. In fact there is often no perceptible difference in this respect between the bad and the good, the saintly and the satanic. So it is among men; and what forbids the assumption that it is the same with the angels? Who shall say, moreover, that this view is not in harmony with revelation ; for does not an apostle tell us that at times Satan him- self appears as an angel of light? Many travelers have gazed in awe upon the statue of Satan at the entrance to the great Strasburg Cathedral, and one of these has told us that " those thin, worn, wasted, sharpened features, the so palpable contractions of a once noble face, the compressed, ascetic lips, the strange, checked smile, the clutching hand seemingly going through the mantle whose quivering folds thrill in their revelation of the dumb misery within — all these characteristics, no one who has looked at it earnestly will soon forget." 248 Fallen Angels. This statue we have not seen ourselves. From this description, however, we can readily accept it, with the distinct traces of fallen greatness it so vividly portrays, as a representation which does no violence to Scripture, and which is quite in harmony with our preconceived notions on the subject. We can readily believe, too, what is further said touch- ing the appearance presented by fallen angels, by the poet whom we quoted as to the probable number of these malign spirits. Alluding to the war between a ,the hosts of darkness and of light," he tells us — "They were not ranged for fight, But mingled host with host, angels with men ; Nor was it easy to discern the lost From the elect. There were no horned fiends, As some have fabled, no gaunt skeletons Of naked horror ; but the fallen wore, Even as the holy angels, robes of light ; Nor did their ruin otherwise appear Than in dark passions, envy, pride, and hate, Which, like a brand upon their brow, obscured The picture of angelic loveliness." Knowledge of Their Methods. 249 IV. What We Know of their Methods. Regarding the methods by which their evil work is carried on, we are not to suppose that they war with man in any open or systematic way. As the same writer says: " It was not open battle, might with might Contending, but uninterrupted war Of heavenly faithfulness and hellish craft." The great object of Satan is to deceive, and by the same purpose are his angels actuated. Paul tells us that the Devil is " full of subtlety and all mischief." Others speak of the " snares " of the Devil, and of .his " devices ;" while Paul tells us, in another place, to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the " wiles" of the Devil. Evidently, therefore, this warfare of fallen angels against mankind is pre-eminently one of subtlety, craftiness, and deception. In one respect these lost spirits are like the skilled angler. They are not so foolish as to present the naked hook to the fish ; they always have an attractive bait upon it. They never invite us to commit sin; they do 250 Fallen Angels. not call it by that name. Generally, if they did, the sensitive soul would shrink instead of yielding. It is some so-called good they invite us to secure — some cup of pleasure they would have us sip. The sin involved is kept studiously in the background. That is our lookout, not theirs. When the Devil tempted Eve he said nothing of the awful iniquity of disobeying God, nor did he utter a word as to the awful consequences that would follow. What he dwelt upon was the in- creased knowledge she was about to acquire, and the fact that after eating of the fruit of the tree of life she would be as the gods. And in Christ's tempta- tion it was the same. He was not asked to presume upon the Divine protection by doing that which would be rash and wicked. The matter was put to him in a different form altogether. He was asked to simply cast himself down from the pinnacle, that thus he might afford the angels the delightful fe- licity of saving him from the natural results of such an act. He was not invited by Satan to wholly abandon the work of redemption on which he had entered; he was only invited to turn aside from it to the doing of a little thing by which he could immediately secure all the kingdoms of this world and all the glory thereof. Knowledge of Their Methods. 251 Thus did this wily fisherman bait his hook for the Savior of the world and for the mother of the race; and this same course of deception, with his angels to help him in it, is he pursuing to-day. To the young he comes; and when he would lead them from virtue's paths, he does not ask them to do that which will separate them from God; that which will destroy their hope of heaven ; that which will make their tender hearts hard and their sensitive consciences calloused ; that in the doing of which they will be " Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, Sowing the seed of eternal shame." No such awful things as these are we urged to do by either Satan or any of his angels. To put temp- tation in that form would be to present the naked hook to the fish, a process which would only repel them. What they really say to these young people is: " Come and have a good time; come and enjoy yourselves ; come and see a little of life ; it will be quite early enough to begin to serve God when you have followed the pleasures of the world for a season." This reminds us, too, that one of the chief de- vices of Satan and his angels — a device practiced 252 Fallen Angels. with equal success upon young and old — is to per- suade their victims to a course of procrastination. The story of that minister's dream is very old, but it is also very true in the lesson it points, and very appropriate to the present discussion. What he dreamed was, that he was in the regions of the lost, and that a council of fallen angels was in progress. The question was, How to compass the ruin of the greatest number of human souls. One said: "Let us tell men that the Bible is a fable ;" but the answer came, " They will never believe that." Another said : " Let us tell them that there is no God, no Christ, no heaven, no hell;" and again the answer came: " They will never believe that." Then arose an evil spirit, looking wiser than the rest, who, with sardonic smile, made a suggestion in which all present acqui- esced the moment it was stated. Said he : " To be sure of ruining the greatest possible number of im- mortal souls, let us tell men that the Bible is not a fable. Let us tell them that there is a God, that there is a Christ; that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. And then let us assure them that there is plenty of time; that they need be in no hurry ; that to-morrow will do for the work of sal- vation as well as to-day." Only a dream — possibly not more than a day- Knowledge of Their Methods. 253 dream — and yet how true to the reality ; for O, the multitudes whom these fallen angels have already ruined by this device ! * And thus goes on this contest in the air about us; a warfare of deceit and subtlety. " It was n ot open battle, might with might Contending, but uninterrupted war Of heavenly faithfulness with hellish craft." Thus goes on this war of strategy, this war of wholesale and fatal deception, prosecuted by fallen angels against fallen and dying mortals ; and when we remember how numerous are these hosts of darkness, how superior to ourselves they are in in- telligence, how extremely subtle and crafty — so crafty that at times there is danger of their deceiv- ing the very elect — how can we help feeling that the attitude of hostility we are forced to maintain against them is one of the most momentous facts of our earthly existence, and that, consequently, Paul was both wise and kind in calling our attention to this fact, and in urging us, as he does, to advance to this great battle " having on the whole armor of God?" 254 Fallen Angels. V. Admonitions and Encouragements. We shall offer, in closing, first, a few words of admonition, and then a few thoughts calculated to encourage us. Because our enemies are spiritual, it necessarily follows that we shall need spiritual strength in our warfare with them. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. If our wrestling were against flesh and blood, there would perhaps be some chance for us to carry it on successfully by the forces in- hering in human nature. We wrestle, however, against principalities, against powers, against spirit- ual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Hence the absolute necessity, as all must admit, for spirit- ual re-enforcements. Since, too, our enemies, be- sides being spiritual, are exceedingly crafty, so well skilled in their chosen work of ruin and death, liable to assail us at any moment, given to attack their prey at unexpected times and from unex- pected quarters, their chief reliance being upon guile and deception — since this is the case, not only do- we need spiritual strength, but another indis- pensable requisite is a complete Divine equipment. Admonitions and Encouragements. 255 Hence the special pertinency of that admonition with which the apostle introduces this subject : " Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. " For our encouragement, thoughts like these arise. If fallen angels are our enemies, so, and no less certainly, are good angels our friends and helpers; for it is written of every good man, and of every one who tries to be good, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." And does not Paul declare that these good angels are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to such as shall be heirs of salvation? And what is still better, we have Christ for our friend and helper; he of whom it is affirmed that he was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil ; he who said to Peter, " Satan hath desired to have thee, that he might sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not;" he who, in the days of his flesh, met Satan in an encounter which astonished the universe, and van- quished him upon his own ground; he of whom the imps of Satan inquired so piteously, whether he had come to torment them before their time, and 17 256 Fallen Angels. whose word of command these demons instantly obeyed; he who, moreover, conferred so much of his own power upon his first disciples, that it be- came a matter of rejoicing in their ranks that even the devils were subject unto them, — he it is who, in their conflict with the same forces of evil, shall surely be the helper of his tempted followers at the present day, and whose distinct promise is that with every temptation he will make a way for* their escape. We referred elsewhere to the difficulty some had in reconciling the existence of these fallen angels, and their active hostility against man, with the goodness of God. Here we have an answer to this objection; for that which abundantly justifies the Almighty in allowing us to be exposed to dan- ger from invisible and spiritual foes is the fact that he has provided so abundantly for our pro- tection — has made it gloriously possible for every human soul who trusts in him and puts his armor on, to maintain against these hosts of wickedness that sublime attitude of triumph at which Paul hints when he speaks of our "standing" against the wiles of the Devil, and when he says still more explicitly in a subsequent verse : " Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be Admonitions and Encouragements. 257 able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. " This triumph of the good amongst mankind over the assaults and stratagems of fallen angels is not only certain, but to those who follow closely the instructions of their all-conquering Leader it will be easy; for the promise is, that if we resist the Devil he will flee from us; and all history attests the truth of this assurance. Thus, as Charles Wesley so triumphantly says : " Angels our march oppose, Who still in strength excel, — Our secret, sworn, eternal foes, Countless, invisible ; From thrones of glory driven, By flaming vengeance hurled, They throng the air, and darken heaven And rule this lower world. But shall believers fear ? But shall believers fly, Or see the blood stained cross appear And all their powers defy ? By all hell's host withstood, We all hell's host o'erthrow, And, conquering them through Jesus' blood, We on to conquer go." ^C y+VXfXXfXXJX ^XX|XXjXX|Xy|XXiXX^XX|XX|XX|XX|XX|XX|XX|X ^ BEnuTIFUL PICTURES OF ENGLISH LIFE. UNDER THE QJJEEN ; Or, Present-day Life in England. BY REV. HENRY TUCKXEY. 127110. Cloth. 2j8 pages, 90 cents. "With all her stately buildings, her wealth of history, her stores of learning, her treasures of art, and her many localities of world-wide beauty and renown, there is still nothing in Old England so deeply interesting to the American public as her people." — Author's Introduction. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. From Fublic Opinion, Washington, 2>. C. It is not a book of travel, or the description of public buildings or scenery, but a comparison of the way in which the average Englishman lives with the average American citizen's life. Philanthropists and reformers will find in it much of interest and value. It is a good book to be read by every one who thinks, votes, and tries to help humanity. From the Inter-Ocean, Chicago, Mr. Tuckley has a clear and graceful style, and has the faculty of getting hold of facts and circumstances in which the public is sure to be interested. His letters from London covered topics far removed from the beaten track of European correspondents, the intellectual treatment of which called for painstaking research and conscientious fair-mindedness. Cincinnati Times-Star. In running over the pages of Mr. Tuckley's book, the opinion grows that it is one of the best descriptions published of late concerning the English people of the present-day, and those who read it will have a thorough comprehension of our British cousins as they are. — ltry „ in the production of this book. Two Splendid Books for Young People. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. LIFE'S GOLDEN MORNING : Its Promises and its Perils. I2VW. Cloth. 339 pages, go cents. FORWARD MARCH. Talks to Young People on Life and Success. i2ino. Cloth. 239 pages, go cents. CRANSTON & CURTS, Publishers, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS. X'.xfxxjxxfxxfx xfxxfxxfxx fxxf x xjx xjyxfx xjx xf x xjx xfx xfxxV ^X X'xjx^|X^jx^|^xixl- -- -' xf X j X y%^jx^jx^jscxjxxjxl