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 Book 
 
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 COPKKIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 

SELECTION 
 
 OF 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL LAIRD, D.D. 
 
 (I 
 
 **He being dead yet speaketh" 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 GENERAL COUNCIL PUBLICATION HOUSE 
 
 I914 
 

 Copyright, 1914 
 By MRS. S. LAIRD 
 
 JAN 14 1915 
 
 ©Cf.A393263 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 To those who knew Dr. Laird as a preacher, 
 a eatechist, a pastor, a leader in the Church, 
 and a man among men, the sermons that ap- 
 pear in this book have an added value. It is 
 not only what is being preached, but also what 
 the preacher himself is that enters into the 
 estimate of a sermon; for what is a sermon 
 other than the Gospel seeking utterance through 
 a personality whom it has inspired and trans- 
 formed? My acquaintance with the author of 
 these sermons dates back to my seminary days 
 in the early eighties, when I frequently lis- 
 tened to his preaching and occasionally at- 
 tended his catechetical lectures. He was then 
 in the vigor of his manhood and one of the 
 leading pulpit lights in the city of Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. Laird belonged to a group of stalwart 
 preachers and leaders whose influence could 
 not be confined to a congregation or a city or a 
 synod. Among them were numbered such men 
 as Krauth, Krotel, Mann, Spaeth, the Schaef- 
 fers, Schmucker, Seiss, Greenwald, Passavant. 
 They rose into prominence at a time when Lu- 
 theranism in its English form was passing 
 through a crisis because it had in large meas- 
 
 • • • 
 
 ui 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ure forgotten the rock whence it was hewn and 
 the pit whence it was digged. Though his mod- 
 esty forbade him to assume the role of leader 
 in the controversy which preceded and followed 
 the organization of the General Council in 1867, 
 he was a staunch defender of the principles 
 for which it stood. He was wont to speak with 
 much admiration of the men who bore the 
 brunt of the battle, and more than once char- 
 acterized them with the brief sentence, ** There 
 were giants in those days,'' not once thinking 
 that he was one among them. 
 
 Dr. Laird's position and influence in the 
 Church at large are best indicated by recounting 
 the responsibilities that were entrusted to him. 
 For seven successive years, beginnng with 1870, 
 he was secretary of the General Council. He, 
 together with Dr. Seiss, shaped the policy of 
 the English Home Mission Board of the Gen- 
 eral Council from the very beginning. There 
 never was a more powerful leadership in any 
 General Council board. He was president of 
 the Pittsburgh Synod, when serving the First 
 Church in Pittsburgh as pastor, and president 
 of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, when pastor 
 of St. Mark's, Philadelphia. His fine legal 
 mind (for he had studied law two years before 
 he reached his decision to enter the ministry) 
 made him a valuable member of the Board of 
 Trustees of Muhlenberg College, and of the 
 Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Semi- 
 nary, whose treasurer he was for a number of 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 years. He would have graced a judge's bench 
 with signal dignity and strength had he entered 
 the legal profession, according to the opinion 
 of a Philadelphia judge. His exceptional keen- 
 ness and masterly analysis of crucial situations 
 were in evidence on many occasions, and he was 
 capable of making a convincing argument such 
 as compelled respect and admiration even 
 among those who took the opposite side. He 
 was abundantly able to write forcibly, and in 
 clear, clean-cut English, but very little issued 
 from his pen that found its way into Church 
 papers or magazines because of his aversion 
 to seeing his writings in public print. He was 
 a man of reserve and polish and dignity, and 
 well qualified to act as the Church's repre- 
 sentative in any capacity. In 1901, he was sent 
 as delegate of the General Council to the Gen- 
 eral Conference of Lutherans held at Lund^ 
 Sweden. Besides the positions of trust and 
 honor held by him, as already mentioned, he 
 was for years a Trustee of the German Hospi- 
 tal, and a Director of the Mary J. Drexel Home 
 and Motherhouse of Deaconesses, in Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 Dr. Laird's gifts as preacher and pastor, and 
 as moulder of the congregational life were of 
 a high order. He prepared his sermons with 
 care and delivered them with force. In all the 
 parishes he served, he won the respect and con- 
 fidence of his people to an unusual degree. He 
 was a man of large vision and broad sympa- 
 thies, and these qualities were reflected in the 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 people whom lie served. His pastorate of thir- 
 ty-five years in St. Mark's, Philadelphia, left 
 an indelible impress on the congregation 
 which has distinguished itself as one of the few 
 whose range of interests is as wide as the Lu- 
 theran Church. 
 
 Dr. Laird was born in Newcastle County, 
 Delaware, February 7, 1835; in early life his 
 parents moved to Philadelphia, where he was 
 educated; he graduated from the High School 
 in 1852 and from the University of Pennsylva- 
 nia in 1855; he was prepared for the ministry 
 by leading local pastors and was ordained in 
 lS61, when he took charge of St. Luke 's, Phila- 
 delphia, which he served three years; in 1864, 
 he was called to Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., 
 and three years later to the First Church, Pitts- 
 burgh, which he served twelve years; in 1879, 
 he was called to St. Mark 's, Philadelphia, where 
 he closed his long and distinguished pastoral 
 career, departing this life December 16, 1913. 
 He was married on April 27, 1865, to Miss Mary 
 A. Baston, who proved to be a helpmeet en- 
 tirely worthy of the distinguished name she 
 afterwards bore. This volume of sermons is 
 her tribute of love to the memory of one whose 
 labors and responsibilities she so cheerfully, 
 devotedly and intelligently shared. 
 
 George W. Sandt. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. 
 
 THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 (Pp. 1-14) 
 
 "God so lored the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
 ■whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life."— John 3: 16. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 (Pp. 15-33) 
 
 ** Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is 
 come to pass." — Luke 2: 15. 
 
 III. 
 
 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 (Pp. 34-51) 
 Behold the man! — John 19: 5. 
 
 IV. 
 
 MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 52-67) 
 Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. — Matt. 11: 6. 
 
 V. 
 
 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 (Pp. 68-86) 
 
 Luke 19: 28-40. 
 
 vii 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 VI. 
 
 CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 
 
 (Pp. 87-95) 
 
 ••They crucified him."— Luke 23: 33. 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 96-109) 
 
 ••The Lord is risen."— Luke 24: 34. 
 
 VIII. 
 • THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 110-122) 
 
 •'And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld he was 
 taken up: and a cloud received him out of their sight." — Acts 1: 9. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 (Pp. 123-139) 
 ••A glorious Church."— Eph. 5: 27. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 140-156) 
 
 ••As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judg- 
 ment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto 
 them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sins 
 unto salvation."— Heb. 9: 27, 28. 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 XI. 
 
 CHRIST'S COMING AND PREPARATION FOR IT. 
 
 (Pp. 157-172) 
 
 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the 
 Son of man cometh." — Matt. 24: 44. 
 
 XII. 
 
 TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITNG FOR 
 
 CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 173-193) 
 
 **For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we 
 had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living 
 and true God: And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised 
 from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to 
 come."— 1 Thess. 1: 9-10. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 (Pp. 194-210) 
 
 <'Where hast thou gleaned to-day?"— Ruth 2: 19. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 ADVENT. 
 (Pp. 211-226) 
 
 "And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, be- 
 cause he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the 
 kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A 
 certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a king- 
 dom, and to return. And he called his ten servants and delivered 
 them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. ^^ — 
 Luke 19: 11-13. 
 
X C0NTE2TTS. 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 (Pp. 227-239) 
 *« The field is the world."— Matt. 13: 38. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 
 (Pp. 240-247) 
 
 **Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, 
 Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, 
 and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 
 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord 
 draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be 
 condemned: behold the judge standeth before the door. Take, my 
 brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for 
 an example of suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count 
 them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and 
 have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of 
 tender mercy. " — James 5: 7-11. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 (Pp. 248-262) 
 
 "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that 
 Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." — John 6: 37. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 (Pp. 263-275) 
 
 "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he tha; 
 hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and 
 milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth 
 not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and 
 let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come uuta 
 me: hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting 
 covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." — Isaiah 55: 1-3. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 
 (Pp. 276-290) 
 
 " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was 
 given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the 
 witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not wor- 
 shipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
 upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not 
 again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resur- 
 rection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrec- 
 tion."— Rev. 20: 4, 5. 
 
 XX. 
 
 A GREAT COjMMISSION. 
 
 (Pp. 291-312) 
 
 * ' Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of 
 this life."— Acts 5: 20. 
 
J^l^t Hott^ of (^ah 
 
 ** God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life."— John 3: 16. 
 
 THERE are texts in the Bible wMch in- 
 clude in themselves the very sum and 
 marrow of the Gospel, which set forth in 
 the space of a line or two the great fact and 
 means of salvation, which concentrate, as it 
 were, into a focus the leading truths which 
 Christ came to make known. 
 
 Such a text we have before us to-day. Here 
 if anywhere is given to us a concise view of 
 what God has done for sinners. And may the 
 Spirit of Him who uttered these words aid us 
 in our consideration of them. 
 
 The theme of the text is the Love of God. 
 And the exalted character of the theme you 
 will perceive when you consider the Being who 
 exercises this love. ^^God so loved the world.'* 
 It is not some angelic being that is here spoken 
 of. It is not merely some exalted royal per- 
 sonage occupying a high throne among the 
 principalities and powers. It is not one of the 
 sons of light dwelling among cherubic natures. 
 
 1 
 
Z THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 But it is God himself. The great — tile ador- 
 able — the infinite God — the Creator of the 
 worlds — the former of our bodies — the framer 
 of our Spirits. 'It is the mysterious, incompre- 
 hensible Deity, who dwelleth in a light unto 
 which no man can approach — ^who alone in- 
 habiteth eternity, whom no man hath seen or 
 can see, who is and who was and who ever shall 
 be. It is God revealed to us as a Triune Being 
 — three persons in one God: Father, Son and 
 Holy Ghost — ^whom our highest conceptions 
 cannot attain unto, whom our broadest 
 thoughts cannot comprehend, whose fullness 
 the profoundest minds cannot understand. **It 
 is the Father in the absoluteness of His un- 
 changing nature and universal presence, the 
 Spirit in all the completeness of His manifold 
 energies and diversified operations," and the 
 Son in the plenitude of His power and in the 
 high administrations of His kingly dignity, each 
 and all spoken of as One moving in love to the 
 world. And when we contemplate this Deity 
 as infinite and perfect, who can sound the 
 depths or grasp the length and breadth, or com- 
 prehend the height of the love he feels. This 
 adorable Being loved the world. Take in the 
 force of that word loved. It was not a mere 
 emotion. It was not a simple affection. It was 
 not pity. It was not sympathy. It was not com- 
 passion. It was not tender regard. It was 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. d 
 
 each one of these and more than these. It was 
 all these combined and made intense. It was 
 something superadded to them all. It was 
 love. Free, pure, tmhounded, outgushing love. 
 It was one of God 's infinite perfections directed 
 in all it intensity towards us. It was not tran- 
 sitory. It was not a sudden outburst of feel- 
 ing, subsiding after a moment's existence. But 
 it was like Grod himself. Eunning back to eter- 
 nity, a warm, glowing affection, ever abiding, 
 ever cherished, ever the same. It throbbed 
 with every pulsation of the great heart of God. 
 It shone in every act. It accompanied every 
 thought. And it is not only a past love; but 
 also a present love, as true now as in days gone 
 bv; as active and efficient now as when Christ 
 came into our world. Not only may we say 
 that **God so loved the world," but also, God 
 so loves the world. We are apt to judge God 
 by ourselves, and to imagine that because we 
 change, He must. We are apt to think because 
 our love may be more intense at some times 
 than at others, or may be transferred to other 
 objects or withdrawn altogether from those 
 on which it was fixed, that so it is with Him. 
 But we wrong the Deity. We think of Him as 
 encompassed with human frailty. We forget 
 that there is no change in Him. His love is 
 like the' sun, which ever sheds forth its beams 
 the same, the warmth or the cold which we 
 
4 THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 feel being caused not by any irregularity in 
 his shining, but by our being turned towards or 
 away from him. So the different sense of 
 God's love which we may have, results not 
 from any change in Him, but in ourselves, ac- 
 cording as our hearts are turned towards Him 
 or away from Him. But from Him there pro- 
 ceeds the ceaseless, boundless, warm rays of 
 love. Oh ! the love of God ! Who can measure 
 it? Who can grasp it? It is like a shoreless, 
 bottomless sea, encompassing us on every side. 
 Our conception of it is heightened, too, when 
 we are reminded by the text that this love is 
 exercised towards the world. *^God so loved 
 the world/' Here we see its freeness, for there 
 is nothing in the world to claim God's love, 
 nothing to call it forth. Had it been some race 
 of high intelligences that was employed in do- 
 ing God's will, in showing forth His glory, in 
 chanting His praises, in moving in harmony 
 with His plans and purposes, we would not 
 wonder. If there were any beauty or attrac- 
 tiveness here, anything upon which the mind 
 of the Deity could dwell with complacency and 
 delight, the display of his love would not be so 
 great. If He could behold here the creatures 
 of His own hand, looking up to Him as their 
 Father and upon themselves as His children 
 and returning His love with the glowing affec- 
 tion of their own hearts, we would say that the 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. O 
 
 testowment of it were perfectly natural and a 
 thing to be expected. If the inhabitants of the 
 earth honored God, then it would not be so 
 strange a thing that He should honor them. 
 But is such the case? Have the earth and its 
 inhabitants continued as they came from the 
 hands of their Maker? What was it that God 
 beheld in looking forth from His throne in the 
 heavens? Tell me, was there anything attrac- 
 tive to God here ? Anything which could claim 
 His affectionate regard? Anything to merit 
 His tender mercy? Anything to move one pul- 
 sation of his heart in compassion? Was there 
 not rather everything to repel? Was there not 
 such consummation of wickedness as to call 
 down the judgments of heaven? Could not God 
 by one exercise of His Almightiness have 
 blotted out this foul spot from His universe, 
 with as much ease as with His word He spake 
 it into being ? But behold ! and wonder ! * * God 
 loved the world,'' Aye, even this world; cor- 
 rupt, wicked as it was to Him who was perfect 
 purity, yet not withstanding all, He loved it. 
 Not that He loved its sinfulness. Not that 
 wickedness had become in the least less abom- 
 inable to Him. Not that the sentence of con- 
 demnation upon guilt was revoked, or the judg- 
 ments of that condemnation at all abated. No ! 
 For then must God Himself have changed, in 
 which case He would have ceased to be God. 
 
b THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 There was the same inflexible justice; the same 
 settled purpose to punish all iniquity ; the same 
 determination to cast opposers of His govern- 
 ment and laws and grace into the lake that ever 
 burneth. His hatred of transgression had by 
 no means either altered or ceased. But God 
 loved the sinner while He condemned the sin. 
 
 And see the manifestation of that love. 
 * ' God so loved the world that He gave His only 
 begotten Son." This was the act which re- 
 sulted from the movings of His love — the gift 
 of His Son — His only begotten Son. This was 
 the exertion of His heart, the putting forth of 
 the power of omnipotence urged and actuated 
 by love. Here see the intensity and fullness 
 of that divine passion which took possession of 
 the breast of the High and Holy One, and led 
 Him to make that sacrifice at which all heaven 
 wondered, the giving up of His only Son to save 
 rebellious man. Jesus Christ was the gift of 
 God. There was nothing in those who are re- 
 deemed which could merit or claim it. Noth- 
 ing like compulsion could move the Deity. 
 ** Herein," says John, *4s love, not that we 
 loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His 
 Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
 
 And to what did He give Him? To rule and 
 reign in super royal dignity, and by His ad- 
 ministrations of grace and truth to set right 
 what had become so disjointed and wrong? To 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. / 
 
 dwell among men and receive their loud ac- 
 clamations, and rapturous songs of praise ? To 
 be honored and loved and adored by those over 
 whom He ruled? To abide among mortals 
 simply and raise them by His power to dignity 
 and honor? This of itself would have been a 
 wonderful condescension, and a wonderful 
 manifestation of love. But no. Something 
 more than this was required. The love of the 
 Divine Being was put to a severer test. Jesus 
 Christ must descend to a deeper humiliation 
 than this to save our lost race. And even when 
 God saw that the hlood of His Son was re- 
 quired. He held Him not back. He gave Him 
 to the humiliation of the manger cradle; to 
 lowliness of life among men; to poverty and 
 want; to persecutions and revilings; to weary 
 days and sleepless nights; to chastisement and 
 stripes ; to anguish and cruel mockings ; to sor- 
 row and bloody sweat. He gave His back to 
 pitiless scourgings. His brow to be pierced 
 by the crown of thorns, and His hands and feet 
 by the nails driven in by relentless hands, his 
 side by the spear; and his body to be mangled 
 and torn, and raised up upon the cross, there 
 to give up His spirit amidst the apparent vic- 
 tory of His enemies and the desertion of His 
 Father. Draw near, careless mortal, and 
 survey that scene and see if thy heart cannot 
 be moved by such an exhibition of thy Father 's 
 
8 THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 love to thee. See the spotless Lamb of God 
 laid upon the altar of Calvary. See how that 
 benign countenance which looked with so much 
 tenderness upon fallen humanity, is marked 
 with the signs of anguish. Behold the meek 
 and gentle Saviour bowed under the mighty 
 sorrow which weighs upon His heart. See the 
 death damp upon His brow; hear the despair- 
 ing cry which issues from His lips. Look at 
 the sharp strokes which pierce in even to His 
 very soul. Mark how the Son of God yields up 
 Himself to death. See Him consuming in the 
 fierce fires of Divine wrath visited upon Him 
 for thy sake. Is there not enough in that scene 
 to move thee to tears and to melt thy hard 
 heart into ingenuous sorrow? And what is it 
 that has led God to give up His only begotten 
 Son to death! His love to thee! *^God so 
 loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
 Son.'' 
 
 But further still, the simple and single con- 
 dition upon which salvation is vouchsafed is an 
 additional evidence of the love of God. Simple 
 belief is the only condition enjoined. ^*God so 
 loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
 Son that whosoever helieveth in Him should 
 not perish but have everlasting life." Noth- 
 ing is required which is beyond the ability of 
 man to do ; nothing out of his reach. No great 
 achievement above the power of mortals. For 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 were this the case, all the acts of God and all 
 the bestowments of His grace and all His 
 promises, and all the hopes of redemption 
 He arouses, would be nothing but solemn 
 mockeries; they would tantalize, not satisfy. 
 But His bestowments are so rich and free, His 
 provisions of grace so ample, and His work so 
 complete that it only remains for the poor lost 
 soul to acquiesce in the arrangements God has 
 made ; to receive His offers of mercy, to accept 
 the conditions He lays down, and to comply 
 with His terms, to rest in His redeeming work, 
 and to look out of himself to the mighty arm 
 that is stretched forth to lift him up, and he is 
 safe. All he has to do is simply believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else is demanded 
 than that he should look and live. Having his 
 eyes turned towards the cross of Calvary, and 
 viewing the great sacrifice offered there, let 
 him but throw himself in the arms of his 
 Saviour, and God will accept him and receive 
 him for Christ's sake. Only let him believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, believe that his sins 
 were atoned for upon the cross, believe that 
 Christ suffered in his stead, believe the record 
 God has given concerning His Son, and he shall 
 not perish but have everlasting life. Could any 
 provision be more gracious? Could redemp- 
 tion be freer? Could less than this be re- 
 quired ? Could any terms be easier ? And how 
 
10 THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 comes it that all is made to fit so well to our 
 necessities? That so much is given where so 
 little is demanded? And that the very act 
 which brings with it all the fullness of com- 
 plete redemption, is one of the commonest acts 
 of life — faith — ^belief of a thing on the testi- 
 mony of another. It is God's love which led 
 Him to arrange it so. It was because of the 
 yearnings of His heart to us, that He made 
 such a blessed provision of His mercy. 
 
 Notice also the boundless character of this 
 love. ^^Whosoever believeth in Him should not 
 perish.'' It takes in all our race. The great 
 multitudes of earth have all been compre- 
 hended in the love of God. Each one for him- 
 self and all together have been the objects of 
 this warm affection. There is no exclusion on 
 account of tribe or kindred — condition or color 
 — age or attainments. We are apt to think that 
 we are lost amid the vast multitudes that have 
 peopled our earth. We are apt to think that 
 the Divine Being does not regard us especially, 
 since there are so many upon whom His love 
 is exercised. But no one can look upon this 
 word whosoever and deem himself excluded. 
 When the saints shall assemble in the great 
 temple in the heavens, it shall be found that 
 there are some there out of every nation upon 
 earth, that all peoples, tongues and languages 
 have contributed to swell that throng. The 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 11 
 
 shepherd from Bethlehem ^s plains shall be 
 there. The virtuous prisoner lifted from 
 Pharaoh's dungeon shall be there. There shall 
 be found the fishermen of Galilee and the offi- 
 cer of Ethiopia, the god-fearing captives of 
 Babylon, and the jailor of Philippi, the loved 
 disciple, and the noble army of martyrs, and 
 whosoever has believed in the Son of God, and 
 gone down to the grave faithfully maintaining 
 his profession. God is no respecter of per- 
 sons. He looketh not upon the outward man. 
 He regards neither beauty, nor wealth, nor 
 position, nor learning. The soul of each one 
 is dear to Him whatever his circumstances, 
 whatever his surroundings. None so lowly or 
 obscure that His eye does not behold him and 
 love him. None so base and depraved that 
 God does not extend to him His offers of mercy. 
 "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the 
 waters of life freely. 
 
 And our theme is not exhausted yet. The 
 text speaks of one more act of God which fills 
 out the measure of His love. ^^God so loved 
 the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
 perish, hut have everlasting life/' Life is be- 
 stowed upon the believer in Jesus and that 
 everlasting life. It were a bright evidence of 
 love to save rebels and sinners from eternal 
 death; but in addition to that, behold the love 
 
12 THS LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 of God extends to them eternal life. And how 
 shall we speak of this life. * ^ Eye hath not seen, 
 ear hath not heard, neither have entered into 
 the heart of man the things that God has pre- 
 pared for those who love Him.'' Jesus said, 
 *^In my Father's house are many mansions. 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." These shall be the dwelling 
 place of the saints. And they shall be with 
 Jes^s and see Him as He is. This is enough to 
 make heaven. They shall be safe in the ever- 
 lasting keeping of Him who died for them. 
 They shall put their hand in His and He shall 
 lead them. They shall sit down with Him upon 
 His throne. They shall share His glory and re- 
 joice in His presence, and their hearts shall 
 glow with His praise. All pain and sorrow and 
 sighing shall be far beneath them, and they 
 shall live on in the rapture and the glory of 
 the redeemed in the heavenly city. Everlast- 
 ing life is conferred upon them, and their whole 
 time shall be taken up with the blissful employ- 
 ments of the glorified saints. 
 
 ** Those dwellers there are not like these of earth. 
 
 No mortal stain they bear; 
 And yet they seem of kindred blood and birth,— 
 
 Whence and how came they there ? 
 Earth was their native soil; from sin and shame 
 
 Through tribulation they to glory came; 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 13 
 
 Bond-slaves, delivered from sin's crushing load, 
 Brands plucked from burning by the hand of God, 
 
 Those robes of theirs are not for these below; 
 
 No angel's half so bright ! 
 Whence came that beauty, whence that living glow? 
 
 Whence came that radiant white? 
 Washed in the blood of the atoning Lamb, 
 
 Fair as the light those robes of theirs became; 
 And now all tears wiped off from every eye. 
 
 They wander where the freshest pastures lie 
 Through all the nightless day of that unfading sky." 
 
 Is there not comfort and consolation for thee, 
 O son of man, in these words and in the 
 thoughts here presented? Does it bring no joy 
 to thy heart to know that thy Father loves 
 thee? Will it not be thy solace in thy weary 
 pilgrimage? Canst thou not feel it stirring up 
 thy soul to renewed activities on the side of 
 goodness and truth, arousing thee to a brighter 
 life, and confirming thee in a fuller assurance 
 of hope? Christian, is not this theme the de- 
 light of thy life? Dost thou not rejoice in it? 
 Does it not encompass thee on every side? 
 Dark indeed would thy days be were it not for 
 this love. Drink in the joy of the theme ! Dwell 
 upon the thought that God loves thee, and as 
 thou dost cherish it ; let thy warm affections go 
 out towards Him who loved thee even unto 
 death. 
 
 And thou, desponding brother laden 
 with sin, there is joy for thee in these words. 
 
14 THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 Let tMne eyes revert to the cross of Calvary^ 
 see there the evidence of that love. Canst thou 
 not feel the holy influences going out from that 
 cross, flowing down to thee? The words our 
 Saviour spoke, He speaks to thee. The love the 
 Father bore, He bears to thee. Lift up thy 
 drooping head and see the smiling face of thy 
 God beaming upon thee. Let not thy heart be 
 sorrowing. Be not burdened with thy sins. 
 Hope on though troubles now assail. And 
 throughout life bind to thy heart the thought 
 that God loves thee. 
 
 *' O love of God, how deep and great ! 
 Far deeper than man's deepest hate; 
 Self fed, self kindled like the light. 
 Changeless, eternal, infinite. 
 
 O wide embracing, wondrous love, 
 
 We read thee in the sky above, 
 
 We read thee in the earth below, 
 
 In seas that swell and streams that flow. 
 
 We read thee best in Him who came. 
 
 To bear for us the cross of shame. 
 Sent by the Father from on High, 
 
 Our life to live, our death to die. 
 
 O love of God, our shield and stay, 
 Through all the perils of our way: 
 Eternal love in thee we rest, 
 Forever safe, forever blest! " 
 
©if? Attrartwm at teljl^ljf m 
 
 ** Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing "which is 
 come to pass. — Luke 2: 15. 
 
 IT frequently happens that places compara- 
 tively insignificant in themselves, are dig- 
 nified by the events which transpire at them. 
 **What cannot ennoble greatness, greatness can 
 ennoble.'' Towns and villages that would for- 
 ever have remained in obscurity, or been known 
 only to few, have had fame thrust upon them, 
 and been honored by the historian and the poet, 
 by some scene or transaction that happened 
 there. 
 
 * * The late emperor of France, while beseiging 
 Mantua in Italy, exempted a small neighboring 
 village from all exactions, in honor of Virgil, 
 whose birthplace it was supposed to be. ' ' Who 
 has not heard of Avon, rendered famous by one 
 of England's greatest poets? How many 
 places have claimed the honor of being the 
 birthplace of Homer? With what reverence is 
 our own Mount Vernon regarded, because there 
 repose the remains of the Father of his Coun- 
 try. What interest clusters around the places 
 noted in Scripture history, and especially those 
 
 15 
 
16 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 ionored by the presence of our Lord. Naz- 
 areth was held in low esteem and even despised, 
 hut it is now highly regarded and even en- 
 nobled, since our Saviour passed his youth and 
 earlier years there. ** Capernaum was an in- 
 significant fishing town, but because He fre- 
 quently resided and preached in it, it was ex- 
 alted unto heaven.'' And so ** Bethlehem was 
 not remarkable for its buildings or commerce, 
 or the number of its inhabitants, or fame of 
 any kind. It was * little among the thou- 
 sands of Judah.' But it was immortalized by 
 an event that fixed upon it the eye of inspira- 
 tion, that drew towards it in due time a mul- 
 titude of the heavenly host, and has rendered it 
 dear and memorable to the church forever : it is 
 the birthplace of the Messiah.'' **Thou, Beth- 
 lehem Ephratah," says the prophet, *^ though 
 thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
 yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me, 
 that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth 
 have been from old, from everlasting. ' ' In this 
 city of David was born a Saviour which is 
 Christ the Lord. And it was the announcement 
 of these glad tidings by the angel to the shep- 
 herds watching their flocks by night upon the 
 plains of Palestine, and the strange events 
 that accompanied it, that led them to say **Let 
 us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this 
 thing which is come to pass." Come with me 
 
THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 17 
 
 tlien and let us follow in the footsteps of the 
 shepherds, and go even to Bethlehem and con- 
 template a scene which will induce us to ex- 
 claim, as Moses did on a very marvellous but 
 very inferior occasion, ^^Ask now of the days 
 that are past, which were before thee, since the 
 day that God created man upon the earth, and 
 ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, 
 whether there hath been any such thing as this 
 great thing, or hath been heard like it ? ^ ' And 
 whither are we conducted? To some magnifi- 
 cent palace? To a scene of grandeur and dig- 
 nity? The announcement of the angel, the 
 shouting of the heavenly choirs, the appear- 
 ance of that bright star have raised high our 
 anticipations, and led us to expect something 
 grand and noble. But what do we behold? A 
 babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in 
 a manger. Its surroundings are lowly and 
 mean. It finds shelter in a stable. Its parents 
 are not numbered among the dignitaries of the 
 land. There is no pomp or display in their cir- 
 cumstances or demeanor. To the outward eye, 
 there is nothing of greatness in that scene. 
 And yet upon that unconscious babe reposing 
 in the manger, the whole universe looks with 
 wonder and with awe. What is it that com- 
 mands the absorbing attention of the heavenly 
 hosts ? What is there in this event which draws 
 so much interest upon it from all God's intelli- 
 
18 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 gent creatures! Wliy do tlie angelic orders 
 bend over and gaze upon it with so much won- 
 der and delight ? Let us inquire and see what 
 there is in this thing which is come to pass to 
 cause so much commotion in heaven and on 
 earth. 
 
 I. First we see here a union of the divine 
 and human natures. In that little babe we be- 
 hold * * God manifest in the flesh. ' * The Former 
 of the worlds comes down to live for awhile 
 upon this globe. The Euler of the Universe 
 abases Himself to move among His subjects. 
 The Inhabitant of the Skies takes up His abode 
 among men. He who occupied a throne of 
 glory, now dwells upon His footstool. He who 
 was with the Father from all eternity, and was 
 in all respects equal with God, appears as a 
 servant. Divinity clothes itself in the garb of 
 humanity. God allies Himself with man, takes 
 upon Himself the form of a man, and manifests 
 Himself in the flesh. In Jesus Christ, God and 
 man were so united as to form one person. Di- 
 vine and human properties are alike ascribed 
 to Him. He ** being in the form of God, thought 
 it not robbery to be equal with God, but made 
 Himself of no reputation and took upon Him 
 the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men." The names of God are as- 
 cribed to Him. Isaiah says, *'His name shall 
 be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty 
 
THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 19 
 
 God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of 
 Peace." Jeremiah calls him, **The Lord our 
 righteousness." Thomas on beholding Him 
 after His resurrection from the dead, exclaims, 
 **My lord and my God." Paul declares Him 
 to be **God over all blessed forever." John 
 speaks of Him as the * * King of kings and Lord 
 of Lords." And yet also the names and titles 
 of a man are given to Him. He is spoken of 
 as the Promised Seed. He is called the Son 
 of Man — the Son of David — the son of a Vir- 
 gin — the second Adam — and by two of His 
 Evangelists His genealogy is traced out, and 
 the names of His ancestors are given by one 
 as far back as David, and by the other back 
 even to Adam. 
 
 He wrought works which none but God could 
 do, and at the same time performed actions 
 and deeds that are only becoming a man. He 
 created the world and all things visible and in- 
 visible. The apostle John says, **A11 things 
 were made by Him; and without Him was not 
 anything made that was made." He also sus- 
 tains and preserves all things, for Paul tells 
 us, **By Him all things consist." He quick- 
 eneth the dead, for the Scriptures declare 
 that He **quickeneth whom He will." He is 
 the author of eternal life, as He Himself says 
 of those who follow Him, **I give unto them 
 eternal life, and they shall never perish." He 
 
20 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 is tlie Judge of tlie world, for we are expressly 
 told that ' ^ the Father judge th no man ; but hath 
 committed all judgment unto the Son/' He 
 performs and possesses all things equally with 
 God. And yet, though He is the brightness of 
 the Father's glory and the express image of 
 His person, still as a man He came into the 
 world in the form of a babe. Though as God in 
 Him was the infinite perfection of the Deity, 
 yet as clothed with humanity we are informed 
 that He grew and * increased in wisdom and 
 s4;ature and in favor with God and man." 
 Though as God He was incapable of commit- 
 ting sin, and could not be tempted, yet as man 
 He suifered those bitter temptations of the 
 devil in the wilderness, still, however, with- 
 out sin. Though as God He stood in need of 
 nothing, yet as man He endured hunger and 
 thirst. Though as God He ruled all things by 
 a word and knew no want of energy, at the 
 sound of whose voice even the winds and the 
 waves were calmed to peace, yet as man He be- 
 came wearied and fatigued. Though as God 
 He needed no rest, and His watchful eye was 
 ever open to behold all the events transpiring 
 in the universe, yet as man He slumbered and 
 slept. Though as God He was raised above all 
 grief and affliction, yet as man He endured 
 pains and sorrows and wept bitter tears. 
 Though as God He would laugh in derision at 
 
THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 21 
 
 all the efforts of His foes against Him, yet 
 when manifested in the flesh He was buffeted 
 and scourged by His cruel enemies. Though 
 as God He could call even the putrid dead from 
 their graves, yet upon the cross He gave up the 
 ghost, and His lifeless body was buried in the 
 tomb. . ^ * Being found in fashion as a man, He 
 humbled Himself, and became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross." ^^In all 
 things it behooved Him to be made like unto 
 His brethren," according to the flesh. We 
 find then many things ascribed to Him which 
 cannot pertain to Him as God ; and many others 
 ascribed to Him which cannot pertain to Him 
 as man; the only mode of explaining the diffi- 
 culty is that in His person the divine and hu- 
 man were united — God and man were con- 
 joined. And in the circumstances of His birth 
 at Bethlehem we have the same combination of 
 the lowliness of humanity with the glory of the 
 Deity. What circumstances of abasement and 
 humility surround Him at the time of His birth. 
 It is not attended with any earthly pageantry 
 or glory. His mother is an obscure virgin, so 
 little thought of and possessing so little of this 
 world's goods, that no room can be found for 
 her in the inn. The shelter afforded Him on 
 coming into the world was no better than that 
 given to the beasts of the stall. The cradle that 
 held the sleeping babe was a manger. No 
 
22 THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 goodly apparel wrapped His little form; no 
 soft pillow supported His young head. All His 
 surroundings were of the meanest order. By 
 these evidences of His abasement was He sur- 
 rounded. And yet where can we find such mani- 
 festations of Glory as in the birth of Jesus. 
 Prophets foretold it. The time and place of it 
 were specified long before. Heavenly visitants 
 announced it and directed His parents what to 
 call Him. At His birth the very heavens are 
 lit up with glory, and the heavenly choirs are 
 teard chanting their hymns of praise, singing, 
 ** Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth 
 peace, good will to men. ' ' The constellations of 
 the firmament have a new star added to their 
 number, which shines with brilliant lustre on 
 account of the wondrous event which has hap- 
 pened. Magi from the east, guided by its light, 
 come to pay their homage and make their of- 
 ferings to the new born king. All these cir- 
 cumstances attest the wondrous nature of the 
 great thing that came to pass. Heaven shows 
 its interest in the babe, and angels come to 
 sing at the birth of Him whom they adored 
 in heaven. These honors are heaped upon 
 the infant Jesus, the Lord from heaven, in 
 whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead 
 bodily. 
 
 That Christ was divine as well as human is 
 shown also from the fact that He existed before 
 
THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 23 
 
 He was born into this world. At His birth, as 
 the apostle says, He was only manifested in 
 the flesh. He did not then only begin to live. 
 This was not the commencement of His exist- 
 ence. It was at this time that He took upon 
 Himself onr nature in addition to or in con- 
 junction with the Divine nature, which He had 
 before. When He was born into this world He 
 did not then just come into being. Before that 
 He had lived. From all eternity He had ex- 
 isted. The very expressions He Himself used 
 show this. He said, ** Before Abraham was I 
 am,^' and in one of His prayers in addressing 
 the Father He said, '*And now, O Father, glor- 
 ify thou Me, with thine own self, with the glory 
 which I had with thee before the world was.'' 
 The apostle uses this language concerning Him, 
 **He came unto His own and His own received 
 Him not.'' Before He could come He must 
 have had a previous existence ; there must have 
 been a condition and a state from which He 
 proceeded, that condition was the divine, and 
 that state the heavenly. And not only did He 
 exist before His incarnation, before His com- 
 ing in the flesh; but he existed on an equality 
 with the Father and from all eternity. ^*In 
 the beginning was the word and the word was 
 with God, and the word was God." The shep- 
 herds then, as they gazed upon that babe in the 
 manger at Bethlehem, beheld the God-man 
 
24 THE ATTBACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 Christ Jesus, the Only-begotten of tlie Father, 
 now come down to dwell among men. 
 
 II. In the second place we see in this thing 
 which is come to pass, a fulfillment of prophecy 
 — ^we behold a striking display of divine truth — 
 a verification of the inspired word. The com- 
 ing of the Messiah was called **the truth of 
 God.'' The advent of Christ into the world 
 was the chief promise ever given to man. It 
 was the hope of the w^orld — the event which was 
 looked for with joy, and hailed with gladness 
 and rejoicing. It was the earliest assurance 
 made to man. Scarcely had our first parents 
 sinned, and become subject to all the woe that 
 sin entails, before a deliverer was promised 
 them. And what a length of time the promise 
 seemed to hang in suspense. A year rolled by 
 and yet He came not. A hundred years passed 
 away and yet He had not appeared. A thou- 
 sand slowly went by, and Adam died without 
 seeing the fruition of his hopes. Another thou- 
 sand glided away, and the patriarchs looked 
 with anxious eyes for Him, but he came not. 
 And still another thousand years came and 
 went. And during all that time the fulfillment 
 of that promise lingered. It was foretold that 
 He should descend from a particular nation — 
 the nation of the Jews. Hear the words of the 
 prophet, ^^ Balaam the son of Beor hath said, 
 and the man whose eyes are open hath said; 
 
THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 25 
 
 he hatli said wHcli heard the words of God, and 
 knew the knowledge of the Most High, which 
 saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a 
 trance but having his eyes open; I shall see 
 Him but not now; I shall behold Him but not 
 nigh; there shall come a star out of Jacob and 
 a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; out of Jacob 
 shall come He that shall have dominion. ' ' The 
 particular family also from which He should 
 arise was named — the family of David — as 
 saith the prophet Jeremiah, ^^ Behold the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto 
 David a righteous Branch, and a King shall 
 reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment 
 and justice in the earth, in His days Judah 
 shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely/' 
 Even the place of his birth was mentioned by 
 Micah, ^^But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though 
 thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
 yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me 
 that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth 
 have been from old, from everlasting.'' The 
 very circumstances attending his advent were 
 minutely foretold, the murder of the children 
 in Bethlehem in these words, **A voice was 
 heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weep- 
 ing; Rachel weeping for her children refused 
 to be comforted for her children because they 
 were not." His forerunner, John the Baptist, 
 is thus noticed by the prophet Isaiah — *'The 
 
26 THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Pre- 
 pare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in 
 the desert a highway for our Grod/^ And all 
 these were nttered hundreds of years before 
 ihey came to pass, but were all exactly and ac- 
 curately fulfilled. ^*0n how many things does 
 the veracity of God depend, the failure of any 
 one of which would prove Him false.'' How 
 completely are all the contingencies of life un- 
 der His control, to bring about all His purposes 
 and designs. Nothing escapes His notice. 
 There is nothing but what He overrules and di- 
 rects for the accomplishment of His own ends. 
 All His power is pledged for the performances 
 of His promises. Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away sooner than one jot or tittle of His word 
 shall fail. The most minute events all bear 
 their part in the great economy of God, and all 
 tend to the working out of His plans. Upon 
 how many little, apparently accidental circum- 
 stances did the birth of Christ in Bethlehem de- 
 pend. * ^ For Joseph and Mary were residing in 
 Nazareth. And had not Judea been under the 
 Uoman dominion ; and had not Caesar Augustus 
 wished to know the number and wealth of his 
 subjects, so that he ordered an enrollment of 
 all the people in his dominions; and had not 
 the parents of our Lord been thus compelled to 
 go up to the city of David," He would have 
 loeen born elsewhere, and the word of God 
 
THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 27 
 
 would liave been of none effect. And all these 
 occurrences appear casual; and they were so 
 to the persons themselves ; but not to God ; He 
 knows all His works from the beginning. All 
 the prophecies of the God of truth have been 
 verified to the very letter so far as they have 
 yet come to pass. We have here the strongest 
 assurance that those still to be fulfilled will 
 just as surely meet their accomplishment. 
 Everything that had been foretold concerning 
 the birth of Christ was accurately fulfilled. 
 Nothing was wanting. Even the little minutiae 
 were all accomplished. Occurrences which 
 seem to us trivial all contributed to verify the 
 truth of God's word. Men waited long for the 
 promised Messiah, but they waited not in vain. 
 Though He tarried long, He came at last, came 
 in the fullness of time, according to the pre- 
 viously announced purpose of God. As we 
 take another view of the manger at Bethlehem, 
 we have another witness to God's truth. Let 
 our confidence in Him never be shaken. 
 
 III. Again in this great thing which is come 
 to pass, we see provision made for our salva- 
 tion. For the glad tidings of great joy which 
 the heavenly messenger brought to the shep- 
 herds were **Unto you is born this day in the 
 city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the 
 Lord.'' The joyous proclamation he makes 
 and sounds aloud that all may hear, is, **Look 
 
28 THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of tlie 
 earth.'' The angel that foretold his birth di- 
 rected that His name should be called Jesus, 
 because He should save His people from their 
 sins. He Himself declared that He came to 
 seek and to save that which was lost. It was 
 this that the prophet referred to when he said, 
 ** Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried 
 our sorrows. He was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; 
 the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
 and with His stripes we are healed. All we 
 like sheep have gone astray; we have turned 
 every one to his own way; and the Lord hath 
 laid on Him the iniquity of us all." He is the 
 bright sun of righteousness whose rays are the 
 light and healing of the earth, and the joy of 
 eternity. He is the **Lamb of God which tak- 
 eth away the sin of the world." **He is the 
 fountain opened to the house of David and the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and unclean- 
 ness." He is the ** Branch of the Lord, beau- 
 tiful and glorious," whose name is '*the Lord 
 our righteousness." He is the '^Eock of 
 Ages," on which frail man finds his salvation, 
 and in whose cool shade this world's weary 
 ones are blessed. He is that Root of David 
 which has penetrated through the fissures of op- 
 posing rock and forced its way to the fountain 
 and waters of life. He is the *Eose of Sharon' 
 
THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 29 
 
 and the ^ Lily of the Valley, ' which God has plant- 
 ed in this bleak world to gladden the eye and re- 
 vive the heart of drooping man, and be a sooth- 
 ing balm to His many, many wounded. '' He 
 is the meek dove that has left the pure air and 
 blissful groves of heaven to be torn and im- 
 molated for the purifying and cleansing away 
 of guilt. Behold here then the Saviour that 
 has made His soul an offering for thy sins. 
 For this He left His bright abodes on high. 
 For this, though rich. He became poor. For this 
 He laid aside His dignity and honor and glory 
 and descended even to our lowly world, and ap- 
 pears in the form of flesh. He came to save 
 sinners ; to die that we might live ; in His love 
 and pity to redeem us. The incarnation of 
 Christ was the first step made in the working 
 out of the plan of salvation. That plan, it is 
 true, had been formed long before. Various 
 events had happened which looked to its de- 
 velopment. But the first grand act of the 
 Deity in actually making provision for our sal- 
 vation was sending His Son to our earth to as- 
 sume our nature. The manifestation of Christ 
 in the flesh was an earnest of what God pur- 
 posed to do for our redemption. As those 
 shepherds gazed upon the Infant in His manger 
 cradle, how their hearts must have thrilled 
 within them when they called to mind all the 
 grand and glowing promises of deliverance 
 
30 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 and blessings which were to be fulfilled in the 
 Eedeemer. As they looked upon Him they 
 were assured that God really meant what He 
 had said, and that here was the beginning of 
 the great work which was yet to be wrought 
 out. The Saviour of the world had come. The 
 great Eedeemer was now born, who had come 
 to reconcile a rebellious world to their offended 
 Sovereign. Through Him the sons of Adam 
 could come back to their allegiance to their 
 rightful Lord. Through Him heaven and 
 eaijth could once more hold loving communion 
 with each other. From henceforth peace from 
 God towards men was assured. Through Him 
 pardoning mercy was vouchsafed to guilty man. 
 Now at length the great sacrifice was being 
 made ready, through whose offering myriads 
 of souls should be redeemed from the power of 
 sin and the thraldom of Satan, and made heirs 
 of everlasting life. The victim to be offered up 
 on God's great altar had now been provided. 
 Through His bloodshedding salvation was 
 freely and fully offered to all who would come 
 and accept. It is in this, His great work — a 
 work which God alone could undertake — that it 
 is our privilege to contemplate Him. It is in 
 this capacity that the apostles love to speak 
 of Him; and to manifest Him to a weary and 
 sin-stricken world as their only hope and sal- 
 vation. Look then, thou frail child of clay. 
 
THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 31 
 
 upon this great thing that has come to pass, 
 and as you look, accept and live. Draw near 
 to that rude manger at Bethlehem, thou de- 
 sponding and guilty one, and behold thy 
 Saviour and Eedeemer, the Shepherd and Bis- 
 hop of thy soul. 
 
 But ** great as this thing is which has come 
 to pass, there are many who will refuse to take 
 a step to see it. Even at the very festival 
 which is the commemoration of it, they will be 
 found anywhere rather than at Bethlehem. 
 They will be attracted to anything rather than 
 to that sight which the shepherds left their 
 flocks and made haste to see ; which the Eastern 
 Magi came such a distance to behold, and which 
 drew all heaven down to earth. Some, while 
 they observe the day by a freedom from labor, 
 not only neglect, but insult the subject of it, 
 and by intemperance and riot revive the works 
 of the Devil, which the Son of God was mani- 
 fested to destroy.'' How many will spend this 
 day in sensual and grovelling pursuits, and in- 
 stead of improving it as a time to feed their 
 soul, will only use it in ministering to their 
 appetites. How many will give themselves up 
 to the joyous hilarity of the season and bestow 
 not one thought upon the great event it is 
 meant to commemorate. There should be joy 
 and rejoicing, but with a reference to those 
 glad tidings of great joy which have been pro- 
 
32 THE ATTRACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 
 
 claimed to men. It is well to put aside our sor- 
 rows and our cares, to deck our houses with 
 garlands of green, and to spread happiness all 
 around; but let our hearts recur to Him who 
 alone can effectually remove all sorrow, and 
 who is the only true source of happiness. It 
 is well to give gifts, to renew friendships, and 
 to hind tighter the cords which hold us together 
 in our social life. But while all this is done, 
 forget not the great gift which God has be- 
 stowed upon men. 
 
 ^et us celebrate this glad day by joining our 
 voices with those of the heavenly choirs above 
 in giving ^^ Glory to God in the Highest,^' and 
 proclaiming ^^ peace on earth, goodwill to men.^' 
 Let your thoughts dwell upon that wondrous 
 event — the Son of God incarnate. Eenew your 
 solemn vows of devotion and consecration to 
 Him. Let your love be firmly fixed upon that 
 Saviour whose love moved Him to descend to 
 earth for you. 
 
 Give a hearty welcome to this Glorious 
 Prince of Peace. Welcome Him to the earth, 
 and at the same time open your hearts for His 
 reception. Treat Him not as did the ungodly 
 race dwelling upon the earth at the time of His 
 Advent. Let Him not be cast out from your 
 homes as too mean and poor to be allowed to 
 dwell there. Give Him the freest and heartiest 
 welcome your natures are capable of. Eemem- 
 
THE ATTKACTION AT BETHLEHEM. 33 
 
 ber that this lowly Babe upon which you gaze 
 as it lies in its manger cradle, is at the same 
 time the Mighty God. He will come again to 
 take vengeance upon them that know not God, 
 and that obey not His Gospel, and to bless His 
 own people. He has come to restore you to 
 your proper dignity; to reconcile you to your 
 God. **No longer continue in arms, rejecting 
 His authority, trampling upon His laws, and 
 refusing the offers of His grace; otherwise 
 war, eternal war, will continue between you, 
 and the Lord God Omnipotent.'* But only let 
 the haughtiest sinner submit to His government 
 this day, and all the blessings he came to pur- 
 chase shall be bestowed upon him. Let all en- 
 mity be laid aside, all opposition fade away, 
 and as you this day call to remembrance that 
 strange scene upon which the shepherds gazed 
 at Bethlehem, let your hearts rejoice, and your 
 lips exclaim, **Lo, this is our God, we have 
 waited for Him, and He will save us: this is 
 the Lord: we have waited for Him: we will be 
 glad and rejoice in His salvation.'^ 
 
Sf^BitB a iiatt Among Mm 
 
 Behold the man! — John 19: 5. 
 
 THE most remarkable biography in the 
 world is that of Jesus Christ. There is 
 nothing like it in all earth ^s records. 
 The men who wrote it performed a work which 
 can never be surpassed in dignity and honor. 
 The princes of the angels would have been ex- 
 ulted, and felt themselves doubly glorified, had 
 they been summoned to write that life. It is 
 as much superior to the lives of even extra- 
 ordinary men as the stars of heaven are to the 
 diamonds of earth. The selection of human 
 language as the medium through which to pub- 
 lish it was a signal honor. Literature was en- 
 nobled and crowned at the hour of its appear- 
 ance. The eye of Intellect was opened then to 
 fairer visions than any she had ever seen be- 
 fore. Mind for the first time came in contact 
 with the ideal of perfection in human life. 
 Imagination looked on in wonder and felt the 
 prize taken from its hands by the actual. 
 Fancy owned herself conquered by positive 
 fact. Poetry had never sung, art had never pic- 
 tured such a life as this. Men read and won- 
 
 34 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 35 
 
 dered, read again and believed, read a third 
 time and adored the unearthly original. Yet 
 though unearthly, it was felt that there was 
 genuine humanity softening the splendors, 
 without staining the purity of His divine char- 
 acter. Hence while philosophy was compelled 
 to own its master in One whose extraordinary 
 wisdom seemed to embrace everything, and to 
 be equally intimate with the grass of the field 
 and the glories of heaven, with a fisherman's 
 hut and the mansions of the universe, with the 
 heart of a widow weeping over the corpse of 
 her only child and with the eternal decrees of 
 God respecting the destiny of worlds, the 
 humblest of the children of men were attracted 
 by His unequalled gentleness, and found in 
 Him a mysterious Friend in whose ear they 
 could whisper the tale of their sorrows and 
 their struggles, confident of sympathy and 
 counsel. The decrepit sufferer touched His 
 clothes, the penitent young woman shed tears 
 at His feet, and the peasant's child sprang into 
 His arms. The common people heard Him 
 gladly. It was confessed that His word was 
 with power. Men unused to the finer emotions 
 of our nature declared that never man spake 
 like Him. Villages, towns, cities were moved 
 by His presence. Who is this ? passed from lip 
 to lip as He approached. The learned won- 
 dered whence His knowledge came, for He had 
 
36 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN". 
 
 not been taught in their schools: the officials 
 disliked His remarks, for He waited not for 
 authority from them: the formalists shrank 
 from His presence, for He stripped off the 
 cloak of their hypocrisy; the selfish were en- 
 raged by His preaching, for He founded all 
 moral action on the love of God and man; the 
 wicked defamed His character, for He kindled 
 a fire in their consciences ; the malignant called 
 Him Beelzebub, for they hated a holiness which 
 they could not appreciate, and denied the power 
 of Grod in the Messiah whom they would not 
 accept. His deeds were as surprising as the 
 perfection of His character and the novelty of 
 His doctrines. He found mankind the subjects 
 of disease and death in a thousand forms, and 
 like a sun endowed with the power of chasing 
 pestilence from the earth. He moved among 
 men, pouring the healing rays of health, happi- 
 ness and life wherever He came. The loath- 
 some leper crawled across His path, and per- 
 fect health was the boon of a word. The blind 
 cried to Him, and immediately the splendid 
 scenery of Palestine greeted their astonished 
 vision. The deaf heard His mighty voice, and 
 strange melody thrilled their hearts with joy. 
 The paralytic looked on the Nazarene and has- 
 tened home to his friends, with his couch upon 
 his shoulder. The master pleaded for his sick 
 servant, the father and the mother for their 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 37 
 
 dying children, and, though the sufferers were 
 at a distance, the Healer spoke the word and 
 they were restored. The company of mourn- 
 ers were stopped by a stranger, and the 
 widow's only son started to life. The sisters 
 wept bitter tears over a brother three days 
 dead, and a voice called Lazarus from the 
 grave. The frantic demoniacs rushed, in all 
 directions, and ^^Come out,'' was the instant 
 signal for reason to return. Demons depre- 
 cated the anger of Jesus, cowered in His pres- 
 ence, and prayed that He would not torment 
 them before the time. Earth acknowledged its 
 Lord, and the water yielded to Him a firm foot- 
 ing. The fig tree withered at His glance, and 
 the five loaves were multiplied so as to satisfy 
 the wants of thousands. The boiling lake and 
 the raging hurricane obeyed the command, 
 ** Peace, be still," and the alarmed sailors were 
 assured of perfect safety. The angels of 
 heaven came down to minister to their master, 
 and Moses and Elias met Him on the mount of 
 transfiguration. 
 
 Considering His character, doctrines and 
 miracles, we are astonished at the position 
 which He chose in society. Though Son of 
 David and heir to the throne. His chosen com- 
 panions were the humblest of men. Though 
 Son of Abraham and heir of the land of prom- 
 ise, He had not where to lay His head. Though 
 
38 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 Son of Man, the Second Adam, and therefore 
 heir of the world. He was poor and despised, a 
 man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 
 Though Son of God and appointed heir of all 
 things. He was often hungry, wearied and faint. 
 He could work miracles for the benefit of 
 others, but would not for Himself. He could 
 dry the tears of others, but His own fell often. 
 He could summon legions of angels from 
 heaven, but alone He met the tempter and 
 suffered him to try all his wiles. He could 
 speak of the glory He had with the Father be- 
 fore the world was, but He was familiar with 
 the cold mountain and the midnight air. A 
 load of mysterious grief lay upon His heart, a 
 burden which no one else could have borne. 
 Passing from His position in society, look at 
 what He experienced from men. Surely, we 
 would be ready to exclaim, such disinterested 
 benevolence, such invaluable instructions, such 
 an exhibition of the most perfect human vir- 
 tues, such an unprecedentedly beautiful char- 
 acter, such a combination of wisdom and meek- 
 ness, of power and gentleness, of sublimity and 
 lowliness, of moral grandeur and humility, of 
 dignity and condescension, of justice and 
 mercy, will be hailed with rapture as an honor 
 to the human race, as an unequalled glory to 
 the land of Israel, and as a conclusive proof 
 that God has not forgotten mankind. Surely, 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 39 
 
 bad as men are, they will open tlieir hearts and 
 homes to this benign Stranger. They will love 
 Him ; they will embrace Him ; they will esteem 
 it an honor to have Him notice them ; they will 
 submit to His guidance; they will look up to 
 Him and adore Him. His very presence will 
 make them ashamed of iniquity. If example 
 can save, they will be saved. The treacherous 
 will become upright; the cruel, gentle; the un- 
 clean, pure; the licentious, temperate; the pro- 
 fane, godly; the vicious, virtuous; the formal, 
 devout; and the selfish, benevolent. Society 
 will be regenerated from its fountain head to 
 its farthest streams; grace will flourish in the 
 church; justice in the courts, peace in the 
 cities, and joy in the fruitful field. Jerusalem 
 will become the glory of cities, and Palestine of 
 nations. With such a guest among them as 
 Jesus, the descendants of Abraham will be the 
 model people of the world, and all nations will 
 hear of their sublime pre-eminence. Angels 
 vdll not think it condescension to visit such an 
 honored community, and even God Himself 
 might say, *^They will reverence My Son.'' 
 
 But was it so ? Alas ! a dark page in the his- 
 tory of Jesus must now be turned over. He 
 came unto His own. His own received Him 
 not.'' Some strange infatuation seemed to 
 seize on men, leading them to reject and mal- 
 treat and persecute the Prince of Peace. He 
 
40 JESUS A MAIS' AMONG MEN, 
 
 was taunted as the Nazarene, the friend of pub- 
 licans and sinners, the plotter against Caesar, 
 the breaker of the Sabbath, the enemy of 
 Moses, the blasphemer of God, and the accom- 
 plice of Satan. His movements were watched 
 by a malignant priesthood, and His steps were 
 pursued by spies, for the purpose of entangling 
 Him in His talk. He was homeless, footsore, 
 weary, thirsty and faint. Over His cheeks tears 
 of grief often coursed, and from Him escaped 
 the cry, **My soul is exceeding sorrowful even 
 unio death.'' Herod with his men of war set 
 Him at nought and mocked Him, and Judas be- 
 trayed Him into the hands of His enemies for 
 thirty pieces of silver. Men perjured their 
 souls to swear away His life. An infuriated 
 mob rent the air with cries of ** Crucify Him! 
 Crucify Him!" and demanded the release of a 
 murderer that the Son of Man might be de- 
 livered to their will. Peter, His own disciple, 
 denied Him, and the rest of the apostles fled 
 from Him. A crown of thorns was made to 
 pierce His temples, and the scourge descended 
 upon His back. Between two thieves He was 
 lifted up upon the cross, and the tomb of 
 Joseph received His body. 
 
 Sin had enacted many a foul tragedy since 
 the club of the assassin struck down earth's 
 second born ; it had rolled many a city in flames, 
 and deluged many a field with gore; it had. 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 41 
 
 kindled many a fire of fury, and offered many 
 a shrieking victim to the demon gods; it had 
 imbrued its hands in the blood of the innocent 
 and murdered many a prophet of the Lord, but 
 it had not yet borne its full fruit nor reached 
 the limits of its atrocious daring. One act yet 
 and these limits will be reached. One act yet 
 and it must recoil upon itself exhausted by its 
 labor, and stupified by its own ferocity. Mut- 
 tering along the ages you hear it, gathering 
 strength in its course, and growing reckless 
 in the presence of the Omniscient, until after 
 four thousand years of practice, it braces itself 
 up to the execution of one desperate resolu- 
 tion, and fixing its glaring eyes upon the Prince 
 of Life, it shouts, ^^This is the heir; come, let 
 us kill him.'' And accordingly, by wicked 
 hands. He was seized and condemned and cru- 
 cified and slain and buried and sealed in His 
 tomb. 
 
 Such was the reception which Jesus met with 
 from the sons of men. Instead of hailing Him 
 with joy and gladness as their Deliverer and 
 Saviour; instead of embracing Him as the 
 anointed of God, come for their salvation and 
 redemption, they gathered around the judg- 
 ment hall of Pilate, and when the Roman gov- 
 ernor brought out Jesus and placed Him be- 
 fore them, saying, ^^ Behold the man!'' they 
 rent the air wdth cries of Crucify Him! Cru- 
 
42 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 cify Him! and chose a murderer in His stead. 
 
 Friends and brethren, I present this Jesus 
 before you this morning, and would say to each 
 one of you, * * Behold the man ! ' ' and would ask 
 you **What will you do with Him!'' Will you 
 accept Him and embrace Him, or will you join 
 that throng that stood around the judgment 
 hall in Jerusalem and cry *^ Crucify Him! 
 Crucify Him!" 
 
 Let me show you what kind of a reception 
 you may be reasonably expected to give Him. 
 Iii general we should give Him a reception 
 agreeable to the character He sustains, and to 
 the designs with which He was sent into our 
 w^orld. Jesus appears in our world under the 
 character of a Saviour, a Deliverer. It may be 
 expected that His appearing in our world un- 
 der this character would immediately flash uni- 
 versal conviction upon mankind that they need 
 a Saviour, that they are helpless in themselves 
 and can obtain relief from no other quarter. 
 It may be expected that they would give up all 
 their self-righteous conceit of themselves and 
 abandon all trust in their own righteousness 
 and good works; for until they do this they 
 never can receive Him in His proper character ; 
 that is, as their Saviour. It may be expected 
 that they would welcome Christ as the great, 
 the only Deliverer, and give themselves up en- 
 tirely to Him, to be saved by Him, who alone is 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 43 
 
 mighty to save. And it may be expected that 
 every heart would be transported with admira- 
 tion, joy and gratitude at His appearance: a 
 contrary temper towards Him can proceed 
 from nothing but ignorance of our sin and dan- 
 ger, and an ungrateful disaffection to Him. 
 
 Does Jesus appear among men as a great 
 High Priest, making atonement for sin? Then 
 it may justly be expected that we should place 
 all our trust upon the virtue of His atonement, 
 and that all hands should be eagerly stretched 
 out to receive those pardons which He offers, in 
 consequence of His propitiatory sacrifice. 
 Does He appear to destroy the works of the 
 devil and to save men from sin by making them 
 holy? Then who would not expect that we 
 would all fall in with His designs, all form a 
 noble league against sin, seek for the sanctifi- 
 cation of our hearts, and earnestly apply to 
 Him for the influences of divine grace to make 
 us holy? Does Christ appear in the character 
 of a mediatorial King, invested with all power 
 in heaven and earth and demanding universal 
 homage ? Then it may reasonably be expected 
 that we should all bow the knee in humble sub- 
 mission, all make His will the rule of our con- 
 duct, and labor after universal obedience. Does 
 He appear both as the publisher and as the 
 brightest demonstration of the Father's love? 
 and has He shown His own love by the many 
 
44 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 labors of His life, and by the agonies and tor- 
 tures of His cross 1 ! then may it not be ex- 
 pected that we should return Him love for 
 love; an obedient love for his bleeding, dying 
 love? Ought not the sight of a crucified 
 Saviour, dying in agony and pain, to melt every 
 heart, and draw the whole world to His arms! 
 He Himself has this reasonable expectation. 
 He says, ^'And I, if I be lifted up from the 
 earth'' (that is, suspended on the cross) *^will 
 draw all men unto me.'' If such love will not 
 attract men, what will ? May it not be expected 
 that the strong assurance that their offended 
 Sovereign is reconcilable, and so much in 
 earnest to pardon obnoxious rebels, would at 
 length make them sensible of their ingratitude, 
 melt their heart into ingenuous sorrow for 
 their unnatural rebellion against so good a God 
 and determine them to cheerful obedience in 
 the future? Does Christ exhibit Himself as 
 able to save to the uttermost all that come unto 
 God through Him, and as willing as able, as 
 gracious as He is powerful? Then may it not 
 be reasonably expected that all the unbelieving 
 fears and tremblings of desponding penitents 
 should vanish forever? That all would fly to 
 His arms with cheerful hope and humble con- 
 fidence, and do Him the honor and themselves 
 the kindness to believe themselves safe upon 
 their compliance with His invitation? Does 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 45 
 
 Christ appear in the character of a Great 
 Prophet sent to publish His Father's will, to 
 reveal the deep things of God, and to show the 
 way in which guilty sinners may be reconciled 
 to God? — a way which all the philosophers and 
 sages of antiquity, after all their perplexing 
 searches, could never discover! May it not 
 then be reasonably expected that we should be 
 all attention to His instructions that we should 
 resign our understandings to Him as our 
 Teacher, and readily believe what He has re- 
 vealed, and particularly that we should cheer- 
 fully comply with the only method of salva- 
 tion contained in the Gospel? 
 
 Does Christ assume the august character of 
 the Judge of the quick and the dead, and must 
 we all appear before the judgment seat of 
 Christ? Then it may be expected that we 
 should all humbly revere and adore Him, fear 
 to offend Him and prepare for our appearance 
 before Him. This is a brief view of the recep- 
 tion we ought to give to the Son of God upon 
 His appearance in our world. Unless we re- 
 ceive Him thus we can receive no benefit from 
 Him, but must incur the aggravated guilt of 
 rejecting Him. *^But to as many as thus re- 
 ceive Him, to them He gives power to become 
 the sons of God, even to as many as believe in 
 His name.'' 
 
 Do not imagine that none are concerned to 
 
46 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 give Him a proper reception, but those with 
 whom He conversed in the days of His flesh. 
 We, at the distance of nineteen hundred years, 
 and six or seven thousand miles from the time 
 and place of His appearance in human form, 
 are as much concerned with Him as they were. 
 He is an ever-present Saviour, and He left His 
 Gospel on earth in His stead, when He ascended 
 up on high. It is with the motion of the mind 
 and not of the body that sinners must come to 
 Him; and in this sense we may come to Him as 
 truly as those who conversed with Him. He de- 
 mands the reverence, love and trust of man- 
 kind now as well as 1900 years ago; and we 
 need His righteousness. His influence, and His 
 salvation as well as the people of Judea among 
 whom He appeared in person. Nay, as His 
 glory has now pierced through the cloud that 
 obscured it in the days of His flesh, and as He 
 is exalted in honor and dignity, it may be ex- 
 pected with still more reason that we should 
 reverence Him and submit to Him in His high 
 character. He is not now the object of our 
 bodily senses, we cannot see and handle Him; 
 but He is now an object for the acts of the 
 mind. Spiritual and intellectual things must be 
 the proper objects for all rational creatures. 
 Therefore, though Jesus be not now within 
 reach of our senses, yet reason and faith may 
 reach and perceive His glories: and it is ex- 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 47 
 
 pected that we should admire, love, trust and 
 serve Him. 
 
 And is there not infinite reason that infinite 
 beauty and excellence should be esteemed and 
 loved ; that supreme authority should be obeyed 
 and the highest character revered? Is it not 
 reasonable that the most amazing display of 
 love and mercy should meet with the most af- 
 fectionate returns of gratitude from the person 
 obliged? Shall the Creator die for His crea- 
 tures, the Sovereign for His rebellious sub- 
 jects ; the great Lawgiver transfer the penalty 
 of His own law upon Himself, in order to re- 
 move it from obnoxious criminals? Shall He 
 die in extremities of torture and write His love 
 in characters of blood? Shall He do this, and 
 is it not reasonable that His creatures, that His 
 rebellious subjects should be transported with 
 wonder, joy and gratitude; and that such mir- 
 acles of love should engross their thoughts, 
 their affections and their conversation? If we 
 form our expectations from what we find in 
 fact among mankind in other cases, surely we 
 may expect the Son of God would meet with 
 such a reception in our world: the thousandth " 
 part of this kindness would excite gratitude be- 
 tween man and man, and he would be counted 
 a monster who would not be moved by it. And 
 shall kindness from creature to creature excite 
 love and gratitude, and shall the infinite mercy 
 
48 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 of God towards rebellious creatures fail to ex- 
 cite like emotions? Is this the only species of 
 kindness that must pass unnoticed? Is Jesus 
 the only Benefactor that must be forgotten! 
 Is it not reasonable and would not any one ex- 
 pect that the perishing would willingly accept 
 of a Saviour! that the guilty would stretch out 
 an eager hand to receive a pardon 1 that the dis- 
 eased would apply to the physician? that in- 
 excusable offenders should repent of their 
 causeless offenses against the best of Beings? 
 and that needy, dependent creatures should 
 embrace the offer of happiness? Is it not 
 natural to suppose this? No man can deny the 
 reasonableness of this expectation without as- 
 serting that the highest excellency should be 
 despised, the highest authority rejected, the 
 richest goodness contemned; that rebellion and 
 ingratitude are virtues, and self-destruction 
 a duty. Your judgment and conscience declare 
 that if it is reasonable for a child to reverence 
 a tender and affectionate parent; if it is right 
 that you should love your own life, or your ov/n 
 happiness, then certainly it is right that you 
 should give such a reception as we have set 
 forth, to the blessed Jesus. Happy for us, 
 happy for the world, if we could as easily prove 
 that the expectation is as much founded upon 
 actual facts as upon reason. But here the evi- 
 dence turns against us. In such a wicked, dis- 
 
JESUS A MAX AMONG MEX. 49 
 
 ordered world as this, it would be a very deceit- 
 ful method of reasoning to infer that things 
 are, because they should be. 
 
 How different in reality is the reception the 
 Son of God generally meets with in the w^orld, 
 from what it ought to be. 
 
 Many have lived all their days under His 
 Gospel, and have professed His religion, yet 
 have never received Him as their Saviour nor 
 realized that they must perish forever, unless 
 Jesus Christ out of pure mercy shall undertake 
 to save them. 
 
 If men heartily received the Saviour, would 
 they not love Him? But where is the evidence 
 of that love; where are its inseparable fruits 
 and effects? Where are their eager desires 
 and pantings after Himf Where is their de- 
 light to converse with Him in His ordinances! 
 Where their anxiety, their zeal, their earnest 
 endeavors to secure His favor? Where is their 
 conscientious observance of His command- 
 ments ? For He has made this the test of their 
 love, **Then are ye my friends,'* says He, *4f 
 ye do whatsoever I command you'*? Does not 
 the evidence from this inquiry affect you, my 
 hearers? Are you not convinced in your con- 
 sciences, that if these are the inseparable fruits 
 of love, many are nearly if not quite destitute 
 of it? 
 
 Inquire farther. Have you learned to intrust 
 
50 JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 
 
 your souls in His hands, to be saved by Him en- 
 tirely, in His own wayf Or do you depend, in 
 part at least, upon your own imaginary good- 
 ness ? Does it appear strange to you to be told 
 that after all your good works, God will deal 
 with you entirely as with guilty sinners, and 
 have no regard at all to your supposed merit in 
 the distribution of His mercy, but entirely to 
 the righteousness of Jesus Christ? For this 
 purpose the Son of God came into the world, 
 and those who do not intrust themselves ta 
 Him, do not give Him a proper reception. In 
 rejecting Him you reject the salvation which 
 He so freely offers to you. You cast aside your 
 own redemption, and turn madly away from 
 the only method provided for your eternal 
 safety. 
 
 Consider, too, that in turning away from 
 Him you aggravate your guilt ; for you not only 
 sin against God by breaking His law, but you 
 willfully despise the remedy He has provided 
 for your deliverance. You cast contempt not 
 only upon His commandments, but also upon 
 His grace. You disregard His demands and 
 His bestowments alike. You pay no attention 
 to His requirements or to His favors. 
 
 Consider this subject well, I beseech you. 
 Meditate upon the wondrous character and 
 work of Jesus Christ; think why He came into 
 the world and why it was that He was pos- 
 
JESUS A MAN AMONG MEN. 51 
 
 sessed of such remarkable endowments. Then 
 ask yourselves the question whether you have 
 an interest in Him? Shall He come and dis- 
 play His divine power; shall all His miracles 
 be performed and his instructions given, His 
 trials be endured, and all his agony and pain 
 so willingly borne; shall the Son of God be 
 nailed to the cross and through Him the gates 
 of heaven itself be opened; shall all this be 
 done — and yet shall it be done in vain for you? 
 The salvation which is now offered will either 
 raise you aloft to heavenly glories, or sink you 
 by your very rejection of it to deeper depths 
 of woe. May the divine Spirit influence and 
 move our hearts that we may all be led to give 
 this Saviour a proper reception, to ascribe to 
 Him the honor which is His due, so that we 
 may share His glory in the world to come ! 
 
Mm (§ttmhth at (Hifmt 
 
 Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. — Matt. 11, 6. 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST had been thrown into 
 prison by Herod Antipas, because of his 
 stern rebuke of that cruel tyrant's unholy 
 union with his brother Philip's wife. He 
 was held in bondage in the fortress of Mach- 
 aerus. While thus imprisoned, the fame of 
 Jesus reached him. He heard of His preaching 
 and of His works of healing the sick, casting 
 out devils and raising the dead. But he seems 
 to have been offended. He was placed in pe- 
 culiarly trying circumstances. He had faith- 
 fully performed his mission. He had lifted up 
 his voice in condemnation of the corruption 
 and hypocrisy of the times. He had sounded 
 aloud the call to repentance. He had warned 
 of the wrath to come, and urged his hearers to 
 flee from it. He had pointed to the long prom- 
 ised Messiah then present and standing among 
 the people. He had preached that the King- 
 dom of heaven was at hand — ^with its judg- 
 ments upon the guilty — its rewards for the 
 righteous — its administrations of justice — ^its 
 rectification of all wrongs — ^its overthrow of 
 
 52 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHKIST. 53 
 
 Satan and ungodly men — its exaltation of the 
 true King and His followers. But the only out- 
 come of all to him as yet was imprisonment by 
 the power of a licentious prince, at the request 
 of a malicious adulteress. He was depressed 
 and discouraged. He could not doubt that 
 Jesus was the Messiah, for then he would have 
 doubted his own mission as His forerunner; 
 and he had divine testimony to the truth of 
 what he proclaimed. But he was disappointed. 
 The work of Christ was not such as to satisfy 
 him. Godless rulers still retained their places 
 of power ; vice was still unblushingly practiced 
 among princes and among the people; hypo- 
 crites and deceivers still claimed to be guides 
 in religion; the poor saints were still under 
 bondage, despised by the world and apparently 
 neglected of heaven. The hopes and expecta- 
 tions of the weary prisoner were not met. He 
 could not understand the tardiness of Jesus' 
 mode of procedure. Hence his perplexity. He 
 was offended. To clear up these difficulties and 
 satisfy himself, he sends an embassy to Jesus 
 with the straightforward question, **Art thou 
 He that should come, or de we look for an- 
 other?" Jesus dealt very tenderly with His 
 distressed and afflicted servant. He kindly re- 
 ceived his messengers. **In the same hour," 
 Luke tells us, **He cured many of their infirm- 
 ities and plagues, and of evil spirits ; and unto 
 
54 MEN OFFENDED AT CHEIST. 
 
 many that were blind he gave sight/' Then 
 Jesus answering said unto the messengers, * * Go 
 your way and tell John what things ye have 
 seen and heard; how that the blind see, the 
 lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf 
 hear, the dead are raised up, to the poor the 
 Gospel is preached. '' 
 
 This was a direct answer to the Baptist's 
 question. By it he was referred to those very 
 prophecies of Isaiah, which relate to Christ's 
 Messianic work. In the 35th chapter of that 
 evangelical prophet we read, ** Strengthen ye 
 the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 
 Say to them of a fearful heart, be strong, fear 
 
 not. Behold, your God will come 
 
 Then the eyes of the blind shall he opened, and 
 the ears Of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then 
 shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the 
 tongue of the dumb shall sing." This must 
 have been very convincing to John, inasmuch as 
 it comes in immediate connection with the pas- 
 sage which sets forth that particular work of 
 the Messiah, upon which his mind appears to 
 have been dwelling, viz. : the work of judgment. 
 ''Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be 
 strong, fear not; behold, your God will come 
 with vengeance, even God with a recompense; 
 He will come and save you." Jesus hereby 
 shows that the former of these passages ap- 
 plies to Him, as much as the latter. That He 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 65 
 
 is the Healer as well as the Avenger — that He 
 is the compassionate Saviour of the weary and 
 heavy laden, as well as the terrible Judge tak- 
 ing vengeance on them that know not God, and 
 that obey not His Gospel. His desponding and 
 imprisoned servant therefore need not fear. 
 The Messiah to whom He had pointed the peo- 
 ple, knew for what purpose He was commis- 
 sioned, and how best to carry on His work. All 
 was well. The prophecies were being fulfilled. 
 IsraePs King had come. Notwithstanding 
 darkness and mystery surrounded His move- 
 ments, and perplexity and wavering troubled 
 His servants, still the divine plan was being 
 consummated. The glowing words of the 
 prophet who predicted these things would be 
 the song of all faithful ones. **The ransomed 
 of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with 
 songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; 
 they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
 and sighing shall flee away. ' ' 
 
 The Saviour also added these words of cau- 
 tion and admonition to be told to John, 
 ^* Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended 
 in Me.'' This answer which His disciples re- 
 turned to the anxious prisoner had the desired 
 effect. Jesus pronounced upon him greater 
 praise than was ever given to mortal. We read 
 no more of his difficulty and perplexity of 
 mind. In the calm assurance of faith, he met a 
 
56 MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 
 
 martyr's death, and went from the dungeon of 
 Herod and the buffetings of Satan to the re- 
 pose of the saints, and the bliss of Paradise. 
 
 But not all who are offended at Christ, are 
 as easily satisfied and set right as John the 
 Baptist was. It was predicted that Jesus 
 should be * ^ a stone of stumbling, and a rock of 
 offense, to them which stumble at the word." 
 When the godly Simeon took Jesus up in his 
 arms in the temple, he said, ** Behold, this child 
 is set for the fall and rising again of many in 
 Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken 
 against." Those words have come true. The 
 Christ of God is spoken against. As it was 
 with the Jews of old, so is it now, men will not 
 have Him to reign over them. If we could get 
 at the real opinions of men outside of the 
 church, we would find that they are opposed to 
 Him. He is a mystery they cannot explain, and 
 that they would like to have out of the road. 
 He stands in the way of their hopes and pro- 
 jects, their aspirations and endeavors. They 
 would prefer to have a world without Christ. 
 Their mode of living and acting is at variance 
 with His revealed law, and He is a constant 
 witness against them. They fear Him; they 
 are restive under His rebukes ; their hearts are 
 hardened against Him. They try to prop up 
 their opinions with fallacious arguments; and 
 pick at and quarrel with everything about Him 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 57 
 
 which does not tally with their own beclouded 
 notions. 
 
 I. The world is offended at Christ. 
 
 1. Some are offended at His person. Isaiah 
 tells us that it would be so. ^ ' He hath no form 
 nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, 
 there is no beauty that w^e should desire Him. 
 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief ; and we hid, 
 as it were, our faces from Him; He was de- 
 spised and we esteemed Him nof Though He 
 attested His divine mission by words of heav- 
 enly wisdom, and by wondrous miracles, the 
 Jews exclaimed, **Is not this the carpenter, the 
 son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, 
 and of Juda, and of Simon? and are not His 
 sisters here with us? And they were offended 
 at Him." He came in lowliness and humility, 
 in meekness and poverty. Had He been born 
 a prince, multitudes would have flocked to bow 
 the knee and pay their homage to Him. But 
 because He was brought up in an humble home, 
 in an obscure place. He is stigmatized with the 
 name of the Nazarene. Men prefer wealth to 
 worth, and greatness before goodness. Be- 
 cause He appeared simply as a man, men are 
 unwilling to regard Him as anything else than 
 a man ; and when He sets up the claim of being 
 equal with God, with the Jews they retort, 
 Thou art mad and hast a devil. When He as- 
 
58 MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 
 
 sociates with publicans and sinners to do them 
 good and sits down at meat with them, He is 
 styled their friend and a wine-bibber, as if He 
 were their boon companion. Men of intellectual 
 culture and high social position think that one 
 who keeps company with such characters can- 
 not be regarded as their Saviour. Even the 
 thief reviles Him; and the multitudes choose 
 a Barabbas to be delivered to them and permit 
 Jesus to be led away to the cross. 
 
 2. Some are offended at His work. He per- 
 formed not such deeds as usually attract notice 
 and by which men seek fame. He moved not in 
 the walks of literature or science or statesman- 
 ship. He sought no earthly greatness, nor did 
 He heed the applause of the multitude or strive 
 to win His way to popular favor. All the king- 
 doms of the earth were offered to Him if He 
 would only follow the usual way of men in 
 seeking worldly honor and power by falling 
 down and worshipping the false god of this 
 world. But He rejected the temptation of 
 Satan, saying, **Thou shalt worship the Lord 
 thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." 
 Jesus appeared as a servant. He said, **I am 
 among you as he that serveth. ' ' All His works 
 were ministrations for the relief of suffering 
 and distress among the poor, the sick, the be- 
 reaved and the outcast. All His invitations 
 were intended for the weary, the heavy laden 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHKIST. 59 
 
 and the sin burdened, for the meek, the perse- 
 cuted, the tempted and the poor. He came to 
 seek and to save that which was lost. He held 
 up such labors as these as worthiest of imita- 
 tion and as being most honored and blest of 
 heaven. The world is too intent on money- 
 getting and ease taking and pleasure seeking 
 to follow in the footsteps of Him who went 
 about doing good. 
 
 But more than in these things, they are of- 
 fended at Him in His work as the Redeemer. 
 The cross is an offense to them. ** Christ cru- 
 cified'' is still **to the Jews a stumbling block 
 and unto the Greeks foolishness." He pro- 
 claimed Himself to be the anointed of God, the 
 Saviour of the world that had been promised 
 for many centuries, and yet He proposed to ac- 
 complish this work before the generation in 
 which He lived by simply doing the will of 
 God, and thus securing merit and righteous- 
 ness. In conformity with this plan, in all hu- 
 mility He submittted to become man, to take 
 man's place, and in it to render implicit and 
 unfailing obedience to the Divine Law in all 
 its parts and requirements, and as a substi- 
 tute for the sinner to undergo death, and that 
 in a most humiliating form on the cross, suffer- 
 ing as a malefactor, and to be laid in the tomb, 
 the common lot of mortals. And now the world 
 refuses to receive a crucified criminal as the 
 
60 MEN OFFENDED AT CHKIST. 
 
 Divine Son of God, sent to be the Redeemer^ 
 and is offended because what He has done and 
 the manner of His doing it is not such as their 
 judgment commends. Although He proved by 
 His mighty works, His heavenly words and god- 
 like life, and by the circumstances attending 
 His death. His resurrection and ascension, that 
 He is truly what he professed to be, namely, 
 the Christ of God, yet, while allowed the poor 
 compliment of being a good man. His words 
 and work and claims are an offense to the self- 
 conaplacent, but really blinded, sons of earth. 
 3. Others are offended at Christ ^s doctrine. 
 His doctrine is so opposite to all human think- 
 ing; it is so humiliating to human pride; it is 
 so comprehensive, relating to the innermost be- 
 ing as well as the whole outward life of the in- 
 dividual, that human nature rebels against it. 
 There is not a thought of the mind, or a desire 
 of the heart, or an impulse of the passions, or 
 a word of the lips, or a movement of the will, or 
 an action performed, to which His doctrine 
 does not apply, and which His commandments 
 are not meant to govern. It requires the whole 
 being to be put into subjection to it, and this 
 does not please men. The ambitious and the 
 haughty have no sympathy with that spirit, 
 which can pronounce blessing after blessing 
 upon *Hhe poor in spirit," and them */that 
 mourn/' upon the **meek,'' and them ^* which 
 
 I 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 61 
 
 do hunger and thirst after righteousness," 
 upon '^the merciful," ^^the pure in heart," the 
 ** peacemakers " and upon them ** which are 
 persecuted for righteousness sake," and who 
 are reviled and evilly spoken against. It is an 
 offense to the unclean, the envious, the venge- 
 ful and the sensual to be told that it is their 
 duty to cultivate ^4ove, joy, peace, long suf- 
 fering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
 temperance." The grasping and selfish can- 
 not understand how it is possible to be **more 
 blessed to give than to receive," and cannot 
 comprehend why they should be called on to 
 bear crosses, and make sacrifices, and suffer 
 tribulation, and endure affliction, yea, if it be 
 necessary, to suffer the loss of all things to win 
 Christ and be found in Him. Nor do the carnal 
 minded see why it is so necessary to have and 
 practice that ** holiness without which," the 
 IVord of God declares, ^*no man shall see the 
 Lord." 
 
 The method by which salvation is secured is 
 not satisfactory to a self-righteous race. ** Be- 
 ing ignorant of God's righteousness and going 
 about to establish their own righteousness," 
 ihey submit not themselves **unto the right- 
 eousness of God." Not realizing how sinful 
 they are, nor the greatness of that condemna- 
 tion under which they rest, they are unwilling 
 to hear of repentance and faith. An imputed 
 
62 MEN OFFENDED AT CHEIST. 
 
 righteousness they are not satisfied with. They 
 rely upon their own works and supposed good- 
 ness for acceptance with God, and believe them- 
 selves entitled to an acquittal in the day of 
 judgment, and to be received into the heavenly 
 world on the ground of personal merit and 
 worthiness. Salvation purchased for them 
 through the precious blood of the crucified 
 Christ and bestowed upon them as a free gift 
 by the grace of God, they are not willing to 
 receive. It is so humbling to proud man to look 
 upon himself as possessed of nothing which will 
 recommend him to his Maker, as being capable 
 of doing nothing that will secure the favor of 
 God, nay, as being sinful and guilty and lost, 
 that he is offended when told that he rests un- 
 der condemnation, and the wrath of God abides 
 upon him. Hence when the evangelists come 
 and proclaim the Gospel with all its blessings — 
 its gracious call, its Divine enlightenment, its 
 justification, its peace of mind, its encourage- 
 ments of help here, its glad hopes of glory here- 
 after — straightway offense is taken because all 
 is offered through the mediation of Jesus 
 Christ instead of being secured by the sin- 
 ner's own work. The truth is that the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God, and even when He 
 manifests Himself in the flesh for the express 
 purpose of saving the lost, an estranged and 
 guilty world is offended at Him. 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHEIST. 63 
 
 11. Not only worldlings, hut Christians are 
 often offended at Christ. His administrations 
 are not always pleasing to them. His mode of 
 dealing does not always suit them. They fain 
 would have things otherwise than they are ; and 
 desire matters to be regulated in a different 
 manner from that which He orders. They 
 sometimes grow restive under His yoke. They 
 complain at their cares and crosses. They mur- 
 mur at His way of leading them. Since all 
 power is given unto Him, and He is exalted to 
 the right hand of God, they do not comprehend 
 or do not take the pains to inquire why His 
 church should continue to be a little flock, a 
 feeble folk, and through much tribulation 
 should enter into the kingdom. 
 
 1. They are sometimes offended at Christ's 
 forbearance and patience with His enemies. 
 They do not understand why Satan is allowed 
 to roam at large, like a roaring lion seeking 
 whom he may devour ; nor why persecutors and 
 infidels and blasphemers are permitted to at- 
 tack the church of the living God and oppose 
 His truth and slay His prophets and imprison 
 His ministers. They do not see the wisdom of 
 that administration which will allow the Johns 
 to be cast into the dungeon, while the Herods 
 and Herodiases are at liberty to engage in their 
 voluptuous feasts and wanton dances, and to 
 live their dissolute lives. A blessing was pro- 
 
64 MSI^ OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 
 
 nounced upon the meek, and it was promised 
 that they should inherit the earth, and yet they 
 see a Paul led out to execution while a Nero is 
 permitted to live to persecute Christians and 
 slay the saints of the Most High. They would 
 deal with these enemies in a far different man- 
 ner. When their Lord and Master, with His 
 humble followers, are set at nought and so illy 
 treated, with John they feel like calling down 
 fire from heaven to consume the foes of God 
 and man. They question why it is that the 
 great adversary of souls is suffered to sow 
 broadcast his tares alongside of the good grain, 
 and why hypocrites and deceivers are tolerated 
 even within the church's fold. The church has 
 now been for eighteen centuries in the world, 
 and all along the ages the efforts of the godly 
 have been hindered, the spread of the Gospel 
 has been opposed, the truth itself has been at- 
 tacked, error in multitudinous forms has been 
 introduced in an insidious way to turn men 
 from the belief of the Divine Word. Yea, even 
 in the bosom of the church itself, just as the 
 apostle Peter said would be the case, ^^false 
 teachers" have arisen, ^^who privily have 
 brought in damnable heresies, even denying the 
 Lord that bought them,'' and yet the ^' swift 
 destruction" prophesied, comes not. Short- 
 sighted and impatient Christians should 
 strengthen their faith, when such questionings 
 arise, by calling to mind the **long suffering 
 
MEX OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 65 
 
 of God wliich waited in the days of Noali, while 
 the ark was a preparing, ^ ^ and should not com- 
 plain, *4f God, willing to shew His wrath, and 
 to make His power known, endures with much 
 long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to 
 destruction.'^ 
 
 2. Others are offended at Christ because of 
 His seeming neglect of them. Our Lord did not 
 promise His followers exemption from suffer- 
 ing and trial. Often their lot is one of severe 
 affliction, and they are called to pass through 
 the fires. How many there are who know by a 
 sad experience the bitterness of poverty and 
 want, as they travel on in the pathway marked 
 out by Him who said, *^The foxes have holes, 
 and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son 
 of Man hath not where to lay His head.*' How 
 many weary ones, suffering from sickness and 
 pain, with ** trembling of heart'' and ** sorrow 
 of mind," through many anxious days and 
 sleepless nights, in the morning have said, 
 ** Would God it were even," and at even have 
 said, ** Would God it were morning." How 
 many have been left, apparently alone, to with- 
 stand the subtle wiles of that base tempter, who 
 assaulted our Lord Himself in the wilderness, 
 when His body was weakened with fasting. 
 How many helpless ones, orphaned by the hand 
 of death, have been compelled to make their 
 way as best they could through a selfish, grasp- 
 ing world. How many there are who have 
 
66 MEN OFFENDED AT CHEIST. 
 
 never known the gentle caress and watcMul 
 tenderness of a mother's love, or the blessing 
 of a father's heart. How unspeakably hard to 
 bear those burdens and sorrows and contend 
 with those doubts and despondencies and weak- 
 nesses which frail mortals often meet with, as 
 they struggle on in the strait and narrow way 
 that leads to heaven, through the same heart- 
 less world that taunted and jeered at their 
 Master, as sinking under the weight of His 
 cross. He was led out to Calvary. The words 
 of t)avid's complaint are reiterated from their 
 lips, *^Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am 
 weak. My soul is also sore vexed. ... I 
 am weary with my groaning; all the night 
 make I my bed to swim ; I water my couch with 
 my tears." But when the believer, under the 
 influence of such trying experiences in this 
 friendless world, is tempted to murmur at the 
 manner in which his Saviour is dealing with 
 him, let him call to mind the words spoken by 
 that same Saviour for his admonition and en- 
 couragement: **If ye were of the world the 
 world would love his own; but because ye are 
 not of the world, but I have chosen you out of 
 the world, therefore the world hateth you. Re- 
 member the word that I said unto you, The 
 servant is not greater than his Lord. ' ' 
 
 But amidst all the perplexity and wavering 
 of His followers, and all the opposition and 
 malice of His enemies, Christ's work goes on 
 
MEN OFFENDED AT CHRIST. 67 
 
 in the way of His own appointment He still 
 continues to heal the sick, to raise the dead, 
 and to cast out devils, to preach the Gospel and 
 to work out salvation though John be thrown 
 into prison. He may not now be understood, 
 clouds and darkness may be around His throne, 
 yet in due time He will vindicate Himself and 
 give His wondering saints cause to admire and 
 applaud the wisdom and love that have marked 
 all His words and acts. Blessed is he whoso- 
 ever shall not be offended in Him. Let the 
 troubled Christian lay hold by faith of the sure 
 promises of His Word, and though he may not 
 understand the methods and ways in which his 
 Lord and Redeemer is working, yet he will 
 learn to trust Him. 
 
 "God moves in a mysterious way, 
 His wonders to perform: 
 He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
 And rides upon the storm. 
 
 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; 
 
 The clouds ye so much dread 
 Are big with mercy, and shall break 
 
 In blessings on your head, 
 
 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
 
 But trust Him for His grace; 
 Behind a frowning Providence 
 
 He hides a smiling face. 
 
 His purposes will ripen fast. 
 
 Unfolding every hour. 
 The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 
 But sweet will be the flower." 
 
Luke 19: 28-40. 
 
 SUCH is the evangelical description of tlie 
 triumphant entrance of Christ into the 
 city of Jerusalem. That entrance took 
 plaxje on the first day of the week preceding 
 Easter Sunday. The Church has therefore 
 very appropriately appointed this Gospel to be 
 read before the congregations on this Lord's 
 day, inasmuch as it corresponds with the time 
 in which the event itself took place. This day 
 is known in the church year as Palm Sunday, 
 or the Sunday on which palm branches were 
 strewed in the way of Jesus as He advanced 
 from the Mt. of Olives to Jerusalem, and shouts 
 of rejoicing arose on the air when He mani- 
 fested Himself as Israel's King. It is a glad 
 day, coming near the close of that period of 
 mortification of the flesh, and searching self- 
 examination, and turning away from sin, 
 known as the Lenten season, in which the 
 church prepares herself to gaze upon the suf- 
 ferings of her Saviour, and especially upon the 
 closing acts of His passion on Calvary, at 
 which the heavens clothed themselves in sack- 
 
 68 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 69 
 
 cloth, and the sympathizing earth trembled be- 
 cause of the death of its Lord. Palm Sunday, 
 because it is a day of rejoicing coming in this 
 season of humiliation, has been appropriately 
 selected by many of the churches as Confirma- 
 tion day. Now the church opens her doors for 
 the reception of those who through penitence, 
 prayer and humble faith have turned them- 
 selves from the world to their rightful Lord, 
 confess their faith in Him before heaven and 
 earth, and take the vows of allegiance to Him 
 upon them. On consideration it will be found 
 that there are several points of resemblance 
 between the Palm Sunday on which our Lord 
 Himself was the chief actor, and this Palm 
 Sunday on which the converts to the Christian 
 faith are confirmed. We propose to trace these 
 points of resemblance. 
 
 I. In the first place, this triumphal march 
 of Christ took place when He was on His way 
 ascending up to Jerusalem. It was drawing 
 near to the time of the Passover feast of the 
 Jews, when the faithful sons of Israel assem- 
 bled at their metropolis, in obedience to the 
 Mosaic law. From all parts of Judea they 
 came and thronged the highways leading to the 
 city. Jesus was among them, drawing near to 
 Jerusalem to attend the feast. So the con- 
 firmants, who are openly received into the 
 church's fold to-day, are on their way to the 
 
70 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 heavenly Jerusalem. Their faces are turned 
 and their feet are moving towards that city 
 whose Builder and Maker is God. They have 
 come out from their abodes of worldliness and 
 are going up to Zion. They are joining that 
 mighty pilgrim band, gathered out of all quar- 
 ters of God's domain, who, in obedience to the 
 divine law, are travelling to that great temple 
 on high, to engage in the pure worship of Jeho- 
 vah. Many have gone before them. The suc- 
 cessive ages have beheld the faithful of suc- 
 cessive generations advancing in the same path 
 on which they now enter. Prophets and kings, 
 and apostles, martyrs, reformers and holy men 
 have preceded them. Their friends and relatives 
 are around them. The whole company of the 
 church welcome them to their ranks. Singing 
 the songs of Zion, they proceed on their way. 
 They are resolved never to cease their spiritual 
 journey until the massive walls of the heavenly 
 city are reached, the pearly gates are opened, 
 and their feet stand upon the golden streets, 
 until their ears are greeted with the strains of 
 celestial music and their eyes behold the man- 
 sions of the blessed flashing with the glory of 
 God and illumined by the presence of the Lamb. 
 They are on their way to keep the feast in 
 honor of the Lamb who was slain. Their pulse 
 is quickened and their eyes beam brighter, as 
 new hopes are aroused in their hearts, new 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 71 
 
 thoughts fill their minds, and holy aspirations 
 animate their souls. They are not without 
 their embarrassments. The dust of travel is 
 upon them. The journey will be fatiguing and 
 attended with discouragements But as their 
 day their strength shall be. With subdued but 
 joyous anticipation they set out. They are on 
 their way •* ascending up to Jerusalem.'' 
 
 II. In the second place, the triumphal en- 
 trance of Jesus into Jerusalem was attended 
 by a manifestation of the obedience of faith on 
 the part of His disciples. In order to prepare 
 for this event, when Jesus *'was come nigh to 
 Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called the 
 mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 
 saying. Go ye into the village over against you ; 
 in the which at your entering, ye shall find a 
 colt tied, whereon yet never man sat : loose him 
 and bring him hither. And if any man ask you. 
 Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto 
 him. Because the Lord hath need of him. And 
 they that were sent went their way and found 
 even as He had said unto them. And as they 
 were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said 
 unto them. Why loose ye the colt? And they 
 said, The Lord hath need of him. And they 
 brought him to Jesus." Here then are two 
 instances of unquestioning obedience rendered 
 to the command of the Lord. The two dis- 
 ciples whom Christ sent on this errand could 
 
72 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 not know what He knew, nor forsee what He 
 foresaw. They had made no arrangements for 
 securing the beast after which they were sent, 
 nor of themselves knew where to find it, as is 
 shown by the very minute directions given 
 them. The only thing they had to guide them 
 was the word of the Master. That they be- 
 lieved, and on that they relied with implicit 
 confidence; and on that they acted. The own- 
 ers of the colt also promptly complied with the 
 will* of the Lord. The simple answer ^^The 
 Lord hath need of him," given to their question, 
 was sufficient for them. Here were examples 
 of trusting obedience. The word of Christ 
 was supreme law to these men. They ques- 
 tioned not the propriety or the reasons for His 
 directions, but immediately submitted to His 
 will. Had they been like many modern objec- 
 tors and quibblers they would have demanded 
 explanations of this conduct, and visible proofs 
 that all was right. But the Lord's order was 
 sufficient for them, and without further ado 
 they trusted Him and obeyed. 
 
 So the persons who are confirmed in the 
 church are surrendering themselves to their 
 Lord. They recognize Him as the great 
 Prophet of God — the Light of the world. They 
 receive His words as divine truth. They sub- 
 mit themselves to His guidance as able to di- 
 rect and lead them. They acknowledge His 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 73 
 
 right as the Supreme Lawgiver to command 
 them, and trust in His integrity and holiness to 
 demand only what is just and true. They are 
 assured of His wisdom and goodness and love, 
 and are confident that what He reveals may be 
 trustingly believed, and what He orders may 
 be safely followed. They feel their own in- 
 ability to know the truth of themselves, and to 
 work out their own salvation, and so they yield 
 themselves into their Saviour's hands and set 
 themselves to do as He tells them, not only be- 
 cause He has a right to their service, but be- 
 cause it is safest and best. Doubtless there is 
 much about the scheme of salvation which they 
 cannot understand. There are many mysteries 
 in the Word of God which they cannot fathom, 
 many revelations which are obscure and dark, 
 much about the nature of God and of Christ 
 and about the work of their Eedeemer which is 
 not given to them to know. There are many 
 Providences that they cannot explain. They 
 know not by what way they shall be led, nor 
 what they shall be called upon to do and suf- 
 fer before their pilgrimage is over. They have 
 a great deal to learn, and there is a great deal 
 which cannot be learned in this life. And yet 
 they know enough to give themselves into the 
 hands of the Lord Jesus and trust in Him for 
 salvation. Though there may be conflicting 
 emotions and fears and struggles in their souls, 
 
74 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 yet they are assured that following Christ is 
 the only way of solving their difficulties and ob- 
 taining peace. The command of Christ they 
 are resolved to make the law of their life, 
 knowing that the path of obedience is the path 
 of safety. They have had their spiritual con- 
 flicts. Satan has intruded his evil suggestions 
 upon them in the midst of their holiest medita- 
 tions and most solemn devotions. They have 
 been tempted again and again to postpone or 
 give up this step. They have lamented their 
 weakness of faith, their failures, their short- 
 comings, their ignorance of divine truth; they 
 have mourned over the opposition their carnal 
 minds have made to the Word of Grod ; but they 
 see in Jesus Christ a sufficiency that avails in 
 the sight of God to cover all their sins and de- 
 fects, and they take comfort in the thought that 
 His strength is made perfect in their weakness. 
 They have had their struggles and their fears ; 
 worldliness, the desires of a fleshy mind, and 
 unbelief would keep them back; but they have 
 determined to break through all opposition and 
 flee to the arms of their Saviour, who they 
 know is ready and willing to receive them, and 
 who is able to keep them from falling. They 
 do not intend to trust the promptings of their 
 own minds, but they intend to trust Christ. 
 His commands will they follow; His path will 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 75 
 
 they walk in. To Him will they yield unliesi- 
 tating and confiding obedience. 
 
 III. In the third place, in His triumphal en- 
 trance into Jerusalem Christ made a public 
 declaration of Himself. He never before so 
 openly appeared before so large a multitude. 
 Previous to this His usual custom seems to 
 have been to shun too public a manifestation 
 of Himself. He bade many of those upon 
 whom He wrought miracles, see ' ' that they told 
 no man.'* When Peter, in the presence of the 
 other disciples, in answer to the question of the 
 Lord — ^*Whom say ye that I amf — said, 
 **Thou art the Christ the Son of the living 
 God,*' He charged His disciples that they 
 should **tell no man that He was Jesus the 
 Christ. ' ' Even in those larger assemblies when 
 He preached to the people. He did not declare 
 Himself the Christ, but let His works and His 
 heavenly words attest who He was. But on 
 this occasion Jesus did not retire from the 
 presence of the vast multitude, nor refuse their 
 homage, nor repress their ascriptions of praise, 
 nor charge them to keep silence concerning 
 Him. But He rode in the midst of the thronged 
 way, while the whole city was moved by His 
 presence, and from the crowded metropolis is- 
 sued great numbers who had gathered there 
 from all parts of the land to be in attendance 
 at the approaching feast; all these lined the 
 
76 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 road or joined in the procession, and **tlie mul- 
 titudes that went before and that followed 
 cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: 
 Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord; Hosanna in the Highest. And when He 
 was come into Jerusalem, all the city was 
 moved, saying, Who is this! And the multi- 
 tude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Naza- 
 reth of Galilee." Here then was an acknowl- 
 edgment of Jesus such as had never before 
 beerf made ; and Jesus permitted the people to 
 honor Him in this public way, and to declare 
 who He was, applying the language of prophecy 
 to Him, and so pronouncing Him to be the 
 Messiah. It was a confession of Christ made 
 by men before men. 
 
 The confirmants make a confession of Christ 
 to-day. By appearing here publicly they ac- 
 knowledge Him who is Head over all things 
 to the church. By assuming the name of 
 Christian they declare themselves the followers 
 of Him from whom that name is derived. In 
 being baptized in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son and of the Holy Ghost they enter 
 into a covenant with the Triune God, through 
 Christ, through whom alone that covenant is 
 made. In answering the questions propounded 
 to them in the service, they declare their pur- 
 pose to renounce the kingdom of Satan and all 
 worldliness, and to believe the record God has 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 77 
 
 given of the Creator, tlie Redeemer and tlie 
 Sanctifier, and to surrender themselves to a 
 life of obedience and submission to the Gospel 
 which Jesus proclaimed. In coming out before 
 the congregation they profess their faith in 
 Jesus as their Prophet, Priest and King, and 
 that they rely upon Him alone for salvation 
 and desire it to be known that henceforth they 
 belong to Him. They give expression to their 
 desire to participate in all the means of grace, 
 the adequacy of which to sanctify them and 
 prepare them for heaven they thus admit. 
 They announce their willingness to let it be 
 published that Christ is their Lord, and they 
 are His servants, and that they are not 
 ashamed of Him. They confess their faith in 
 Him. 
 
 Such a confession of Christ is required of all 
 His followers. *^ Whosoever shall confess me 
 before men, him will I confess also before my 
 Father which is in heaven. But whosoever 
 shall deny me before men, him will I also deny 
 before my Father which is in heaven. * ' * ^ With 
 the heart man believeth unto righteousness; 
 and with the mouth confession is made unto 
 salvation.'' We cannot be full disciples of 
 Christ in secret. We must let our disciple ship 
 be known or Christ will not recognize us. He 
 is a poor servant who is ashamed of His Lord, 
 or who, from fear of the world, hesitates to 
 
78 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 avow Him. In all ages God has demanded that 
 His people be separate. He requires us to 
 honor the Saviour before men, by declaring 
 that we acknowledge His claims and look to 
 Him for salvation. 
 
 lY. In the fourth place the public entrance 
 of Christ into Jerusalem was a triumph over 
 His enemies. The chief priests and Scribes 
 and Pharisees had long ignored His claims, and 
 were jealous of His growing popularity, and 
 had* followed Him with persecution. They had 
 even cherished designs upon His life, in order 
 to put Him out of the way. Gladly would they 
 have silenced the shouting multitude or di- 
 verted their homage to themselves. They stood 
 by gloomy and sullen, but powerless. They 
 could not restrain the uprising of the people, 
 nor could they bear to see so much worship 
 rendered to the despised Nazarene. ^^^Some of 
 the Pharisees from among the multitude said 
 unto Him, Master, rebuke Thy disciples. And 
 He answered and said unto them, I tell you 
 that if these should hold their peace, the stones 
 would immediately cry out." The tempter, 
 too, with whom He contended upon His en- 
 trance into His ministry, was vexed to see the 
 people turning to Him. All through His min- 
 istry Satan had used his utmost exertions to 
 thwart Him and defeat His purposes. He in- 
 spired the hatred which was manifested 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 79 
 
 towards Him; lie aroused the rulers to plot 
 His death; he used all his arts to render His 
 work of none effect. But here was a sudden 
 yielding of the populace to the claims of Jesus 
 that he could neither check nor control. The 
 enemies of Christ were impotent before Him, 
 He triumphed over them all. 
 
 So now in the case of those confirmed, there 
 is a triumph for Christ. They make a declara- 
 tion for Christ against the world and its usurp- 
 ing, wicked prince. The Spirit of God has 
 touched their hearts and enlightened their 
 minds, has quickened their spiritual under- 
 standings and strengthened their wills in pur- 
 poses of good. They are putting off the old 
 man with his deeds and are putting on the new 
 man, which is renewed in righteousness and 
 true holiness. The power of Christ's cross has 
 prevailed over the powers of darkness. The 
 heavenly law of life has put in subjection the 
 fleshly law. Satan is despoiled of his prey, and 
 the world is, so far at least, overcome. The 
 Lord adds new trophies to those already gained 
 and decks His crown with additional jewels. 
 Grace has conquered the resistance it met with 
 and so has gained a victory. Every soul gath- 
 ered into the kingdom swells the forces of the 
 Prince of Peace and weakens those of the Ad- 
 versary. Every new member admitted into the 
 fold of the church is a gain from the world. 
 
80 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 Naturally there is opposition to Jesus and His 
 Gospel. Conformity to them is disliked. The 
 barriers which sin raises must be broken down ; 
 and the strong entrenchments which Satan 
 builds up around his power must be demolished 
 before there is a yielding to Christ. All this 
 is accomplished through the Gospel of Christ. 
 When He makes friends out of enemies; will- 
 ing followers out of rebels; saints out of sin- 
 ners; new creatures out of earthly natures. 
 His work is a triumph. Worldlings and the 
 powers of evil may stand by chagrined and de- 
 feated, but they are unable to stand before the 
 Lord of Lords. He rescues from their grasp 
 those whom otherwise they would lead to de- 
 struction. 
 
 V. Again the triumphal entrance of Christ 
 into Jerusalem was a time of rejoicing. His 
 disciples rejoiced. For three years they had 
 attended Him in His poverty and trials. They 
 had witnessed the resistance of the rulers, the 
 indifference of the people, the accusations of 
 His revilers, and the bitter hostility with which 
 He had been met. They were with Him when 
 He was charged with casting out devils through 
 Beelzebub ; with being mad and being possessed 
 of a devil. They had seen His anxiety, His pa- 
 tience under suffering. They knew that He 
 had had to flee for His life, and to hide Him- 
 self from the rage of the multitude. No such 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 81 
 
 outburst of fervid enthusiasm as this had ever 
 attended His steps before. It was a spon- 
 taneous acknowledgment of His claims. They 
 no doubt regarded it as the dawning of a bet- 
 ter day — the commencement of a new era in 
 His history. They rejoiced in this tardy but 
 general praise accorded to Him, and looked on 
 with wonder as the multitude thronged around 
 to do Him honor. The people rejoiced. They 
 spread their garments in the way as a token 
 of submission. They cut down palm branches 
 and strewed them in the way. They praised 
 God *^with a loud voice for all the mighty 
 works that they had seen.'' They filled the 
 air with their Hosannas; and together they 
 shouted *^ Blessed be the King that cometh in 
 the name of the Lord." They were glad be- 
 cause their Messiah, their King, had come. 
 Their hearts were awakened and they gave vent 
 to their feelings in the language which the 
 prophet had employed in predicting this scene. 
 It was a day of rejoicing. 
 
 This confirmation day is a day of rejoicing. 
 Those who are received into the fold of the 
 church as communicants rejoice. Now at 
 length, after all their conflicts and tears and 
 penitential prayers, and strivings of heart, 
 they are permitted to be publicly identified 
 with the Saviour to whom they have given 
 themselves, and to acknowledge Him before 
 
82 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 men. They know tliat they are moving in the 
 line of duty, and that brings intense satisfac- 
 tion. They have conquered themselves and the 
 world, and they are glad. Their relatives and 
 friends rejoice. They have looked upon them 
 with much anxiety and followed them with 
 many prayers. They have noted each year as 
 it rolled by and longed for the happy hour 
 when they would take this important step and 
 be jiumbered henceforth among the children 
 of God. It gives them joy to see them coming 
 out publicly to take the vows of allegiance to 
 Christ and to set out in the path that leads to 
 the skies. It arouses new hopes, and gives new 
 anticipations of reunions of families in heaven,, 
 which one day must be separated on earth. The 
 church rejoices. Additions are made to her 
 membership. Her power for good is increased. 
 She is hereby assured that her labors for the 
 salvation of souls have not been in vain. She 
 is encouraged to make new efforts in the same 
 direction. It is a token that Christ is still 
 present with her; that the Holy Spirit is op- 
 erating upon the hearts of men ; the Word and 
 the sacraments have not been preached and ad- 
 ministered in vain. The angels rejoice. They 
 are sent forth to be ministering spirits, to min- 
 ister to those who are heirs of salvation. Jesus 
 said, ** There is joy in the presence of the an- 
 gels of God over one sinner that repenteth.'^ 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 83 
 
 Throughout those hosts of high and glorious 
 beings the news is conveyed. Their hearts 
 thrill with rapture. New songs burst forth 
 from their lips. They contemplate the scene 
 here presented with delight. They gaze with 
 gladness upon those whom the Saviour has 
 searched out and brought into His fold. It is 
 a day of rejoicing. 
 
 VI. Finally this triumphal procession of 
 Christ was closely followed by great vicissi- 
 tudes. During that same week Christ was be- 
 trayed by one of His disciples into the hands of 
 the chief priests and rulers of the Jews. Pre- 
 vious to this He endured the bitter agony of 
 the garden of Gethsemane. He was arrested 
 and led before the Sanhedrin, then before 
 Pilate, then before Herod, then to Pilate again, 
 before all of whom He received cruel and in- 
 human treatment, and finally was condemned 
 to death. On the sixth day of the same week 
 He was led out to be crucified, bearing His 
 cross, on which He suffered death as a male- 
 factor. On the evening of the same day He 
 was buried, and laid in the grave until the 
 first day of the following week, when through 
 the power of God He arose from the grave and 
 appeared to His wondering disciples. Forty 
 days after that He led His disciples out as far 
 as the Mt. of Olives, and there, in the presence 
 of the eleven, He ascended up until the clouds 
 
84 PAIjM SUNDAY. 
 
 received Him out of their sight, and He sat 
 down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 
 All these were momentous events. They fol- 
 lowed each other in rapid succession, and came 
 quickly after the day on which He was hailed 
 by the applauding multitude, and garments and 
 palm branches were strewn in His way. They 
 were rapid alternations of humiliation and ex- 
 altation, of sorrow and joy. They led to a 
 final consummation of victory and glory in the 
 heavens. 
 
 So those who are united with the church 
 must not expect to walk upon a perfectly 
 smooth and even path. The step which they 
 take to-day will be followed by many changes, 
 which may come upon each other quickly. They 
 know not by what way Providence will lead 
 them, nor can they tell what temptations will 
 assail them. They must needs follow their 
 Lord into the vale of sorrow and pray His 
 prayer, ** Father, if it be possible let this cup 
 pass from Me, nevertheless not My will, but 
 Thine be done. ^' The cross which He bore they 
 must bear as they journey on, even until the 
 hour of their departure from the world. They 
 may meet false friends who would betray them 
 into the hands of their spiritual enemies. The 
 world will be no helper to them, but its giddy 
 votaries will clamor against them and condemn 
 them, will look on with satisfaction at their dis- 
 
PALM SUNDAY. 85 
 
 comfiture and rejoice if they should fall. 
 Temptations will be presented in various 
 forms, and the sin which still lurks in their 
 members will torment them and contest every 
 inch of their progress in a holy life. Death 
 awaits in secret to seize them as his prey; and 
 the Great Arch Fiend unseen, but subtle and 
 powerful, will take every opportunity to 
 thwart their plans and entangle them in his 
 toils. But as to Jesus in the garden of Geth- 
 semane, so to them will God send His angels 
 to guard and keep and protect them, to streng- 
 then them in their conflicts and to ward off all 
 temptations that would be too strong for them 
 to bear. The almighty grace of God will ever 
 be vouchsafed to them. There will be periods 
 when they will especially feel the power of a 
 new life pulsating through their frames, and 
 there will be a shaking off of the earthy bands 
 and surroundings, and a renewed resurrection 
 to vigor and activity in spiritual life. Let them 
 be faithful and diligent in the emplo^Tiient of 
 the means of grace, and there will be constant 
 communion and fellowship with God through 
 Jesus Christ by the aid of the Holy Spirit. As 
 time rolls on they will be able to look back and 
 see how their minds have expanded, their views 
 of holy things enlarged and strengthened and 
 their hearts more steadfastly fixed on God. 
 Excitement and sudden glow of feeling will 
 
86 PALM SUNDAY. 
 
 give place to calmness and composure, steady 
 continuity of affection and purpose. They must 
 be diligent and faithful to their calling and all 
 along the way look to the Lord Jesus Christ as 
 their Saviour and the Shepherd of their souls 
 who will preserve and defend them. And if 
 they thus fight a good fight and finish their 
 course and keep the faith, the day of ascen- 
 sion will come, when like their Lord, they will 
 ris^ up to be received by Him in the heavens, 
 and to sit down with Him on His throne in 
 glory everlasting. 
 
"They crucified him."— Luke 23: 33. 
 
 WE commemorate to-day the greatest 
 tragedy in this world ^s history. Let us 
 glance at the most important events of 
 the memorable Friday on which Christ was 
 crucified. 
 
 It is past midnight and we can discern a 
 hand of men coming forth from a green, tree- 
 shadowed garden. Here and there a ray of 
 moonlight, striking through the trees, flashes 
 on bright armor, and we see that some of the 
 band are Eoman soldiers. The torches which 
 are carried by many reveal the faces of men 
 clad in Oriental dress. These are Jews, and 
 their eyes are fixed fiercely upon One, who with 
 bound hands and bowed head, is led forward 
 across the brook Kedron and up the hill into 
 Jerusalem and to the high priest's palace. In 
 the background, among the shadows of the 
 trees, we see some figures keeping aloof from 
 the crowd as if uncertain what to do. These 
 are the eleven apostles. There is one also in 
 the multitude of those who are bearing Christ 
 along who seems troubled and appears to be in 
 
 87 
 
88 CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 
 
 strange company. His eye dare not meet that 
 of the silent Prisoner, and his heart is torn 
 with doubts and fears as to the result of that 
 terrible night ^s work, and of the kiss of be- 
 trayal. After a rapid walk up the declivity 
 and through the streets of the city the palace is 
 reached and the sinless One is brought into the 
 presence of Annas the Sadducee, an old man, 
 full of craft and cruelty. The city of Jeru- 
 salem is crowded with visitors who have come 
 from almost all parts of the world to keep the 
 feast of the Passover, but yet all is still. 
 
 The weary night, the darkest in this world's 
 history, drags on. Jesus has been led away 
 from Annas, who has in vain tried to find guilt 
 in the innocent One. He has been taken from 
 one side of the palace to the other, where dwells 
 Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas. There a 
 few of the fiercest and bitterest of His enemies 
 are met together and seek, by the aid of false 
 witnesses, to impute wickedness to Him, in 
 whom was no sin. To the questions, half sneer- 
 ing, half fearful, of Caiaphas, Jesus answers 
 not a word. **As. a sheep dumb before her 
 shearers," so the Lamb of God opened not His 
 mouth. But at last He speaks. In answer to 
 the High Priest's adjuration. He has told them 
 that He is the Son of God, and now the savage 
 hatred of the crowd breaks forth. They sway 
 to and fro and angry voices are lifted up. 
 
CHKIST CRUCIFIED. 89 
 
 Wliite-liaired teachers, forgetting their sacred 
 calling, are trying to inflame the passions of 
 the people. There is one ominous murmur 
 throughout the assembly, *^He is guilty of 
 death.'' 
 
 The dawn is breaking and the spring morn- 
 ing is cold and gray as they hurry Jesus across 
 the court of the high priest's house. Those 
 sad eyes, so wan with looking on the sins of 
 men, gaze on the group of servants who stand 
 around the fire of coals. Whose is that bois- 
 terous voice 1 Who is he whose broad Galilean 
 dialect betrays his origin, as he cried with an 
 oath, **I know not the man." Those warning 
 eyes look on the face lighted up by the blaz- 
 ing coals and strike sorrow to the very heart 
 of the denying Peter. And so, bearing this 
 fresh wound, the denial of His friend, Jesus 
 goes to the soldiers' guard room to await the 
 day when He may be judged by the whole Jew- 
 ish Council. 
 
 The brutal soldiers keep Him till the sun 
 shines out; and in the sweet Eastern morning 
 Jesus is dragged before the Jewish Council 
 met in full assembly. Not one friendly face 
 looks forth from among those judges. Nico- 
 demus and Joseph of Arimathea are absent, 
 and scribe and elder, priest and Sadducee are 
 alike eager for the death of Christ.- And now, 
 the mock trial is over, and since they have not 
 
90 CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 
 
 the power to put Him to death, the Jews deter- 
 mine to deliver Him to the Eoman authorities, 
 and the procession starts for the gorgeous pal- 
 ace of Pilate, the governor. The whole city of 
 Jerusalem is astir. The streets are crowded 
 with people — ^villagers bringing their fruits 
 and wares from Bethany and Bethphage; 
 fishermen from Gennesareth who have come to 
 keep the feast; women and children and white- 
 haired patriarchs; and here and there stern 
 Bofnan soldiers riding with their officer and 
 watching warily for any disturbance among 
 the people. 
 
 And now all eyes are turned towards a 
 strange procession. Yonder are the chief 
 priests with Caiaphas at their head, and others 
 who are well known as the leading men of the 
 great Council. Strangers ask who is the pale, 
 worn man, bound as a prisoner, around whom 
 a frantic mob surges with such angry cries, 
 ^*He is the prophet of Galilee,'' say some *^a 
 good man and wise." **He is a deceiver and 
 stirrer up of sedition," say others; and as the 
 crowd presses nearer, the Eoman soldiers 
 press them back with their spears. 
 
 And so they come to the beautiful palace of 
 Pontius Pilate, towering high up above the 
 city, with its floors flashing with jewels, its 
 roofs glittering with gold, and its halls echoing 
 
CHKIST CRUCIFIED. 91 
 
 with the plash of fountains and the cooing of 
 doves. 
 
 Pilate sees in the excited crowd only a new 
 sign of riot in the people whom he fears and 
 despises. He stands before the Jewish rulers 
 cold and dignified, without sympathy for ac- 
 cusers or accused. He sees that the priests are 
 eager for blood, and with the keen eye of ex- 
 perience is convinced that the prisoner is inno- 
 cent. He takes Jesus within the splendid hall, 
 where his accusers will not come on the eve of 
 the passover. The Eoman governor stands 
 there in his purple and fine linen, powerful, 
 gorgeous, troubled. The King of heaven and 
 earth stands before him, poor, despised, in- 
 sulted, yet calm in His spotless majesty. The 
 few words then spoken convince Pilate that 
 Jesus has done nothing worthy of death, and he 
 tells the Jews so plainly. But in vain: the 
 shouts grow fiercer. Presently Jesus is sent to 
 Herod, Pilate hoping to get rid of the respon- 
 sibility. Once more through the streets of 
 Jerusalem, more crowded, more dangerous 
 than ever, is the sinless One dragged to the 
 Palace of Herod Antipas, one of the worst 
 princes of a bad line. 
 
 Herod's soldiers mock Him and set Him at 
 naught, and He is sent back to Pilate wearing 
 a white robe which they have put upon Him. 
 Again the vascillating Roman Governor tries 
 
92 CHEIST CRUCIFIED. 
 
 to deliver the innocent prisoner. But lie fears 
 an outbreak; the city is filled with Jews, far 
 outnumbering his soldiers and already the cry 
 is raised, ^^Thou art not Cassar's friend. '* He 
 offers as a last choice to set the prisoner free, 
 according to the Passover privilege of the 
 Jews. But now a mighty roar goes up from the 
 numberless voices, **Not this man, but Barab- 
 bas.^' ** Crucify Him! Crucify Him!*' 
 
 And so the sentence is given and Jesus is de- 
 livered to their will. Think of the savage fury 
 of the mob as it sweeps upon Him. The sol- 
 diers proceed to scourge Him according to the 
 horrible custom of the time. It was a punish- 
 ment under which the victim often died, but for 
 Jesus the end was not yet. The mockery of the 
 soldiers follows the scourging. Herod's white 
 robe, all stained with blood drops now, is torn 
 off, and a scarlet garment is thrown over the 
 fettered prisoner. Jesus has acknowledged 
 Himself a king and He shall be crowned, say 
 the soldiers. They twist some sharp, thorny 
 branches into a crown, and press it upon His 
 aching brow. A reed is used as a sceptre and 
 is pressed between the bound and helpless 
 hands; and the mocking words are uttered, 
 * * Hail, king of the Jews. ' ' If Pilate had hoped 
 to save Jesus, the fury of the crowd banished 
 the hope. He has yielded against his will and 
 knowledge of right; he has washed his hands, 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 93 
 
 as he thinks, of the blood of Jesus ; and soldiers 
 have been sent to prepare a cross — not a diffi- 
 cult matter, as it was a common instrument of 
 execution among the Romans — and the great 
 procession of sacrifice sets forth for Calvary. 
 The crowd sweeps out through the city gate to 
 look on this great sight — a motley crowd of 
 open enemies and secret friends. 
 
 We know not for certain who all were there, 
 but doubtless we can rightly name some of that 
 vast multitude. There w^ere many who had 
 seen the works of mercy which Jesus had per- 
 formed. Country people from Nazareth would 
 remember the quiet home among the hills, and 
 the blameless life of Him whom they called the 
 carpenter's son. Were there none there from 
 Oana of Galilee who were present when the 
 water was made wine ? Were there none to tell 
 of the daughter of Jairus, or of the son of the 
 widow of Nain ? We hardly think that Lazarus 
 and his sisters of Bethany, so near to Jeru- 
 salem, would have been absent at such a time. 
 We know that there were women who followed 
 Him in that procession, and doubtless the tear- 
 ful eyes of Mary the Mother of Jesus saw 
 where He fell under the weight of the cross and 
 watched Him on the way to Calvary. The spot 
 is reached at last. 
 
 The authorities are determined to make the 
 scene a notable one, and two thieves are to die 
 
94 CHBIST CEUCIFIED. 
 
 with the Lord of Eighteousness. The Boman 
 soldiers clear a space around the three crosses ; 
 the vast crowd stands impatiently outside the 
 barrier of armed men. The horrible details of 
 the torture are watched with brutal interest. 
 It is done at last. **They crucified Him.'* 
 How different the feelings of the two classes of 
 spectators! To the one class this scene was 
 only one of interest and excitement, in so far 
 as *their curiosity to witness the horrible was 
 gratified. To the trembling believers in Jesus, 
 to those who had learned to love Him, and yet 
 were afraid now to avow their love, the scene 
 must have been one of mingled astonishment, 
 mystery and grief. Could it be that He the 
 all powerful would really yield to His enemies ? 
 Could the conqueror of death, the deliverer of 
 Lazarus really die? And who shall tell the 
 thoughts which passed through the mind of 
 the mother of Jesus, and of Mary Magdalene, 
 and of many another who loved Him? If the 
 eyes of the Jewish rulers flashed with gratified 
 rage, there must also have been many eyes wet 
 with tears. 
 
 They crucified Him. The precious blood of 
 the Lamb is shed for the sin of the world ! For 
 thee, Pilate, in thy pride, if thou wilt avail 
 thyself of it ; for thee, O Bartimeus, the beggar, 
 pnce blind, in thy humility — ^for all alike it 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 95 
 
 falls. They crucified Him, and all crucify Him 
 who sin out of malicious wickedness. 
 
 Let the proud man remember his pride cru- 
 cifies afresh the meek and lowly Jesus. The 
 angry and cruel man, the selfish, the lustful; 
 yea, even the frivolous, the thoughtless, the in- 
 different crucify the Saviour. The sins of all 
 of us it was that brought Him to the cross and 
 nailed Him there. May the thought of that 
 cross and passion humble us all. May we die 
 with Him unto sin, that we may rise with Him 
 unto newness of life. 
 
©If? ^pBitrr^rtton of CtinBt 
 
 "The Lord is risen." — Luke 24: 34. 
 
 THERE is no fact in the Saviour ^s history 
 that is more important for us to know 
 than His resurrection. Without this His 
 work would have been incomplete. Without a 
 resurrection from the grave, no benefits would 
 have flowed from His death. If He had been 
 held in the embrace of death His power would 
 have ceased with Him. And if His enemies, 
 when they nailed Him to the cross, had put Him 
 out of existence, they would also have given the 
 death blow to the religion He came to establish. 
 But, thanks be to God, the great Sun of right- 
 eousness, after a **red and bloody setting,^' 
 has had a bright and ^^ glorious rising,^' thus 
 vindicating Himself and His gospel and estab- 
 lishing His religion upon a foundation which 
 cannot be overthrown. An event that has so 
 important a bearing upon all that we believe, 
 and all that we hope for, cannot be a matter of 
 indifference to us. I therefore propose to con- 
 sider, 
 
 I. The proof of the resurrection of Christ. 
 
 II. Some of the reasons why it was neces- 
 sary. 
 
 96 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 97 
 
 I. The proof of the resurrection of Christ. 
 
 We rest the proof of the resurrection of 
 Christ entirely upon human testimony; upon 
 the assertions of those who saw Him after He 
 had risen. The apostles and their companions 
 are the witnesses to whom we must refer; and 
 whose evidence we receive. The apostles above 
 all men were in a position to know the truth 
 of this event. For they were the intimate 
 friends and companions of Christ before His 
 death; they were better acquainted with Him 
 than any other persons on the face of the 
 earth, and therefore could not be deceived in 
 regard to the reality of His presence among 
 them. To these witnesses Christ showed Him- 
 self at different times and places after His 
 resurrection. They saw Him and conversed 
 with Him. And they all concur and agree in 
 the belief and proclamation of the fact that 
 Christ had risen from the dead, and had ap- 
 peared to them. No less than seven different 
 credible authors, namely, the apostles Matthew, 
 John, Paul, Peter and James, and the evan- 
 gelists Mark and Luke record not fewer than 
 eleven distinct appearances of Christ after 
 His resurrection and previous to His ascension, 
 and at least two appearances after His ascen- 
 sion. 
 
 ^ ' On these various appearances, ' ' it has been 
 remarked, ''that Christ was seen at different 
 
98 THE BESUREECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 tours of the day — early in the morning by 
 Mary Magdalene and the other women, during 
 the day by Peter, by the seven disciples at the 
 sea of Tiberias, by the apostles at His ascen- 
 sion, and by Stephen — and in the evening by 
 the ten apostles, and by Cleopas and his com- 
 panion — so they could not possibly be mistaken 
 as to the reality of His person. But we no- 
 where read that He appeared at midnight, 
 when the senses and imagination might be im- 
 posed upon. Further, the several distances of 
 time and place at which Jesus showed Himself, 
 merit attention. His first two appearances 
 were early in the morning on which He arose. 
 One of them was close by the sepulchre, the 
 other on the way from it to Jerusalem. The 
 third on some part of the same day. The 
 fourth in the evening of that day, on the road 
 to Emmaus, and in a house in that village, 
 which was between seven and eight miles from 
 Jerusalem. The fifth at Jerusalem at a later 
 hour of the same evening. The sixth a week 
 after at the same city. The seventh about 
 sixty miles from it at the sea of Tiberias. The 
 time and place at which He was seen by James 
 are not recorded. A ninth appearance was in 
 some other part of Galilee. Forty days after 
 His resurrection He again met the apostles at 
 Jerusalem and led them out to Bethany, that 
 they might see Him go up to the Father. A 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 99 
 
 few years after this, Stephen saw Him; and in 
 about a year from that time He appeared to 
 Paul near Damascus." 
 
 These proofs are complete and afford us 
 ample evidence of the truth of the resurrection 
 of Christ. The apostles could not be mistaken. 
 What they saw and heard, that declare they 
 unto us. 
 
 But unbelief, always shifting its ground, and 
 making up excuses for itself, may assert that 
 the apostles have deceived us in this matter — 
 that they have related what is not true — and 
 have palmed a falsehood upon the world. To 
 which I reply that it is impossible for the 
 apostles to deceive us. 
 
 1. For in the first place they were poor, un- 
 learned, simple minded, timid men. They had 
 but recently been called from their honest and 
 laborious occupation of fishermen. They were 
 illiterate. They were totally unacquainted 
 with the way of the world. Their knowledge 
 consisted for the most part in knowing how to 
 mend their boats and nets, and to entrap the 
 habitants of the waters. And it is not to be 
 supposed that such men could conceive such 
 an imposture and succeed in palming it off 
 upon so many; and in their ignorance aild sim- 
 plicity hoodwink the learning of the world, 
 especially since there were so many of their 
 enemies around them who were ready to de- 
 
100 THE KESUKRECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 tect and expose the least tMng to which sus- 
 picion might attach itself. Besides, the 
 apostles after the death of Christ were thrown 
 into consternation and dismay. They were like 
 sheep without a shepherd — frightened and 
 fearful. They knew not what moment the exe- 
 cutioners might come to put them to the same 
 cruel death they had inflicted upon their Mas- 
 ter. And it would be absurd to think that men, 
 under such circumstances and at such a time, 
 would attempt to plan and impose a deception 
 upon the world. In addition to this, it was 
 only upon the most certain and infallible evi- 
 dence that they would believe the event them- 
 selves. They would trust nothing but the testi- 
 mony of their own eyes, and ears, and hands, 
 **and regarded the accounts of their com- 
 panions, whom on all other occasions they 
 esteemed persons of unstained veracity, as idle 
 tales. ' ' And it is not reasonable to suppose 
 that men would be so bold in proclaiming a 
 thing upon insufficient evidence of its truth, 
 who were so chary in believing it themselves. 
 2. Again. The apostles have given us the 
 most certain proof that men can give, that 
 they believed what they proclaimed, that 
 Christ had risen from the dead. They had 
 nothing to gain by this assertion, but every- 
 thing to lose. They evinced their sincerity by 
 voluntarily exposing themselves to scorn, tor- 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 101 
 
 tures, persecutions, and even death in making 
 the declaration that they did. The scourge, 
 the prison and the cross, were what they had 
 to expect in preaching the resurrection of 
 Christ, and the religion which it sealed. Every- 
 where they were hated ; calumniated ; despised ; 
 hunted from city to city; thrust into prison; 
 scourged; stoned; put to death. All these ex- 
 cruciating sufferings were endured to attest 
 the resurrection of Christ: for the whole gos- 
 pel system rested upon this fact. As one of 
 their number declared, ^ * If Christ be not risen, 
 then is our preaching vain.^' Now the apostles 
 would not have incurred such losses and sub- 
 jected themselves to such torments if they had 
 not been sure that Christ had risen. Men are 
 not so infatuated with the rack as to allow 
 themselves to be stretched upon it for the sake 
 of a falsehood. They are not so in love with 
 the cross as to allow themselves to be nailed to 
 it for propagating a story which they know to 
 be a lie. But the apostles bore all that was 
 heaped upon them for the sake of what they 
 proclaimed ; and sealed their belief in the truth 
 of what they declared with their blood. 
 
 3. The apostles proved that Christ had 
 really risen from the dead by working miracles 
 in His name. ^^He who affirms a thing, and to 
 prove the truth of it does a miracle, brings God 
 as a voucher of the truth of what he says." 
 
102 THE KESUEEECTION OF CHEIST. 
 
 The apostles did work miracles in proof of 
 what they asserted, and of this declaration 
 among the rest. On one occasion a certain 
 lame man, who had been in that state more 
 than forty years, and who had been carried and 
 laid daily at the gate of the temple called Beau- 
 tiful, to receive alms of them that entered into 
 the temple, was cured of his lameness by Peter : 
 who when he was questioned about it said, **Be 
 it known unto you all, and to all the people of 
 Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of 
 Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised 
 from the dead, even by Him, doth this man 
 stand here before you whole. ' ' God would not 
 lend His power to impostors, and confirm and 
 ratify a lie that had been declared in His name, 
 for the purpose of deceiving mankind. And 
 yet we must either believe that He would do so, 
 which would be blasphemous; or else receive 
 and credit the testimony of the apostles and 
 evangelists. 
 
 From all this it appears that the apostles 
 had the best means of knowing that Christ 
 arose from the dead. They had the same evi- 
 dence that He was alive again which they had 
 of the life of each other; the same evidence 
 which we have that those around us, with whom 
 we are daily brought in contact are alive; 
 namely, personal and continued intercourse 
 with them. Being assured of this fact, and 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 103 
 
 knowing that it was one of the cardinal doc- 
 trines of Christianity, they declared it, and 
 sealed their firm persuasion of what they de- 
 clared by their sufferings, their miracles and 
 their deaths. Upon their testimony we receive 
 and hold it as an event that really transpired, 
 and as a fact that cannot be denied, that **The 
 Lord is risen indeed.'' 
 
 II. Consider some of the reasons why it was 
 necessary. 
 The resurrection was necessary in the 
 1. First place in order to confirm His mis- 
 sion and gospel. As Christ by His death paid 
 down a satisfaction for sin, so His resurrection 
 was necessary to show that that satisfaction 
 had been received and accepted. He was ** de- 
 livered for our offenses and raised again for 
 our justification.'' Had He continued in the 
 grave, and under the power of death, there 
 would have been no evidence that His work 
 had any value in it. The world could not be- 
 lieve that He had satisfied for sin, so long as 
 He was under the dominion of death, which 
 was the wages of sin. No one could place con- 
 fidence or trust in a Saviour to deliver him 
 from death who was not delivered from it Him- 
 self. If the resurrection had not followed the 
 crucifixion, that scoff of the Jews had stood as 
 an unanswerable argument against Him, 
 
104 THE BESURKECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 ' * Himself He cannot save. ' ' He came to break 
 the power of sin, to triumph over ** principal- 
 ities and powers and spiritual wickedness in 
 high places/' and how could He accomplish 
 this work if He fell a victim to wicked men and 
 remained a captive Himself. But His resur- 
 rection from the dead proved that His blood 
 was not shed in vain, and that the ransom He 
 paid was pleasing and acceptable to God. By 
 raising Him from the dead God put His seal 
 to His mission and work. Had Christ not risen 
 the whole gospel system would have fallen to 
 the ground. The resurrection is the pillar upon 
 which the temple of Christianity rests. It is 
 the signature of God written in living charac- 
 ters, in which He writes His great Name in 
 confirmation of the religion Christ came to es- 
 tablish. Can any one pretend that God would 
 Himself lead men to believe in a pretender, 
 and to trust in a deceiver? By raising Christ 
 from the dead, He adds the authority of the 
 Father to that of the Son: enjoining us to re- 
 ceive all the doctrines He taught, and to obey 
 all the commands He gave. The resurrection 
 of Christ is a confirmation of the fact that He 
 was what He professed to be, and that His 
 words were true, and that His work was ac- 
 cepted and owned of God. 
 
 2. It was necessary again that Christ should 
 rise in order to triumph over His enemies* 
 
THE EESUERECTION OF CHRIST. 105 
 
 The darkness that enveloped the land at His 
 death was not deeper than the gloom that over- 
 spread the hearts of His disciples and friends. 
 They were dejected and sad. Their hopes were 
 buried with the Master in the sepulchre. They 
 had looked to Him as the Messiah whom their 
 prophets had foretold, and whom they had so 
 long expected. They had regarded Him as 
 their Eedeemer. And now He had been taken 
 by the hands of wicked men and slain. De- 
 pression rested upon the spirit of the church. 
 **It seemed as if the name of Jesus and His 
 cause were forever entombed in the grave.'' 
 And His friends and followers were not more 
 dejected and oppressed than His enemies were 
 exultant and rejoiced. They had been track- 
 ing His footsteps through the whole course of 
 His ministry. They could not endure His un- 
 masking of their corruptions and hypocrisy. 
 They could not submit to have His claims ac- 
 knowledged. They could not bear to have all 
 their fond anticipations of earthly renown and 
 glory so completely set aside by this poor, de- 
 spised Nazarene. They could not permit them- 
 selves to be stripped of their power and influ- 
 ence with the people ; as this Jesus bid fair to 
 do for them. And now He was removed. They 
 had seen Him led out and nailed to the cross. 
 They had witnessed His death agony and heard 
 His expiring cry. They had sealed His sepul- 
 
106 THE KESUEKECTION OF CHEIST. 
 
 chre and placed a guard around it, so that His 
 loody should not be removed. He was now 
 safely put out of the way and would trouble 
 them no more. During His abode in the grave 
 they were exultant and joyous. *^But how 
 gloriously was the scene reversed by His resur- 
 rection !*' The eclipse which the Sun of right- 
 eousness had suffered had passed away only to 
 rQveal Him shining more brilliantly than be- 
 fore. Now He was raised far above the reach 
 of His enemies. The degradation to which they 
 had subjected Him was only allowed that His 
 exaltation might be the greater. His sepulchre 
 was the stepping-stone to His throne. His de- 
 scent into the grave must needs go before His 
 ascent into heaven. *^The person of the 
 Saviour was forever removed beyond the reach 
 of further assault, and His cause was more 
 than ever triumphant." His foes were van- 
 quished, and He was vindicated. He had 
 spoiled principalities and powers, and made a 
 show of them, openly triumphing over them. 
 **God had highly exalted Him, and given Him 
 a name which is above every name, that at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things 
 in heaven and things in earth, things under the 
 earth; and that every tongue should confess 
 that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God 
 the Father." And to His friends His resur- 
 rection was a thing of joy. They were ''glad 
 
THE KESUKRECTION OF CHRIST. 107 
 
 when they saw the Lord.'^ Now He was com- 
 pletely exempt from danger. He was restored 
 to them once more, and none of His enemies 
 could have power over Him again. *^He had 
 told them, * Ye shall have sorrow ; but your sor- 
 row shall be turned into joy, and your joy no 
 man taketh from you.' " 
 
 The return of our Lord to His friends and 
 His triumph over His enemies, was a pledge 
 that He would always be with His church and 
 protect her from the attacks of her foes; and 
 that He would finally put down all enemies un- 
 der His feet. His words to His disciples sent 
 them to preach the gospel to every creature, 
 were **Lo I am with you alway even unto the 
 end of the world. '* There would be no more 
 painful separations, no more dark despon- 
 dencies and gloomy fears on account of the ab- 
 sence of the Lord. Though removed from 
 sight. He would still be among His followers. 
 His power would shield and protect them. His 
 Spirit would guide them. They were now as- 
 sured that greater is He that is in the church, 
 than He that is in the world. And His pre- 
 vailing over His enemies then was a pledge and 
 token that He would finally triumph over all 
 His foes. 
 
 3. The resurrection of Christ was necessary 
 in order that He might overcome death. Death 
 had reigned from Adam through all genera- 
 
108 THE EESUERECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 tions. It entered into the world with sin; and 
 as long as sin prevailed it held dominion. He 
 who came to break the power of sin must con- 
 quer it. Myriads had descended into the grave, 
 none of whom had been able to burst the 
 shackles that bound them, and set themselves 
 free. The king of terrors held undisputed 
 sway over the whole race. All mankind had 
 been compelled to acknowledge His authority 
 and bow to His decree. The world had looked 
 in gloomy sadness upon generation after gen- 
 eration walking to the grave. 
 
 No one hitherto had been able to stand up 
 and enter into contest with the mighty con- 
 queror. But at the resurrection, Death was 
 foiled and conquered. He met with One who 
 was fully equal to enter into combat with Him 
 — One to whom all power was given, and who 
 came off victorious. Henceforth His pains 
 were loosed and mortality gave place to im- 
 mortality. Though death still retains the sem- 
 blance of his power, yet there is coming a day 
 when he will be completely put under our feety 
 and graves and tombs will mar our world no 
 more. 
 
 Upon that morn when the Saviour rose 
 triumphant from the tomb, no doubt shouts 
 and songs of praise from the celestial choirs 
 broke the stillness of heaven. Multitudes of 
 the angelic hosts assembled to greet their risem 
 
THE RESUKKECTION OF CHEIST. 109 
 
 king. His work was done, the battle fought, 
 the victory won. Joy and gladness were dif- 
 fused through a wondering and adoring uni- 
 verse. Mortals have most reason to join in 
 this gladness and rejoicing. It was their mor- 
 tality the Saviour took that He might clothe it 
 with immortality. It was their corruption that 
 He assumed, that He might exchange it for 
 incorruption. What everlasting gratitude is 
 due to Him for His work on our behalf ! What 
 songs of praise should arise from our hearts 
 and lips for the victory He has won. Let us 
 rejoice on this glad day of our risen Lord, and 
 ever hail it as commemorating the triumph He 
 has won. 
 
** And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld he was 
 taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." — Acts 1: 9. 
 
 THEEE are five great transactions in the 
 history of our Lord which stand out 
 more prominently than the rest, and 
 wtich form so many centres, around which 
 other incidents may be grouped. These are His 
 incarnation, His crucifixion, His resurrection, 
 His ascension and His second coming. Each 
 one of these events is a subject of absorbing 
 interest to our race, for they are the chief acts 
 through which He secures for us all the bless- 
 ings we have hitherto enjoyed or shall enjoy, 
 and by which He laid the foundation of our 
 future well being and consummates it. In 
 events that are of so much moment, and which 
 involve so much of benefit to man, it is impor- 
 tant that we should have good and sufficient 
 proof that they actually occurred in the man- 
 ner represented. And God in His tender and 
 allwise providence has so ordered it that the 
 great central facts which have taken place are 
 testified to by men who are our fellows, selected 
 out of our own number, and who had no interest 
 
 110 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. Ill 
 
 in deceiving, but every inducement to tell the 
 truth. 
 
 On that memorable night vrhen the Saviour 
 of the world was born, a heavenly messenger 
 conveyed the glad tidings to the shepherds who 
 were watching their flocks, while all nature was 
 bathed in slumber. And led by the joyous 
 news imparted to them, and by the strange 
 sight which they had beheld, they went to the 
 place where the young child was, and saw Him 
 lying in His manger cradle as the angel had 
 told them. Wise men from the east also, 
 guided by the bright star that had appeared in 
 the heavens, came to present their offerings 
 and pay their adoration to the new born king. 
 
 His crucifixion is also a fact well known. It 
 was a large multitude which assembled around 
 the judgment hall of Pilate, and called for the 
 crucifixion of our Lord; that attended Him on 
 His sad way to the hill of Calvary and gazed 
 upon Him while He was hanging upon the 
 cross. The chief priests and scribes, the Jew- 
 ish populace, the Eoman soldiers and the 
 friends of Jesus all witnessed that scene. The 
 governor gives his testimony to His death by 
 permitting His body to be taken down from the 
 cross, and His enemies, the Jews, testify to the 
 same by placing the seal on His sepulchre. The 
 same clear testimony is given to His resur- 
 rection. No less than seven different credible 
 
112 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 authors record not fewer than eleven distinct 
 appearances of our Lord after He arose from 
 the dead and previous to His ascension, and at 
 least two appearances after His ascension. 
 And He was seen by at least five hundred per- 
 sons upon this earth after He arose from the 
 grave, at different times and places, for a 
 period of forty days. Luke says of this that 
 our Saviour ^^ shewed Himself alive after His 
 passion by many infallible proofs, being seen 
 fprty days and speaking of the things pertain- 
 ing to the kingdom of God.'' 
 
 In regard to the ascension of Christ, there 
 is also abundant evidence. Jesus, in the pres- 
 ence of His apostles, stood upon the mount of 
 Olives. He there gave them His last directions 
 in regard to their mission upon earth. And 
 while He was thus standing in the midst of 
 them, engaged in conversation, ** while they 
 beheld, He was taken up ; and a cloud received 
 Him out of their sight. ' ' He ascended up into 
 heaven from whence He had come, and to the 
 celestial seat He had vacated. 
 
 It is this last great event which this season 
 particularly invites us to consider. The in- 
 carnation of Christ we celebrated at the be- 
 ginning of the church year, in the joyous events 
 that attend Christmas day. The crucifixion 
 was commemorated by the solemn services of 
 Good Friday. His resurrection by the glad 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 113 
 
 announcements of Easter. And now His as- 
 cension demands our attention. And in our 
 considerations of it, we propose to speak of 
 the objects gained by the ascension of Christ. 
 1. The first object gained by Christ in His 
 ascension is the attainment of Supreme power. 
 Peter, speaking of Him, says, ^*Him hath God 
 exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and 
 a Saviour.'' Paul in his epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians tells us that God raised Christ from the 
 dead and ^^set Him at His own right hand in 
 the heavenly places, far above all principality 
 and power, and might and dominion, and every 
 name that is named not only in this world, but 
 also in that which is to come, and hath put all 
 things under His feet." Again Peter informs 
 us that Christ *4s gone into heaven, and is on 
 the right hand of God, angels and authorities 
 and powers being made subject unto Him.'' 
 The meek and lowly Jesus who walked upon 
 this earth in so much humility, has been ex- 
 alted on high. Heaven is His throne and earth 
 is His footstool. All power in heaven and on 
 earth is committed unto Him. He wields the 
 sceptre of universal dominion. He has re- 
 ceived an abundant reward for all His sor- 
 rows while upon earth. Jesus Christ now 
 guides the helm of the Universe. The highest 
 archangels pay their willing allegiance to Him ; 
 and throughout the realms of space His man- 
 
114 THE ASCENSION OF CHKIST. 
 
 dates are obeyed. John in apocalyptic vision 
 saw a great multitude which no man could 
 number stand before the throne and before the 
 Lamb, who cried with a loud voice saying, 
 ^^ Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb.'' ^^And all the 
 angels stood round about the throne and fell 
 before the throne on their faces and worshipped 
 God, saying Amen : Blessing and glory and wis- 
 dom and thanksgiving and honor and power 
 atid might, be unto our God forever and ever. ' ^ 
 2. A second object gained by Christ in His 
 ascension was a triumph over his foes. He 
 was hated as well as feared by all the enemies 
 of unrighteousness. Satan, the arch enemy of 
 all that is good, well knew that in Jesus was 
 centered all the hopes for the salvation of our 
 race. He had waged war against God and upon 
 man ever since his first fatal effort in Eden. 
 He was well aware that if he failed in the great 
 battle to be fought, nothing but eternal con- 
 fusion and despair awaited him. He sum- 
 moned all his power to enter into his terrible 
 contest with the Christ of God. He began his 
 efforts as soon as the infant Jesus appeared 
 upon our earth, and in that cruel massacre 
 which Herod ordered at his instigation, would 
 have removed the heavenly babe from our 
 world before He could benefit it, had not di- 
 vine power interposed in His behalf. And 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 115 
 
 when Jesus entered upon His ministry, how 
 artfully and deceitfully did he endeavor by 
 those sharp temptations in the wilderness to 
 overcome the Redeemer. Baffled here, he still 
 pursued his object with unrelenting malice and 
 fell hatred. The Saviour of the world was fol- 
 lowed with persecution upon persecution 
 throughout all the years of His ministry. And 
 at last the powers of darkness met with ap- 
 parent success. The Son of God was delivered 
 into the hands of those who thirsted for His 
 blood. Condemned to an ignominious death, 
 He was led out unresistingly to the place of 
 His crucifixion, and there nailed to the cross 
 and raised up to die. Death's fetters were not 
 strong enough to bind down the Prince of Life. 
 Three short days only did He remain in the 
 grave. And then, to the astonishment of all 
 His foes, rising in His power from the tomb, 
 He ascended up on high leading captivity cap- 
 tive. Now He is beyond their reach. *^ Hav- 
 ing spoiled principalities and powers. He made 
 a show of them openly, triumphing over them. ' ' 
 
 " Here lay the Holy One, the Christ of God, 
 
 He who for death gave death, and life for life; 
 Our heavenly Kinsman, our true flesh and blood. 
 
 Victor for us on hell's dark field of strife. 
 The Conqueror, not the conquered, He to whom 
 
 The keys of death and of the grave belong. 
 Crossed the cold threshhold of the stranger's tomb, 
 
 To spoil the spoiler, and to bind the strong." 
 
116 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 3. In the third place Christ ascended in or- 
 der to bestow blessings npon His church. 
 Wherefore He saith, ^^When He ascended up 
 on high, He led captivity captive and gave 
 gifts unto men. And He gave some apostles; 
 and some prophets ; and some evangelists ; and 
 some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting 
 of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Christ." And 
 among these blessings bestowed after His as- 
 cension was the great gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 Before His death He said to His disciples, **It 
 is expedient for you that I go away : for if I go 
 not away, the Comforter will not come unto 
 you ; but if I depart I will send Him unto you. ' ' 
 And upon that memorable day of Pentecost, 
 when this promise was fulfilled to the apostles, 
 when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 Peter standing up in the midst of the apostles 
 said to the assembled multitude that Jesus, 
 ** being by the right hand of God exalted, and 
 having received of the Father the promise of 
 the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which 
 ye now see and hear.'' Under the influence of 
 the Spirit, the apostles went forth preaching 
 the gospel and working wonderful miracles in 
 confirmation of the same. Soon their fame 
 spread abroad. Multitudes were converted ; 
 and churches were established in all parts of 
 the then known world. The Spirit continues to 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 117 
 
 be given and has been with the church in all 
 ages. He still acts in enlightening, converting 
 and sanctifying every believer. This great gift 
 is yet bestowed, for our Lord has given us the 
 promise that we shall receive it if we seek it. 
 
 * * If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
 unto your children, how much more shall your 
 heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
 that ask Him.'' 
 
 4. Still another object for which Christ as- 
 cended was to intercede for us. He has as- 
 cended up into the immediate presence of God 
 to carry on the work of an High Priest, on be- 
 half of His people. Paul tells us that *Sve 
 have a great High Priest that is passed into 
 the heavens, Jesus the Son of God'' — **not into 
 the holy places made with hands, which are 
 figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now 
 to appear in the presence of God for us." 
 **Not with the blood of goats aijd calves, but 
 with His own blood. He entered "bnce into the 
 holy place," and is **even at the right hand of 
 God making intercession for us." *^And by 
 these holy services which are now going on in 
 heaven He obtains eternal redemption for us. ' ' 
 
 * ^ There He maintains our cause ; ' ' there, as our 
 Intercessor, He offers the incense of His own 
 petitions, and pleads the merits of His own 
 blood, and obtains for us the blessings we seek 
 both as to body and soul. ** Wherefore He is 
 
118 THE ASCENSION OF CHEIST. 
 
 able to save to the uttermost all them that come 
 unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to 
 make intercession for them.'^ How eloquent 
 are His wounds! How powerful is the merit 
 of His sacrifice! How effective is the voice 
 that arises from that blood, that speaketh bet- 
 ter things than that of Abel. 
 
 5. Again Christ ascended as the forerunner 
 of His people. Just before He left this world 
 He told His disciples that He would come again 
 to receive them unto Himself, that where He 
 is, they might be also. ^^Two persons had as- 
 cended before Christ — Enoch and Elias. But 
 they ascended as private individuals, and it 
 did not follow that because they ascended 
 others would also : they were not so connected 
 with others as to move them by their influence. 
 But Christ attracts and draws millions. His 
 glory is a pledge of our own. Because He lives, 
 we shall live also.'' So certain is it that the 
 followers of Jesus shall be exalted as He is that 
 the apostle contemplates the work as already 
 consummated, and says we are *^ raised up and 
 made to sit together with Him in heavenly 
 places.'' Paul, speaking of the Christian's 
 hope says, ** Which hope we have as an anchor 
 to the soul both sure and steadfast, and which 
 entereth into that within the vail; whither the 
 forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made 
 an High Priest forever after the order of 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 119 
 
 Melchisedek. ' ' He has entered there as the 
 first among many brethren. When the ever- 
 lasting gates were lifted up to let the King of 
 Glory come in, they remained open to afford a 
 free ingress for all who are marshalled under 
 His banners, and who are following Him on to 
 victory. He has gone before; soon there shall 
 be- gathered around Him a ** multitude which 
 no man can number, out of all nations and kin- 
 dreds and people and tongues. ' ' The presence 
 of Jesus in those celestial abodes insures the 
 arrival of His saints there in due time. Where 
 He is they must be also. No power can defeat 
 the Christian if he rightly struggle for his 
 heavenly home. ^^ Neither death, nor life, nor 
 angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature shall be 
 able ' ' to rob us of our reward if we only labor 
 for it in the proper way. Jesus has already 
 gone to His reward. The heavens have re- 
 ceived Him, and He will see to it that no one 
 of His humble followers shall be dragged away 
 from the skies. Our struggles and prayers and 
 tears shall not be thrown away. They will 
 eventuate in triumph. The heavens may some- 
 times be dark above us; trouble may encom- 
 pass our path, yet let not our energies flag, let 
 not our feet grow weary or our hands hang 
 idly down, the time will come when sorrow and 
 
120 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 sighing shall flee away, the cross give place to 
 the crown, and the shout of triumph arise from 
 lips that once trembled with fear. Heaven is 
 ours. Jesus has taken possession of it. He 
 offers a place in it for every believing, faith- 
 ful soul. He cannot, will not disappoint. Take 
 to yourselves then the whole armor of God, and 
 press onward for the prize. 
 
 "Be brave, my brother! 
 
 The recompense is great, 
 The kingdom bright and fair; 
 
 Beyond the glory of all earthly state, 
 Shall be the glory there. 
 
 Grudge not the heavy cost. 
 Faint not at labor here, 
 
 'Tis but a life time at the most, 
 The day of rest is near." 
 
 6. The last object which I shall mention, for 
 which Christ ascended, was that He might pre- 
 pare a place for His people. Just before the 
 time when He was to be offered up, when His 
 disciples were gathered around Him, sad on 
 account of His departure from them. He com- 
 forted them with these words, **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. 1 go to prepare a place for you,'' On 
 that work He is engaged, fitting and arranging 
 a place for the everlasting and blissful abode 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 121 
 
 of His saints — that heavenly Jerusalem, that 
 firmly founded city for which Abraham looked, 
 whose builder and maker is God. John in the 
 Eevelation saw * * that great city, the holy Jeru- 
 salem, descending out of heaven from God, 
 having the glory of God : and her light was like 
 unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper 
 stone, clear as crystal.'' **And the building of 
 the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was 
 pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foun- 
 dations of the wall of the city were. garnished 
 with all manner of precious stones. Its twelve 
 gates were twelve pearls." And he **saw no 
 temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty, 
 and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the 
 city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon 
 to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten 
 it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.'' And 
 '*they which are written in the Lamb's book 
 of life" shall enter therein. These are the 
 mansions Jesus our ascended Lord has gone to 
 prepare. Tongue cannot describe the glorious 
 creation of the great Architect. And when all 
 things are ready and the appointed time has 
 come, our blessed Saviour shall return again 
 to this earth, to receive His faithful ones to 
 Himself in these abodes prepared by His own 
 hands. On that memorable day when He was 
 caught up out of sight of the apostles from the 
 mount of Olives, while they steadfastly gazed 
 
122 THE ASCENSION OF CHEIST. 
 
 toward heaven as He went up, * * two men stood 
 by them in white apparel, which also said. Ye 
 men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
 heaven ? this same Jesus which is taken up from 
 you into heaven shall so come in like manner 
 as ye have seen Him go into heaven/^ And 
 some of these days when the world is all un- 
 prepared for it, and men are going on in their 
 courses of sin and worldliness, the heavens 
 shall open and Christ attended with ten thou- 
 sand of His saints shall descend again to earth, 
 **to be admired of all that believe," and to 
 take ** vengeance on them that know not God, 
 and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ/' 
 
 **The church has waited long 
 Her absent Lord to see; 
 And still in loneliness she waits, 
 
 A friendless stranger she. 
 Age after age has gone, 
 Sun after sun has set, 
 And still in weeds of widowhood. 
 She weeps a mourner yet. 
 Come, then, Lord Jesus, come! 
 
 The whole creation groans, 
 
 And waits to hear that voice, 
 That shall restore her comeliness, 
 
 And make her wastes rejoice. 
 Come, Lord, and wipe away 
 
 The curse, the sin, the stain. 
 And make this blighted world of ours 
 
 Thine own fair world again. 
 
 Come, then, Lord Jesus, come! " 
 
2Ilf» dlaruitta (Eliurrlf 
 
 "A glorious Church."— Eph. 5: 27. 
 
 THE Church is the community — or, as it is 
 expressed in the Apostles' Creed — *^the 
 communion of saints.'' It has the Lord 
 Jesus Christ for its Head, and all who believe 
 in Him and are identified with Him, for its 
 members. It is partly on earth, partly in 
 Paradise. Those of its members who are yet 
 on earth struggling, are in the state militant; 
 those who have passed away from earth are in 
 the state triumphant; but all alike belong to 
 the one church. It has its representatives from 
 all nations, languages and zones ; it has existed 
 in all the ages, and will exist through all eter- 
 nity. It is bound together by its allegiance to 
 One Head, by its profession of one faith, and 
 by its reception of the same Baptism. There 
 has been no institution like it on the earth, nor 
 shall it give way to any successor. However 
 it may be contemplated, it may well be styled 
 in the language of the text: '^A glorious 
 church,** 
 
 I. It is glorious on account of its origin. Its 
 origin is divine. It springs not from the earth, 
 
 123 
 
124 THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 nor is it the work of man. Human wisdom 
 could not have devised it ; human energy could 
 not have established it ; human effort could not 
 have preserved it. It is an institution come 
 from heaven, planned in heaven, and estab- 
 lished and kept by heavenly power. It is a 
 thing altogether above the reach of worldly 
 aspiration or worldly achievement. God in 
 His Word claims it as His. Jesus Christ the 
 Qod-Man is declared to be its chief corner- 
 stone. **Now, therefore," says Paul, **ye are 
 no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
 citizens with the saints and of the household 
 of God! and are built upon the foundation of 
 the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Him- 
 self being the chief corner-stone: In whom all 
 the building fitly framed together, groweth 
 unto an holy temple unto the Lord. In whom 
 ye also are builded together for an habitation 
 of God through the Spirit." Of Christ it is 
 said that *^God hath put all things under His 
 feet, and gave Him to be head over all things 
 to the Church, which is His body, the fullness 
 of Him that filleth all in all." The church is 
 called '^God^s building," the '* flock of God," 
 the ** house of God," the ** church of the living 
 God." No other institution among men is 
 spoken of in such terms as these, and no others 
 can claim a divine origin except that of the 
 family and state government. The Great Ar- 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 125 
 
 <}hitect of the Universe therefore is the founder 
 and builder of the church. God has stooped 
 from the skies and planted His holy habitation 
 among the children of men and made it the 
 place of His abode. It is here He reveals Him- 
 self. It is here His laws are given. It is here 
 His purposes with regard to men are made 
 known. It is here His grace is found. It is 
 here that heaven communicates with earth, and 
 a way is opened by which earth may communi- 
 cate with heaven. It is through the church that 
 Ood lays hold upon an apostate world, and pre- 
 vents it from being wrested from His rightful 
 sway. The church, therefore, comes from God. 
 The great, the majestic, the adorable Being 
 who alone is to be worshipped and feared and 
 obeyed is its founder. The seal of the Triune 
 God is upon it. Its origin is glorious because 
 it is divine. 
 
 Of all the institutions and associations of 
 men none can claim such an origin as this. All 
 others, however good and benevolent their ob- 
 jects are essentially of the earth — earthy. 
 They are characterized by the weakness, the 
 errors and the sinfulness of their founders and 
 members. Man cannot by his own eifort rise 
 higher than himself. Because of his impotence 
 he cannot even attain unto his own standard 
 of perfection, and that will necessarily be low 
 inasmuch as he is a sinful mortal. All his 
 
126 THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 labors, therefore, will be marked by Ms imper- 
 fections, and will be more or less marred and 
 disjointed and defective. If be is enabled to 
 accomplish anything at all essentially good, it 
 is only by the aid of divine grace, and this is 
 obtained only through the church. And if he 
 attempt to unite principles of his own devising, 
 which will necessarily partake of his own na- 
 ture, with divine principles, he mingles things 
 at variance with each other and builds a house 
 divided against itself, which Christ Himself 
 declares cannot stand. Imperfection attaches 
 to all his works, and nothing that is not per- 
 fect will endure forever. We must build on 
 eternal truth, if we would build for eternity. 
 The world and the fashion thereof passeth 
 away. And however glorious to our eyes may 
 be the fabrics which we rear, and whatever 
 wisdom, pains and wealth may be spent in 
 their construction, if they are the result of 
 human effort, even the greatest, and if our, 
 frailty and mortality are connected with them, 
 we must look to see them all swept away, so 
 that not a vestige shall remain. And if our 
 attachments and hopes are clustered around 
 them, we must expect nothing but disappoint- 
 ment. It is God's hand that has formed the 
 church. He laid its foundations broad and 
 deep, and established them on the Eock of 
 Ages. As coming from Him it is perfect. He 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 127 
 
 established no other institution as supplemen- 
 tary to it ; and in His gracious workings among 
 men, He knows of no other. All mere human 
 institutions are built upon the sand, and must 
 be swept away when the wave of trial comes. 
 They are transitory. Feebleness mars them, 
 because they are human. The Church was 
 formed by Almighty God. It bears the impress 
 of Divinity. 
 
 II. It is glorious in the work of its estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 It was established with many mighty won- 
 ders and at much cost and labor. God founded 
 it and employed the greatest and mightiest and 
 best of our race as co-workers with Himself in 
 its construction. His omniscient and all wise 
 mind devised its plan, and His omnipotent 
 hand wrought upon it through various heav- 
 enly and earthly agencies, over centuries of 
 time. Prophets commissioned from on high 
 and inspired by the Holy Ghost, spoke of it and 
 made known its blessedness to sinful men, and 
 prepared the way for its full development. The 
 great Jehovah spoke from the heavens and re- 
 vealed His intentions and purposes concerning 
 it. For its laws from the skies, containing the 
 great moral law that rules throughout the com- 
 panies of God's hosts in the wide universe, 
 were given and engraven on earth's tablets by 
 the hand of the great Artificer Himself. Angels 
 
128 THE GLOKIOUS CHUKCH. 
 
 left their posts of glory and high dignity in 
 the celestial courts and at the Father's bidding 
 descended to this His footstool, to carry out 
 His commands in regard to it. A peculiar peo- 
 ple was called to be the keeper of the Oracles 
 of the Most High, and by most wonderful acts 
 and miraculous interpositions of Divine Prov- 
 idence were they delivered and preserved and 
 defended from their enemies, that they might 
 h^ the guardians of its truth, and that through 
 them God's counsels concerning it might be 
 brought to pass. Patriarchs and prophets, 
 kings and princes, and spiritual and earthly 
 principalities labored and toiled for its com- 
 pletion. Millions of treasure were spent upon 
 it. God Himself, that His church might rise, 
 humbled Himself and took upon Him the form 
 of a servant and was made in the likeness of 
 men. He vacated His seat of loftiest eminence ; 
 united Himself to dust and ashes and was sub- 
 jected to all the pains and sorrows of poor 
 death-stricken mortality that He might labor 
 and suffer for it. As thus manifest in the flesh 
 the Son of God devoted His life on earth to its 
 firm establishment. He submitted Himself to 
 subtle temptations of the malicious devil; en- 
 dured the hard and bitter lot of poverty; 
 preached the eternal truth of heaven from 
 place to place, and from house to house to a 
 blinded and unheeding world ; he wrought mir- 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 129 
 
 acles of wonder upon the living, upon the dead, 
 upon the winds, upon the waves, and controlled 
 good and evil spirits alike by a word; He was 
 pursued by implacable foes with unvarying 
 hate ; He was condemned at a heathen tribunal 
 amid the clamors of a maddened populace, who 
 would only be satisfied with His blood; and 
 though innocent of transgression. He was cru- 
 cified in ignominy and shame between two 
 criminals suffering for their wicked deeds. All 
 this He endured that His church might be es- 
 tablished forever as a refuge for sin stricken 
 humanity. The grave and the powers of hell 
 were conquered by His resurrection, and all 
 power has been committed into His hands, in 
 that He ascended up on high and is seated 
 down at the right hand of God, **far above all 
 principality and power and might and domin- 
 ion, and every name that is named, not only 
 in this world, but also in that which is to 
 come,'' all things are put under His feet, and 
 He is **head over all to the church." And 
 since that day the Holy Ghost has been sent, 
 the apostles have labored, miracles have been 
 performed in the name of Jesus, martyrs have 
 suffered and died, and myriads of holy men 
 have toiled, unpitying persecutions have been 
 endured, battles have been fought, and divine 
 grace has been freely bestowed upon men, that 
 the Church of Christ might be strengthened 
 
130 THE GLOEIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 and preserved. History does not record the 
 mighty acts which have been performed; nor 
 can the world form any idea of the cost of blood 
 and treasure and labor which under the hand 
 of God have been expended in founding and 
 establishing His church. 
 
 III. The Church is glorious in the object for 
 which it was established. The great work of 
 the church is to save souls, and this includes 
 all other work for the good of the world. 
 
 There are many institutions and associations 
 in the world established for various and di- 
 verse objects. Some are intended to elevate the 
 social standing of men. Others to educate their 
 mind. Others to provide for bodily wants in 
 time of need. Others to establish a kind of 
 brotherhood for mutual benefit and good. Oth- 
 ers for governmental purposes. Others for the 
 promotion of science and art. But there is 
 none except the Church which proposes to deal 
 with those interests which relate to the spir- 
 itual welfare of man, and the salvation of his 
 immortal soul. In its operations it has ref- 
 erence not only to this world, but to that which 
 is to come. It is designed to fit men not only 
 for time, but for eternity. It takes in besides 
 the little age of this fleeting life, the untold 
 ages of the future. It regards not the welfare 
 of men simply for the few days in which they 
 are allowed to remain here, but deems these 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 131 
 
 important only as being preparatory to that 
 endless duration in which a thousand years shall 
 be as one day. It contemplates man's good not 
 only during that little span of existence 
 bounded by birth and death, but also his chief 
 good in that state in which he will endure as 
 long as God Himself. 
 
 Nor does the church aim merely at the wel- 
 fare of the bodies of men or of their intellect. 
 It does not seek only the culture of the mind, 
 or refinement of thought and feeling and man- 
 ners, or advancement in the social state; nor 
 does it aim at securing wealth and the ease and 
 freedom from want which it brings, or the 
 acquisition of power and influence. Nor does 
 it strive simply to make men moral, so as to 
 promote honesty and fairness in business deal- 
 ings, and an avoidance of those crimes which 
 are a disgrace to civilization, and those rebel- 
 lions to proper authority which undermine the 
 stabilities of government. All true good in 
 this world it does seek after, and does attain 
 in the most perfect manner possible in the 
 sinful state to which man has brought himself, 
 and the unnatural condition of affairs which 
 sin entails. But the church has an object 
 higher than all these, which when attained will 
 secure all the good that men usually labor for 
 and much more than their highest hopes can 
 entertain. It is the everlasting salvation of 
 
132 THE GLOKIOUS CHUKCH. 
 
 men that the church seeks. It was founded 
 that souls might be saved from destruction, 
 that heaven might be peopled with happy 
 saints, and the powers of darkness defeated in 
 their malignant designs. If this object is se- 
 cured, then all other objects worth striving for 
 are secured. If this highest good is reached, 
 then the man will be possessed of all good. If 
 the soul is saved, then will it be freed from all 
 sin, which is the source of all evil, and the cause 
 of all misery ; then will the mind of man be re- 
 leased from all its fetters and embarrassments, 
 and he will see and know even as he is known; 
 then will the body be delivered from the evils 
 and pains and sicknesses and death to which it 
 is now subjected; and endowed with capacities 
 and powers to receive and impart happiness 
 beyond our present conception, and which eter- 
 nity will not impair ; then will be developed in 
 perfection those graces and adornments of 
 character, which render their possessors so at- 
 tractive and lovely; then will blessedness and 
 glory crown the brightest and noblest hopes of 
 those who once toiled in this sinful world in 
 weariness and woe, but who have been re- 
 newed after the image of Him who created 
 them. The church's gaze is centered on heaven, 
 and its hopes are fixed there alone where sure 
 and perfect peace may be found. Through it 
 the great Eedeemer speaks, and promises rest 
 
THE GLOKIOUS CHURCH. 133 
 
 to the weary and the heavy laden, and salva- 
 tion to the lost. Were it not for the church, the 
 mansions of heaven prepared for the saints 
 would be deserted, and the cells of the prison 
 house of the lost overcrowded with inmates. 
 The princes and powers of the empire of evil, 
 with their malignant and subtle chief, direct 
 all their efforts and assaults against the 
 Church of Jesus Christ, knowing that if this 
 can be overcome, the victory will be theirs and 
 that Satan will then truly be the Prince of this 
 world. To defeat this foe of happiness and 
 heaven, the Lord is ever at work in His church, 
 and gathering trophies from the grasp of 
 Satan and introducing them into the company 
 of His flock, and preparing them for a celestial 
 residence with Himself. No nobler work than 
 this could enlist the sympathies of heaven, or 
 employ the energies of man. The world to 
 come will alone reveal the magnitude of those 
 interests with which the church is concerned, 
 and the untold rewards which are held in re- 
 serve for its members. In view then of the 
 great object of its establishment, it is well 
 styled '^a glorious church." 
 
 rV. The church is glorious on account of her 
 ultimate triumph. Her situation in this world 
 has always been lowly. Her members com- 
 pared with earth's myriads have been a little 
 flock. Her founder as to His earthly connec- 
 
134 THE GLOKIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 tions was the son of a carpenter, and His days 
 were spent in poverty and toil. Her first 
 apostles were hnmble fishermen. Her mem- 
 bers for the most part have been of the poor, 
 without titles and without power. Her foes 
 have been great and strong, and have battled 
 against her with many persecutions and 
 through many centuries. The blood of her 
 martyrs has stained the fields of almost all 
 lands, and nearly every generation has wit- 
 nessed the flames kindled for the burning of 
 her children. Divisions have often enfeebled 
 her ranks, and defections caused sorrow 
 throughout all her borders. Hypocrites and 
 deceivers have crept into her fold and brought 
 dishonor upon her and turned many from the 
 faith. Many of those whose names have been 
 enrolled upon her records have given her at 
 best but a divided love, and finally have for- 
 saken her overcome by the deceitfulness of 
 riches, or the cares of this world, or the fear of 
 persecution. Many a merciless wave has 
 dashed its force against her, and many a rag- 
 ing tempest has spent its fury upon her. 
 Strained and weather-beaten, she has ploughed 
 the waters of affliction, often with the sky en- 
 tirely overcast, without a gleam of sunshine or 
 the sight of a single star, guided only by the 
 compass of faith which points to Him who con- 
 trols the winds, and holds the waters in His 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH, 135 
 
 hand. But amidst all her adversities and 
 struggles she has still maintained her place and 
 kept on in her appointed work. Though ridi- 
 culed by the giddy, sneered at by the proud 
 and self-righteous, downtrodden by the mighty, 
 she has ever been the refuge of the weary, the 
 reliever of distress, the consoler of the de- 
 sponding, the dispenser of pardon and peace to 
 the penitent, and the home of the God-fearing 
 and the true-hearted. With all her discourage- 
 ments and hindrances she has been streng- 
 thening and maturing for immortality. De- 
 pressed and derided, nevertheless she has 
 gathered to her fold the greatest and noblest 
 of the race, and decked her crown with the 
 brightest of earth's jewels. Like her Lord and 
 Master she has meekly suffered, but fulfilled 
 her mission; and though maltreated and 
 scourged she has blessed even her enemies, 
 though they knew it not. She has triumphed 
 in the good she has done, and the souls she has 
 plucked as brands from the burning. 
 
 But still greater triumphs await her. The 
 day is coming when she shall receive double 
 for all her troubles, when she shall prevail 
 over all the earth, when the heathen shall be 
 given to her for her inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for her possession. 
 The Word of God 'speaks of a time when na- 
 tions shall bring their glory unto her, and kings 
 
136 THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 
 
 and princes lay down their sceptres at her 
 feet. Already the myriad hosts, gathered from 
 every land and clime, are waiting with longing 
 and glad anticipation, the arrival of the hour, 
 known in the counsels of God, when decked in 
 her bridal robes, she shall be presented before 
 the face of Him who has saved and washed her 
 in His blood. On that glad coronation day 
 shall she stand vindicated before an admiring 
 universe, while all her treacherous and open 
 foes, as well as her spiritual enemies, shall hide 
 themselves from her presence in the blackness 
 of* darkness forever. Then from that great 
 throng, clad in white robes and with palms of 
 victory in their hands, shall burst forth the 
 long pent up song of praise, ** Salvation to our 
 God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb." '^Amen. Blessing, and glory, and 
 wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and 
 power, and might, be unto our God forever and 
 ever." And throughout the endless day of 
 heaven's eternity, shall the church abide in the 
 presence of Him who has redeemed her, safe 
 and blessed evermore. Exalted to seats of dig- 
 nity and honor, her portion henceforth shall be 
 in that kingdom which knows no end. Her 
 humble, lowly state shall give place to one of 
 heavenly glory. Her members cleansed and 
 purified from all stains and imperfections, 
 adorned with all the gifts and graces of a lov- 
 
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH. 137 
 
 ing Lord, shall shine as the stars for ever and 
 ever. After all her weary toils and trials on 
 earth, she shall enter into her reward and rest, 
 seated on thrones of light, among the princes 
 and exalted powers on high, crowned with 
 glory everlasting. 
 
 If these things are true, the church becomes 
 the greatest and most important institution on 
 earth. If God is its Founder and Architect, if it 
 was established in His Province through so 
 many multiplied agencies, if its object contem- 
 plates so much of good, if its ultimate triumph 
 will be so glorious, it rises in importance to a 
 value which no arithmetic can calculate. It de- 
 mands our respect, our reverence, our love, and 
 our labors. True there are many imperfec- 
 tions attaching to it, in its earthly state. There 
 are weaknesses and shortcomings and failures 
 which we cannot help seeing. Folly and sin 
 are often mingled with its holiest rites, and 
 selfishness and ambition mark many of its 
 leaders and office bearers. Broken vows and 
 worldly conformity too often mar its beauty 
 and disgrace its profession. Bickerings and 
 contentions are frequently found, instead of 
 unity and peace. Position and power are 
 sought by too many who love the pre-eminence. 
 But these are not the faults of the church itself, 
 nor owing to any defect in its working, or any 
 failure on the part of its means of grace. They 
 
138 THE GLORIOUS CHUECH. 
 
 result from the sin and the folly of poor, frail 
 humanity. It is this very evil and sin and guilt 
 which it is the work of the church to restrain 
 and eradicate. We must not blame her for the 
 mishaps and fallings and hypocrisies of those 
 she is endeavoring to sanctify and save. The 
 church as instituted by God and equipped for 
 her work, is perfect. She needs no earthly as- 
 sociations to supplement her works, no inven- 
 tions of man to fill out any lack in the wisdom 
 of God. The church then is to be upheld, sup- 
 ported, defended. Whatever else may prove 
 false she will be true; whatever else may disap- 
 point, she will satisfy; whatever else may be 
 given up, we must cling to her. 
 
 And if these things are true, how necessary 
 is it that we be connected with the church. If 
 God bestows His grace only through the means 
 which He has committed to her ministration, 
 then there is no salvation out of her. If God 
 dwells in the midst of her, and through her dis- 
 penses His blessings, how essential is it that 
 we be enrolled among her members, identified 
 with her interests, take part in her struggles, 
 drink in her life, feed upon her spiritual food, 
 partake of her grace and strength, and so come 
 into communion and fellowship with God Him- 
 self. If God has been at so much expense of 
 treasure and blood, if Jesus Christ has yielded 
 up Himself to crucifixion, in order that the 
 
THE GLOKIOUS CHURCH. 139 
 
 cliurcli might be firmly founded, liow can we 
 think lightly of her, or despise her claims, or 
 turn away from her calls or neglect her in- 
 terests. Can we treat the Son of God with so 
 much contempt and consider the shedding of 
 His blood of so little moment that we can be 
 saved quite as well without His aid as with it! 
 Can we think we can slight His appointments 
 and neglect His ordinances, and refuse to par- 
 ticipate in His sacraments, and to comply with 
 His demands, and yet have a good title to 
 heaven? Awake to a true and wise considera- 
 tion of these things. Let no prejudices pre- 
 vent an honest searching for the truth. Let 
 your convictions of duty lead to its perform- 
 ance. The church waits for you. Those many 
 witnesses on high stand and gaze anxious for 
 a correct decision. Think of the claims of your 
 God; think of the purposes of your creation, 
 and lose no time in laying hold upon the salva- 
 tion of Jesus offered in His church. 
 
"As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judg- 
 ment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto 
 them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin 
 unto salvation."— Heb. 9: 27, 28. 
 
 AS there was a fall, so there is a redemp- 
 tion. As there is one death, and one 
 judgment after death in consequence of 
 the fall, so there is one offering to atone for 
 transgression and to deliver from the condem- 
 nation of the judgment. And though there are 
 many sins there is but one justification. But 
 there are different stages in the great work of 
 redemption. Christ does it all, not all at once, 
 nor at one visit to the world. The text speaks 
 of a twofold coming — a coming a second time, 
 which necessarily implies a first time. One has 
 been accomplished, the other remains to be 
 accomplished. We propose in the present dis- 
 course to consider the likenesses and diversities 
 of these two comings. 
 
 1. They are alike in the predictions of inspir- 
 ation, and in the expectation of the saints living 
 before their occurrence. It cannot be doubted 
 that the character and nature of His first com- 
 
 140 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 141 
 
 ing were clearly foretold by the Old Testament 
 prophets. The following, among other facts, 
 were mentioned concerning Him, all having 
 reference to His first coming, and all being ful- 
 filled at that time, viz. : His being born of a 
 virgin and of the house of David and of the 
 seed of Abraham : the time of His coming : the 
 place of His birth: the adoration of the wise 
 men: His being anointed by the Spirit: His 
 public ministry: His teaching by similitudes: 
 His miracles : His public entry into Jerusalem : 
 His humble condition: His meekness and 
 humility: His compassion and tenderness: 
 His being hated by the Jews: His being 
 betrayed by a disciple: His being sold for 
 thirty pieces of silver : His being accused by 
 false witnesses : His patience and silence before 
 His accusers : His hands and feet being pierced : 
 His suffering and agony: His being railed at 
 and reproached: gall and vinegar being given 
 Him to drink: His intercession for His mur- 
 derers : His death and burial : His resurrection 
 and ascension. All these were foretold of Him 
 at His first coming. Equally clear and explicit 
 are the predictions given both in the Old and 
 New Testaments of His second coming. It is 
 called the ** Glorious appearing of the great 
 God and our Saviour:*' *^the time of refreshing 
 from the presence of the Lord:*' **the last 
 time. ' ' It is prophesied that Christ shall come 
 
142 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 in the clouds: with power and glory; accom- 
 panied by His angels and saints : with flames of 
 fire; with the voice of the archangel; with a 
 shout: suddenly and unexpectedly: as the light- 
 ning. It is predicted that He shall come to 
 complete the salvation of His saints: to judge 
 the world: to be glorified in His saints: to 
 reign: to destroy death: that every eye shall 
 see Him : that the wicked shall scoff at it : that 
 they shall be surprised by it : and that they shall 
 be punished with evel"lasting destruction. All 
 these things are predicted concerning His 
 second coming. And as these two advents are 
 alike in that they equally form themes of proph- 
 ecy, so they are alike in the expectations of 
 the saints before their occurrence. The Old 
 Testament records show with what longing the 
 pious and holy men of yore looked for the 
 Saviour. They speak of His appearing in the 
 most ardent and glowing terms. And seem to 
 be impatient of the delay of His incarnation. 
 All history attests that as the time of His 
 revealment drew near, the expectations grew 
 stronger, and the yearning, more intense, so 
 that even the Gentile nations caught the spirit 
 of the pious Jews, and turned their eager eyes, 
 weary with waiting and watching, to the land 
 where the promised Deliverer should arise. 
 Their anticipations were intensified by hopes 
 of deliverance from the miseries under which 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 14^ 
 
 they groaned. The true spirit is that mani- 
 fested by old Simeon, **Lord, now lettest Thou 
 thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have 
 seen thy salvation.'' 
 
 It is just as much a part of piety now to be 
 in constant expectation of the second coming 
 of Christ. Paul gave thanks to God for the 
 Corinthians, because they came behind in no 
 gift : *^ waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.'' He commends the Thessalonians also 
 because they turned *^from idols to serve the 
 living and true God, and to wait for His Son 
 from heaven." Peter, after speaking of the 
 events to happen at the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ, said, ^^What manner of persons ought 
 ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
 looking for and hastening unto the coming of 
 the day of God." And in the apostolic times 
 and the ages succeeding down to the present, 
 there have been those who have anxiously 
 looked for the coming of the Son of Man, to 
 correct the evils of this sinful world, just as 
 the saints of old expected and watched for His 
 first coming. In the predictions of the prophets 
 then and in the expectations of the saints these 
 two comings are alike. 
 
 2. They are alike in the personal reality of 
 their nature. Nothing is truer than that the 
 Son of God became incarnate in the flesh. Jesus 
 Christ was really and actually born into the 
 
144 THE COMING OF CHKIST. 
 
 world just as really as we are. He grew from 
 infancy to boyhood, and from boyhood to man- 
 hood. He ate and slept, and wept and suffered. 
 He actually lived and moved and passed the 
 time of his sojourning here in His holy and 
 divine vocation. He was tempted of Satan, 
 though without sin. He walked through the 
 cities and villages and byways of Palestine. 
 He taught the people. He was nailed to the 
 cross, and personally suffered excruciating tor- 
 ment. He died and was buried, His body being 
 taken down from the cross and laid in the 
 sepulchre by His friends. Literally and truly 
 did He arise from the tomb. His disciples saw 
 Him and recognized Him. They talked with 
 Him and ate with Him after He arose from the 
 grave. Frequently was He seen after His 
 resurrection; at one time by five hundred at 
 once. There is no doubt about His identity. 
 In the presence of His apostles He ascended 
 up on high : they saw Him go up, till the clouds 
 received Him out of their sight. Jesus Christ 
 was not an ideal, spiritual, airy fancy, but a 
 personal reality, moving among men, speaking 
 to them, approached by them, healing their 
 diseases, doing them good, and in all respects 
 manifesting Himself as a potent being. 
 
 Of the same nature will be His second com- 
 ing: it will be personal; every whit as literal 
 and real as His first coming was. When He 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 145 
 
 ascended the disciples stood gazing after Him; 
 when two bright messengers appeared saying, 
 **Ye men of Galilee why stand ye here gazing 
 Tip into heaven? This same Jesus that is ta- 
 ken up from you into heaven, shall so come 
 in like manner as ye have seen Him go into 
 heaven. ' ' We are told also that every eye shall 
 see Him. The very place where His feet shall 
 stand when He returns, is mentioned. Before 
 He went away He spoke of His coming again, 
 which necessarily implies that it will be in the 
 same personal way that He came before. He 
 will again then descend to our earth, and tread 
 upon it as He trod before; and be manifested 
 to its inhabitants, so that they shall see Him 
 and know Him, as He was seen and known by 
 His apostles after His triumph over the grave. 
 As the heavenly hosts sang songs of praise 
 over His first advent, so there will be shouts 
 and songs when He returns to reign. And as 
 literally and truly as He ascended up on high 
 and in person took a seat on the right hand 
 of His Father, so literally and truly will He in 
 person come back to seat himself on His own 
 throne. These two comings are alike then in 
 the personal reality of their nature. 
 
 3. They are alike in being parts of the same 
 great redemptive scheme. The great work of 
 Christ is the redemption of man from the 
 dominion and thraldom of Satan. In this work 
 
146 THE COMING OP CHKIST. 
 
 there are many steps, and many acts. The 
 first great act in the securing of redemption 
 was Christ ^s incarnation, which included His 
 birth, death and resurrection. But still the 
 work of redemption is not complete. This poor 
 earth yet groans under the curse, brings forth 
 its thorns and thistles, and rolls on its orbit 
 blighted by the foul breath of sin. Pain and 
 sickness and every evil still hold sway over the 
 creatures who were made for glory, honor and 
 immortality. Death yet claims his victims ; nor 
 Will he yield his authority and power. The 
 great enemy of our race continues to carry on 
 his malicious and fatal work, in effecting the 
 ruin of the sons of men. Something more then 
 remains to be accomplished. These foes must 
 be finally and completely destroyed ; these evils 
 must be eradicated from the earth. This final 
 work Christ performs when He comes again. 
 But it is the necessary continuance of what He 
 has already begun, and is a part of the same 
 grand work which He engaged to do, and which 
 He entered upon when as a babe He humbled 
 Himself, and took upon Him the form of a serv- 
 ant. The first great stage in His work He has 
 passed through, what remains will follow in due 
 time, and consummate what has been begun. At 
 His second advent then He unfolds no new pur- 
 pose, makes known no new scheme, and ventures 
 upon no new labor. He completes what He has 
 
THE COMING OF CHBIST. 147 
 
 commenced, and builds the superstructure on 
 the foundation He has laid. As He has de- 
 clared Himself to be the Alpha and Omega, so 
 His first and second advents form the beginning 
 and ending of the same redemptive scheme. 
 
 4. These two comings are alike, because 
 they produce great changes in the thinking and 
 affairs of men. No character has produced so 
 much change in the world as Jesus Christ. 
 Though a despised Nazarene His influence has 
 been felt to be more potent than that of the 
 mightiest conqueror or the greatest philosopher 
 the earth has ever seen. Though He was nailed 
 to the cross His principles and teachings could 
 not be. Though men could crucify Him, they 
 could not bind or bury His influence. The 
 Christianity He taught and founded in His own 
 blood, has outlived all its foes, and triumphed 
 over all the forces arrayed against it, and so 
 moulded the minds of men, that even His bitter- 
 est opponents have been more or less influenced 
 by it, and are compelled to respect what they 
 find they cannot change. In every department 
 of life, civil, social, religious, Christianity has 
 made itself felt, and introduced great changes. 
 The world is by no means what it was before 
 the advent of Jesus Christ. His cross, erected 
 in Palestine, has largely influenced the earth, 
 and shaped its mightiest movements. What 
 an advance is the Christian dispensation upon 
 
148 THE COMING OF CHKIST. 
 
 the Jewish Theocracy which preceded it. How 
 different are the philosophy, the literature, the 
 opinions of men now from what they were be- 
 fore. So, also. His second advent will introduce 
 great changes. Changes greater even than 
 those introduced by His first coming, as then 
 will be seen in their fullness the results of His 
 divine work. Not only a few will then submit 
 to Him, but all nations; and His Gospel, with 
 its heavenly principles, will prevail among all 
 the sons of men, so that all will live and move 
 and act in accordance with them. Old theories 
 which even in this enlightened age have been 
 cherished, will be abandoned. New light will 
 burst upon the world. Judaism was like the 
 starlight, affording but faint glimmerings amid 
 the darkness. Christianity is like the moon- 
 light, shining somewhat brighter, but still leav- 
 ing much in obscurity, and hiding much from 
 view. But the approaching dispensation, called 
 in the Scriptures the times of restitution, will be 
 like the clear sunlight, dissipating all darkness, 
 and shining with such an effulgence as to reveal 
 all things. Then shall many of the pursuits 
 men now delight in, be deemed empty vanities ; 
 the knowledge they now possess be insignifi- 
 cant; their present wisdom be looked upon as 
 folly, and all ways of acting and modes of 
 thought of worldly-minded people be considered 
 childish. Eadical and vast will be the changes 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 14:9 
 
 introduced in all parts of our globe by the 
 revelations of that great day of the Lord. An 
 entirely new order of affairs will be established. 
 The world will be as it were remoulded; and 
 men reanimated with a new life. Just as 
 Christ's first coming started a new order of 
 things, so will His second coming inaugurate 
 still more wonderful transformations. These 
 two comings of Christ then have several par- 
 ticulars in which they resemble one another. 
 The same Christ appears upon the earth, at 
 different periods. He comes for the same great 
 purpose; and each time effects His object. It 
 is the same being, the God-man that both times 
 visits the earth, both times engaged in the 
 same great work, beginning it at the first visita- 
 tion and completing it at the second. 
 
 But these two comings have their diversities 
 as well as their likenesses. Though in many 
 particulars they resemble each other, yet in 
 many respects they differ. It is Jesus Christ 
 who appears, and Christ the Eedeemer, but to 
 carry out different parts of His redemptive 
 work. 
 
 1. They are diverse in the circumstances of 
 His manifestation. At His first advent. His 
 humiliation and lowliness were most manifest. 
 Under mean and lowly circumstances He was 
 born, and laid in a manger. He grew up sharing 
 the hard lot of His humble parents, and was 
 
150 THE COMING OF CHEIST. 
 
 subject unto them. When he entered upon His 
 ministry He led a life of poverty. His own 
 plaintive words show how destitute He was. 
 ^^The foxes have holes, and the birds of the 
 air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not 
 where to lay His head." Persecuted by the 
 great and forsaken by many who professed to 
 be His friends. He endured all without com- 
 plaining or murmuring, or using any of the 
 Divine power which dwelt within Him to de- 
 liver Himself from the persecutions of His 
 enemies. The words of the prophet in relation 
 to Him were literally fulfilled. ^ ' He shall grow 
 up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root 
 out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor 
 comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there 
 is no beauty that we should desire Him. ' ' 
 
 Far different, however, shall it be at his 
 second advent. He will come in great splendor 
 and majesty. He Himself said, **The Son of 
 Man shall come in the glory of His Father with 
 His angels.'' His revelation will be accompa- 
 nied with marvellous heraldic demonstrations. 
 *^The Lord Himself will descend from heaven 
 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel 
 and with the trump of God. ' ' He will be clothed 
 in irresistible power. * * Hereafter, said He, shall 
 ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand 
 of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. ' ' 
 When the apostle John was transported in 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 151 
 
 spirit, in his apocalyptic visions, and saw 
 Christ, the sight was unendurable, and he fell 
 at His feet as one dead. In the mount of trans- 
 figuration His three favored disciples caught a 
 glimpse of that glory in which He shall here- 
 after be revealed. His face did shine as the 
 sun, His raiment was white as the light, and 
 a bright cloud overshadowed them. ^^At the 
 sight and at the sound of the voice which was 
 heard, the disciples *fell on their faces.' He 
 will appear then, not alone, nor in lowliness, 
 but attended with angel bands, and in splendor 
 and great glory, manifesting His majesty and 
 power. ' ' 
 
 2. In the nature of His work. At first He 
 came as the victim to be offered for sin, He 
 shall come again without sin unto salvation. 
 John the Baptist, His forerunner, pointed to 
 Him as he appeared among the people and 
 said, ^* Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh 
 away the sin of the world!" He was spoken 
 of as the Lamb slain. He bore the sin of the 
 whole world in His body on the cross. But 
 Isaiah tells us, that when He shall appear again 
 it shall be said in that day, *^Lo, this is our 
 God ; we have waited for Him ; He will save us ; 
 this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we 
 will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." 
 
 He came the first time as the meek Teacher. 
 Everywhere He taught the people with the 
 
152 THE COMING OF CHEIST. 
 
 greatest forebearance, tenderness and love. 
 The reproach uttered against Him by the 
 Scribes and Pharisees was, ^^This man re- 
 ceiveth sinners." How gently He dealt with 
 all who came to Him, How wisely He in- 
 structed them, accommodating Himself to their 
 dullness, bearing with their prejudices and sub- 
 mitting to their want of appreciation. But 
 when He comes again it will be as the righteous 
 Judge. The day of forebearance will then be 
 past; the time for sifting will then have come. 
 ^ ^ Jlis fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly 
 purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the 
 garner; but He will burn up the chaff with 
 unquenchable fire." The axe which has lain 
 so long as a warning at the root of the trees 
 will be lifted in judgment. No longer will the 
 gardener pray that the barren fruit tree may 
 be allowed to stand this year also, but the com- 
 mand will be put in execution, *Cut it down, 
 why eumbereth it the ground ? ' " 
 
 In the days when He moved here upon earth, 
 it was as the submissive sufferer. He sub- 
 mitted to the temptations of Satan, to the 
 persecutions of the chief men of the Jewish 
 nation, of Herod, and of Pontius Pilate. But 
 when he comes again it will be as the triumph- 
 ant Lord. 
 
 3. In the manner in which men shall regard 
 Him. At His first coming the words of Isaiah 
 
THE COMIXG OF CHKIST. 153 
 
 were fulfilled when in prophetic vision he said 
 in regard to Him: ^^He is despised and re- 
 jected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted 
 \vith grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from 
 Him; He was despised and we esteemed Him 
 not/^ But never more shall He move among 
 men as the despised Nazarene. Never more 
 will He be called a wine bibber, nor will it be 
 said that He hath a devil and that He casteth 
 out devils by Beelzebub. The crown of thorns 
 which rude soldiers put upon His brow will 
 give place to the crown of glory; and the mock 
 robes of the king to be crucified, to the gar- 
 ments of light. Then will the second Psalm be 
 fulfilled, wherein God says, *^Yet have I set my 
 King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare 
 the decree: the Lord hath said unto me. Thou 
 art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 
 Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen 
 for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
 of the earth for thy possession." Of His own 
 true believing people it is said, * ^ The ransomed 
 of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with 
 songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads, 
 they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
 and sighing shall flee away.'' From all this 
 we may see: 
 
 1. What is the true scope of proper Chris- 
 tian faith and hope. It looks back to a Saviour 
 come in the flesh and suffering as a sacrifice for 
 
154 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 sin, and it looks forward to a Saviour come in 
 the glory of God to overthrow His enemies and 
 complete the redemption of His saints. 
 
 2. That both these aspects of faith and hope 
 are essential — the one to justification, the other 
 to salvation. 
 
 3. We have reason to be admonished to be 
 earnestly ^* looking" for the coming again of 
 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ 
 and His apostles again and again urge us to be 
 looking and watching for the coming of our 
 Lord. They represent that event as the great 
 hope of the church, and warn every Christian 
 against any neglect of it. In these days of 
 apostasy and unbelief we need to be reminded 
 of these Scripture admonitions. The world is 
 more and more taking hold of the idea that it 
 can get along very well without Christ. The 
 world's progress, and the world's greatness 
 are the two grand absorbing thoughts of the 
 age. God is, to a great and alarming extent, 
 forgotten, and Christ is neglected, and Chris- 
 tians have quite too much caught the spirit of 
 the day, and are quite too much swayed by the 
 excitements of the hour. We need to have our 
 eyes turned to the world's true Saviour. We 
 need to have our gaze directed to that cross on 
 which He was crucified as the foundation of our 
 salvation, and our hopes directed to Him as He 
 shall come again without sin unto salvation. I 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 155 
 
 would have the words of the apostle Peter set 
 prominently before you, * ^ What manner of per- 
 sons ought we to be in all holy conversation 
 and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the 
 coming of the day of God,'' and would remind 
 you of those loving, but significant utterances 
 of Christ, ** Watch, therefore, for ye know not 
 what hour your Lord doth come. . . . Blessed 
 is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh 
 shall find so doing. . . . But if that evil 
 servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth 
 His coming. . . . The Lord of that servant 
 shall come in a day when he looketh not for 
 Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 
 and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his 
 portion with the hypocrites: there shall be 
 weeping and gnashing of teeth. ' ' 
 
 Let the abiding impression of the whole 
 Gospel upon your hearts be — Christ in the full- 
 ness of His work — Christ already come and 
 offering Himself as the sacrifice for sin — Christ 
 yet to come to receive us to glory. With our 
 lamps trimmed and burning let us be ready for 
 Him, and though we may be sundered on earth 
 we shall meet in the glorious kingdom of our 
 common Lord. It is but a little while we have 
 to wait. Our pilgrimage on earth will soon be 
 over, and in the future we shall be with Him 
 and be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 
 
156 THE COMING OF CHEIST. 
 
 Beyond the smiling and the weeping, 
 Beyond the waking and the sleeping 
 Beyond the sowing and the reaping, 
 I shall be soon. 
 
 Love, rest and home! Sweet hope! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 .Beyond the rising and the setting 
 Beyond the calming and the fretting. 
 Beyond remembering and forgetting, 
 I shall be soon. 
 
 Beyond the gathering and the strowing 
 
 Beyond the ebbing and the flowing. 
 
 Beyond the coming and the going, 
 
 "We shall be soon. 
 
 Beyond the parting and the meeting, 
 
 Beyond the farewell and the greeting 
 
 Beyond this pulse's fever beating 
 
 We shall be soon. 
 
 Love, rest and home! Sweet hope! 
 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
CUtjriBf Coming attdi ]p»]taratt0n 
 
 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the 
 Son of man cometh." — Matt. 24: 44. 
 
 IN this text an important event is spoken of 
 and a solemn exhortation is founded upon 
 it. The event spoken of is in these words : 
 **In such an hour as ye think not the Son of 
 Man cometh ; ' ' and the injunction founded upon 
 it is : * ^ Therefore be ye also ready ; ^ ' and to the 
 text as thus divided I invite your attentive and 
 prayerful consideration. And may Almighty 
 God, by His Holy Spirit, aid and direct us both 
 in hearing and speaking to the praise of His 
 glorious grace. 
 
 The event here spoken of is the coming of the 
 Son of Man. This has been interpreted by 
 many persons to mean death. And in all those 
 passages in which we are urged to watch and 
 be ready for the coming of the Son of Man, it 
 has become usual to refer us to death as the 
 thing to watch and be ready for, making it to be 
 synonymous with Christ's coming. Death is 
 often held up in this and similar passages as 
 
 157 
 
158 CHRIST 'S COMING AND PREPARATION FOR IT. 
 
 the end or object to which we are hastening 
 and for which we ought to be looking and pre- 
 paring. I cannot, however, agree with such an 
 interpretation. If our Saviour meant that 
 death should be the object of the believer's con- 
 tinual watchfulness and expectation, He would 
 have said so in language which could not be 
 misunderstood. He would not say one thing 
 and mean another. The Scriptures represent 
 the coming of the Son of Man and death as 
 two entirely distinct events ; our creeds also so 
 i;;epresent them. When, therefore, our Saviour 
 uses the phrase ^Hhe coming of the Son of 
 Man," plain common sense would understand 
 Him as meaning the coming of the Son of Man 
 and not death. He has never once specified 
 death as the object of watchfulness or prepara- 
 tion. Had He done so in a single instance, we 
 might then have some warrant for supposing 
 that in many passages in which He speaks of 
 His second coming, it was in reality the death 
 of each person to which He referred. But such 
 is not the case. And whatever our desires and 
 prejudices may be, we are forced to the con- 
 clusion that Christ's coming and not death is 
 the thing we are exhorted to be ready for. 
 Some have tried to evade the force of this 
 reasoning by saying that for all practical pur- 
 poses death may be considered the same thing 
 as the coming of Christ. But this is not the 
 
CHKIST 'S COMING AND PKEPAEATION FOR IT. 159 
 
 manner in which the Gospel presents the mat- 
 ter. Death is spoken of there. We are assured 
 that * 4t is appointed unto men once to die, and 
 after this the judgment." It is where death 
 leaves a man that the coming of the Saviour 
 will find him. But no one could have studied 
 the New Testament in reference to this subject 
 without discerning how seldom death is men- 
 tioned and how often the coming of Christ is 
 alluded to. ^^It is a mistake and one fraught 
 with much practical mischief, as if it were the 
 thing to be anticipated, and of which to inter- 
 pret the many solemn injunctions of Scripture, 
 with reference to the Saviour's second coming. 
 It is this latter event and not the former which 
 we are again and again urged to prepare for. ' ^ 
 The Dean of Canterbury, speaking upon this 
 subject, recently said: **In Holy Scripture, we 
 do not hear of preparation for death. I doubt 
 whether one text can be found in which we are 
 exhorted to make such preparation as such. 
 But the constant note, the continual recurring 
 exhortation, is, to be prepared for the Lord's 
 coming. The reason is that he who is prepared 
 for the Lord's coming is necessarily also pre- 
 pared for his own death. The greater includes 
 the less. He who so lives and thinks, so speaks, 
 so works in his daily life as to be ready for the 
 sign of the Son of Man from heaven, and the 
 voice of the archangel and the trump of God, 
 
160 CHEIST 'S COMING AND PREPAKATION FOR IT. 
 
 will not be found unready when the summons 
 is heard in a softer tone, and comes with more 
 previous warning. But he who has forgotten 
 his Lord^s coming, and has simply been careful 
 about readiness for his own dismissal, will ever 
 be too liable in the lesser thing to have neglected 
 care for the greater: and he will also be well 
 nigh certain to have lowered his standard of 
 attainment, and narrowed his sympathies un- 
 worthily ; in taking thought for himself to have 
 forgotten the great body of which he is a mem- 
 l3er; in minding his own safety to have for- 
 gotten the glory of his Lord — nay his very Lord 
 Himself. For there is nothing that so much 
 takes a man out of himself, nothing that so 
 much raises and widens his thoughts and 
 sympathies, nothing that so much purifies and 
 elevates his hopes, as this preparation for the 
 coming of the Lord.'' 
 
 Our Lord knew well that death is to the be- 
 liever even, a cold repulsive object; and that 
 chilling and gloomy and repellant would be the 
 influence which its perpetual expectation would 
 exercise upon the sons of men. There is no 
 attractiveness about the shroud, the grave, and 
 the coldness of death. These are surely not 
 held up to men for them to look forward to and 
 live for and be prepared to meet. We instinc- 
 tively turn away from these : we have an aver- 
 sion for them which the most pious even cannot 
 
Christ's coming and prepaeation for it. 161 
 
 wholly overcome. No ! our Saviour has placed 
 before His followers a glowing prospect full of 
 warmth and energy ; lively and attractive to all 
 who love Him in sincerity and regard Him as 
 the chief among ten thousand. He places life 
 before them, not death. He holds up to our 
 gaze a subject which we can contemplate with 
 delight, not one which will repel us. He clothes 
 the future with joy and peace and glory for all 
 His followers; He would not fill them with 
 dread and dismay. He holds out to them a hope 
 connected with His second coming which is in- 
 tended to act as an incentive to us to overcome 
 all the trials and troubles of this life and to 
 make us triumph over even death itself. So 
 far from identifying death — even the death of 
 the believer — with the second coming of Christ, 
 there are no two things which the word of God 
 puts more widely apart, or which are presented 
 to us in stronger contrast the one with the 
 other; and to suppose our Lord thus to have 
 identified them, or thus to identify them our- 
 selves, is manifestly to accuse Him and be 
 guilty ourselves, of confounding things that 
 differ. Death is the coming of the King of 
 Terrors: and therefore His advent is not to 
 be confounded with that of the Lord of Life and 
 Glory. At death the believer departs to go and 
 be with Christ. Christ does not come to him. 
 Death is a scene of pain and sickness and sor- 
 
162 CHKIST ^S COMING AND PKEPAEATION FOR IT. 
 
 row and sighing; of bitter partings and heart 
 rending farewells. At the coming of Christ 
 pain and sickness shall be forever dissipated: 
 the death divided shall be eternally reunited; 
 sorrow and sighing shall flee away. There can 
 be no two things more dissimilar than these 
 two. 
 
 Besides this ^^ death does not at all fall in 
 with the spirit or nature of the Gospel, so as to 
 entitle it to prominence as a theme of evangel- 
 ical incentive. It belongs to sin and the curse, 
 bot to the Gospel and salvation. It presents 
 a circle of ideas altogether narrower, darker, 
 more legal, less evangelical, less fitted to im- 
 press with Christward impulses, than we would 
 expect in the system of God's gracious appli- 
 ances. We would not deny it a place among the 
 considerations to be addressed to men, or 
 exclude it in things to be looked to in our 
 contemplations of the future, but to make it a 
 substitute for the doctrine of the speedy coming 
 of Christ in the glory of His kingdom is to put 
 a gloss upon the Scriptures which they were 
 never intended to wear, and to dislocate the 
 inspired adjustments of truth by foisting man 's 
 judgment in the place of divine wisdom." 
 
 Christ is the great theme of the Gospel. His 
 incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, 
 and second coming are the subjects placed 
 prominently before us. These are put in the 
 
Christ's coming and preparation for it. 163 
 
 forefront of tlie picture, and compared with 
 them, death is thrown quite into the back- 
 ground. 
 
 It is to Christ's personal return to this earth 
 then that the text refers when it speaks of the 
 coming of the Son of man. And this is a 
 doctrine made remarkably prominent in the 
 sacred Scriptures. As a subject of hopeful 
 expectation to the pious, and of terror to the 
 ungodly, it is the most formally repeated and 
 constantly affirmed. There is hardly a chapter 
 in the evangelical writings which does not in 
 some way refer to it. The Saviour Himself 
 during His lifetime spoke largely of a period 
 when the tribes of earth ^* shall see the Son 
 of man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
 power and great glory,'' and when He shall 
 send His angels, with a great sound of a 
 trumpet, to gather His elect from the four 
 winds. ' ' 
 
 And passage might be multiplied upon pass- 
 age all explicitly declaring the same thing. The 
 writers of the Gospel seem to love to dwell upon 
 it; and display the greatest anxiety to impress 
 it on their readers. There is no doctrine of the 
 Gospel announced with more clearness or solem- 
 nity. Nor are we to understand by this any 
 spiritual coming : but a real advent to this earth 
 again as really and truly and personally as He 
 came to it before. It was not a spiritual coming 
 
164 chkist's coming aitd pkepaeation foe it. 
 
 which the apostle calls, ^^the blessed hope and 
 the glorious appearing of the Great God and 
 our Saviour Jesus Chrisf It was not a 
 spiritual advent which the Corinthians were 
 expecting when they were ^^ waiting for the 
 coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. ' ' It was not 
 a spiritual view which the Thessalonians had 
 when they ^* turned to God from idols to serve 
 the living and true God; and to wait for His 
 Son from heaven/' Paul had an actual pres- 
 ence • of Christ in his mind when he said the 
 Thessalonians were his hope and joy and crown 
 of rejoicing ^4n the presence of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ at His coming.'' It was no spiritualiz- 
 ing our Lord meant should be put upon His 
 words when He said, **As the lightning com- 
 eth out of the east, and shineth even unto 
 the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 Man be. " '^ There are I believe, ' ' says a writer 
 of a treatise upon the book of Daniel, **some 
 twelve or thirteen words in the original in the 
 New Testament in reference to this coming. 
 And these occur in plain and undoubted refer- 
 ence to it — no less than about one hundred and 
 twenty-five times. They are thus often used to 
 assert that truth. And they do it so clearly and 
 pointedly, that it would seem their application 
 cannot be mistaken." The doctrine then that 
 Jesus Christ who once walked upon this earth, 
 was offered up upon the cross, ascended up 
 
CHBIST 'S COMING AND PREPAKATION FOR IT. 165 
 
 into heaven, is verily and truly to come back 
 to earth again, to be seen with onr eyes and 
 heard with our ears, as literally as He was by 
 the listening thousands who crowded around 
 Him in the desert and by the seashore, or by the 
 most favored of His apostles, is the truth of 
 God; revealed as clear as a sun beam in the 
 Gospel, and made one of the most prominent of 
 its themes. 
 
 That this has been the belief of the church, 
 too, is seen by the fact that it is confessed in 
 the writings of the great and good of all ages. 
 The authors of the apostles' creed, whoever 
 they were, lived near the times of the apostles 
 themselves. They certainly were acquainted 
 with the interpretation of the Gospel as held in 
 their day. They drank in the very spirit of the 
 apostles. And in making that grand summary 
 of Christian doctrine, which has been received 
 by the Orthodox churches all over the world, 
 and in every century and in which we make 
 confession of our faith every Lord 's Day morn- 
 ing, they use the following language, ' ' Ascended 
 into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of 
 God, the Father Almighty; from whence He 
 shall come to judge the quick and the dead.'' 
 The authors of the Augsburg Confession, the 
 great symbol of our church, reiterate the same 
 doctrine. They say in that confession, that, 
 ** Christ shall openly come again to judge them 
 
166 CHRIST 'S COMING AND PEEPAEATION FOR IT. 
 
 that are alive, and restore to life those that be 
 dead, according to the creed of the apostles.'' 
 
 If anything then should be received as an 
 article of faith, this certainly should. If we 
 believe that Jesus Christ ever lived upon our 
 earth, if we believe that He was slain upon the 
 cross, we must accept and hold the doctrine of 
 His second coming; for the revelations which 
 make known the first make known the last, and 
 the same authority sanctions and enforces them 
 all. 
 
 There is an important admonition given us in 
 the text in this connection. ** Therefore be ye 
 also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not 
 the Son of Man cometh. " The coming of the 
 Son of Man will be a sudden and unexpected 
 event. The Holy Spirit gives us this caution 
 in regard to it : * * In such an hour as ye think 
 not." No one can fix the exact time or date 
 of the Saviour's appearance; it is folly to 
 attempt it. The Scriptures purposely leave that 
 indefinite and uncertain; and many well-mean- 
 ing men have brought discredit upon them- 
 selves and their cause by attempting to speak 
 with too much assurance in regard to the time 
 of the second advent. That is not given us to 
 know. Notwithstanding this, however, the time 
 of the Saviour's coming is not so uncertain and 
 indeterminate as to leave us entirely in the dark 
 with regard to it. Paul says expressly, '*Ye 
 
CHRIST 'S COMING AND PREPARATION FOR IT. 167 
 
 l)rethren are not in darkness, that that day 
 should overtake you as a thief. ^^ And the 
 Saviour exhorts in this wise, *^Take heed to 
 yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be over- 
 charged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and 
 cares of this life, and so that day come upon 
 you unawares. ' ' There can be a looking for an 
 object and an expectancy of it and a readiness 
 for it and also a knowledge of its near approach, 
 i^ithout a knowledge of the exact time in which 
 it will happen. And this is just the posture in 
 which the Gospel leaves this matter. It urges 
 Christians to watch for the coming of the Son 
 of Man ; to be prepared for it ; to be expecting 
 it and looking for it ; without informing them of 
 the year or day in which it will take place. It 
 presents it as an event which is likely to happen 
 at any moment : which they are not to place far 
 off in the future : which they are not to put out 
 of mind and away from their thoughts; but 
 which they must make a matter of ever present 
 concern; as any moment it may be a present 
 reality. It is too much the habit of Christians 
 though they believe that Christ will come, yet to 
 put that coming far off in the dim future, and 
 give themselves no concern about it. They have 
 fallen in too much with the general opinion of 
 the world; and have come to think that there 
 must be a millennium of righteousness and 
 peace first in which the world will be converted 
 
168 CHEIST 'S COMING AND PREPAEATION FOR IT. 
 
 to Christ, and then way down at the end of that 
 blissful period they locate the Saviour's return. 
 These are false and pernicious views. They are 
 full of danger to those who entertain them. 
 The Scriptures nowhere so present this subject. 
 They, on the contrary, solemnly enjoin upon us 
 to watch for the Saviour 's advent and be ready 
 for it. Now we cannot watch for a thing and 
 expect it, when we know that it will not come 
 to pass for a thousand years or more. It is 
 perfect folly for any one to declare that Christ 
 will not come for 1000 years, and a distorting 
 of the truth, when Jesus Himself declares, *^In 
 such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man 
 Cometh.'' The impression which the Gospel 
 would make upon a candid reader, is that Christ 
 may come at any moment. If the particular 
 moment were specified there would be no ex- 
 pectancy and no preparation, until near the 
 time of the arrival of that moment. To have 
 one watch for a thing and be on the lookout for 
 it, and be in a state of constant readiness for it, 
 he must be left under the belief that it is likely 
 to happen at any time. The injunction, there- 
 fore, to be ready for the coming of the Son of 
 Man, coupled with the caution that it will be in 
 such an hour as we think not, of necessity im- 
 plies that we are to be in constant expectation 
 of His coming as possibly near at hand. Be 
 careful then how you entertain this matter. 
 
Christ's coming and preparation for it. 169 
 
 Heed not those who would lead you to treat it 
 with indifference. Turn away from all those 
 scorners against whom we are particularly 
 warned, who cry ** Where is the promise of His 
 coming?'' He will surely come at some time. 
 It will be at an unexpected time; in such an 
 hour as we think not. * * As the lightning shineth 
 out of the east even unto the west, so shall the 
 coming of the Son of Man be," are the words 
 of Holy Writ. And who will have the presump- 
 tion to say that that event will be postponed 
 when the Saviour Himself as his very last utter- 
 ance and caution in closing His revelation to 
 man says, ^^ Surely I come quickly." 
 
 That it is highly essential to be ready no one 
 will deny. If we are to hail our Master with 
 joy and not with sorrow, if we are to go in 
 with Him to those high rewards bestowed upon 
 the righteous, we must be prepared for Him. 
 What then is implied in being ready for 
 Christ's coming? 
 
 1. I reply first it is being found at our sundry 
 posts of duty diligently employed in our various 
 callings. The instruction of the Saviour in this 
 regard is ** Occupy till I come." No man is 
 called to leave his honest labor, or neglect any 
 of the duties of life. You are to fill the station 
 in which God has placed you, in a godly and 
 Christian way. You are not to neglect any 
 social duty or relation of life. You are not to 
 
170 CHRIST ^S COMIi^G AND PEEPARATION FOE IT. 
 
 turn aside from what Providence has appointed 
 you to do. You are to be content with your lot. 
 You are to be faithful in all that you engage in. 
 You are to be true and honest in the perform- 
 ance of your duty to your country, your family, 
 to the community in which you are placed and 
 to your Lord. You are to be like faithful 
 servants, who know not what hour their master 
 may come, but keep all things in readiness and 
 are always prepared. You are to be ready to 
 obey whatever summons the Lord may send. 
 You are to live always as men who are looking 
 for the Lord's return. You must engage in no 
 pursuit or occupation, in which you would not 
 have Him find you employed. You are to rise 
 and go forth in the morning prepared, if need 
 be, to meet Christ at noon. You are to keep 
 your spiritual account constantly settled like 
 one who knows not how soon it may be called 
 for. 
 
 2. A second thing implied in being ready is 
 having our sins and guilt washed away in the 
 blood of the great atoning Sacrifice and in be- 
 ing sanctified by the Holy Ghost. It is to have 
 repented and turned from all manner of sin 
 and evil, and to have exercised true faith in the 
 Son of God. We must have set ourselves also 
 to obey all the injunctions and commands of the 
 Lord. We must be connected with His church 
 on earth, and be found diligently engaging in 
 
Christ's coming axd preparatiox for it. 171 
 
 all the ordinances appointed by Him. And 
 besides all this there must be a whole-hearted 
 concentration of the entire man to Him. Every- 
 thing must be yielded up to be laid on the altar 
 of sacrifice, should He demand it. You must 
 not only be a hearer of the word but a doer 
 also ; so that you may be founded upon a rock, 
 that the storm and tempests may not be able 
 to destroy. Having given ourselves unreserv- 
 edly to Christ, we must be His followers indeed ; 
 breathing in more and more of His spirit; en- 
 gaging in His employments, and taking delight 
 in His ways. Whole-souled obedience must be 
 rendered to the requirements of the Gospel. 
 We are not to be discontented or dissatisfied 
 with our lot; but to stand steady at our posts, 
 serving our God in the spirit of our Master, 
 and doing good in our day and generation. We 
 must be growing in grace and in the knowledge 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and being made meet 
 for the inheritance of the saints. 
 
 3. The third requisite in being ready for the 
 coming of the Son of Man is to be in a posture 
 of waiting for Him. There must be a real love 
 for the Lord Jesus Christ — a love which leads 
 us not only to acquiesce in all His appointments 
 here, but which takes delight in all His appoint- 
 ments for the future. There must be such an 
 entwining of the affections around the heart of 
 Jesus, as that He will be our all in all. There 
 
172 CHBIST^S COMING AND PEEPAEATION FOE IT. 
 
 must be a looking for His return. His saints 
 must watch for His coming, and love it, or there 
 will be no readiness for it. If we regard it as 
 something we would rather not have happen, 
 if we look upon it with aversion; and feel an- 
 noyed, and afraid lest it should come to pass ; 
 there is cause to be suspicious of ourselves : and 
 we should immediately Set to remedy any de- 
 fects in our Christian character, that we may 
 not be covered with shame and confusion at 
 the advent of our Saviour. Let there be a 
 perfect identification of yourselves with Christ. 
 Have no will but His. Study to know His will, 
 and to conform yourselves to it: and so abide 
 in Him that when He shall appear, ye may have 
 confidence and not be ashamed before Him at 
 His coming. 
 
 " 'Tis but a little while 
 
 And He shall come again, 
 Who died that we might live, who lives 
 
 That we with Him may reign. 
 Then, O my Lord, prepare 
 
 My soul for that glad day; 
 O wash me in thy precious blood, 
 
 And take my sins away." 
 
®«mtng from Shnla atii Wattmg 
 for ©Ijrtflt 
 
 "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we 
 liad unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living 
 and true God: And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised 
 from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to 
 come."— 1 Thess. 1: 9-10. 
 
 THE impression made upon the converts of 
 Thessalonica by the preaching of the great 
 apostle to the Gentiles was a deep and 
 lasting one. Though eighteen hundred years 
 have rolled by since, in company with Silas, he 
 entered that ancient city, yet the Christian 
 religion still lives and flourishes there, and 
 Christian churches have arisen in place of the 
 synagogue in which he preached. So eagerly 
 and intelligently did the Thessalonians receive 
 and lay hold of the truth presented to them, 
 that they soon became sincere and devout Chris- 
 tians. The word preached to them was not in 
 vain, but was accompanied with the power of 
 the Holy Ghost. ^^For,'' says Paul, *^our 
 Gospel came not unto vou in word only, but also 
 in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
 assurance.'' **And ye became followers of us, 
 
 173 
 
174 TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 
 
 and of the Lord having received the word in 
 much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. 
 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe 
 in Macedonia and Achaia. ' ' Such a church could 
 not long remain unknown. Their work of faith, 
 and labor of love, and patience of hope could 
 not be hidden. Their religion was like a light 
 set on a candlestick, not hid under a bushel; 
 like a city set on a hill, seen afar. From them 
 ^* sounded out the word of the Lord not only 
 in Macedonia and Achaia," their immediate 
 •neighborhood, '^but also in every place their 
 faith to Godward was spread abroad. It 
 was not necessary for Paul to declare any- 
 thing concerning them to others to whom he 
 preached, for they themselves told of their own 
 accord how Paul was received by the Thes- 
 salonians, and what effect his preaching had. 
 
 We learn from the text that there were two 
 prominent facts asserted of the Thessalonians 
 by others, as a proof that they had become 
 Christians. One was that they had turned to 
 God from idols, to serve the living and true 
 God; and the other was that they *^ waited for 
 His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the 
 dead, Jesus our Deliverer from the wrath to 
 come." 
 
 The first great evidence of the conversion of 
 the Thessalonians, and which was noted as such 
 by the surrounding countries, was that they 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 175 
 
 turned from idols to serve the living and true 
 God. Before the visit of Paul they had been 
 idolators. They were sundered from God, and 
 the light which was in them had become dark- 
 ness, and they had changed the glory of the 
 uncorruptible God into an image, made like to 
 corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed 
 beasts and creeping things,'' and ^Svorshipped 
 and served the creature more than the Cre- 
 ator." Having lost the knowledge of the true 
 God, they had formed for themselves a vast 
 system of imaginary gods and goddesses, crea- 
 tions of their own fancy, whom they worshipped 
 and served, to whom they prayed and vowed 
 and paid their oblations. They were heathen 
 bowing down to senseless stocks and stones, 
 which could neither see nor hear them, nor do 
 them good. But upon the preaching of Paul 
 they were at once convinced of their former 
 folly and sin, and throwing their idols to the 
 moles and bats, turned to the living and true 
 God. They accepted the truths proclaimed by 
 the apostolic missionary, as the word of God, 
 and acknowledged Him as the Lord of heaven 
 and earth, who only had a right to claim their 
 homage and their service. They separated 
 themselves from their idolatrous neighbors 
 and companions, forsook the temples and the 
 shrines of their false gods, trusted no longer 
 
176 TUKNING FKOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOE CHEIST. 
 
 in dead deities, but were known henceforth as 
 God worshippers. 
 
 Such is the characteristic of all true Chris- 
 tians, they are worshippers and servers of the 
 living and true God. They are known and 
 recognized as His. They are a peculiar people, 
 holy and consecrated to Him, and devote to Him 
 every power of their soul, body, and estate. 
 They give up their idolatry, and their idols, 
 whether the work of their imagination or of 
 their hands, and show to the world that they 
 •acknowledge Him only, as Lord over all blessed 
 forever. 
 
 Nor is it enough that the images made by cun- 
 ning workmen, and the airy system of imagin- 
 ary deities should be renounced. There may 
 be worship just as false, and idolatry just as 
 gross, in lands where Christian churches are 
 built, and Bibles are printed and the Gospel 
 preached, as where the ignorant and debased 
 multitude pay their homage to idols of their 
 own creation. For whenever anything comes 
 between the soul and God, that thing is an idol. 
 Worshipping and serving any creature more 
 than the Creator is idolatry. There are many 
 who would not adore a golden image, or bow 
 down at a silver shrine, who yet render to 
 those precious metals in other forms, a homage 
 quite as debasing, and a service quite as en- 
 slaving. When men bring themselves under 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 177 
 
 bondage to lust, ambition, pleasure and gain, 
 they are no better than those whom they are 
 wont to pity and commiserate because of their 
 blindness and folly. And if they train their 
 children to such lives of pleasure and world- 
 liness as we see all around us, they are bringing 
 them up to tortures greater than those inflicted 
 on the devotees of Baal, and preparing them 
 for fires severer than those of Molock. The 
 men and the women that we meet with every 
 hour, that we jostle on the street, that we deal 
 with in the marts of trade, that come into the 
 church and sit in its pews, who give not them- 
 selves to God, are in a worse state than the poor 
 heathen, that they pity. Better, far better is 
 the lot of the infant thrown into the Ganges, 
 and of the wretch that casts himself before the 
 crushing car of Juggernaut, than of those who 
 hear the Gospel, and believe it not, who are 
 taught of Christ and neglect Him, who know 
 of the true and living God, but repent not of 
 their sins and turn to Him. There are those 
 who erect their golden calf right in the midst of 
 the hosts of God, even while He is giving a 
 revelation of His will, and making appointments 
 for their good. But they shall find that it shall 
 be broken in pieces by His righteous anger, and 
 they and it together shall be burned up in the 
 fires of offended justice. Ah ! these idols ! these 
 idols ! What multitudes in Christian lands they 
 
178 TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST* 
 
 are destroying! How are tliey exalted by the 
 wilful and the proud into the place that Grod 
 should occupy. How degrading is their wor- 
 ship, how debasing is their service. They are 
 impotent to save. In the day when God shall 
 be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking 
 vengeance on them that know Him not, how 
 quickly shall they be destroyed, together with 
 all the hopes and expectations they have in- 
 spired. There is no hope, there is no safety^ 
 but in the true and living God, and in the Son 
 •of God, the Christ, the Eedeemer. Wise men 
 did those idolatrous Thessalonians prove them- 
 selves to be in turning from their idols to serve 
 Him; and truly wise are all those who follow 
 their example. 
 
 The second great fact asserted of the Thes- 
 salonians by the surrounding colonies and com- 
 munities, by which they were known to have 
 become Christians indeed, was that they waited 
 for the Son of God from the heavens. *'For 
 they themselves show of us what manner of 
 entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned 
 to God from idols, to serve the living and true 
 God: And to wait for His Son from heaven^ 
 whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus^ 
 which delivered us from the wrath to come." 
 
 The fact that Christ will come again is be- 
 lieved by all Christians, and confessed in all 
 orthodox creeds. It is a doctrine prominently 
 
TUKNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 179 
 
 set forth in the Scripture. Jesus said to His 
 disciples just before His departure from them, 
 **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. ' ' At His ascension, two 
 men in white apparel appeared to the apostles 
 after He was taken up in the heavens, and said, 
 * ^ Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
 heaven! This same Jesus which is taken up 
 from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
 manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.'' 
 Paul tells us that **to them that look for Him, 
 shall He appear the second time without sin 
 unto salvation." Peter says, **We have not 
 followed cunningly devised fables, when we 
 made known unto you the power and coming 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ." John refers to it 
 when he 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." And Jude makes the procla- 
 mation, '* Behold the Lord cometh with ten 
 thousand of His saints, to execute judgment 
 upon all and to convince all that are ungodly 
 among them, of all their ungodly deeds which 
 they have ungodly committed." In the face 
 of such passages as these, and many others of 
 a similar character might be cited, no one can 
 deny that the Scriptures teach that the Lord 
 
180 TURNING FEOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOE CHRIST. 
 
 Jesus Christ shall return to our earth again. 
 But although there is no question among Chris- 
 tians as to the bare fact here presented, there 
 is great variety of opinion as to the attitude 
 we should occupy in regard to that event, and 
 the sway and influence it should have upon our 
 lives. There are some who, while they believe 
 that Christ will come, look upon His advent as 
 a thing so far off in the future, that it has 
 no practical effect upon them. There are others 
 who deem it sufficient to believe simply that 
 Christ will come, without troubling themselves 
 about the time of His advent or its attendant 
 circumstances. Others again, while reading of 
 it in their Bibles and confessing it in their 
 creeds, consider all the subjects relating to it 
 as mere speculation and not to be attended to. 
 Over against all these classes we place the 
 Christians of Thessalonica ; and believe that 
 the attitude presented by them, with reference 
 to the coming of the Son of Man, is the true 
 attitude which all Christians should occupy. 
 They waited for the Son of God from the 
 heavens, and they were known among their 
 brethren in the surrounding nations by this 
 feature of their Christian life; and the apostle 
 Paul makes mention of it to their praise, and 
 as a cause why he was bound to give thanks for 
 them to Almighty God. If they were wrong 
 why was this fact sounded out as a peculiar 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 181 
 
 mark of their devotion to Christ; and why did 
 not Paul correct the mistake and set them 
 right ? We are forced to the conclusion that the 
 Thessalonians in looking for Christ ^s coming 
 and in waiting for it, occupied the true posture 
 of a Christian, and in this as well as in turning 
 to God from idols, they were ensamples to the 
 whole Christian church. 
 
 Nor is this the only place in the Scripture 
 where this waiting for Christ is spoken of. 
 Our Lord Himself exhorted His disciples as 
 follows : ^ * Let your loins be girded about and 
 your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto 
 men that wait for their Lord when He 
 will return from the wedding, that when He 
 Cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him 
 immediately.'' Isaiah says, ** Since the begin- 
 ning of the world, men have not heard, nor 
 perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, 
 God, beside Thee, what He hath prepard for 
 him that waiteth for Him." James says, *^Be 
 patient therefore brethren unto the coming of 
 the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth 
 for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath 
 long patience for it, until he receive the early 
 and the latter rain. Be ye also patient : estab- 
 lish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord 
 draweth nigh." To the Corinthians the apostle 
 writes, ^*I thank my God always on your behalf, 
 for the grace of God which is given you by 
 
182 TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 
 
 Jesus Christ. That in everything ye are en- 
 riched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowl- 
 edge; even as the testimony of Christ was 
 confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in 
 no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ : Who shall also confirm you unto 
 the end, that ye may be blameless in the day 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ.'' And in his second 
 epistle to the Thessalonians he prays, **The 
 Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, 
 and into the patient waiting for Christ." 
 
 It appears from these passages that waiting 
 fbr Christ's coming was a prominent feature of 
 apostolic Christianity. The Thessalonians 
 were right when they not only turned from 
 idols to serve the living and true God, but to 
 wait for His Son from the heavens. How 
 greatly then do those persons depart from the 
 faith and simplicity of the Gospel times, who 
 ignore this subject as uninteresting, specula- 
 tive, or a thing only for the feature. The 
 Bible warns us again and again against losing 
 sight of the advent of our Lord. He who passes 
 it by unheeded loses much precious consolation, 
 as well as runs great risk and danger to his 
 soul. A theme which is made the basis of so 
 many Scripture exhortations, and the spring 
 of so much hope to the church and the earth, 
 and which we are specially warned not to 
 neglect, should be a favorite theme for our 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 183 
 
 thouglits, as well as a powerful incentive to our 
 actions. When the Bible presents it so fre- 
 quently, we cannot slight it without great injury 
 to ourselves. 
 
 Let us inquire a little more particularly into 
 what is meant by waiting for Christ from the 
 heavens. 
 
 1. Waiting for Christ implies an expectancy 
 of His coming. A man who waits for a thing 
 expects it and looks for it. He has his thoughts 
 fixed upon it and regards it as an event that 
 may transpire at any moment. He is assured 
 that it may occur at any time, and he is not 
 taken unawares when it does occur. 
 
 There are some who tell us that Christ's 
 coming is an event yet far off in the future. 
 That we are not to concern ourselves about it. 
 That the great thing for us to do is to labor 
 to convert the world. That all nations must be 
 converted, and universal righteousness prevail 
 and a golden age be brought in, which will 
 last for a thousand years, and then somewhere 
 down at the end of that period Christ will come. 
 Now this is a very beautiful theory, but the 
 only difficulty in the way of its acceptance is 
 that it is not true. I heartily agree that 
 it is the work of a Christian, to labor to 
 bring as many of all nations to the knowledge 
 of salvation as he can, but I deny that the 
 word of God teaches us not to look for the 
 
184 TUENING FEOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST, 
 
 advent of the Son of Man until after the millen- 
 nium. It invariably and always represents 
 Christ ^s second coming as likely to take place 
 at any moment, and so enjoins us to keep our- 
 selves in readiness for it and to wait for it. 
 Listen to some of the passages bearing upon 
 this point. James writes to the church general, 
 ^^Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for 
 the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.'' ^^ Be- 
 hold the judge standeth at the door.'' To the 
 Philippians Paul says, *'Let your moderation 
 be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand/' 
 Aud to the Hebrews, ^^Yet a little while^ and 
 He that shall come will come." Peter says, 
 *^The end of all things is at hand: be ye there- 
 fore sober and watch unto prayer. ' ' Jesus calls 
 that man an evil servant who shall say in his 
 heart, ^^My Lord delayeth His coming.'' And 
 in closing the volume of inspiration He gives 
 the significant warning, * * Surely, I come quick- 
 ly." You may tell me that 1800 years have 
 passed away since these utterances were given, 
 and that Christ has not yet come. Very true. 
 But the impression intended to be conveyed 
 by these Grospel passages is that Christ may 
 come at any moment, so that each age of the 
 church would look for it, and wait for it, and 
 cherish it as the grand hope of the church, and 
 the greatest event of all time, next to the in- 
 carnation and the crucifixion. If we believe we 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 185 
 
 are clear as to the intention of the Holy Spirit 
 in any of His revelations, we believe this is 
 clear. That such was the impression made upon 
 the minds of the apostles themselves, and that 
 they acted according to it, is proved by a pass- 
 age in these same epistles to the Thessalonians. 
 In the last part of the fourth chapter of the 
 first epistle, Paul says, *'For this we say unto 
 you by the word of the Lord, that we which are 
 alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, 
 shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 
 the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven 
 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
 and with the trump of God: and the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first : Then we which are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with 
 them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. ' ' 
 Here the apostle speaks as if it were a prob- 
 able thing that Christ would come even in his 
 day. For he uses the expression '^We which 
 are alive and remain unto the coming of the 
 Lord," mentioning himself as among those who 
 might be alive on the earth when the Son of 
 God shall come. And in perfect harmony with 
 this are the ever repeated injunctions of our 
 Lord Himself, ** Watch therefore, for ye know 
 neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son 
 of Man Cometh. " * * Take heed, watch and pray ; 
 for ye know not when the time is." ^^ Watch, 
 for ye know not what hour your Lord doth 
 
186 TUKNING FKOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHEIST. 
 
 come.'^ And if we know not the time, and are 
 constantly enjoined to be on the watch, how 
 dare any man postpone the time one hour, much 
 less a thousand years or indefinitely. It is a 
 great mistake, and one that may prove fatal 
 to us, to treat this subject lightly. The Scrip- 
 tures everywhere speak of Christ's advent as 
 imminent. Christians should be watching and 
 waiting for it, lest it come upon them as a snare. 
 They cannot rise from their slumbers and go 
 forth to their daily labors sure that their Lord 
 will not come before noon; they cannot lie 
 down at night, certain that there will not go 
 forth the midnight cry, ** Behold, He cometh." 
 2. Another thing implied in waiting for the 
 Son of God from the heavens, is a longing for 
 His appearing. Christ's advent is not a sad 
 and gloomy subject for the Christian. It is 
 indeed full of dark forebodings to those who 
 heed not His Gospel ; it will be a time of venge- 
 ance for them. But all who are His disciples 
 indeed can look forward to it and contemplate 
 it with the most joyous anticipation. In the 
 epistle to Titus it is called *^that blessed hope, 
 and the glorious appearing of the great God, 
 and our Saviour Jesus Christ. ' ' It need inspire 
 the meek and lowly disciple of the Master with 
 no dread or alarm; but may be regarded with 
 complacency and delight. Nay it should be 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 187 
 
 waited for with longing; and as Peter says we 
 should be * booking for and hasting '^ to it. 
 
 There are several reasons why Christ ^s 
 advent should be waited for with desire and 
 longing. The world cannot be converted before 
 He comes. I know it is common in missionary 
 sermons and addresses to urge Christians to 
 engage in the cause of missions in order to 
 convert the world. It is constantly urged as 
 an incentive to this work, that the Gospel must 
 be preached to every creature, so that all may 
 believe and the millennium introduced. God 
 forbid that I should lay the slightest obstacle in 
 the way of missionary efforts. Would to God 
 that every son and daughter of our race, were 
 a child of God. But while holding it to be 
 the bounden duty of every Christian to do what 
 in him lies to extend the Gospel and to bring 
 souls to Jesus, yet I can nowhere find the Scrip- 
 tures declaring that the world shall be con- 
 verted before Christ's coming, but only after 
 that event, and by His own personal administra- 
 tions in His own kingdom. A favorite text is 
 often quoted by those who hold a different view 
 from this, which may be dwelling in the minds 
 of some of you now. The Gospel shall be 
 preached in all the world, and then shall the 
 end come. But if men would open their Bibles 
 and read for themselves, they would find it runs 
 thus, ^^His Gospel of the kingdom shall be 
 
188 TUENING FBOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOE CHEIST» 
 
 preached in all the world, for a witness unto 
 all nations; and then shall the end come." 
 There is not a word about the conversion of the 
 world. It simply says the Gospel shall be 
 preached for a witness unto all nations ; and no 
 man can say how much Gospel preaching con- 
 stitutes a witnessing Gospel. And when I find 
 the Bible declaring that the tares grow along 
 side of the wheat, and that both continue until 
 the harvest, the harvest being the end of the 
 world; when I see a warning given that in the 
 last days perilous times shall come, and a cata- 
 logue of crimes specified as then to be enacted, 
 the very recital of which makes the blood tingle ; 
 when we are informed that *^evil men and 
 seducers shall wax worse and worse ; ' ' when it 
 is expressly stated that the mystery of iniquity 
 shall work until it culminates in gigantic evil 
 and in a lawless power which shall be consumed 
 and destroyed only by the Lord Himself, by 
 ^^the spirit of His mouth, and by the brightness 
 of His coming; so that the world grows worse 
 instead of better, men might as well attempt 
 to persuade me that Christ has already come, 
 as that the world will be converted before His 
 second coming. It is only after His throne 
 is established here that the heathen shall be 
 given to Him for His inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for His possession. 
 Just in proportion then as we long for and 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 189 
 
 desire the conversion and salvation of all the 
 world, we should longingly wait for His advent. 
 Again it is only when Christ comes that sor- 
 row and sighing shall be banished from our 
 world, and all tears shall be wiped away. The 
 world is full of woe. Pain and anguish have 
 struck their pulsations deep into the soul of 
 man. *^The heart knoweth its own bitterness. ^^ 
 There is not a household on earth that is free 
 from the inroads of grief and sadness. The 
 cry of the orphan; the wail of the widow left 
 desolate ; the sigh of the aged for strength and 
 health departed; the groan of the sick and 
 dying, are heard on every side. Wretchedness 
 and misery reign over many quarters of the 
 globe. Squalid poverty thrusts itself before 
 you at every step. Wild insanity, and vacant 
 chattering idiocy claim their victims. Every- 
 where are found the garments of mourning. 
 Disease and death stalk abroad unhindered to 
 do their fatal work. Suffering and sorrow are 
 the lot of mourning mortals. Even the earth 
 itself partakes of the common blight. A curse 
 rests upon it, and it groans under its heavy 
 burden, waiting to be delivered. Deliverance 
 for it and its inhabitants shall come only when 
 the Son of God shall come. He who spake to 
 the winds and the waves and they obeyed him ; 
 He who fed the hungering multitudes with 
 bread; He who restored sight to the blind, and 
 
190 TUKNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 
 
 cast out the devils from the deaf and dumb, 
 and dried the tears of the widow of stain, and 
 raised the sick from their beds, and called 
 Lazarus from the grave ; He alone can do away 
 with the groaning and the sighing of earth and 
 its millions. This glad work He will accom- 
 plish only after His return to earth again. 
 Then, and not before, will sorrow be turned into 
 joy. Should not His coming be waited for with 
 intense desire and longing? It is only at His 
 advent, too, that Satan shall be bound, and evil 
 shall be banished, and the confederates in in- 
 iquity and opposers and blasphemers of Christ 
 be destroyed, and sin be done away and uni- 
 versal righteousness and peace be ushered in. 
 Then the saints shall receive their crowns, and 
 the pious their rewards. It shall be a day of 
 glory and of bliss. It is full of hope and joyous 
 expectation to the Christian. Distress and 
 gloom brood over the earth because of Christ's 
 absence ; His presence only shall bring joy and 
 gladness. The earth is waiting ; the angels are 
 waiting, the saints that have passed away are 
 waiting ; why should not we be waiting for Him? 
 Can we not catch the spirit of the Thessa- 
 lonian church and while we turn from idols to 
 serve the living and true God, wait for His Son 
 from heaven? 
 
 3. Finally waiting for Christ implies readi- 
 ness for Him. We should be prepared for 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 191 
 
 His coming, and then we will wait for it with 
 desire. To be ready for Christ's advent, is to 
 be a genuine and true Christian. We must turn 
 from idols to serve the living and the true 
 God. That is lay aside everything that comes 
 between God and the soul. We must have truly 
 repented of our sins, and been washed in the 
 blood of the atoning Lamb, that our guilt may 
 be cleansed away. We must have true faith in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, true love for Him, and 
 a true hope in Him and for Him. We must 
 be found connected with the company of His 
 followers upon earth; gathered into His fold; 
 serving Him in the way of His own appoint-^ 
 ment; and so separated from the world, and 
 consecrated to Him. And besides all this there 
 must be the work of faith, and labor of love, and 
 patience of hope. Upon us is laid the solemn 
 injunction, **Work out your own salvation with 
 fear and trembling.'' And while every Chris- 
 tian is to rest all things in the hands of his 
 Saviour, he must labor and work as if every- 
 thing depended upon himself. The labors of 
 love must be exercised in active charities, 
 benevolent bestowments, and personal minis- 
 trations, for Christ and His cause and people. 
 There must be that patience which endures 
 suffering, affliction and toil, sustained by a 
 heaven-kindled hope in the divine Eedeemer. 
 The lamp of true grace must ever be kept burn- 
 
192 TUKNING FEOM IDOLS AND WAITING FOE CHRIST. 
 
 ing, else when He cometh He shall find all dark- 
 ness within. 
 
 Nor is all this of itself sufficient to constitute 
 readiness for the Lord's appearing. There 
 must be a loving and diligent looking for Him. 
 The crown of life which Paul expected, he tells 
 us would be bestowed on all them that loved 
 Christ's appearing. And in Hebrews we are 
 told *^To them that look for Him, shall He 
 appear the second time without sin unto salva- 
 tion.'' We are warned and commanded again 
 and again by Christ and the apostles to watch 
 ft)r His coming. To watch implies being on the 
 alert, and on the look out for His approach. 
 The moment we give way to the delusion that 
 Christ delayeth His coming, that moment our 
 moral sensibilities lose their activity; our 
 efforts flag ; a dull stupor creeps over our souls ; 
 and we fall asleep, to be awakened only to 
 shame and confusion. Watchfulness, wakeful- 
 ness, longing, as to the second advent are re- 
 quisites to joy and reward when the Lord comes. 
 Identifying ourselves with Christ, by a true 
 and living faith, working for Him in the way 
 He points out, occupying our stations in life 
 and performing our duties with diligence and 
 integrity, and waiting for the Son of God from 
 the heavens, constitute readiness for that event. 
 
 And now, my brethren, what shall I say to 
 persuade you to attend to this solemn matter? 
 
TURNING FROM IDOLS AND WAITING FOR CHRIST. 193 
 
 I have not made these opinions and views. I 
 have endeavored faithfully to develop the words 
 of the text in the light of the Scriptures. And 
 I believe the views here presented are the veri- 
 ties of God. Let us ask ourselves are we Thes- 
 salonian Christians ? Is ours the kind of Chris- 
 tianity which Paul commends and for which 
 he said he was bound to thank God and for 
 which he laid his head on the martyr's block? 
 If not, then we come short of some of the re- 
 quisites of true religion and are endangering 
 our souls. Turn not away from this momentous 
 subject. Prayerfully and diligently give it the 
 study and attention it deserves, that you may 
 at last attain the crown of life, and be admitted 
 into the glories of the kingdom of our coming 
 Lord. And may *'the very God of peace sancti- 
 fy you wholly," that ''your whole spirit and 
 soul and body may be preserved blameless unto 
 the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ' ' 
 
"Where hast thou gleaned to-day ?"— Ruth 2: 19. 
 
 AMONG the towns and villages of Judea, 
 Bethlehem has always been a place of 
 peculiar interest. It is a place to which 
 the mind reverts with pleasure. Its name is 
 associated with important personages. It was 
 here that David, Israel's great king, was born. 
 And it was over the hillsides and among the 
 valleys that surround it, that, when quite a 
 youth, he led his father's flocks. It was here 
 that the Saviour of the world was born. And 
 among these same hillsides and valleys shep- 
 herds were keeping watch at night, when **the 
 glory of the Lord shone round about them,'' 
 and the angels appeared and announced to them 
 the advent of Christ the Lord in the city of 
 David, and celestial choirs sang songs of glory 
 and praise to the Highest over the birth of the 
 heavenly babe. It is the place also where 
 Naomi and Ruth and Boaz lived, and where 
 those touching scenes transpired an account of 
 which we have in the book of Ruth. A modern 
 traveler says that round about the town even 
 
 194 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 195 
 
 now ** there are many fig orchards and vine- 
 yards, marks of industry and thrift; and the 
 adjacent fields, though stony and rough, pro- 
 duce nevertheless good crops of grain." ^^It 
 was here that the scene of the beautiful narra- 
 tive of Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz after 
 his reapers, was laid; and it requires no great 
 stretch of imagination, to call up those trans- 
 actions before our eyes. ' ' 
 
 It is the time of the summer harvest. The 
 fields of Bethlehem stretching away in gentle 
 undulations as far as the eye can reach, or 
 rudely broken by the abrupt ascent of some 
 precipitous hill, stand thick with the yellow 
 ripened grain. The sun, as he climbs up the 
 side of the heavens, sends down his hot beams, 
 bathing all nature in his lurid light, until the 
 eye is oppressed with the glare, and the air 
 quivers and trembles over the heated earth. 
 The dew has all been exhaled. The cattle have 
 sought refuge from the oppressive heat, in the 
 cool shade of some friendly tree. The birds 
 have retired to their leafy coverts in the forest. 
 The breeze of the morning has died away. All 
 is silent and still except an occasional rustle 
 as the dry and brittle stalks strike against each 
 other. The bearded heads of grain hang down 
 heavy with the abundant yield of a plentiful 
 harvest. The reapers have entered upon their 
 work. Their sharp sickles flash in the sunlight, 
 
196 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 as each stroke adds another armful of the 
 golden grain to that already cut. Boaz, the 
 master of the field, comes out from Bethlehem 
 to view his workmen. As he approaches he 
 greets them with the simple salutation, ^*The 
 Lord be with you. ' ^ They answer in the rever- 
 ent response, ^^The Lord bless thee.'' In the 
 same field, following in the path of the reapers, 
 is a damsel, gathering, one by one, the stalks 
 that have accidentally fallen from the hands 
 of the men, as, by the custom of the country, 
 she is allowed to do. It is Euth the Moabitish 
 woman that lately came to Bethlehem with her 
 mother-in-law Naomi, out of the land of Moab. 
 Boaz approaches her and speaks kindly to her, 
 saying, ^^Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go 
 not to glean in another field, neither go from 
 hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let 
 thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, 
 and go thou after them. ' ' Encouraged by these 
 friendly words she continues her work, ventur- 
 ing to glean even among the sheaves. And at 
 mealtime she draws near and sits beside the 
 reapers, and eats of the bread and dips her mor- 
 sel in the vinegar and takes of the parched corn 
 that's reached out to her; and rises up re- 
 freshed and strengthened for the labor of the 
 afternoon. Through the long hours of the sun 's 
 decline she continues her weary work: and as 
 the shadows lengthen over the plain, and the 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 197 
 
 evening comes on, she sits down and beats out 
 the full ripe heads, and gathering the grain 
 together, lifts up her heavy load, and moves 
 slowly along over the dusty road towards her 
 home in Bethlehem. Her day's labor is over. 
 From early morning she has been toiling in the 
 field, collecting the scattered stalks as they 
 dropped from the sheaves. And now with the 
 results of her labor she seeks the home of 
 Naomi : and on entering the house and deposit- 
 ing her burden, her mother-in-law asks her, 
 ** Where hast thou gleaned to-day f 
 
 Such is the account of that day's work in 
 the harvest field of Bethlehem. And if you but 
 vary the scene a little and alter the circum- 
 stances somewhat, you have a picture of human 
 life. The world is a great harvest field. Its 
 ripened fruits of knowledge and of holiness 
 stand ready to be gathered. Men and women 
 are its reapers and its gleaners. And the great 
 Master stands overlooking all, watching the 
 progress of His laborers and dispensing to each 
 his necessary encouragement and support. The 
 work of each continues throughout life. Nor 
 does any one amass at one grasp, all the fruits 
 that he obtains from this great harvest field; 
 but they are gleaned a little at a time through 
 the whole length of his stay here. 
 
 I. Life a-gleaning, then, is the great lesson 
 
198 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 suggested by that scene that transpired in the 
 field of Boaz. 
 
 It is a law of nature that nothing obtains its 
 full development at once. It is by the regular 
 addition of one thing after another, that per- 
 fection is attained. God even did not make this 
 world by only one exertion of His power. There 
 was a succession in the formation of its parts. 
 It was only after the lapse of time, and the 
 creation of one portion after another that it 
 was completed. And throughout the whole 
 natural world the same thing holds good. A 
 tree does not become a tree in a moment. There 
 must first be the planting of the germ; that 
 sends forth a sprout, which appears above the 
 ground, and by drawing up the juices of the 
 earth, and receiving the influences of the sun 
 and air it gradually develops into a stalk, with 
 its little sprigs springing out at intervals ; and 
 it is only when some time has rolled by, and 
 after one little particle after another has been 
 deposited in its appropriate place, that the big 
 round trunk is formed, with its thick boughs 
 extending out on every side, supporting their 
 branches, with all their ramifications of twigs 
 covered with foliage. 
 
 And as with the works of nature so with 
 those of man. The pyramids, those mas- 
 sive monuments of the toil and patience of 
 bygone days, were built by the simple placing 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 199 
 
 of one stone on the top of another, until by the 
 gradual accumulation of these separate insig- 
 nificant parts, their wedge-like forms tower 
 aloft piercing the very clouds, reflecting the 
 rays of the setting sun long after he has ceased 
 to shine on the plains below, and withstanding 
 the storms and tempests of the ages. 
 
 Man's own body is a growth. It grows and 
 is nourished by gleanings gathered from time 
 to time. One little atom after another is placed 
 in its proper position, until the fibres and 
 nerves and muscles and all the various parts 
 of the structure, are completely formed and 
 developed. 
 
 His mind, too, is trained and educated and 
 filled with knowledge by this same process of 
 gleaning. He commences by learning the sim- 
 plest rudiments ; then by picking up the various 
 facts and incidents, and illustrations and pro- 
 cesses of reasoning that are met with, further 
 attainments are made; and by searching out 
 new fields of inquiry, and collecting here and 
 there the scattered grains of truth, sifting them 
 from their enf oldings of chaif , and storing them 
 away in the mind, those vast advances in all the 
 departments of learning and science are made 
 which dignify and grace mankind. 
 
 It is by gleaning also in the same great 
 harvest field, that he is spiritually trained and 
 strengthened. When a man becomes a Chris- 
 
200 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 tian lie does not thereby become a perfect saint. 
 The germs and implantations of grace are in 
 his soul, but these need to grow and to be 
 brought out before they will obtain perfection. 
 Though the dominion of sin is broken, it is not 
 yet completely subdued. There still remain in 
 him those unholy desires and lusts of the flesh 
 which have to be crucified; and those sinful 
 motions and tendencies of his depraved nature 
 which must be overcome. And the graces and 
 virtues of Christianity have to be cultivated. 
 This is a gradual process. It takes time and 
 c6sts labor. He must give all diligence, to 
 * ' add to his faith virtue ; and to virtue knowl- 
 edge; and to knowledge temperance; and to 
 temperance patience ; and to patience godliness ; 
 and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to 
 brotherly kindness charity.'' 
 
 And the Christian must cultivate these in the 
 great harvest field of the world. He comes in 
 contact with its rude reapers and workmen, 
 and moves over its rough stubble field; often 
 lacerating his feet and tripping over the briers 
 that run close to the earth. But it is here that 
 he gathers those heavenly fruits which lie scat- 
 tered over the surface. He gleans out the good 
 grain from among the briers and dead roots 
 which cover the ground. For how is it that 
 his faith is strengthened? Is it not by seeing 
 from time to time some promise fulfilled? or 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 201 
 
 experiencing some deliverance from evil ; or by 
 making some little advance in holiness; or be- 
 holding God's cause triumph over wickedness, 
 or by seeing in some of the various scenes of 
 life the truth of His Word verified? How is it 
 that gentleness is cultivated? Is it not by 
 resisting the outbursts of anger, and keeping- 
 down the uprisings of passion, which from time 
 to time occur; by bearing patiently with the 
 little provocations, that are met with, and still 
 preserving a calm and unruffled frame of mind 
 amid the rude jostlings and cankering cares 
 of daily life? Is it not by repressing the tart 
 reply, the reproachful word, the uncalled for 
 sneer, that is so ready to issue from our lips? 
 Is it not by returning good for the evil which 
 is received, and bearing meekly with the unkind 
 words and deeds of friends and foes? How is 
 it that charity is cultivated? Is it not by per- 
 forming one little act of love after another ; by 
 speaking here and there a friendly word, and 
 making where needed a kindly bestowment? Is 
 it not by repressing those ill feelings which 
 would lead us to judge severely or harshly, or 
 to think ill of our neighbors ; and by cherishing 
 such a fraternal spirit as will lead us to put 
 the best construction on their actions, and to 
 render them the assistance they need, when the 
 opportunity offers? And so with the other 
 spiritual graces and virtues. They are acquired 
 
202 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 and developed as we move along in our field of 
 Christian labor. They are strengthened and 
 increased by successive acts. We add to what 
 has been already gained by continued gleanings, 
 gathered from the harsh, sharp stubble field of 
 the world, even though the hand is wounded 
 in the effort. It is by picking up one golden 
 stalk of grain after another that the armful 
 is obtained. Nor do we know at first how 
 much precious grain is secured in this way. 
 It is only after it has been beaten out and 
 sifted from the chaff, that the fruit of our 
 labors appears. Then at the close of the day 
 it will be seen how much has been gathered, 
 and what great stores have been collected by 
 these little gleanings. Great spiritual attain- 
 ments are not made by one act, but by a con- 
 tinued succession of little acts during the whole 
 labor of life. 
 
 11. A second suggestion of the text is that 
 to each one there is assigned a particular field 
 for this gleaning. '^ Where hast thou gleaned 
 to-day?" was the question of Naomi. Ruth 
 gleaned in the field of Boaz, nor did she leave 
 it for any other, but continued there until the 
 end of the harvest. And so to every one there 
 is a special sphere of action appointed, in 
 which he is required to labor. *^We are not a 
 race of independent creatures abandoned to live 
 without control." We were not created, to be 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 203 
 
 cast off to take care of ourselves, and to 
 roam at large without guidance and oversight. 
 Though possessing freedom of will we are 
 under the direction of our Maker. 
 
 The object of the existence of every one is 
 the same — to do the will of God — and to live 
 to His glory. And yet the way in which this 
 is done may vary in an endless manner. Almost 
 as great as is the diversity in the individual 
 members of the human race is the diversity in 
 their spheres of action and lines of duty. * * The 
 l3ody is not one member but many. ' ' And each 
 member occupies its own appropriate place, and 
 performs its appropriate work. No one part 
 usurps the place of another, nor can one part 
 perform the functions of another. And the 
 health and good of the whole body is best 
 secured when each member fulfils the special 
 duty assigned to it in the most perfect manner. 
 God has appointed **some apostles; and some 
 prophets ; and some evangelists ; and some pas- 
 tors and teachers.'' The position of an apostle 
 is greatly different from that of a teacher, 
 and the position of a teacher again from that 
 of a learner. Each one moves in the particular 
 place assigned him, finding in that place differ- 
 ent duties and requirements from all the others. 
 So, also, there is an endless variety in the 
 spheres of individuals. But the work of each 
 one consists in acting well his part wherever 
 
204 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 he may find himself placed; in advancing in 
 holiness in the course which is prescribed to 
 him; in gleaning in his own field of labor, and 
 in gathering from it all the good he can obtain. 
 
 Nor should any one suppose that he could 
 better perform the work assigned in some other 
 position than that in which he is really placed. 
 There are some who are always complaining 
 of their hard state; and of the difficulties that 
 they have to meet. They are never satisfied; 
 imagining that their lot is harder to bear than 
 that of any one else. Because they cannot see 
 into the hidden and private life of others, and 
 only view what is more public and exposed, 
 which is always the fairest; they think that 
 others are not subjected to the same or similar 
 trials with themselves. They are ever envying 
 those around them, and wishing that they were 
 as fortunate. They suppose that they could 
 more easily carry out their Christian profes- 
 sion, that they would not have such difficult 
 temptations to overcome, that they could more 
 readily cultivate the graces of the Christian, 
 that they would not have so much to perplex 
 and vex them, and that they could in all respects 
 approve themselves better Christians, if they 
 were only in some other condition in life. 
 
 The humble and obscure long for a position 
 among the more honored and exalted, and think 
 that then they would have much greater oppor- 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 205 
 
 trinities for growing in grace. The poor sigh 
 for a position among the rich, and contemplate 
 the liberal bestowments they would thus be 
 enabled to make for the good of their fellow 
 men. *^The young ascribe their errors to the 
 impetuosity so natural to their age. Those 
 who are more advanced in years are ready to 
 imagine that if they enjoyed more leisure, and 
 were not so entangled with the cares and per- 
 plexities of their active station, they should be 
 better able to attend to the duties incumbent 
 on them as Christians. The aged are wishing 
 for the energy and capacity of attention which 
 belong to youth.'' But all these are vain im- 
 aginings, airy suppositions. Joseph was just 
 as much approved of God, advancing just as 
 much in holiness, and cultivating virtue, while 
 as a slave he was serving his master, as when 
 seated upon a throne next to that of Pharaoh 
 he directed the affairs of Egypt. David was 
 doing the will of Grod and securing his own 
 good as well when, as a shepherd lad, he ad- 
 vanced with his sling and smooth pebbles to 
 fight the Philistine giant, as when clad in royal 
 purple he swayed the sceptre of a king. John 
 the Baptist abiding in the wilderness, living on 
 locusts and wild honey, and preaching the 
 coming of the kingdom of God to those who 
 flock to hear him, is doing more good to his 
 fellow men, and receiving more good to his own 
 
206 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 soul, than Herod surrounded with all Ms pomp 
 and magnificence, and receiving the homage and 
 tribute of his subjects. 
 
 We promote our best interests, and secure 
 our greatest happiness by conforming ourselves 
 to the position in which we are placed; by 
 improving the opportunities that are actually 
 afforded us ; and by gathering from the various 
 circumstances by which we are surrounded all 
 the good we can. ^^If we do not now love and 
 fear Grod — if we cannot now resist temptation^ 
 mortify corruption, and devote ourselves to the 
 service of God — ^if we do not now form any 
 resolution to live as Christians — ^we may be 
 assured that a change of circumstances will 
 not avail. ' ' We have not come into our various 
 fields of action through chance, nor have we 
 placed ourselves in them. The Supreme Euler 
 of the Universe directs our ways. He knows 
 our fitness for the stations we occupy; and he 
 has wisely ordered all things for our greatest 
 good. The great objects of our being will be 
 best secured by filling out the line of our duty 
 which has been marked out for us. By gleaning 
 in our own appointed harvest field, and not 
 longing or searching for another. 
 
 III. A third point suggested by the text is 
 that there is a certain time fixed in which this 
 work is to be done. The harvest time is a set 
 period of the year. It has its commencement 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 207 
 
 and its ending. And between these two points 
 the labor must all be performed. It does not 
 last all the year. And when the proper season 
 has passed it is too late to attempt to reap the 
 grain and gather the gleanings. A beginning 
 of the work must be made also as soon as the 
 harvest sets in. It does not last long. A few 
 weeks will cover the whole period. Every 
 moment, therefore, is precious; and every 
 moment must be busily employed. 
 
 So a man's life is his harvest time: and it is 
 divinely limited. ** There is an appointed time 
 to man upon earth. ' ' He has his set boundaries 
 beyond which he cannot go. As he cannot add 
 one cubit to his stature, so he cannot add one 
 day to his age. 
 
 And as his life is fixed and limited so it is 
 brief. His days glide quickly by. What flies 
 faster than time? The moments are gone as 
 soon as counted. **Are not my days few?'' 
 says Job. ^* Behold thou hast made my days 
 as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing 
 before Thee, ' ' said David. Like a fragile flower 
 man springs up, and blooms for a little while, 
 and then fades away. Like the morning dew 
 that sparkles but for an hour, and is then ex- 
 haled by the rising sun, so he endures for a 
 short time and then disappears. His harvest 
 is soon over. The hours of his active labor 
 pass rapidly away. There must be no dallying 
 
• 
 
 208 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 with the work that is to be done. There are 
 no moments to spare; none too many for the 
 duty in hand. His work of gleaning must com- 
 mence as early as possible and be continued 
 industriously, for 
 
 Beyond the waking and the sleeping, 
 " Beyond the gathering and the strewing 
 Beyond the reaping and the gleaning 
 He shall be soon. 
 
 The consideration of this subject now, my hear- 
 ers, should lead us: 
 
 1. To be content with our various positions 
 and stations in life. We are not the arbiters 
 of our own destiny. We have not the control 
 •of our own ways. We are under the direction 
 of an overruling Providence. God is wise and 
 good. The appointments He has made concern- 
 ing us are the best. Our welfare and happiness 
 will be most secured when we most completely 
 fill out the duties of our Christian calling in 
 the several positions in which we find ourselves 
 placed. Sighing and longing for other condi- 
 tions and circumstances will not do us any good. 
 It will only make us dissatisfied, fretful and 
 unhappy. And, besides, if we should by any 
 means be placed in the positions we seek, we 
 would find there obstacles to be overcome, and 
 duties to be performed, and temptations to be 
 resisted, just as great as those we experience 
 
LIFE A GLEANING. 209 
 
 now. Other conditions will not increase our 
 final happiness. For when we come up to stand 
 before the Judge we will not be asked whether 
 we could have performed the work assigned to 
 another more faithfully than our own, but 
 whether we have fully performed our own. Not 
 whether we could have gleaned more in another 
 field, but whether we have gathered all the 
 stalks of grain that lay scattered over our own. 
 * ^ Be content with such things as ye have " : so 
 will you best please God, and promote your own 
 comfort and peace. 
 
 2. The consideration of this subject should 
 also lead us to be faithful and earnest in our 
 work. This life is the only harvest season we 
 have. The gleaning that is to be done, must 
 be done now. The good that is to be gathered, 
 must be gathered now. Time flies and if we are 
 not earnest and faithful, it may pass away 
 before we have gone over half the field. It 
 becomes each one to attach himself with more 
 seriousness, alacrity and fervor to the proper 
 duties of his station than ever. If any have 
 strayed away from their proper duty let them 
 return to it as speedily as possible. If any 
 have become wearied and inattentive, let them 
 bestir themselves and labor with energy, for 
 the sun is fast setting, darkness will soon over- 
 take them. If any have not yet turned in from 
 the dusty highroad of pleasure and of sin, let 
 
210 LIFE A GLEANING. 
 
 them at once alter their course, enter upon the 
 harvest field of Christian labor, and set them- 
 selves to gather the gleanings of good. 
 
 " 'Tis not for man to trifle! Life is brief, 
 
 And sin is here. 
 Our age is but the falling of a leaf, 
 
 A dropping tear. 
 We have no time to sport away the hours. 
 All must be earnest in a world like ours." 
 
 ** Not many lives, but only one have we 
 
 One, only one; — 
 How sacred should that one life be — 
 
 That narrow span ! 
 Day after day filled up with blessed toil. 
 
 Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil.'* 
 
 And so, when, after a life of holy activity, and 
 energetic labor, we come to stand before the 
 great Master, and lay down the precious 
 sheaves that we have gleaned, we will hear His 
 gracious words of approbation and reward, 
 **Well done, good and faithful servants, enter 
 into the joy of your Lord!" 
 
Khvtnt 
 
 '* And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, be- 
 cause he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the 
 kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A 
 certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a king- 
 dom, and to return. And he called his ten servants and delivered 
 them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.^' — 
 Luke 19: 11-13. 
 
 THESE words reveal to us the secret 
 thoughts of our Lord's disciples at this 
 period of His ministry. They were 
 drawing nigh to Jerusalem. They gathered 
 from their Master's sayings that something 
 remarkable was about to happen. They had a 
 strong impression that one great end of His 
 coming into the world was about to be accom- 
 plished. So far they were quite right, but as 
 to the precise nature of the event about to 
 happen they were quite wrong. 
 
 Let us attend 
 
 L To the mistake into which the disciples 
 had fallen. What was this mistake? Let us 
 try to understand it. 
 
 Our Lord's disciples seem to have thought 
 that the Old Testament promises of Messiah's 
 visible kingdom and glory were about to be 
 immediately fulfilled. They believed rightly 
 
 211 
 
212 ADVENT. 
 
 that He was ideed the Messiah — the Christ of 
 God. But they blindly supposed that He was 
 at once to take to Himself His great power 
 and reign gloriously over the earth. This was 
 the sum and substance of their error. They ap- 
 peared to have concluded that now was the day 
 and now the hour, when the Redeemer would 
 build up Zion and appear in His glory — when 
 He would smite the earth with the rod of His 
 mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the 
 wicked, — when He would assemble the outcasts 
 of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah, 
 — when He would take the heathen for His in- 
 heritance and the uttermost part of the earth 
 for His possession, — ^when He would reign in 
 Mt. Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His 
 ancients gloriously, — ^when the kingdom and the 
 dominion and the greatness of the kingdom 
 under the whole heaven, would be given to the 
 saints of the Most High. Such appears to have 
 been the mistake into which our Lord 's disciples 
 had fallen, at the time when He spoke the 
 Parable of the Pounds. 
 
 It was a great mistake unquestionably. They 
 did not realize that before all these prophecies 
 could be fulfilled, it behooved Christ to suffer. 
 Their sanguine expectations overleaped the 
 crucifixion and the long period to follow, and 
 bounded forward to the final glory. They did 
 not see that there was to be a first advent of 
 
ADVENT. 213 
 
 the Messiah **to be cut off," before the second 
 advent of Messiah to reign. They did not per- 
 ceive that the sacrifices and ceremonies of the 
 law of Moses were first to receive their fulfill- 
 ment in a better sacrifice and a better high 
 priest, and in the shedding of blood more pre- 
 cious than that of bulls and of goats. They did 
 not comprehend that before the glory Christ 
 must be crucified, and a people gathered for 
 His name from among the Gentiles by the 
 preaching of the Gospel. They grasped part of 
 the prophetical word but not all. They saw that 
 Christ was to have a kingdom, but they did not 
 see that He was to be wounded and bruised, 
 and be an offering for sin. They understood 
 the dispensation of the crown and the glory, 
 but not the dispensation of the cross and the 
 shame. Such was their mistake. 
 
 It was a mistake, however, which we Gen- 
 tiles are bound to regard with much tenderness 
 and consideration. The modern Gentile Chris- 
 tians have fallen into an error, parallel with 
 that of our Jewish brethren, and an error far 
 more inexcusable because we have more light. 
 If the Jew thought too exclusively of Christ 
 reigning, has not the Gentile thought too ex- 
 clusively of Christ suffering? If the Jew could 
 see nothing in Old Testament prophecy but 
 Christ's exaltation and final power, has not the 
 Gentile often seen nothing but Christ's humilia- 
 
214 
 
 ADVENT. 
 
 tion and the preaching of the Gospel? If the 
 Jew has dwelt too much on Christ ^s second 
 advent, has not the Gentile dwelt too exclusively 
 on Christ ^s first? If the Jew ignored the cross, 
 has not the Gentile ignored the crown? It 
 seems to me that we have not rightly under- 
 stood **all that the prophets have spoken'' 
 about the second personal advent of Christ, any 
 more than the Jews did about the first. And 
 because we have done this we should speak of 
 such mistakes as that referred to in our text 
 with much tenderness. 
 
 This subject affects the whole question at 
 issue between ourselves and the unconverted 
 Jew. Unless we interpret the prophetical por- 
 tion of the Old Testament in the simple literal 
 meaning of its words, we will find it no easy 
 matter to carry on an argument with an uncon- 
 verted Jew. 
 
 You would probably tell him that Jesus of 
 Nazareth was the Messiah promised in the Old 
 Testament Scriptures. To those Scriptures you 
 would refer him for proof. You would show 
 him how it was prophesied that the Messiah 
 should suffer and die and rise again. You 
 would tell him that the 22d Psalm, the 53d 
 of Isaiah ; Daniel 9 : 26 ; Micah, 5 : 2, etc., were 
 literally fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. You 
 would urge upon him that he ought to believe 
 these Scriptures, and receive Christ as the 
 
ADVENT. 215 
 
 Messiah. All very good. So far you do well. 
 But suppose the Jew asks you if you take all 
 the prophecies of the Old Testament in their 
 simple, literal meaning. Suppose he asks you 
 if you believe in a literal personal advent of 
 the Messiah to reign over the earth in glory, — 
 a literal restoration of Judah and Israel to 
 Palestine — a literal rebuilding and restoration 
 of Zion and Jerusalem. Suppose he puts these 
 questions to you, what answer are you prepared 
 to make 1 Will you tell him that the Old Testa- 
 mient prophecies of this kind are not to be taken 
 in their plain, literal sense? Will you tell him 
 that the glorious kingdom and future blessed- 
 ness of Zion, so often dwelt upon in prophecy 
 mean nothing more than the gradual Christian- 
 izing of the world by missionaries'? Will you 
 tell him that you think it *^ carnal '' to take such 
 Scriptures literally," — '^carnaP' to expect a 
 literal rebuilding of Jerusalem, — ** carnal" to 
 expect a literal coming of the Messiah to reign, 
 — ** carnal" to look for a literal gathering and 
 restoration of Israel? If so, do you not see that 
 you are putting a weapon in the hand of the 
 unconverted Jew, which he will probably use 
 with irresistible power? Do you not see that 
 you are cutting the ground from under your 
 own feet, and supplying the Jew with a strong 
 argument for not believing your own interpre- 
 tation of Scripture? Do you not see that the 
 
216 ADVENT. 
 
 Jew will reply that it is ** carnal" to tell him 
 that Messiah has come literally to suffer, if 
 you tell him it is carnal to expect Messiah to 
 come literally to reign? Will not the Jew tell 
 you it is far more carnal in you to believe that 
 the Messiah could come into the world as a 
 despised, crucified man of sorrows, than it is 
 in him to believe that He will come into the 
 world as a glorious King? What answer could 
 you give him ? 
 
 Eead the Scriptures in the light of these two 
 great pole stars, the first and second advents of 
 Jesus Christ. Bind up with the first advent the 
 rejection of the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles, 
 the preaching of the Gospel as a witness to the 
 world, and the gathering out of the world a 
 people for Christ ^s name. Bind up with the 
 second advent the restoration of the Jews, the 
 pouring out of judgments on unbelieving Chris- 
 tendom, the conversion of the world and the 
 establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth. 
 Do this and you will see a meaning and fullness 
 in prophecy which perhaps you never discov- 
 ered before. 
 
 We should interpret unfulfilled prophecy in 
 the light of prophecies already fulfilled. The 
 curses on the Jews were brought to pass liter- 
 ally; — so also will be the blessings. The scat- 
 tering was literal ; so also will be the gathering. 
 
ADVENT. 217 
 
 The rejection of Israel was literal, so also will 
 be the restoration. 
 
 We should interpret the events that shall 
 accompany Christ's second advent by the light 
 of those accompanying His first advent. The 
 first advent w^as visible, literal, personal; — so 
 also will be His second. His first advent was 
 with a literal body ; — so also will be His second. 
 The least predictions concerning His first ad- 
 vent were fulfilled to the very letter; so also 
 will they be at His second. The shame was 
 literal and visible, so also will be His glory. 
 
 We ought to regard the mistake of our Lord 's 
 disciples with tenderness and consideration. 
 We ought not to condemn them, for great as 
 was their mistake, that of modern Christians 
 has been almost as bad. We have been very 
 quick in discovering the mote in our Jewish 
 brother's eye and have not discerned the beam 
 in our own. The Jew looked too much to the 
 final glory of Christ, and turned away from the 
 cross ; we have fixed our gaze on the cross and 
 have been neglectful of the kingly reign and 
 glory of Christ to be revealed at His second 
 coming. 
 
 II. The second point to which I direct your 
 attention is the present position of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. What is He doing now? The 
 parable answers that question. ^*A certain 
 nobleman went into a far country to receive for 
 
218 ADVENT. 
 
 himself a kingdom and to return. This noble- 
 man represents the Lord Jesus, and that in two 
 respects. Like the nobleman He has gone into 
 a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom. 
 He has not received it yet in full possession 
 though He has received it in promise. He has 
 a spiritual kingdom unquestionably. He is king 
 over the hearts of His believing people, and they 
 are all His faithful subjects. Without contro- 
 versy He has a controlling power over the 
 world. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. 
 ^^By Him all things consist,'' and without His 
 permission nothing can happen. But His vis- 
 ible complete kingdom He has not yet. entered 
 into. ^^We see not yet all things put under 
 Him.'' To use the words of the 110th Psalm: 
 **He sits on the right hand of the Father till 
 His enemies are made His footstool." The 
 devil reigns over the hearts and lives of the 
 mass of the people of this world. They choose 
 the things that please the devil far more than 
 the things that please Grod. Little as they may 
 think it, they are doing the devil 's will, behaving 
 as the devil's subjects, and serving the devil 
 far more than they are serving Christ. This 
 is the actual condition of Christendom as well 
 as of heathen countries. After 1800 years of 
 Bibles and Gospel preaching, there is not a 
 nation or a country, a city or a town, where the 
 devil has not more subjects than Christ. So 
 
ADVENT. 219 
 
 fearfully true is it that the world is not yet 
 the kingdom of Christ. Christ is followed by 
 a few and they often neither great nor wise, 
 but they are a faithful people. But He has 
 none of the visible signs of the kingdom at 
 present on earth, no earthly glory, majesty or 
 greatness. The vast majority of mankind see no 
 beauty in Him. They will not have this Man to 
 reign over them. His people are not honored 
 for their Master ^s sake. They walk the earth 
 like princes in disguise. His kingdom of glory 
 is not yet come. His will is not yet done on 
 earth as it is in heaven. He is gathering out 
 a people who are carrying the cross and walk- 
 ing in His steps, but the time of His coronation 
 has not yet arrived. 
 
 But just as the Lord Jesus, like the 
 nobleman, went to receive a kingdom, so like 
 the nobleman He intends one day to return, 
 and then and not till then will Christ take to 
 Himself His power and reign over all the earth. 
 He left His servants as a nobleman. He will 
 return to His subjects as a King. Then He 
 intends to cast out the old usurper, the devil, 
 and strip him of his power. Then He will make 
 a restitution of the face of creation. It will 
 be the world's jubilee day. The King will at 
 last have His will done. At last men shall say, 
 *'The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.*' 
 Then will He execute judgment on all the un- 
 
220 ADVENT. 
 
 godly despisers of His word, and in flaming 
 fire take vengeance on them that know not God 
 and obey not His Gospel. Then He will raise 
 His dead saints and gather His living ones, and 
 gather together the scattered tribes of Israel, 
 and set np an empire in which every knee shall 
 bow to Him, and every tongue confess that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord. 
 
 When, how all these things shall be we can 
 not say. Enough for us to know they shall be. 
 The Lord Jesus waits for the time appointed 
 By the Father and then shall they be brought 
 to pass. Now He is sitting at the right hand 
 of the Father — interceding as a high priest in 
 the holy of holies for His people — adding to 
 their number such as shall be saved by the 
 preaching of the Gospel, — and waiting until the 
 appointed day of His power, when He shall 
 come forth to bless His people and to sit on 
 His throne. 
 
 Have these things clearly in your mind, 
 and then you will not cherish extravagant 
 expectations of any church, minister or reli- 
 gious machinery in the present dispensation. 
 You will not marvel to see ministers and mis- 
 sionaries not meeting with greater success. You 
 will not wonder to find that while some believe 
 the Gospel, many do not believe. You will 
 not be depressed in seeing the children of the 
 world in every place many, and the children of 
 
ADVENT. 221 
 
 God feiv. You will remember that the days are 
 evil, and that the time of general conversion has 
 not yet arrived. Alas ! for the man who expects 
 a millennium before the Lord Jesus returns. 
 How can this be if the world in the day of His 
 coming is to be found as it was in the days of 
 Noah and Lot. 
 
 Be assured of these truths and vou will not 
 be surprised by the continuance of immense 
 evils in the world. Wars, tumults, oppression, 
 dishonesty, selfishness, covetousness, supersti- 
 tion, bad government and abounding heresies 
 will not appear to you unaccountable. You will 
 not sink down into a morbid, misanthropic con- 
 dition when you see laws and reforms and 
 education failing to make mankind perfect. 
 You will not relapse into a state of apathy and 
 disgust when you see churches full of imper- 
 fections and godly people making mistakes. 
 You will say to yourself, **The time of Christ's 
 kingdom has not yet arrived — the devil is still 
 working among his children and sowing tares 
 among the good seed — the true King is yet to 
 come.'* 
 
 This will also explain why God delays the 
 final glory, and allows things to go on as they 
 do in this world. It is not that He is not able 
 to prevent evil — it is not that He is slack in 
 fulfilling His promises — ^but He is taking out 
 for Himself a people by the preaching of His 
 
222 ADVENT. 
 
 Gospel. He is long suffering — not willing that 
 any should perish, but that all should come to 
 repentance. 
 
 Think on these things and you will be often 
 looking for the coming of the day of God. You 
 will regard the second advent as a glorious and 
 comfortable truth, around which your best 
 hopes will all be clustered. You will not merely 
 think of Christ crucified, but you will think also 
 of Christ coming again to reign. You will long 
 for the day of refreshing and manifestation of 
 tlie sons of God. You will find peace in looking 
 back to the cross, and you will find joyful hope 
 in looking forward to the kingdom. For as 
 surely as Christ has gone into a far country to 
 receive a kingdom, so surely will He come as 
 a King. 
 
 III. What is the present duty of all Christ's 
 professing disciples ? We find an answer in the 
 act and words of the nobleman in the Parable 
 to his servants, ' ' He delivered them ten pounds 
 and said unto them. Occupy until I come." 
 These words are spoken to all who call them- 
 selves Christians. They address the conscience 
 of every one who has not renounced his baptism 
 and formally turned his back on Christianity. 
 
 The Lord Jesus bids you occupy. By that 
 He means that you are to be a doer in your 
 Christianity, and not merely a hearer and pro- 
 fessor. He wants His servants not only to re- 
 
ADVENT. 223 
 
 ceive His wages and eat His bread, and to 
 dwell in His house, and belong to His family — 
 but also to do His work. You are to ^*let your 
 light so shine before men that they may see 
 your good works." Have you faith? It must 
 not be a dead faith, but a faith that works by 
 love. Are you redeemed! You are redeemed 
 that you may be a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good works. Do you love Christ? Prove the 
 reality of your love by keeping His command- 
 ments. Beware of an idle, gossiping, senti- 
 mental, do-nothing religion. Think not because 
 your works cannot justify you, nor cleanse you 
 from a single sin, that therefore it matters not 
 whether you do anything at all. Away witk 
 such a delusion. Cast it behind you as an in- 
 vention of the devil. Think of the house built 
 upon the sand and of its miserable end. If 
 you would ^^make your calling and election 
 sure" be an active working Christian. 
 
 But the Lord Jesus bids you occupy your 
 pound. By this He means that He has given 
 each one of His believing people the ability and 
 the opportunity to glorifiy Him. He would 
 have you understand that every one has His 
 own sphere of action — the poorest as well as 
 the richest; — that every one has an open door 
 before him, and may, if he will, show forth 
 his Master's praise. Your bodily health and 
 strength, — ^your mental gifts and capacities — 
 
224 ADVENT. 
 
 your money and earthly possessions — your ex- 
 ample and influence with others — ^your liberty 
 to read the Bible and hear the Gospel — ^your 
 plentiful supply of the means of grace — all 
 these are your pounds. All these are to be 
 used and employed with a continual reference 
 to the glory of Christ. Of Him come riches 
 and honor. His is the silver and His is the 
 gold. His is your body and His your spirit. 
 He appoints your habitation. He gives you life 
 and health. You are not your own. You are 
 Tbought with a price. Surely it is no great mat- 
 ter if He bid you honor and serve Him with all 
 that you have. Breathes there a man or woman 
 before me, who has received nothing from the 
 Lord I Not one I am sure. see to it that 
 you lay out your Lord's pounds well and hon- 
 estly. Take heed that you do not bury them. 
 
 But your Lord bids you occupy till He comes. 
 By this He means that you are to do His work 
 on earth, like one who continually looks for His 
 return. You are to be like the faithful servant 
 who knows not what hour his Master may come 
 home, but keeps all things in readiness and is 
 always prepared. You are not to suppose that 
 you have any freehold in this world, nor even a 
 lease. The greatest and richest of mankind 
 is only God's tenant-at-will. You are not to 
 neglect any social duty or relation in life be- 
 cause of your Lord's return. You are to fill 
 
ADVENT. 225 
 
 the station to wMcli God has called you in a 
 godly and Christian way; and you are to be 
 ready to go from your place of business to 
 meet Christ in the air, if the Lord shall think 
 fit. You are to rise and go forth in the morn- 
 ing, ready, if need be, to meet Christ at noon. 
 You are to lie down in bed at night ready, if 
 need be, to be awakened by the midnight cry, 
 '^Behold the Bridegroom cometh. '' You are 
 to keep your spiritual accounts in a state of 
 constant preparation for inspection, for the day 
 of Christ ^s coming is the great reckoning day. 
 You are to measure all your ways by the meas- 
 ure of Christ ^s appearing, and to do nothing in 
 which you would not like Jesus to find you 
 engaged. How condemning are these words to 
 thousands of professing Christians. What an 
 utter absence of preparation appears in their 
 daily walk and conversation. They give no sign 
 of readiness for the second advent. They live 
 as if they would never have to give an account 
 of the use they have made of their pounds. 
 They live as if there was no reckoning day 
 before the bar of Christ. They live as if Christ 
 had never said *^It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive. ' ' « 
 
 Think again how instructive these words are 
 to all who are troubled with doubts about 
 mingling with the world and taking part in its 
 amusements. Here is a true test by which to 
 
226 ADVENT. 
 
 try all your daily occupations and employments 
 and recreations. Would we do this thing if 
 we thought Jesus was coming to-night ? Would 
 we go to such and such a place if we thought 
 Jesus would come and find us there! If not, 
 then we ought not to do that thing or go to 
 that place. Oh ! that men would live as in the 
 sight of Christ. 
 
 How encouraging these words are to all who 
 seek first the kingdom of God and His right- 
 ^ eousness, and love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. 
 What though the children of the world regard 
 them as righteous overmuch, and call them 
 rigid and bigoted and say they require too 
 much. They may well reply, ^*I am doing a 
 great work and cannot come down ; I am striv- 
 ing so to live as to be ready when Christ 
 comes. ' ' 
 
®I|? KtttgJinm Atmmg Mm 
 
 *« The field is the world."— Matt. 13: 38. 
 
 THE Lord Jesus, though not the only, is 
 the best speaker of Parables. If we may 
 judge from the question of the disciples, 
 ^*Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?" 
 this was a mode of teaching that He used more 
 frequently than was customary. A parable is 
 founded on resemblance between the world of 
 sense and the world of mind, between nature 
 and grace, various spheres of human life and 
 Divine operation, earth and heaven. *^See'' 
 said God to Moses, ^^that thou make all things 
 after the pattern shewed thee in the mount.'' 
 And as the tabernacle when thus obediently 
 constructed and finished, was a parable of 
 things in heaven, so this world is full of par- 
 ables of the other. God appointed earthly 
 things to be imperfect and shadowy representa- 
 tions, and to give distant suggestions of things 
 which are above. The same consummate intelli- 
 gence, the same perfect love presides and acts, 
 though in different modes, in both spheres. Not 
 to chance, but to a Divine design, is due the 
 likeness between the growth of seed and the 
 
 227 
 
228 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 progress of truth in the human mind and in 
 human society. Not to chance but to design is 
 due the correspondence between the prevailing 
 request of a son to his father for bread, and 
 our efficacious petition to our heavenly Father 
 for His Holy Spirit. Not to chance, but to 
 design is it due, that the undeserved welcome, 
 the complete forgiveness, the gushing, tender 
 love wherewith the father receives back his lost 
 son, should encourage the sinner to return with 
 sorrow and trust to infinite mercy. Not to 
 chance, but to design is it due, that the tenderest 
 of all human relationships shadows forth the 
 union of Christ and His church. And so of 
 the rest. 
 
 The parables then are not arbitrary, nor are 
 they felicitous guesses, but are founded on 
 actual correspondences of natural and spiritual 
 things. Now as Christ is the Word and Wis- 
 dom of God, by whom all things are created, 
 no other being is acquainted with them so well 
 as He. No other can so readily speak in par- 
 ables; that is, read off the mystic meaning of 
 the sacred characters which are written on all 
 things around us — on the farm and the garden, 
 the house and the family, the processes of 
 labor, and the relations of human life. 
 
 When the disciples asked our Lord, **Why 
 speakest Thou unto them in parables!'^ He 
 answered, ** Because it is given unto you to 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 229 
 
 know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, 
 but to them it is not given. ' ' The parable has 
 a twofold operation. It works variously ac- 
 cording to the discernment of the hearer. From 
 the dull and gross it veils the fullness of the 
 truth, whose brightness would prevent their 
 reception of it. To the more advanced and 
 spiritually minded it illustrates the truth, and 
 makes it more affecting. 
 
 The field is the world. Apart from Revela- 
 tion, this world is a strangely disordered scene. 
 It certainly does not correspond to our pre- 
 conception of a province of the Divine domin- 
 ion. The more closely we observe it, the more 
 apparent the disorder. It seems sometimes as 
 if the constitution of things were irrespective 
 of human characters, and as if men prospered 
 or suffered, not in the way of reward or punish- 
 ment, but by chance. It seems sometimes as if 
 history were without a plan ; as if nations were 
 left to themselves ; as if progress were a dream, 
 and human affairs instead of moving in order 
 towards some happy and beautiful goal, were 
 only revolving in a dismal circle, only going 
 round but not going on. On the one hand we 
 are often deceived by a show of disinterested- 
 ness and public spirit, and then sickened at 
 discovering unworthy motives, selfishness and 
 corruption: or on the other we are wearied by 
 the perpetual recurrence of disappointment, the 
 
230 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 constant seeming issue of vanity. In gloomy 
 moments men are sometimes tempted to de- 
 spair, and yield to the dreadful and impious 
 doctrine, that men are slaves of nature or of 
 chance, without a Personal Owner, without the 
 watchful care of a Fatherly Providence. 
 
 Even in the church we also see worldliness 
 and selfishness and hypocrisy. For nineteen 
 centuries has the church existed and her limits 
 are still narrow compared with that world, 
 which she was commissioned to evangelize. 
 The majority of the race are still ^^ sitting in 
 darkness and the shadow of death. '^ Even 
 our own favored country is far from being in 
 conformity with Grod 's will, and but few among 
 her children show the character of Christ — His 
 supreme and affectionate piety, His purity. His 
 rectitude, His wide humanity, His tender, self- 
 sacrificing love. 
 
 Shall we then yield to the power of this 
 gloomy reflection ? Shall we say that the world 
 and the church, if cared for once, are now 
 forsaken and left to themselves, or given up 
 to Satan? No, brethren, let us beware of this 
 tendency as deadly to the soul. Without hope 
 and cheerfulness we are undone, and certainly 
 we can have neither without faith in God. 
 Hear how the prophet pours out his grief: 
 * * None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for 
 truth ; they trust in vanity, and speak lies ; they 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 231 
 
 conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. . . . 
 Therefore judgment is far from us, neither doth 
 justice overtake us: we wait for light but be- 
 hold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in 
 darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, 
 and we grope as if we had no eyes : we stumble 
 at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate 
 places as dead men. We roar all like bears 
 and mourn sore like doves: we look for judg- 
 ment, but there is none: for salvation but it 
 is far from us. . . . And judgment is turned 
 away backward, and justice standeth afar off: 
 for truth is fallen in the street and equity can- 
 not enter. ^' A piteous complaint indeed. Yet 
 he refers all, not to any carelessness on God's 
 side, but to men's own fault as the root and 
 spring of the evil: ** Behold the Lord's hand 
 is not shortened that it cannot save ; neither His 
 ear heavy that it cannot hear : but your iniqui- 
 ties have separated between you and your God, 
 and your sins have hid His face from you that 
 He will not hear." 
 
 The text uttered by the Son of God Himself, 
 plainly teaches, both His rightful ownership of 
 us, and His concern for us: *^The field is the 
 world. ' ' 
 
 The world is God's field. He has reclaimed 
 it from the wilderness of chaos for the purpose 
 of cultivation. 
 
 As it is His own He feels an interest in it. A 
 
232 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 man generally cares for Ms property, and feels 
 that his credit is in some measure dependent on 
 his management of it. God having created the 
 world for Himself never loses sight of it. He 
 declared it at first to be very good. He began 
 to cultivate it. The Son of man *^ sowed good 
 seed.'' And as a man is interested about his 
 field, takes delight therein and is anxious about 
 it, so Christ is anxious about the possession 
 which He purchased with His own blood. He 
 carefully superintends it, watches over it, and 
 •awaits His reward in the time of harvest. 
 
 As individuals as well as a community, every 
 one of us is the property of God, made, re« 
 deemed, cared for, watched over ; — a cultivated 
 field, fenced and broken up, sown with the good 
 seeds of truth — truth taught by parents, pro- 
 claimed by ministers, read in the Bible. Not 
 one of us is without an owner. The meanest 
 and most worthless and despised belongs to the 
 same Master as the best, and is cared for and 
 guarded by Heaven. Think of this, thou child 
 of want and sorrow, and it will cheer thy dark- 
 est hour. Remember this, sinner, and it will 
 enliven thee with hope of forgiveness and resto- 
 ration. All blessedness, all love, all dignity 
 awaits thee yet, if only thou wilt return to thy 
 Father. 
 
 As the text asserts God to be the Proprietor 
 and Superintendent of the world, so also the 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 233 
 
 parable, with the interpretation unfolds the 
 cause of the evil which we see prevalent around 
 us, which we feel within us and under which we 
 groan. It is not the growth of nature : it is not 
 the work of God. An enemy hath done this. 
 And this enemy our Lord says is the devil. 
 He is the enemy of order and of the God of 
 order. He is the genius of disorder. He 
 introduces confusion and strives to reduce the 
 field to a wilderness. As God brought the world 
 out of chaos, the devil would turn the world 
 back to chaos. All the disorder and confusion, 
 the ungodliness, the selfishness, the sensuality 
 in the world is his work. His work is the rebel- 
 lion in our hearts the lawlessness in our lives. 
 He separates men from God, and then estranges 
 them from one another. Under his influence 
 they forget whose children they are, forget that 
 they are brethren. It is he that retards human 
 progress, that is ever clogging the wheels of 
 morality and intelligence, and placing obstacles 
 in the way of the chariot of salvation. It is his 
 policy to spoil the work of God, because he is 
 the enemy of God and goodness. He has effect- 
 ed the degeneracy of human nature, has sown 
 tares among the wheat. Where Christ has 
 sown His Abels, His Noahs, His Abrahams, His 
 Jobs, His Samuels, His Davids, His Hezekiahs, 
 His Johns, the devil has sown his Cains, his 
 Hams, his Nimrods, his Balaams, his Sauls, his 
 
234 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 Ahabs and his Judases among them. When 
 Christ's Spirit suggests a good thought Satan 
 suggests an evil one: when the One kindles 
 the pure flame of Divine love, the other lights 
 up the reeking fire of lust. An enemy hath done 
 this, Christ's enemy and ours. Shall we yield 
 to him? Or shall we not rather avail ourselves 
 of the strength of Christ, the mighty Con- 
 queror, our Friend and Saviour, and through 
 Him vanquish the foe? It is Satan that secu- 
 larizes the church, and he is the father of heresy 
 and division, of false and onesided doctrine, and 
 of sectarianism. An enemy hath done this. 
 The parable assures us of the final success of 
 God's plan and operation in the world. The 
 husbandman trustfully looks for the harvest, 
 speaks of it as certain; and at the harvest the 
 tares shall be separated from the wheat. The 
 enemy's success is limited. He has injured the 
 uniformity of the field, he has obstructed the 
 progress of the wheat, but he cannot prevent 
 the harvest. At the end of the world there shall 
 be a rich result in the salvation of redeemed 
 humanity, of all counsels of the Father, of the 
 toils and sorrows of the Son; **He shall see of 
 the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.'' 
 Eich indeed must that harvest be which will 
 satisfy this Husbandman. Then shall confu- 
 sion and disorder cease, Satan be finally and 
 signally defeated, and his work perish: while 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 235 
 
 the church, thoroughly purified from degener- 
 acy and decay, shall appear *^ without spot, or 
 wrinkle, or any such thing. ' ^ 
 
 God's harvest of the world! The grandeur 
 of the idea overpowers our feeble faculties. 
 The harvest of creation and providence which 
 shall vindicate eternal righteousness, love and 
 wisdom; the harvest of redemption — of the 
 patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, of the 
 passion of Calvary, the effusion of Pentecost, 
 of apostolic labors, of the struggles of the 
 church; the rich result of sunshine and storm, 
 of great crises and of periods of quietude, shall 
 be reaped by angels, and stowed in the *^barn. *' 
 For this great harvest all things are now pre- 
 paring. Towards it all are tending. Nothing 
 is done or permitted by Providence without 
 reference to this. The harvest will be vast as 
 the love of God, stupendous as the incarnation 
 and the atoning sacrifice, glorious beyond all 
 hope, intimation and conception. 
 
 The time is unknown, but the event is certain. 
 May every one of us, by God's grace, be at 
 that harvest gathered among the wheat into the 
 heavenly garner. 
 
 Let us learn from this subject to feel a strong 
 and cheerful interest in the great world of 
 humanity as belonging to Christ, as cared for 
 by Him. The world is Christ's field. The 
 nations and their doings, society and govern- 
 
236 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 ment, agriculture, commerce, science and arty 
 all belong to Him. All that in them is good, 
 is His operation, and all is subordinated by His 
 over-ruling Providence to the best final issues. 
 Let us learn the value and dignity of human 
 beings as such, irrespective of rank, as the 
 objects of Christ's love, and particularly let us 
 admire and delight in good men as the noblest 
 workmanship of God. Above all let us sympa- 
 thize with and help forward by prayer and 
 effort, the great work of the church in spread- 
 ing the purifying influence of Christianity. It 
 is on that, the world's welfare is mainly de- 
 pendent : it is by that, that God 's glory may be 
 most efficiently and directly promoted. If in one 
 aspect good men are the seed, in another they 
 are the servants of the Husbandman. ^ ^ Ye are 
 laborers together with God: ye are God's 
 husbandry," says St. Paul. What an honor- 
 able calling — to advance the purposes of Divine 
 love, to labor that God's harvest may be more 
 plentiful ! Yet this is the honor of every Chris- 
 tian. Unhappy, then, the servant who has no 
 heart for his Lord's work, who wastes the time 
 which belongs to his Master and allows his 
 entrusted faculties to rust unused ! But blessed 
 are those servants whom their Lord shall find 
 faithful and active! For them, no honor shall 
 be too great, and from them no rewards shall 
 be withheld. Verily I say unto you that even 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 237 
 
 their Lord shall gird Himself, and make them 
 to sit down to meat, and shall come forth and 
 serve them. 
 
 Let us learn also the incompetency of our 
 understanding to deal with the great problems 
 of the Divine government. Far be it from us 
 to disparage the reason of man or to discourage 
 the fullest and freest exercise of it! *^The 
 spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. The 
 inspiration of the Almighty hath given them 
 understanding.^^ Our reason is the grand in- 
 strument which God uses in working out our 
 salvation, that within us of which He chiefly 
 avails Himself in the gracious work of restora- 
 tion. To this He always appeals: this He 
 strengthens and illuminates ; no impiety can be 
 greater than to try to extinguish the faculty 
 of thought. There is too little reason to com- 
 plain of over activity of mind. On the contrary 
 our Lord laments, and His servants have too 
 often occasion to lament that the *^ people's 
 heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of 
 hearing, and their eyes have closed ; lest at any 
 time they should see with their eyes, and hear 
 with their ears, and should understand with 
 their heart, and should be converted, and I 
 should heal them. ' ' 
 
 All this is true, but it is true also, that *'he 
 who trusteth in his own heart is a fool.'' 
 Whoso in haste sets forth his own plans for 
 
238 THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 
 
 the better administering of the world, who- 
 soever attempts to mend it, transcends his duty 
 and steps out of his place; much more 
 whosoever thus violates express commands, is 
 guilty of impiety. In reformation we often 
 prove sad bunglers and in gathering out the 
 tares are apt to root out the wheat with them. 
 
 If, for instance, because we have evil 
 thoughts and are tried with temptation, we do 
 violence to our nature, and narrow the sphere 
 of human life by voluntary asceticism, we de- 
 stroy wheat as well as tares: for we curtail 
 the appointed means of our discipline, and 
 our opportunities of doing good. Let us indeed 
 J)e watchful against temptation; repress every 
 rising towards evil, and beware of indulging 
 unclean imagination: but let us not endeavor 
 to unmake ourselves, or throw a slur on the 
 good gifts of Grod, lest we be found dealing in 
 the dark spirit of paganism, or the proud spirit 
 of Pharisaism, rather than in His spirit, who 
 was accused as * * a gluttonous man and a wine- 
 bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. '* 
 
 Or if, because of unrighteous and sensual 
 men, we are provoked to use rough, sharp and 
 forceful measures, instead of such as agree with 
 human nature and the spirit of Christ, and are 
 the only possible means of success; then our 
 clumsiness does more harm than good, and we 
 contract the guilt of lessening the harvest by 
 
THE KINGDOM AMONG MEN. 239 
 
 rooting up wheat, together with tares : that i& 
 by hardening these men 's hearts, and thus put- 
 ting off their repentance to an unknown day, 
 making it unspeakably harder, if not impos- 
 sible. 
 
 In the time of harvest these wrongs shall all 
 be righted, these evils redressed. Then shall 
 the redeemed spirit re-enter the new and per- 
 fect body, and the complete man in the likeness 
 of the glorified Second Adam, begin his full 
 happiness. Then shall the church, set free from 
 scandal and offence, from unshapeliness, un- 
 cleanness, and darkness, shine with the bright- 
 est beams of heaven. The work for which hu- 
 man skill is unfit, and for which the time is now 
 not yet come, shall be done easily and thor- 
 oughly by the right agency, in the time of 
 harvest, which is the end of this dispensation. 
 
^tttrttttg ©lynttgljtH About Wt 
 
 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. 
 Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, 
 and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 
 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord 
 draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be 
 condemned: behold the judge standeth before the door. Take, my 
 brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for 
 ^n example of suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count 
 them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and 
 have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of 
 tender mercy. " — James 5: 7-11. 
 
 HUMAN life on earth is full of agitating 
 elements. Scarcely a day passes in the 
 history of any individual in which some 
 circumstance does not occur to disturb the tran- 
 quility of the soul; and frequently do events 
 transpire which lash the spirit into the wildest 
 tumult. It will be our aim to suggest a few 
 thoughts adapted to calm and compose our 
 troubled hearts. 
 
 One quieting thought suggested by the text is : 
 I. That there is a period hastening on that 
 will terminate forever the trials of the good. 
 ^ ^ The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. ' ' * ^ The 
 Judge standeth at the door.'' The period re- 
 ferred to is Christ's advent to the earth as the 
 
 240 
 
QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 241 
 
 great Judge. There is a sense in which He 
 is with the good man every day now, as Teach- 
 er, Priest, Redeemer; but there is a period 
 when He will come in visible form as Judge. 
 Then He will terminate for ever the connection 
 of the pious man with this probationary life, 
 where good and evil, truth and error, happiness 
 and misery mingle in confusion, and introduce 
 him to a scene of perfect purity, truth and 
 blessedness. 
 
 This period is not far off. It emphatically 
 draweth nigh, and emphatically may it be said 
 to us all, **The Judge standeth at the door.'* 
 It is not a thing which must be put off until 
 distant ages. **The Lord is at hand.'' 
 
 Is not this a quieting thought to the Chris- 
 tian ? Not forever will he experience this inner 
 conflict of soul, the warring of flesh and spirit ; 
 not forever wdll he be subject to pains and 
 infirmities of body; not forever will he be 
 harassed with worldly thoughts and cares ; not 
 forever will he be grieved at the wicked con- 
 duct of society, and distressed at the turbid tide 
 of depravity that rises and surges around him. 
 No ! the Judge is even now ^ ' at the door, ' ' and 
 soon will He deliver him from all this. Let 
 us *^ comfort one another with these words." 
 
 We shall soon have struck the last blow in 
 life 's battle and won the crown. We shall soon 
 
242 QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 
 
 have passed over the last billows of lifers ocean 
 and reached the desired haven. 
 
 Another quieting thought about life sug- 
 gested by the text is : 
 
 II. That the trials of the good are in harmony 
 with the present state of our history. Our 
 present moral position is analogous to that of 
 the husbandman in spring. ** Behold the hus- 
 bandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the 
 earth, and hath long patience for it, until he 
 receive the early and latter rain. ' ' What kind 
 of life is that of the husbandman in spring? 
 
 1. It is a life of trying labor. He has by 
 certain processes of culture, to prepare the soil 
 for the precious grain. In his work there is a 
 great expenditure of capital, strength and time, 
 without any immediate return. He has to pur- 
 sue his operations, too, amidst many variations, 
 and sometimes severe inclemencies of weather 
 that interrupt and threaten to f utilize his labors, 
 and blast his hopes. 
 
 2. It is a life of conscious dependence. How 
 proverbially anxious is the farmer about the 
 weather? He observes the clouds, he marks the 
 shifting of the winds, he notices all the changes 
 in the temperature. He knows that unless 
 genial nature co-operate with him, his work 
 will go for nothing. 
 
 3. It is a life of practical faith. The hus- 
 bandman in springtime literally *^ walks by^ 
 
QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 243 
 
 faith.'' Were lie to follow sight and be ruled 
 by appearances he would never cultivate his 
 fields. But faith spreads over him the sum- 
 mer's ripening sky, and around him waving 
 fields of golden grain. And he hopes. Faith 
 and hope inspire him with patience under the 
 trying labors of spring. 
 
 All this mirrors the present stage of the 
 good man's history. It is fitfuL spring with 
 us. Our present season is a moral April: it 
 is the struggle of sunshine and shower — the 
 genial glow and the nipping frost. It is a 
 season of fluctuation not settledness, of outlay 
 not income, labor not wages, of seeds not of 
 results. It is the season for burying the grain, 
 not for plucking the golden ear. It is wise 
 and well for the husbandman to labor patiently 
 in the spring, for he has the assurance from 
 testimony and experience that the glorious 
 summer will reward him for his toil. 
 
 Brethren labor on and be calm in these April 
 days of your existence. From the seed you 
 are sowing in tears there shall spring a harvest 
 of joy. **Be patient," the summer is coming. 
 Soon with the calm blue ether above, and genial 
 airs around, we shall have more than the fruit 
 and beauty of Eden at our feet. 
 
 Another quieting thought about life sug- 
 gested by the text is: 
 
 III. That a moral endurance of trials is 
 
244 QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 
 
 essential to amiability of character. ^^ Grudge 
 not one against another brethren/^ or grumble 
 not one against another. The trials of life 
 have a tendency to superinduce this miserabh; 
 state of mind. Hence in all circles and depart- 
 ments we meet with grumblers, ill-humored, 
 irritable, discontented souls ; souls who grumble 
 at everybody and everything. Not a few of 
 such gloomy grumblers are to be found even 
 in the churches. With them nothing is right. 
 They grumble now at this person now at that, 
 now at this arrangement now at that. They 
 are always snapping and snarling. 
 
 The grace of patience, the spirit of moral 
 endurance, is the only security against this 
 unamiable and miserable state of mind. The 
 man who has not that patience which results 
 from a loving confidence in the character, and 
 a loving acquiescence in the will of a Supreme 
 Buler will feel an annoyance in every trial. He 
 will pass through the trials of life as a silly 
 cur passes through a hailstorm, barking at 
 every step. But the man who cultivates this 
 magnanimous quality of soul will be, in trial, 
 like the imperial bird in the storm ; when beaten 
 down from its heavenly flight, it still keeps its 
 wings expanded, looks calmly up, and with the 
 first gleams of sunshine soars away into the 
 radiant and the lofty again. 
 
QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 245 
 
 Another quieting tliouglit about life sug- 
 gested by the text is: 
 
 IV. That the greatest trials have been endur- 
 ed by the most illustrious men in history. Take, 
 my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in 
 the name of the Lord, for an example of suffer- 
 ing affliction and of patience. ^ ^ The Roman war- 
 riors," says an old writer, ^^can talk of their 
 Camillii, Fabricii, and Scipios : the philosophers 
 of their Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras; but 
 religion propoundeth the example of the pro- 
 phets. ' ' The prophets were men of genius and 
 of God : great in talent and in virtue, the loyal 
 servants and moral organs of heaven — the most 
 majestic trees in the forest, the brightest stars 
 in the firmament of their race. Yet they suf- 
 fered. Some of them were expatriated, others 
 were incarcerated, all were persecuted — many 
 were martyred. The morally great have always 
 been sufferers. 
 
 Another quieting thought about life, sug- 
 gested by the text is : 
 
 V. That trials have ever been the condition 
 of truly heroic and honored lives. **We count 
 them happy which endure." We count them 
 happy, not only because affliction tendeth to 
 spiritual good, but because they are enabled 
 by their sufferings, when rightly endured, to 
 display the highest attributes of greatness. 
 The finest attributes of character, like the stars 
 
246 QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 
 
 are only seen at night. In the history of true 
 men when the snn of prosperity goes down, 
 the brightest orbs of virtue come out to light 
 up the moral firmament of the world. It is 
 when the aromatic plants are pressed, that they 
 fill the air with their sweet odors. After men 
 have nobly endured trials, the world canonizes 
 them. * * We count them happy which endure. * ' 
 The martyrs of one age are the heroes of an- 
 other. The Scribes and Pharisees garnished 
 the tombs of the prophets whom their fathers 
 persecuted. One generation is ever raising 
 monuments to celebrate the excellencies of those 
 who were considered by their predecessors 
 unworthy of life. All history chants their 
 beatitude. ^* Blessed are they which are perse- 
 cuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the 
 kingdom of heaven. '* 
 
 Another quieting thought suggested by the, 
 text is : 
 
 VI. That all trials being under the direction 
 of God, will, if rightly endured, yield a glorious 
 return. * * The Lord is very pitiful and of tender 
 mercy." Our being and circumstances are not 
 the creatures and subjects of accident, nor of 
 blind necessity, nor of an arbitrary despot, nor 
 of a cold-hearted sovereign, but of a tenderly 
 merciful God and Father. * * As a Father pitieth 
 his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear 
 Him.'' The mercifulness of God is introduced 
 
QUIETING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. 247 
 
 in the text as the reason for the glorious return 
 of well endured suffering in the case of Job. 
 * * Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have 
 seen the end of the Lord/' What was that 
 end! He had been stripped of property, social 
 status, children, health — of all, in fact, but a 
 tortured existence : yet he bore his trials nobly, 
 — he blessed the Lord in all. And what was 
 the return? Materially the Lord gave him 
 back twice as much as he had before. But the 
 material result was but a symbol and shadow 
 of the spiritual. It multiplied and strengthened 
 the spiritual power of his life. 
 
 To the afflicted and tried we say, ^*Let these 
 quieting thoughts calm your mind : 
 
 1. Termination to be put to them. 
 
 2. To be expected in this life. 
 
 3. Endurance essential to amiability of char- 
 acter. 
 
 4. The most illustrious men have been tried. 
 
 5. Trials have been the condition of honored 
 lives. 
 
 6. All trials under the direction of a merciful 
 God.'' 
 
Olomtttg to di^mt 
 
 ''All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that 
 Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." — John 6: 37. 
 
 UNBOUNDED confidence in the paternal 
 government of God is the perfection of 
 piety and the condition of a happy ex- 
 istence. Everywhere in the Bible the Father 
 •seeks to awaken in man the most loving and 
 unshaken trust in Himself and the mode of His 
 procedure. The strength of the old saints was 
 in this. Their heroic lives as celebrated in the 
 eleventh chapter of Hebrews are ascribed to 
 their loyal faith in God. Those illustrious 
 worthies felt with Job, who said, ** Though He 
 slay me, yet will I trust Him. ' ' No being ever 
 possessed or exhibited this truthfulness as did 
 Christ. In Him it had its most perfect develop- 
 ment and force. It buoyed Him up amid the 
 surges of anguish that rolled over His holy 
 soul. It never deserted Him. In Gethsemane 
 it was as strong as ever, when He said, *^Not 
 My will but Thine be done." It comes out in 
 our text. He had been speaking to the multi- 
 tude, who had followed Him for the sake of 
 the loaves. He had been exhorting them to 
 
 248 
 
COMING TO CHEIST. 249 
 
 ^^ labor for the meat that endureth unto ever- 
 lasting life. '^ He had represented Himself as 
 ^'the bread of God which cometh down from 
 heaven, and giveth life unto the world.'' But 
 notwithstanding all His teaching they believed 
 not. Such heartless infidelity amongst those 
 whom He had labored so self-denyingly to en- 
 lighten and convince, had a tendency to sadden 
 His spirit, and oppress His heart as a man. 
 Still His trust in God bears Him up. He looks 
 to heaven and says, ^ ^ All that the Father giveth 
 Me shall come to Me.'' Some have laid hold 
 on this text and assigned to it a narrow mean- 
 ing. But its divine spirit overflows any such 
 logical boundaries. It was uttered in a sublime 
 spirit of trustful devotion and unbounded phil- 
 anthropy. 
 
 We shall look upon the words in three re- 
 spects : 
 
 I. As expressing the grand condition of the 
 sinner's well being. What is it? Coming unto 
 Christ. Such language is of frequent occur- 
 rence in the New Testament. * ^ Come unto Me 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I 
 will give you rest. " * * If any man thirst let him 
 come to Me." What does coming to Christ 
 mean? 
 
 1. It means approaching Him as your Media- 
 tor with God. Everywhere does the New Testa- 
 ment reveal to us the fact that Christ is the 
 
250 COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 way to God the Father — that He is our High 
 Priest. **Iii all things it behooved Him to be 
 made like unto His brethren, that He might 
 be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things 
 pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for 
 the sins of the people/^ He is called of God, 
 *^a priest forever after the order of Melchize- 
 dec.'' What is the work of a priest? To 
 appear by God's own appointment before the 
 Father on behalf of sinners ; — to stand as their 
 representative in the most sacred and momen- 
 tous of all positions. This Christ does. ^'He 
 hath passed into the heavens, where He ever 
 liveth to make intercession for us.'' So that 
 through Him we can approach God. What is 
 the work of a priest? To present sacrifices. 
 Christ has offered Himself a sacrifice to God 
 for us, once forever. ^^He needeth not daily 
 ... to offer up sacrifice . . . for this He did 
 once when He offered up Himself." *^A11 we 
 like sheep have gone astray; we have turned 
 every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid 
 on Him the iniquity of us all. ' ' Such language 
 proves that men must trust in Christ and accept 
 His work as performed for them in order to be 
 accepted of God. Christ represents Himself 
 as occupying this position; for He has said, 
 * * No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. ' ' 
 Thus He assumes a position original and 
 unique. He seems to stand between heaven 
 
COMING TO CHKIST. 251 
 
 and earth, and looking with loving interest and 
 tenderness upon all the millions that ever have 
 been or ever will be, He says, ^*No man can 
 go up to these bright heavens but by Me. I 
 have the key of these golden gates. No sinner 
 can approach the Almighty but through the 
 heavenly appointed Priest. He is the way. 
 Coming to Him, then, means looking to Him to 
 undertake your case, to answer to God for you, 
 to pardon your sins, and to present you with 
 acceptance before God. 
 
 2. Coming to Christ is approaching Him as 
 your guide to moral goodness. We come to 
 men intellectually when our general ideas ap- 
 proximate theirs. Modern men come to the 
 great thinkers of past ages in this way. In 
 the teachings of Jesus Christ we can thus come 
 to Him. In their spotless purity, in their un- 
 erring truthfulness, in their immortal freshness, 
 in their unbounded sweep, in their soul quicken- 
 ing and soul uplifting force, His teachings 
 stand alone. We learn of Him and thus come 
 to Him. We come to men emotionally when our 
 ruling sympathies approximate theirs. We 
 are one with those who love the same objects 
 and sympathize with the same pursuits. Con- 
 gruity of feeling welds hearts together. By 
 loving the objects that Christ loves and sympa- 
 thizing with the pursuits of His life we come 
 to Him. We come to men morally when the 
 
252 COMING TO CHKIST. 
 
 tone and temper of onr lives is like theirs. In 
 morals like draws like. We are drawn to those 
 who are like ourselves in temper and in aim. 
 We must learn of Him who was **meek and 
 lowly in heart.'' He is our model. ^^He has 
 left us an example that we should follow His 
 steps. ' ' We must imitate Him not by servilely 
 copying particular acts, but by inbreathing the 
 spirit of His life. In these respects you must 
 come to Christ. This is the condition of your 
 well being. There is no happiness for the 
 sinner where Christ is not approached as the 
 great High Priest to atone for his sins, and 
 as the Guide to lead him in holiness. 
 
 II. We regard these words as showing the 
 amazing mercy of Christ towards sinners. 
 •*'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
 out." The idea is; — he that applieth to Me 
 for spiritual life and blessedness, whoever he 
 may be, I will on no account reject. 
 
 There are at least two general accounts on 
 which the best of us so sometimes reject the 
 requests of an applicant. 
 
 1. On account of something in ourselves. 
 
 (1) There may be a deficiency in our benevo- 
 lence. A person may apply to us for a favor 
 and we may have the power to render it but 
 lack the disposition. Our benevolence may be 
 at fault. It is a sad fact that through the in- 
 gratitude, the dishonesties, the hollow preten- 
 
COMING TO CHRIST. 253 
 
 tions, of tlie world, the fountain of kindness 
 even in the most benevolent natures gets well 
 nigh dried up at times. Many a generous heart 
 has grown misanthropic through intercourse 
 with a hollow and heartless world. When our 
 benevolence is at a low ebb, we may turn away 
 from the request of even a deserving applicant. 
 But will Christ ever cast out one on this 
 ground? Does He lack benevolence? He has 
 given the world the highest conceivable demon- 
 stration of His love: He has given Himself 
 to a death the most excruciating and ingnom- 
 inious. The length and breadth and height and 
 depth of His love passeth knowledge. It is an 
 ocean that no line can fathom, no shore can 
 bound. It is infinite, and you cannot exhaust 
 the infinite. Could the wickedness of men 
 have exhausted it there would have been none 
 after His crucifix:ion. But lo! soon after His 
 resurrection, just before His ascension into 
 heaven. He commanded His apostles to go and 
 preach forgiving mercy even to His murderers 
 at Jerusalem. Christ therefore can in no wise 
 cast out a man on account of any lack of benevo- 
 lence in His loving heart. 
 
 Sometimes when our benevolence is not at 
 fault, we may refuse a request because (2) of a 
 deficiency in our resources. We may not be 
 able to entertain the request. Many a generous 
 man is obliged to say No ! when his heart feels 
 
254 COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 Yes ! This is a great trial for a truly benevo- 
 lent nature. Still it is better, a thousand times 
 better, to have the disposition to give and not 
 the means, than to have the means and not the 
 disposition. He who has the one is a pauper in 
 the universe; he who has the other a prince. 
 But though our resources fail us, however be- 
 nevolent we might be, Christ will in no wise 
 east out a man on this account. His resources 
 are inexhaustible. Paul speaks of them as the 
 ,'* unsearchable riches." Whereunto shall we 
 liken the redemptive resources of Christ? To 
 a feast? If so, then not a feast implying lim- 
 itation for so many and no more. It is like the 
 banquet which Jesus spread out upon the moun- 
 tain of Capernaum, of which all the thousands 
 did eat and were filled, and stores of fragments 
 were still left unused. We scarcely know to 
 what to compare the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ. We think of a master piece of music, 
 every note suited to touch some of the deepest 
 chords in human nature. It has awakened 
 raptures in the men of past generations, 
 and seems as potent in its stirring impulses 
 now as ever. Still it may be exhaustible. The 
 time may come when our Handels, Haydns and 
 Beethovens will be outgrown and left behind 
 as relics of the past — for all that is human has 
 its limitations. We think of the great sun 
 who has been giving out his beams for thou- 
 
COMING TO CHRIST. 255 
 
 sands of years, in quickening and gladdening 
 the unnumbered tribes of life that teem in air 
 and earth and sea; in annually robing our 
 world in forms of beauty ever fresh and affluent, 
 and causing the earth * * to bring forth and bud, 
 that it may give seed to the sower, and bread 
 to the eater ;'* and as we think of this royal 
 orb we are impressed with the vastness of His 
 resources. But though vast, they are not in- 
 exhaustible, they are finite. Its beams may 
 grow dim, its fires die out. There is nothing 
 we can think of to which we can compare the 
 resources of Christ. There is nothing in fact 
 in creation, for creation itself is limited. Christ 
 the Sun of righteousness, though He pour His 
 soul-saving beams on millions of generations, 
 will light up the heavens of God with blessed- 
 ness through unnumbered ages, and must re- 
 main as bright and warm as ever. Christ then 
 on the ground of the lack of resources will *4n 
 no wise cast ouf 
 
 The other general reason on which the best 
 of men do sometimes reject applications is: 
 
 2. On account of something in connection 
 with the applicant. Either of the three follow- 
 ing circumstances connected with an applicant 
 would wondrously tempt us to deny his request. 
 (1) If his character is unusually vile. Should 
 a man, deeply sunk in the mire of intemperance 
 and licentiousness, or characterized by system- 
 
256 COMING TO CHRIST. 
 
 atic dishonesty and daring blasphemy, make 
 application to us for a favor, we should scarcely 
 tolerate his presence, still less entertain his 
 request. If we spoke to him it would be in 
 the language of severe reproof, if not indignant 
 denunciation. But Christ will in no wise cast 
 out. Take two cases out of many. Jesus is at 
 a feast in Simon 's house. While there a woman, 
 notorious as a sinner in the city, entered the 
 room where He was, stood at His feet weeping, 
 began to wash His feet with her tears, and 
 •to wipe them with her hair. In the sight of 
 those who reclined at table this woman was 
 odious for her depravity. But there she kneels 
 before Christ; she has intruded into His pres- 
 ence. What does He say to her? Does He 
 cast her from Him? No. He turns to her and 
 says, *'Thy sins are forgiven, go in peace." 
 Take another case, — on one side of Him on the 
 cross hangs a malefactor in the agonies of 
 death. Society had cast him off as a wretch 
 unfit to live. Even corrupt humanity could no 
 longer tolerate his presence, or allow him a 
 place among the living. He himself allows that 
 his doom is just. But in this, his last hour, 
 he turns imploringly to Christ, saying, ^^Lord, 
 remember me when Thou comest into Thy king- 
 dom.'' What answer does he receive? Does 
 Christ say. My sufferings are too great to 
 attend to thee ; every nerve of My frame is on 
 
COMING TO CHRIST. 257 
 
 the rack, and a mountain of anguisli is on My 
 soul ; I can think of nothing but My own condi- 
 tion? Oh! no. Does He say, Wretch why ap- 
 peal to Me in this last moment of thy life? 
 Thou hast spent the days, which mercy has 
 given thee to cultivate thy spirit and to find 
 acceptance with thy Maker, in depravity and 
 crime. Away with thee to thine own place. 
 No! With unutterable tenderness and love he 
 savs, ^^To-dav shalt thou be with Me in Para- 
 dise. '* He will in no wise cast out. 
 
 Let not the sins of any, however aggravated, 
 however enormous, keep him away from Christ. 
 Let the sinner tell his sad tale. My character, 
 he says, is too dark for description. My iniqui- 
 ties as a thick cloud roll over my soul. I was 
 the child of godly parents. I had religious 
 teachers in my early life. I listened to a faith- 
 ful and impressive ministry, received deep 
 impressions and made solemn resolutions, but 
 they are all gone. I am an old man tottering 
 on the verge of the grave. Fifty years at least 
 I have spent in a career of wickedness and 
 impiety. The thought of the injury I have done 
 to my race by my sinful conduct and influence 
 appalls me. I have sat in the seat of the 
 scorner. I have endeavored to shake men^s 
 faith in God. I have denounced Christ as an 
 impostor and His disciples as hypocrites. I 
 have made many laugh at sacred things. I 
 
258 COMING TO CHBIST. 
 
 have turned many an innocent youtli into tlie 
 paths of scepticism and profligacy. The mem- 
 ory of my enormities appalls me. Here I stand 
 worn out in the service of sin. I feel tottering 
 as on the edge of a tremendous precipice. 
 Above me there is a tempest about to break 
 in fury upon my aged head : beneath me there 
 is a yawning retribution. Talk not to me of 
 mercy. Mercy has exhausted herself on me. 
 She has made her last overture to me. She 
 has unfolded her wings and gone forever. '^ 
 Oh ! brother, terrible is thy tale ; it is a wonder 
 that thou art not in hell. Still I would not 
 leave thee, even thee in despair. **The mercy 
 of the Lord reacheth even unto the clouds." 
 Avail thyslf of the departing hours of thy life, 
 and come to Christ, and thou wilt find that 
 * * He will in no wise cast thee out. ' ' 
 
 Again we reject a man's request (2) if he has 
 sought to injure us. Were a man to apply to 
 us for a favor, who we knew had been acting 
 the part of an enemy towards us for years, 
 endeavoring to stain our reputation, thwart our 
 plans, and injure our interests, should we not 
 be likely to deny his request? Perhaps we 
 would say to him, We wonder how you can 
 have the audacity, knowing as you do the 
 villainous manner in which you have acted 
 towards us, to ask for a single favor. But 
 Christ will not repel on this account Look at 
 
COMING TO CHRIST. 259 
 
 Saul of Tarsus. He was a persecutor of Jesus 
 of Nazareth, and he laid himself out with great 
 determination to blot His memory from the 
 minds of men and to annihilate His influence. 
 Like a furious beast breathing out slaughter, 
 he hastened to Damascus, having *^ received 
 authority and commission from the chief 
 priests ^^ to persecute the men who dared to 
 profess their attachment to Christ. *^I verily 
 thought with myself, *' said he, *Hhat I ought 
 to do many things contrary to the name of 
 Jesus of Nazareth.^' And he did so. To use 
 his own language, ^^I punished them oft in 
 every synagogue, and compelled them to blas- 
 pheme; and being exceedingly mad against 
 them, I persecuted them even unto strange 
 cities.'' He was indeed a hater of Christ, and 
 he proved his hatred. Yet one day, struck with 
 the heavenly light of moral conviction, he was 
 prostrated before Jesus of Nazareth, and said, 
 **Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?'' And 
 how was he received? Did He whom he had 
 hated and opposed, whose disciples he had 
 persecuted, drive him from His presence? No. 
 To the poor prostrate soul. He said, ^^ Stand 
 upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee 
 for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a 
 witness, both of these things which thou hast 
 seen, and of those things in which I will appear 
 unto thee. ' ' Paul having met with this wonder- 
 
260 COMING TO CHBIST. 
 
 ful reception, leaves this testimony to after 
 ages: **TMs is a faithful saying and worthy 
 of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into 
 the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ^ ' 
 
 Still again we reject a man's request (3) if, 
 after once having granted his application, he 
 has persisted in doing us wrong. Suppose a 
 man to whom you had done a great favor in 
 answer to his application, and who afterwards 
 displayed shameless ingratitude, were again 
 to apply to you, would you not be tempted to 
 drive him from your presence, whatever might 
 be his expressions of sorrow, and promises for 
 future improvement? But Christ will not cast 
 you out on this account. There is Peter to 
 whom He had shown many special favors, whose 
 applications He had often graciously granted: 
 — this Peter denies Him: — denies Him in the 
 hour when friendship is most needed — denies 
 Him with impious oaths, — thrice denies Him. 
 Yet did not Christ cast a gracious look on him, 
 that stirred his heart, and melted him to tears ? 
 Far enough am I from encouraging backsliding. 
 It is a dreadful sin. A step backwards is of 
 all movements the most daring and hazardous ; 
 but having done so, do not be afraid to make 
 another application to Christ. He **will in no 
 wise cast you out." 
 
 What is your position in the spiritual 
 domain? "Where do you stand in relation to 
 
COMING TO CHKIST. 261 
 
 Christ? Have you come to Him? Is He your 
 Priest through whom you have been reconciled 
 to God, and enjoy every blessed enjoyment with 
 Him? Is He your Pattern and Guide, leading 
 you to an acquaintance with His doctrines, a 
 fellow feeling with His sympathies, an assimila- 
 tion to His character? If so, gratefully adore 
 the Everlasting God for thus giving you Christ ; 
 and giving you to Christ. By His Holy Spirit 
 He made you feel your need of a Saviour and 
 influenced you to apply to Him. 
 
 Where are you in relation to Christ? Have 
 you not yet come to Him, but merely inclined 
 to do so, and are about making the effort? 
 Cherish, I entreat you, the impulse which in- 
 clines you Christward, yield to every feeling 
 flowing in that direction, for such feeling is 
 the gift of the Father. 
 
 Still again, where are you in relation to 
 Christ? This of all questions is the most vital 
 and momentous, and it must be reiterated, 
 reimpressed, re-enforced. Are you far away 
 from Christ and are you making no effort to 
 approach Him? Then your condition is a 
 terribly sad one. Awake, I entreat you, to an 
 appreciation of it. Do you feel any sense of 
 sin, any moral misgivings, any reproaches of 
 conscience, any craving after reconciliation with 
 God? If so, the Spirit is still working upon 
 your heart, seeking to give you to Christ. Take 
 
262 COMING TO CHEIST. 
 
 heed that you resist not the Spirit. Follow 
 His leadings, and the directions which He gives 
 in His word, and He will bring you to One who 
 will not cast you out. 
 
** Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that 
 hath DO money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and 
 milk without money and without price. "Wherefore do ye spend money 
 for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth 
 not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and 
 let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto 
 me: hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting 
 covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." — Isaiah 55: 1-3. 
 
 THE name of the author of this book signi- 
 fies * * the salvation of the Lord, ' ' a name 
 which was peculiarly appropriate and 
 expressive. It is evident that the salvation of 
 the Lord was possessed and enjoyed by this 
 prophet; he was one of those, not merely by 
 outward privileges, but by a spiritual incor- 
 poration, of whom Moses spoke in his dying 
 charge, ^ ' Happy art thou, Israel ; who is like 
 unto thee, people saved by the Lord!^' The 
 prophetic gift was, in itself, no evidence of the 
 personal piety of those by whom it was exer- 
 cised ; for we are assured that in the great day 
 many will say, ^'Have we not prophesied in 
 Thy name?'' to whom the righteous Judge 
 will declare that He never knew them. Isaiah, 
 however, was not a prophet of the Balaam class, 
 but a true servant of God. 
 
 263 
 
264 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 
 He could, also, with special propriety, be 
 called the salvation of the Lord, not merely 
 on account of his being a personal partaker 
 thereof, but because he was honored in making 
 it known to others. **How beautiful upon 
 the mountains,'' to use his own incomparable 
 words, * * are the feet of Him that bringeth good 
 tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth 
 good tidings of good; that publisheth salva- 
 tion!" With that beauty he was himself 
 peculiarly adorned, being one of the most emi- 
 nent of those messengers of mercy who were 
 commissioned by the God of heaven to announce 
 His gracious purposes to guilty men. 
 
 The clearness and fulness with which Isaiah 
 proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation, seem 
 scarcely to accord with the comparatively ob- 
 scure dispensation under which he lived. That 
 his ministry was distinguished by these quali- 
 ties is abundantly evident from many portions 
 of his writings, but by none more prominently 
 than by the words before us. Indeed, the whole 
 chapter would be scarcely out of place among 
 the richest disclosures of the New Testament. 
 Confining our attention at present to its intro- 
 ductory section, we remark that we have here : 
 
 I. A gracious invitation, ' * Ho, every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that 
 hath no money: come ye, buy and eat; yea,, 
 come, buy wine and milk without money and. 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 265 
 
 without price. '^ Concerning this invitation 
 three particulars demand our notice. 
 
 1. The persons to ivhom it is addressed. It 
 is to ** every one that thirsteth.'' There are 
 various kinds of thirsting, or, rather there are 
 various objects for which men thirst. There 
 are those who hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness, and all such the Redeemer pronounces 
 to be blessed. There are many who hunger and 
 thirst after wickedness, and they are as assured- 
 ly cursed as the former characters are blessed. 
 It is evident, however, that the thirst referred 
 to here, is that natural thirst for happiness 
 which is common to the whole human family. 
 It is an invitation to the unhappy from 
 whatever cause their wretchedness may arise. 
 Whether it proceed from earthly losses, bodily 
 affliction, domestic bereavement, disappointed 
 pride, remorse of conscience, the dominion of 
 unruly passions — the simple fact that they are 
 oppressed with any of the diversified distresses 
 which are the heritage of fallen humanity, 
 brings them within the range of this tender 
 and loving appeal. 
 
 2. The blessings of which they are invited to 
 partake. They are the blessings of the Gospel ; 
 those spiritual blessings which are treasured 
 up in Christ Jesus our Lord. Their nature and 
 importance are set forth by a threefold simili- 
 tude (1) Water. The frequency with which this 
 
266 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION". 
 
 element is used to represent the blessings of 
 the Gospel, is known to all who are familiar 
 with the holy oracles. By many important 
 features it is distinguished, but its property 
 of quenching the thirst is here chiefly intended. 
 **Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters,'' not that ye may wash and be clean, 
 though provision is made for the removal of 
 your pollution ; but come that your raging thirst 
 may be allayed from those streams which never 
 dry. Hence the striking language of the Sav- 
 'iour — ^^If any man thirst, let him come unto 
 Me and drink. ' ' And in the concluding chapter 
 of the sacred canon it is said: **The Spirit 
 and the bride say. Come; let him that heareth 
 say come; and let him that is athirst, come; 
 and whosoever will, let him take the water of 
 life freely.'' 
 
 (2) Wine. While water quenches the thirst, 
 wine cheers and exhilarates the spirits. With 
 oil, which makes the face to shine, the Psalmist 
 connects wine, that maketh glad the heart of 
 man. However objectionable and injurious in 
 many respects the habitual use of it may be, 
 none can deny that it possesses this quality. 
 But the Gospel, unaccompanied by any evil 
 effects, makes the heart glad indeed. 
 
 (3) Milk. Nourishment is the idea which is 
 here conveyed. Not merely do the blessings 
 of salvation fill the soul with gladness, but they 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 267 
 
 nourish and support it. Eeviving cordials 
 though necessary under certain circumstances, 
 will not of themselves sustain life; for that 
 purpose something more nutritious is required. 
 If we would have our souls to prosper and be 
 in health, we must desire the sincere, unadulter- 
 ated milk of the Word, for it is thus only that 
 we can grow in grace. 
 
 3. The terms on which these blessings are 
 offered. ^ ^ Come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come buy 
 wine and milk without money and without 
 price. ' ' At first sight there appears something 
 strange and contradictory in this announce- 
 ment; for how can a thing be bought without 
 money, or at least without that which will be 
 taken as an equivalent or substitute for money? 
 It is evident, however, that the words simply 
 denote the mode by which any commodity is 
 procured, whether it be by labor, by barter or 
 by purchase. A thing may be lawfully obtained 
 in either of these ways ; but if it was bestowed 
 upon us as a free gift, it would on that account 
 be no less our own. Yet it would seem that the 
 special and somewhat peculiar phraseology 
 which is here employed was intentional, and its 
 design will appear from the following consid- 
 erations : These words were intended, 
 
 (1) To encourage those who are spiritually 
 poor and penniless. How many are deprived 
 of various things which they are most anxious 
 
268 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 
 to obtain, through their not possessing the 
 means to secure them. But what are all the 
 blessings of this life, health, competence, knowl- 
 edge, an honorable position in society, when 
 compared with the glorious treasures which the 
 Gospel unfolds? But in reference to the latter 
 none need be discouraged on the ground that 
 they are placed out of their reach, inasm.uch as 
 they are free to all. They are to be had by 
 simply applying for them ; and not a single soul 
 ever applied in earnest who was sent unblessed 
 ' away. 
 
 (2) To impart confidence to those who may 
 feel a degree of timidity and hesitation in ap- 
 plying for what can be gratuitously obtained. 
 As a general rule persons feel far greater 
 confidence when they go to purchase what they 
 require, than when they go to solicit a free 
 favor. There is, therefore, the most compas- 
 sionate kindness shown in the style adopted for 
 setting forth the terms on which the blessings 
 of grace are to be secured. The design appears 
 to be to assure us that we may come and receive 
 those blessings as unhesitatingly as if we had 
 wherewithal to purchase them ; and that having 
 accepted them, we may appropriate and enjoy 
 them as thoroughly as if we had paid a full 
 price for them. 
 
 (3) To intimate that the blessings of salva- 
 tion are inexpressibly valuable and important. 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 269 
 
 Were they procurable by purchase on our part, 
 that would show at once that their worth was 
 only moderate, since anything we could offer 
 for them must be limited, even were our re- 
 sources such as are generally regarded as most 
 ample. Hence the apostle Peter says, **Ye 
 know that ye were not redeemed with corrupt- 
 ible things, such as silver and gold; but with 
 the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb 
 without blemish and without spot." Our re- 
 demption is thus a purchased possession, and 
 the price which was paid by our adorable 
 Surety, even His most precious blood declares 
 its inestimable value. But while it cost Him 
 so much, it is offered to us without money and 
 without price. Both circumstances therefore 
 unite in confirming the same truth. Is redemp- 
 tion with all the innumerable blessings it offers 
 altogether priceless? The sacrificial death of 
 Christ on the cross answers that question on 
 the one hand; and the fact that we are unable 
 to purchase it and that it can only be received, 
 as heaven 's free gift, answers it on the other. 
 
 (4) To rehuJce the pride and presumption of 
 those who imagine that they have something of 
 their own to recommend them to the Divine 
 favor. With what a burst of holy indignation 
 did Peter rebuke that wretched man, Simon the 
 sorcerer: **Thy money perish with thee, be- 
 cause thou hast thought that the gift of God 
 
270 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 
 may be purchased with money!'* Alas! how 
 many are there who still indulge in the vain 
 imagination, that the gifts of God's grace can 
 be purchased either in whole or in parf, if not 
 by their money, yet by their supposed merits. 
 Acting on the principles of earthly commerce,, 
 they would fain render something to God as a 
 kind of compensation for what they expect to 
 receive from Him in return. The uprightness 
 of their general conduct, their religious observ-^ 
 ances, the charities in which they have abound- 
 ed, their good intentions and resolutions, their 
 penitential frames and feelings, their penances 
 and their prayers — with which things they hope 
 to receive the remission of their sins, the accept- 
 ance of their persons, and the salvation of their 
 souls. But to all persons we must say, if you 
 wish to trade with the Most High successfully^ 
 you must trade with Him on His own terms ^ 
 and what those terms are, the words before us^ 
 show in a manner the most unambiguous and 
 decisive. 
 
 II. An earnest remonstrance. '* Wherefore 
 do ye spend money for that which is not bread? 
 and your labor for that which satisfieth not? 
 hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that 
 which is good, and let your soul delight itself 
 in fatness. ' ' We have here, 
 
 1. A foolish course to he avoided. What 
 egregious folly must it be to seek happiness in 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 271 
 
 those objects, the pursuit of which is sure to 
 end in disappointment. However eagerly and 
 however successfully the things of time may 
 be sought, they never have yielded and they 
 never will yield, substantial satisfaction. That 
 the world in its best state is unsatisfying is the 
 doctrine of the Bible, and all experience loudly 
 proclaims, and most emphatically confirms it. 
 In the striking language of the prophet in a 
 preceding chapter: *^It shall even be as when 
 a hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth j 
 but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as 
 when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he 
 drinketh; but he awaketh. and behold he is 
 faint, and his soul hath appetite. '' 
 
 2. A wise method to he pursued. ** Hearken 
 diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good^ 
 and let your soul delight itself in fatness.'' 
 While the history of 6000 years has given un- 
 answerable evidence to the insufficiency of every 
 terrestrial object to afford true enjoyment; 
 while it shows that there are wants which no 
 earthly riches can supply, diseases which no 
 human skill can cure, fears which no mortal 
 courage can quell, penalties which no finite re- 
 sources can discharge, and miseries which no 
 earth born sagacity can control; how cheering 
 is it then to hear the voice of mercy inviting 
 us to turn from all lying vanities, and to 
 partake of those blessings which are distin- 
 
272 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 
 guished by every feature that is necessary for 
 yielding what our utmost exigencies require. 
 There is, 
 
 (1) Their suitability. Nothing can satisfy 
 that does not possess this quality. A person on 
 the point of perishing for want of food on some 
 desolate island, discovers a mine of gold: of 
 what use is it to him? What he requires is 
 something to appease his hunger, and the sight 
 of any stunted tree, if it contained anything 
 in the shape of fruit upon its half withered 
 branches, would be unspeakably more gladden- 
 ing than heaps of shining ore. But to any one 
 in pecuniary embarrassment, how acceptable 
 would be a few of those nuggets which the other 
 so lightly esteems! Now the blessings of the 
 Gospel satisfy, because they meet the sinner's 
 actual condition, so that he can say of them — 
 this is what I need! Here is pardon for my 
 innumerable offenses, a fountain to cleanse me 
 from my guilty stains, peace for my troubled 
 conscience, grace to help in every time of need. 
 These are the very things I require. 
 
 (2) Their continuance. Supposing that in 
 their worldly pursuits, some of the more fav- 
 ored of the children of men met with successes 
 so numerous, and encountered disappointments 
 so few, every event having turned out according 
 to their most sanguine expectations — granting 
 this to be the case, and that as regards enjoy- 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 273 
 
 merit, every succeeding day liad been as tlie 
 former, and even much more abundant; yet 
 the consideration that this prosperity, at the 
 longest, could be only of brief duration, would 
 hang like a dark cloud over the whole scene. 
 Ah! that it would continue! might the suc- 
 cessful votary of the world exclaim, but it 
 cannot be. If, exempted from those unexpected 
 vicissitudes to which the most prosperous are 
 exposed, his possessions are not taken from 
 him, he will very soon be taken from his posses- 
 sions. And then when separated from them all, 
 and his soul about to be cast adrift upon the 
 shoreless wastes of eternity, he cannot fail to 
 feel if he never felt before, how unsatisfying a 
 portion is that which appertains only to our 
 present fleeting existence. 
 
 But what we are here invited to partake of 
 is the good part which will never be taken away 
 from us. *^He that drinketh of this water," 
 said the Saviour, * * shall thirst again ; but who- 
 soever shall drink of the water that I shall 
 give him shall never thirst.'' 
 
 III. A wonderful assurance. Incline your 
 ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul 
 shall live; and I will make an everlasting 
 covenant with you, even the sure mercies of 
 David." For God to enter into covenant with 
 such creatures as we are 
 
 1. Displays amazing condescension. This 
 
274 THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 
 
 will appear when we bear in mind the Greatness 
 of God, It is looked upon as something re- 
 markable for persons of exalted rank to have 
 familiar intercourse with their inferiors; but 
 what is the distance between the mightiest 
 prince and the meanest peasant, when compared 
 with that which exists between God and us I 
 He is the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth 
 eternity; and for him to enter into covenant 
 with poor worms of the dust, what tongue can 
 express, what mind can conceive the marvellous 
 condescension. 
 
 2. What this covenant embraces is unspeak- 
 ably glorious, '*I sware unto thee and entered 
 into a covenant with thee and thou becamest 
 Mine.'' All who lay hold upon His covenant 
 can adopt these blessed words: ^^The Lord is 
 my portion, saith my soul, and therefore will I 
 hope in Him." This strikingly confirms what 
 was said before ; for if God is ours and we are 
 His, our largest desires must be satisfied. In- 
 deed, our immortal spirits have never enougk 
 until they have more than enough. They have 
 not enough till they have God, and they have 
 more than enough when they have Him. The 
 cup will then be, not merely full, but overflowing. 
 
 3. The utmost confidence may be placed in the 
 stability of this covenant. Not only is it an 
 everlasting covenant, but its mercies are sure 
 mercies, **even the sure mercies of David."" 
 
THE FULLNESS OF SALVATION. 275 
 
 Who is meant by David here the next verse 
 clearly shows; it is none other than David ^s 
 Son and David's Lord — the great Captain of 
 our salvation, who was given for a witness to 
 the people, a leader and commander to the 
 people. All the promises of the covenant are 
 in Him, yea and in Him, Amen, unto the glory 
 of God by us. 
 
 It is important, however, for us to remember, 
 that it is not with souls dead in trespasses and 
 sins that this covenant engagement is formed. 
 We must be made spiritually alive before God 
 will become our God, and before He will ac- 
 knowledge us as His sons and daughters. In 
 more than one sense He *4s not a God of the 
 dead but of the living." It is therefore de- 
 clared, ^^ Incline your ear and come unto Me; 
 hear, and your soul shall live." The words 
 addressed to us in the Gospel, whether invita- 
 tions or appeals, or gracious promises, are 
 spirit and life; and such they will be found in 
 the case of those who give proper heed to them. 
 To do whatever is there said we are to hearken 
 diligently, we are to hearken prayerfully, and 
 above all, we are to hearken believingly. In 
 the passage before us we are commanded to 
 hear that our souls may live: faith cometh by 
 hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Our 
 hearing is to no purpose unless we are quick- 
 ened to newness of life thereby. 
 
Sl|0 SpHttrr^rttott of tij? 3(ttat 
 
 " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was 
 given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the 
 witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not wor- 
 shipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
 upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not 
 again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resur- 
 rection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrec- 
 tion."— Rev. 20: 4, 5. 
 
 THAT the dead will rise again from their 
 graves is the belief of all Christians. 
 Even in the Old Testament this doctrine 
 is set forth. The patriarch Job uses the fol- 
 lowing remarkable language, * * Though after my 
 skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
 shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, 
 and mine eyes shall behold and not another.'^ 
 The Psalmist speaks as follows, **God will re- 
 deem my soul from the power of the grave : for 
 He shall receive me/' Isaiah declares, **Thy 
 dead men shall live, together with my dead 
 body shall they arise/' Daniel says, **And 
 many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
 to shame and everlasting contempt." And the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Abraham 
 
 276 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 277 
 
 accounted that *'God was able to raise him 
 (Isaac) up even from the dead:'^ and that other 
 saints of Old Testament times *^were tortured, 
 not accepting deliverance; that they might 
 obtain a better resurrection." 
 
 In the New Testament this doctrine is clearly 
 revealed in unmistakable terms. The Saviour 
 Himself has made it known. To the Sadducees 
 who did not believe in resurrection, when they 
 came to Him asking questions in regard to it 
 He replied, *^As touching the resurrection of 
 the dead, have ye not read that which was 
 spoken unto you 'by God, saying, **I am the God 
 of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God 
 of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but 
 of the living." And on another occasion He 
 spoke as follows, ^^The hour is coming in 
 which all that are in the graves shall hear His 
 voice, and shall come forth; they that have 
 done good unto the resurrection of life; and 
 they have done evil unto the resurrection of 
 damnation." The apostles also taught in the 
 same manner what they had received from their 
 divine Master. We are told that the priests 
 and Sadducees were grieved at Peter and John 
 because they *^ preached through Jesus the 
 resurrection from the dead." The Athenians 
 thought that Paul was a ** setter forth of 
 strange gods; because he preached unto them 
 Jesus, and the resurrection. ' ' And in the Sixth 
 
278 THE RESURKECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews this 
 same doctrine of the ^^resurrection of the dead'' 
 is mentioned as being one of the ^^ principles of 
 the doctrine of Christ. ' ' 
 
 Nor is this doctrine simply a matter of faith ; 
 it is not a thing merely to be believed because 
 it is taught, but we have positive evidence that 
 there is such a thing as the resurrection of the 
 dead. Jesus Himself dies and is laid in the 
 dark tomb. But after three days, He rises from 
 the dead, and walks forth again, showing Him- 
 self to hundreds of His followers. And after 
 His resurrection the evangelist tells us that the 
 ** graves were opened, and many bodies of the 
 saints which slept arose, and came out of the 
 graves, and went into the holy city, and ap- 
 peared unto many." ^^They whose dust had 
 mingled with the elements took form and life 
 again. And men gazed on these inhabitants of 
 the tomb — these citizens of distant ages — walk- 
 ing forth as living tokens of the resurrection. ' ' 
 
 There is then to be a resurrection of the body 
 which is deposited in the grave. The particles 
 which have mouldered in the dust shall be re- 
 joined and resuscitated and made to move with 
 vitality. ^^The redemption wrought out by 
 Jesus Christ takes in the whole man. Body and 
 soul alike are to share it. It is a perfected 
 redemption, a redemption of the entire being of 
 those who have part in it. No part of their 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 279 
 
 nature is to be sliut out from it. Who, without 
 the deepest pain could contemplate the thought 
 that the body, the companion of the spirit 
 through all life 's pilgrimage, should be severed 
 from it at death ; to be reunited no more ! The 
 body thus fearfully and wonderfully made, is 
 not destined to destruction. It is a wondrous 
 display of God^s wisdom and power, and skill. 
 Sin has invaded it ; and marred its fair propor- 
 tions; and blunted its powers; and spread 
 through all its mechanism, the witnesses of its 
 fall. Sickness attacks it. Death seizes upon it. 
 But shall it be left in the dark tomb! No. If 
 like the leprous house it must be taken down: 
 it is only that it may be reared again ; in glory 
 surpassing its first estate. It lies in the grave. 
 But it is not to be left there forever. The 
 eye of the All Seeing One watches over it : The 
 power of the Almighty is around it. It shall 
 rise again. At the appointed time, it shall 
 awake from its slumbers, and come forth in 
 the loveliness of a new creation.*' 
 
 All then upon whom death passes, will be 
 raised from the dead. All are raised again ; but 
 all are not raised at the same time. There is 
 a resurrection of the just, and a resurrection 
 of the wicked. The resurrection of the just 
 takes place when Christ first returns to our earth 
 and the resurrection of the wicked one thousand 
 years thereafter. The bodies of the righteous 
 
280 THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 dead are raised, and the bodies of the wicked 
 dead sleep on in their graves until the thousand 
 years are over. This the words of our text 
 sufficiently prove. ''I saw the souls of them 
 that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, 
 and for the word of Glod, which had not wor- 
 shipped the beast neither image, neither had 
 received his mark upon their foreheads, or in 
 their hands; and they lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 
 dead lived not until the thousand years were 
 finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed 
 and holy is he that hath part in the first resur- 
 rection." It is here distinctly asserted that 
 there is a first resurrection, and that those who 
 have part in it are ^^ blessed and holy." And 
 it just as distinctly affirms that the ^^rest of 
 the dead," that is, those who are not raised 
 at the first resurrection, live not until a thous- 
 and years have passed away. There is then 
 a resurrection at the advent of Christ in which 
 the martyrs and saints, they that sleep in Jesus, 
 and they who have not worshipped the beast, 
 neither his image, neither had received his 
 mark, the blessed and holy have part. And 
 there is a resurrection one thousand vears after 
 that event which embraces the rest of the dead. 
 There are some to whom this may be a new 
 view. The general opinion seems to be that 
 all the dead rise at once. But the doctrine of a 
 
THE EESURKECTION OF THE JUST. 281 
 
 twofold resurrection was not new to the ancient 
 Christian church; nor to the Jewish teachers. 
 Calmet says, *^The ancient fathers acknowl- 
 edged a twofold resurrection: first that which 
 is to precede the Messiah's reign of a thousand 
 years upon earth; secondly that which is to 
 follow the reign of a thousand years. This 
 sentiment/' he goes on to say, *4s found clearly 
 enough in the second book of Esdras, in the 
 testament of the twelve patriarchs, and in sev- 
 eral of the Rabbins." Bickersteth says, that 
 * * the Jewish writers generally mention together 
 the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection 
 of the dead, and frequently consider them as 
 branches of the same proposition." Professor 
 Stuart remarks, that ^'the doctrine of a first 
 resurrection as taught by John was not novel," 
 and that ^^the great mass of the Jewish Rab- 
 bins believed and taught the doctrine of the 
 resurrection of the just in the days of Messiah's 
 development." Dr. Duffield says **The millen- 
 nium John predicts, is exactly coincident in its 
 leading features with the expectations of the 
 pious Jews before the coming of Christ. ' ' And 
 I here adduce some quotations from ancient 
 Jewish writings, so that you may see the opin- 
 ion they held in regard to the resurrection of 
 the just at the advent of the Messiah. Jonathan 
 the Paraphrast who lived about thirty years 
 before Christ, says of the people of God, **They 
 
282 THE EESUEEECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 shall be gathered from their capacity ; they shall 
 live under the shadow of the Messiah ; the dead 
 shall rise, and good shall increase in the earth. ' ' 
 Uabbi Kimchi says, **The holy blessed God will 
 raise the dead, at the time of deliverance. ' ' The 
 same author thus quotes an ancient apothegm, 
 **The benefit of the rain is common to the just 
 and to the unjust, but the resurrection from the 
 dead is the peculiar privilege of those who have 
 lived righteously. ' ' Eabbi Chabbo says, ^^The 
 dead in the land of Israel shall live or be quick- 
 ened first in the days of the Messiah, and shall 
 enjoy the years of the Messiah. ' ' Eabbi Joch- 
 annan says, *^ There are some who study in the 
 law as they ought, and those are they who shall 
 rise first to everlasting life." A Jewish com- 
 ment of the 8th verse of the 25th chapter of 
 Isaiah is in these words, * * The world cannot be 
 free from guilt, until king Messiah shall come, 
 and the blessed God shall raise up those who 
 sleep in the dust.'' And ^^Maimonides testifies 
 this is the opinion of many Eabbis. ' ' In Yalcut 
 Eubeni we read as follows, * ^ Know that we have 
 a tradition that when the Messiah with the 
 collected captivity shall come to the land of 
 Israel, in that day the dead in Christ shall rise 
 again." In the Sanhedrin it is written, ** There 
 is a tradition in the house of Elias, that the 
 righteous whom the blessed God shall raise 
 from the dead, shall not return again to the 
 
THE RESUKRECTION OF THE JUST. 283 
 
 dust, but for the space of a thousand years, in 
 which the holv blessed God shall renew the 
 world, they shall have wings like the wings 
 of eagles, and shall fly above the waters. '' 
 These quotations have been gathered by com- 
 mentators from the ancient Jewish writings. 
 *'No Eabbinical testimony or mere tradition 
 is adequate to prove an article of religious 
 faith ; but these quotations are not without their 
 significance.'' Joseph Mede speaking of them 
 wisely says, **I can hardly believe that all this 
 smoke of tradition could arise but from some 
 fire of truth, anciently made known unto them. 
 Besides why should the Holy Ghost on this 
 point speak so like them, unless He would induce 
 us to mean with them ? In fine the second resur- 
 rection with the state of the saints after it, 
 seems to have been less known to the ancient 
 church of the Jews, than the first resurrection 
 and the state to accompany it. ' ' From all this 
 then it appears that the Jews believed in a 
 resurrection of the just when their Messiah 
 should come. In this connection we must recol- 
 lect that to them were committed the oracles of 
 God. That from their nation exclusively the 
 prophets and apostles were taken. That from 
 the days of Abraham down to the days of our 
 Saviour, they were the only people on the face 
 of the earth that had the true worship. That 
 Jesus Himself was a Jew. That their learned 
 
284 THE EESUERECTION OF THE JUST, 
 
 men form their opinions upon these subjects 
 from the same Bible that we get ours, and from 
 the traditions and commentaries handed down 
 from their fathers. Their views then cannot 
 be without their value ; and it would be well for 
 us to give heed to the testimony of a people 
 who were so highly favored of God, to whom 
 He committed His truth, and around whom so 
 many sacred associations cluster. 
 
 In the New Testament there are also other 
 passages besides the text that teach this doc- 
 •trine. 
 
 In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians Paul 
 speaks of the resurrection. In it he refers to 
 the resurrection of the righteous only. He 
 speaks of those who are Christ's being raised 
 at His coming. He says moreover, **As we 
 have born the image of the earthy, we shall also 
 bear the image of the heavenly. '* Now he 
 cannot here mean the wicked, for they will 
 never bear the image of the heavenly ; and they 
 are certainly not Christ's. He goes on to say 
 also, **So when this corruptible shall have put 
 on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
 on immortality, then shall be brought to pass 
 the saying that is written, Death shall be swal- 
 lowed up in victory. ' ' He refers to the saying 
 that is written, ''death shall be swallowed up 
 in victory. ' ' On turning back to the Old Testa- 
 ment we find that this saying is written in the 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 285 
 
 25tli chapter of Isaiali, wliicli chapter contains 
 a song of praise to the Lord, who has just been 
 represented, at the close of the preceding chap- 
 ter as coming to reign in Mount Zion, and in 
 Jerusalem before His ancients gloriously. In 
 that connection these words are used, ^ ^ He will 
 swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God 
 will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the 
 rebuke of His people shall He take away from 
 off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it. ' ' 
 Connect now these two passages in Corinthian 
 and Isaiah, since the one contains a quotation 
 and reference to the other, and we find that 
 St. Paul says the resurrection of the just 
 described by him happens when death is 
 swallowed up in victory, and Isaiah tells us that 
 death is swallowed up in victory, when Christ 
 comes to wipe away tears from off all faces, and 
 shall take away the rebuke of His people from 
 off all the earth. Only resurrection of right- 
 eous, here spoken of. 
 
 Again in Phil., 3 : 11, Paul speaking of his 
 labors and losses for the sake of the Gospel, 
 says he suffers and labors, **If by any means 
 he might attain unto the resurrection of the 
 dead.'' If he refers here to a general resurrec- 
 tion there is no meaning in his expression. 
 AVhy would he express the hope to attain unto 
 the resurrection, when he knew all men would 
 be raised? He must mean some special resur- 
 
286 THE KESURKECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 rection, to attain which would be a great priv- 
 ilege. He therefore evidently had before his 
 mind the first resurrection, in which the right- 
 eous are raised. And the phraseology of the 
 expression sustains this opinion. ' * * If by any 
 means I might attain the resurrection from 
 among the dead. ' ' That is that resurrection in 
 which some are taken out from among the dead, 
 and the rest are left. Or in other words the 
 first resurrection. 
 
 In the 14th chapter of Luke we are told that 
 »Jesus on one occasion went into the house of 
 one of the Pharisees to eat bread, and while 
 teaching those around Him He gave utterance 
 to these words, * ^ When thou makest a feast call 
 the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and 
 thou shalt be blessed: for they cannot recom- 
 pense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at 
 the resurrection of the jusf Does not this 
 expression of our Lord *' resurrection of the 
 just,'' at which those who do righteously shall 
 be recompensed, imply that there is another and 
 quite a different resurrection of the unjust at 
 which no recompense shall be given? It seems 
 to me that any candid mind would conclude that 
 there was. 
 
 Again in the 20th chapter of Luke 34, 5, 6th 
 verses our Saviour uses the following words, 
 **The children of this world marry and are 
 given in marriage. But they which shall be 
 
THE KESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 287 
 
 accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the 
 resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor 
 are given in marriage: Neither can they die 
 any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; 
 and are the children of God, being the children 
 of the resurrection,^' Now take this in the 
 sense of a general resurrection, and it leads to 
 an absurdity. For then all would be the chil- 
 dren of God, since all have part in the 
 resurrection : and we know that all are not the 
 children of God. But some particular resurrec- 
 tion must be meant here because our Saviour 
 speaks only of those obtaining it who are 
 ivorthy. He must refer then to the resurrection 
 of the just. 
 
 ^'When we come to sum up all these facts 
 and assign them the force which belongs to the 
 words of inspiration, the conclusion seems un- 
 avoidable, that the doctrine of a twofold resur- 
 rection has a solid foundation in Scripture. The 
 resurrection of the holy is entirely separated, in 
 nature and in point of time, from the resurrec- 
 tion of *4he rest of the dead.'' As soon as 
 Christ comes the righteous shall be raised. The 
 unrighteous and wicked remain in their graves 
 till the thousand years are over. 
 
 A word now as to the manner in which the 
 dead shall be raised. The Scriptures intimate 
 that the saints shall be raised silently without 
 noise, and without those who are on the earth 
 
288 THE RESUKEECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 knowing it at the time. It is true that Paul 
 says, **The trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
 shall be raised.'' But the sounding of this 
 trumpet is not for living ears. 
 
 It is the dead alone that will hear the voice, 
 our Saviour says, ^ ^ The hour is coming and now 
 is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the 
 Son of God, and they that hear shall live. ' ' But 
 those who are alive on the earth will not neces- 
 sarily see the dead rise. ^ * No human eye saw 
 Jesus rise.'' **And it may be that His saints 
 . will ascend one by one, just as quietly as they 
 now sleep." Silently the power of God shall 
 reach the sleeping dust of His saints. Silently 
 they shall arise as did the bodies of the saints 
 after our Lord's resurrection. Business and 
 pleasure and vice and folly and crime, shall 
 pursue their usual rounds. But in due season 
 all the sainted dead shall be raised to unite in 
 the glory of their Lord when He shall come 
 in the clouds of heaven with great power and 
 glory. 
 
 Closely connected with this subject of the 
 resurrection of the just, is the translation of the 
 righteous who are alive upon the earth at 
 Christ's coming. These will not die at all. 
 But they will be translated like Enoch and 
 Elijah were. ** Behold I shew you a mystery," 
 says Paul, **We shall not all sleep, but we shall 
 all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 289 
 
 of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet 
 shall sound and the dead shall be raised incor- 
 ruptible, and we shall be changed. * ' * * The dead 
 in Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with 
 them.'' **And when the process of the trans- 
 lation of the living commences, it will no doubt 
 be like the resurrection to which it corresponds. 
 It will not be with great pomp and public 
 demonstrations, but quietly and in a manner 
 hardly understood by those that remain.'' 
 From the midst of the occupations of their 
 daily life, they will be taken. * * Then shall two 
 be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other 
 left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, 
 the one shall be taken the other left." But 
 no sudden outburst of power — no circumstances 
 of terror or of grandeur — shall attend the tak- 
 ing. An invisible hand shall be stretched forth 
 to take the living saint out of the midst of his 
 unbelieving companions. *^In a moment" it 
 shall be done. In the twinkling of an eye they 
 shall be caught up: and corruption put on in- 
 corruption. **And what a thought is this that 
 it may be there are some listening to me who 
 shall never see death." Those who are Christ's 
 at His coming will be caught up to join Him; 
 and *^so shall ever be with the Lord." 
 
 Such is the first resurrection and the trans- 
 lation. Blessed and holy are those who have 
 
290 THE RESUREECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 part in them. But it is only those who are 
 Christians who can look forward to this blessed- 
 ness. I should be derelict to my duty if I should 
 hold out to any one the hope of future happi- 
 ness who was not a believer in and follower 
 of the Lord Jesus. Only those who receive 
 Christ now, will He receive hereafter. Let me 
 ask you then friends and brethren, have you 
 made your peace with God; have you made 
 Jesus Christ your friend and Saviour. If not 
 I can hold out to you no expectations of 
 happiness. 
 
 Your part will be with those whose resurrec-^ 
 tion takes place at the end of the judgment 
 period, which promises nothing to be desired. 
 Now while you have the opportunity apply to 
 Christ to cleanse and save you. He invites 
 and entreats you to come, and is ready and 
 waiting to receive you. **Come and He who 
 laid down His life for you will not deny you a 
 hearty welcome." Time is flying: and the 
 scenes of the resurrection may be ushered in 
 before you are aware. Let not that day 
 witness your banishment from the Saviour who 
 stretches out His arms to you now. Fly to His 
 embrace that He at last may make you a par- 
 taker in His joy. 
 
A (^xmt (HammlBBian 
 
 ' ' Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of 
 this life."— Acts 5: 20. 
 
 WHEN the Christian church was young 
 great numbers of poor were gathered 
 into it. **To the poor the Gospel is 
 preached," said Jesus. And yet there were 
 none among them that lacked : * ^ for as many as 
 were possessors of lands or houses sold them, 
 and brought the prices of the things that were 
 sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: 
 and distribution was made unto every man 
 according as he had need. ' ' A notable instance 
 of such self-denial and Christian charity is 
 found in the case of Joses, '*who was of the 
 country of Cypress," whose gift of love was 
 so marked as to gain special mention in the 
 records of the Divine Word. As if to show 
 that just as in the number of the apostles who 
 were the constant attendants of our Lord, there 
 was a Judas, so in the Christian church hypo- 
 crites would always be found, until all things 
 that do offend are gathered out of the kingdom, 
 the statement which tells us of the sweet charity 
 of Joses, is immediately followed by the account 
 
 291 
 
292 A GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 of the selfishness and duplicity of Ananias and 
 Sapphira. They, *^sold a possession, and kept 
 back part of the price . . . and brought a 
 certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet.'' 
 But they could not hide their hearts from the 
 searching gaze of the Holy Spirit. Their 
 grievous sin of lying unto God was detected 
 and exposed. Swift and severe, but righteous 
 retribution was visited upon them. They fell 
 down dead at the apostles' feet, their dead 
 bodies taking the place where they should have 
 laid their money, and they were carried out 
 and buried together. What they were unwilling 
 to give to Christ's su:ffering church, God took 
 from them by force. 
 
 The punishment meted out to this unhappy 
 couple had a marked effect upon the survivors : 
 ' * Great fear came upon all the church, and upon 
 as many as heard these things." But this act 
 of severity for the cleansing of the church 
 from false and hurtful professors within its 
 fold, was immediately followed by miracles of 
 clemency and mercy towards those who were 
 without, to show *'that however awful the 
 manifestations of God's displeasure with the 
 wicked may be, He is always ready in His 
 infinite mercy to help, to heal, and to save all 
 those who seek His face." '*By the hands of 
 the apostles were many signs and wonders 
 wrought among the people ; inasmuch that they 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 293 
 
 brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid 
 them on beds and couches, that at least the 
 shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow 
 some of them. There came also a multitude 
 out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, 
 bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed 
 with unclean spirits: and they were healed 
 every one.'' This state of peaceful progress, 
 however, did not continue long. Though **the 
 people magnified the apostles," the rulers 
 looked upon them with an evil eye, and regarded 
 their work with anything but satisfaction. Nor 
 were they content to leave them unmolested in 
 their labors for the good of men. They again 
 laid upon them the hand of persecution which 
 had been tried before in vain. *'The high 
 priest rose up and all that were with him 
 (which is the sect of the Sadducees) and were 
 filled with indignation, and laid their hands on 
 the apostles and put them in the common 
 prison." But God showed Himself just as 
 ready and able to deliver His people that served 
 Him truly as He was to rid His church of 
 hypocrites and deceivers. When the ordinary 
 means of help failed, extraordinary ones were 
 used. * ' The angel of the Lord by night opened 
 the prison doors, and brought them forth. ' ' It 
 was notably the Sadducees who co-operated 
 with the High Priest in this arrest of the 
 apostles, the same who said ** there is no resur- 
 
294 A GBEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 rection, neither angel, nor spirit." It was for 
 preaching Jesus and the resurrection, and 
 working miracles in the name of their ascended 
 Saviour that these faithful ones were cast into 
 the common prison, and now the mighty Lord 
 of heaven and earth vindicates His truth and 
 confounds His enemies through the agency of 
 one of those holy beings, whose very existence 
 they denied. An angel delivered them. 
 
 Not for flight, however, when danger threat- 
 ened, nor for silence as the foe demanded, were 
 they delivered. The angel said unto them * * Go, 
 stand and speak in the temple to the people, 
 all the words of this life." 
 
 How great in the sight of God is the Gospel ! 
 Prophets called and endowed by the Holy Spirit 
 proclaimed it age after age in the olden time. 
 In these latter times it has been spoken unto 
 us by God's only begotten Son, made incarnate 
 for this very purpose. When He ascends to 
 the place of glory and power of God's right 
 hand, apostles are chosen and fitted and com- 
 missioned for the same blessed work. And 
 when the minions of Satan, that old arch 
 adversary who at the first deceived and still 
 maliciously opposes, rise up to prevent the 
 proclamation of the precious evangel, an angel 
 is sent to bring them out from their, prison cell 
 and recommission them, bidding them **Go, 
 stand and speak in the temple to the people 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 295 
 
 all the words of this life.'' So necessary is 
 this Gospel for the salvation of the sons of 
 men, and loath is God to give them over to their 
 sins. From that day to this, as generation 
 succeeded generation, men have been called and 
 equipped and sent forth with the same commis- 
 sion. These words of the angel form the charge 
 given to every minister, and will be found to be 
 Ms directory in the work He has given him to 
 do. The sentence naturally divides itself into 
 heads according to the several principal words 
 which form it, and it is in this manner that we 
 propose to consider it. 
 
 I. The first word of the charge is Go, Min- 
 isters are to go out in the performance of their 
 mission as the ambassadors of Christ. The 
 evangelist Mark tells us in his account of the 
 calling of the apostles, that Jesus ordained 
 twelve, that they should be with Him, and that 
 He might send them forth to preach/' Accord- 
 ingly, after His resurrection, just before He 
 was taken from them, when He gave them their 
 final commission He said, '^Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture. ' ' It was the same in the former dispensa- 
 tion. To Jeremiah God said, **Thou shalt go 
 to all that I shall send thee. ' ' Paul aptly asks, 
 **How shall they call upon Him in whom they 
 have not believed? and how shall they believe 
 in Him of whom they have not heard? and how 
 
296 A GBEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 shall they hear without a preacher? and how 
 shall they preach except they be sent ? ' ' There 
 must then be a going out on the part of God^s 
 ministers before the nations shall hear and 
 believe. The word missionaries which is often 
 used to designate them implies this — it means 
 those sent. 
 
 There should not be a hasty sending, or a 
 haste to go. Not every one that is called into 
 the kingdom of Christ, is called to preach pub- 
 licly for Him. On one occasion while upon 
 . earth, a certain man said unto our Lord, **I 
 will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest." 
 But Jesus saw that He was not a proper person 
 to have in such a position, and He frankly 
 showed the difficulties of it, and his unfitness 
 for it by saying, ** Foxes have holes, and birds 
 of the air have nests : but the Son of Man hath 
 not where to lay His head." But to another 
 He said, * * Follow Me. But he said. Lord, suffer 
 me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said 
 unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but 
 go thou and preach the kingdom of God. ' ' No 
 novice should be received. Hands should be 
 laid suddenly on no man. It is not the part 
 of wisdom to hustle men into the ministry 
 simply because they offer themselves or the 
 demand for them is pressing. They should first 
 be proved. Previous preparation and training 
 and time for inspection into their character 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 297 
 
 and habits and capacity is necessary. Among 
 the ancient people of God, schools of the pro- 
 phets were established. The apostles were 
 under the immediate care and training of our 
 Lord, beholding His miracles, listening to His 
 words, imbibing His spirit for three years, 
 before they are commissioned. Paul says, 
 ** When it pleased God ... to reveal His Sou 
 in me, that I might preach Him among the 
 heathen ; immediately I conferred not with flesh 
 and blood . . . but I went into Arabia, and 
 returned again unto Damascus. Then after 
 three years I went up to Jerusalem.'' If he 
 needed previous preparation in communion with 
 God and the things of God, before starting out 
 in his missionary work, who in our day can da 
 without it? And something more than this 
 even is required. The charge given by Jesus 
 to His apostles was, ** Tarry ye in the city of 
 Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from 
 on high." The gifts and graces of the Holy 
 Ghost in addition to all his other acquirements, 
 are made to make a man a true and successful 
 minister of God. Without these he will be but 
 a blind leader of the blind — a mere hireling 
 that careth not for the sheep, and knoweth not 
 how to feed them. 
 
 But when fitted by the help of man and 
 endowed of God, the minister is to go out to 
 preach the Word. He is to seek in order to 
 
298 A GKEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 save them that are lost. Out in the highways 
 and among the hedges let him go to search 
 for the straying. In the cities where men do 
 congregate, and in the villages and in private 
 houses let him lift up his voice, as his Redeemer 
 did before him. If he is called to the ministry 
 his Lord has a place for him. If he but con- 
 tentedly follow the leadings of Providence he 
 will find it, and there he will be happiest and 
 most successful. But he must be willing to 
 go and labor wherever the Great Head of the 
 Church appoints, even though it should be to 
 the ends of the earth. 
 
 Another idea contained in this word go must 
 not be overlooked. The minister must be satis- 
 fied to go out and leave behind him all expecta- 
 tions of earthly preferment, all schemes of 
 mere earthly ambition, all hopes of earthly 
 ease. Yea, he must be ready to suffer the loss 
 of all things not only that he may win Christ, 
 but that he may preach Christ. The apostles 
 forsook their boats and fishing nets. It was 
 not much it is true, but it was their all, and 
 in its stead they took poverty and persecution, 
 bonds and imprisonment, even death itself. 
 Jesus said, '*He that loveth father or mother 
 more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he 
 that loveth son or daughter more than Me is 
 not worthy of Me.*' **No man having put his 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 299 
 
 hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for 
 the kingdom of God.'' 
 
 2. Stand is the next word in the angePs 
 charge to the apostles. Standing is the attitude 
 of activity. It is the opposite of reclining, 
 which is the posture of rest and sleep. It 
 implies readiness to do. The person who stands 
 is on the alert, and prepared to move at the 
 slightest warning or call. The sentinel stands, 
 w^atchful of the open or insidious approach of 
 the enemy. The helmsman stands, so as to 
 take instant advantage of any favorable or un- 
 favorable circumstance, and to guide the vessel 
 aright. So the minister is to take his place 
 prepared to meet every emergency, and to obey 
 every proper call that pertains to his office. 
 He is not to be a servant of men in the sense 
 of doing their bidding and yielding to their 
 demands according as they may wish. The 
 world will gladly use him if it can, to promote 
 its ends, and self -constituted, imprudent, bung- 
 ling reformers will be glad to avail themselves 
 of his help if he will give it; and a thousand 
 unseemly requests will be made of him if he is 
 inclined to please men. To all these he must turn 
 a deaf ear, and resolutely but kindly say, no. 
 His office is a holy one, and he must not prosti- 
 tute it to unholy uses. He is especially the 
 servant of God, and stands ready to do His 
 will as shown in His Word or indicated in His 
 
300 A GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 Providence. When the word is to be preaclied 
 or the truth defended; when the weak are to 
 be encouraged or the wilful reproved; when 
 the poor are to be fed or the suffering relieved ; 
 when the young are to be preserved from the 
 tempter's wiles, or the dying supported and 
 cheered as they pass through the dark valley; 
 then is he to be at hand with his ministrations 
 of mercy and love, standing up for the help 
 of God's children. 
 
 Standing also indicates firmness and boldness. 
 When the angel commanded the released apos- 
 tles to go stand in the temple, at the very 
 place where they had been arrested and where 
 they had labored, he meant that they should 
 display moral courage before their enemies, and 
 steadfastness of mind in their holy calling. 
 When Jeremiah was ordained a prophet he said, 
 ^*Ah! Lord God, behold I cannot speak: for 
 I am a little child." But the Lord said unto 
 him, **Say not I am a child: for thou shalt 
 go to all that I shall send thee, and whatever 
 I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not 
 afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to 
 deliver thee. ' ' Even the enemies of Jesus bore 
 this testimony concerning Him, ** Master we 
 know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, 
 neither acceptest Thou the person of any, but 
 teachest the way of God truly." The apostles 
 displayed the same spirit, for when the rulers 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 301 
 
 of the Jews saw their boldness, and perceived 
 that they were unlearned and ignorant men, 
 they marvelled; and took knowledge of them 
 that they had been with Jesus. '^ The great 
 apostle to the Gentiles while at Corinth was 
 encouraged by the Lord in a vision with these 
 words : ^ ^ Be not afraid, but speak and hold not 
 thy peace. ' ' ' Afterwards he wrote to Timothy, 
 * * God hath not given us the spirit of fear : but 
 of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be 
 not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of 
 our Lord. ^ ' This spirit of holy boldness in the 
 face of danger and in the defence of truth that 
 should actuate the godly minister, is very differ- 
 ent from that of the swaggering *^ brawler,'' 
 whose ** profane and vain babbling*' upon 
 ** foolish and unlearned questions" constantly 
 genders strife. It is perfectly consistent with 
 that conduct which is ** gentle unto all men; 
 patient, in meekness instructing those that 
 oppose themselves.'" But it so animates the 
 man of God with courageous fervor, that it will 
 prosecute its heavenly work in spite of Belial 
 and all his forces; that it will give place to 
 ** false brethren unawares brought in," no, 
 not for an hour; and that it will withstand 
 iniquity to the face even if found in an apostle. 
 3. The angel charged the apostles to stand 
 and speak. This indicates the mode in which 
 God's gracious purposes are revealed to men. 
 
302 A GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 and converts are brought into his kingdom. 
 Some there are who, even in our own day, pro- 
 fess to receive direct spiritual revelations, and 
 would fain persuade men that they are in com- 
 munication with the great and good in the 
 heavenly world, and that it is by these spiritual 
 intelligencies that men are to be guided. That 
 they do hold communion with kindred spirits 
 we doubt not, and that they are guided by them, 
 their lives sufficiently attest, but we beg to be 
 excused from believing that these beings are 
 either holy or in the heavenly world. An old 
 Book that never flatters and has never deceived 
 men, and that was written under the inspiration 
 of the Holy Spirit, tells us that **In the latter 
 times some shall depart from the faith, giving 
 heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of 
 devils," and we prefer to obey the injunction 
 of the apostle John and **Try the spirits 
 whether they be of God,'' before yielding to 
 their influence. Others there have been who 
 have propagated their false religions by the 
 power of the sword and have generously given 
 men the privilege of choosing between submis- 
 sion and death. Very zealous were they in 
 gathering followers, but their demoniac spirit 
 abundantly shows the source of their inspira- 
 tion. And some who called themselves after 
 the name of him who would not break the 
 bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax, when 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 303 
 
 men would not accept their false teachings 
 nor join in their idolatries, have given them 
 over to the cruel flames, and quietly stood re- 
 joicing while their bodies consumed to ashes. 
 Far different from these is the mode of the 
 Christian church in dealing with sinners. The 
 ambassadors of the Most High are commanded 
 simply to speak unto men, whether they will 
 hear or whether they will forbear. **It pleased 
 God by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
 that believe.'' Paul says that Christ sent him 
 to *^ preach the Gospel.'' He charges Timothy 
 io *' Preach the word: be instant in season, out 
 of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long 
 suffering and doctrine." He asked the Ephe- 
 sian Church to pray for him that utterance 
 may be given unto him, that he may open his 
 mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of 
 the Gospel. ' ' He tells the Corinthians, ^ * Seeing 
 then that we have such hope, we use great 
 plainness of speech." And among the qualifi- 
 cations of the servant of the Lord he enum- 
 erates '^aptness to teach." The minister of 
 God though he *Svalk in the flesh" does ^'not 
 war after the flesh," **For the weapons of 
 our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 
 God to the pulling down of strongholds. ' ' Just 
 as Jesus embraced every opportunity to instruct 
 the people, so must His ministers speak His 
 word that it may be as the dew unto the church : 
 
304 A GKEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 that she **may grow as the lily, and cast forth 
 her roots as Lebanon/' That her ** branches 
 may spread, '^ and her ** beauty be as the olive 
 tree. ' ' 
 
 4. The apostles were charged by the angel to 
 **Go, stand and speak in the temple/^ They 
 were not, therefore, to seek concealment, but 
 to make known their message in the most public 
 of all public places. The Christian church has 
 no unhallowed mysteries that she hides from 
 the view of the world, and no suspicious doings 
 that may • not see the light, as the heathen 
 religions even of enlightened Greece had. Nor 
 has she any secrets known only to the initiated, 
 nor any furtive ceremonies veiled from public 
 gaze, nor any bestowments reserved only for 
 the favored few. Her words are for all, into 
 her fold all may come, her worship all the world 
 may unite in, and her works of beneficence are 
 co-extensive with the habitable globe. '* Wis- 
 dom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in 
 the streets ; she crieth in the chief place of con- 
 course, in the openings of the gates ; in the city 
 she uttereth the words, saying. How long ye 
 simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and . . . 
 fools hate knowledge ? ' ' The minister of Christ 
 has nothing to suppress, nothing to screen from 
 the eye of the most searching inspection. The 
 words given him to speak will never ofPend true 
 modesty, nor grate harshly on the most sensi- 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 305 
 
 tive feelings. He is to aim to make his tidings 
 known in the widest possible manner, as being 
 suited to the varied spiritual wants of mankind. 
 He is not to aim at notoriety; not to seek to 
 attract attention to himself with * * excellency of 
 speech'* or ** enticing words of man's wisdom/' 
 but by ** manifestation of the truth commend- 
 ing'' himself '^to every man's conscience in the 
 sight of God. ' ' There are some who have crept 
 into the holy office who entertain the gaping 
 crowd with foolish *^ talking and jesting," and 
 seek to fill their pews by means of theatrical 
 displays and buffoonery, that would better be- 
 come the mountebank than one appointed to 
 speak in the name of the Most High God. Their 
 utterances would be silly if it were not that 
 they are sinful. No such shameful publicity 
 as this should the true preacher court, but with 
 all sobriety and earnestness endeavor to in- 
 struct men, **if peradventure God will give 
 them repentance to the acknowledging of the 
 truth." 
 
 Nor need he fear any opposition that the 
 widespread proclamation of his message may 
 provoke. For his message he need not fear. 
 It is God-given and no argument or wit of 
 mortal can overturn or weaken one jot or tittle 
 of it. Let him renounce * * the hidden things of 
 dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor hand- 
 ling the word of God deceitfully." Then if 
 
306 A GEEAT COMMISSION". 
 
 tlie *^ Gospel be Md, it is hid to them that are 
 lost : in whom the God of this world hath blinded 
 the minds of them which believe not, lest the 
 light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is 
 the image of God, should shine unto them. ' ' 
 
 For Himself He need not fear. He who said, 
 '*Go preach the Gospel to every creature,'' also 
 said, ^^All power is given unto Me in heaven 
 and in earth . . . lo, I am with you even unto 
 the end of the world. " ^ * He shall give His angels 
 charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. ' ' 
 • From the cell of the prison, from the hands of 
 malicious rulers, from the power of evil doers, 
 they can deliver and will deliver, till the fight 
 is over and the course is finished and the crown 
 of glory is given. 
 
 5. The next emphatic phrase in the com- 
 mission given to the apostles is to the people. 
 *'Go, stand and speak in the temple to 
 the people. The angel did not say. Speak 
 to your own company, but to the people. 
 The high priest and the Sadducees had impris- 
 oned these men because they did not wish the 
 people to hear, hence when released they were 
 commanded to go speak to them. It is God's 
 intention that His Gospel shall be made known 
 to all people. The word of Jesus when He 
 sent the apostles forth was, *^Go ye therefore 
 and make disciples of all nations. ' ' It behooved 
 ** Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 307 
 
 the third day; and that repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins should be preached in His name 
 among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem/' 
 All mankind need salvation, and for all mankind 
 it has been provided. That fatal temptation of 
 Satan, by which our first parents sinned and 
 fell, affected the whole race and made all men 
 sinners and unfitted them for heaven. Poison 
 a spring, and all the waters which flow from it 
 will be poisoned. Injure the seed which you 
 plant, and the growths that spring from it will 
 show the marring. So the first pair, from 
 whom all the rest of the children of men have 
 sprung, lost their state of blessedness and be- 
 came sinful and so under condemnation, and all 
 their descendants are necessarily like them. 
 Far as the influence of .Satan's evil work has 
 gone, must the work of the Eedeemer be able 
 to reach. The blessings following from the 
 sufferings borne upon the tree of Calvary, must 
 at least be co-extensive with the evil influences 
 of that fatal eating of the fruit of the tree of 
 Eden. The sufferings and death and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ have an infinite value, and can 
 atone for every one. Christ assumed not the 
 person of a man, but of man. He became the 
 second Adam and stands at the head of the race. 
 The blood of our humanity flows in His veins, 
 and that blood has power to cleanse all men 
 from all sin. It is the will of God that all should 
 
308 A GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 be saved; hence His words, *^God so loved the 
 world that He gave His only begotton Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in Him might not perish 
 but have everlasting life ' ' ; and hence also His 
 command, ' * Go preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture." If every creature do not hear that 
 Gospel the fault is not God's but ours, on whom 
 rests the duty of making it known according to 
 that command. 
 
 There are some who withhold this Word from 
 the people, saying that it is injurious to them 
 •to have it. And in their preaching they mingle 
 tradition and man-made dogmas with the 
 inspired word. They show themselves false 
 teachers and deceivers of the people, keeping 
 from them what God designed they should have, 
 and feeding them on husks instead of the sin- 
 cere milk of the Word. The humblest and ob- 
 scurest as well as the greatest and noblest are 
 entitled to all that our heavenly Father merci- 
 fully vouchsafes to grant, and he lords it over 
 God 's heritage, to their hurt and damage and to 
 his own condemnation, who refuses to speak to 
 the people as he is commanded. 
 
 6. The last clause in the change of the angel 
 is, all the words of this life. **Go, stand and 
 speak in the temple unto the people all the words 
 of this life.'' To understand clearly what is 
 meant by this last clause of the sentence, recur 
 again to the circumstances under which it was 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 309 
 
 uttered. The apostles had been preaching 
 Christ, and the blessings of eternal life pro- 
 cured for us on the cross and conferred on us 
 in the Gospel. They had also been performing 
 miracles of healing, and so renewing the bodily 
 life of men, which was a type of that spiritual 
 renewal that Jesus works. For this the Sad- 
 ducees, who denied the resurrection and life 
 hereafter, had them cast into prison. The angel 
 brought them out and charged them to go again 
 to the temple where they had preached before 
 and speak the words of this life — he must have 
 meant life in Christ. 
 
 Christianity is a life. **I am come'' said 
 Jesus, that they might have life and that they 
 might have it more abundantly." It is a life 
 begotten. Man is dead in ** trespasses and 
 sins," and must be ** quickened" ere he can be 
 made to sit in heavenly places. ''Ze must he 
 born again/ ^ said the Saviour. **The wind 
 bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
 sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
 Cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one 
 that is born of the Spirit. ' ' This new birth is 
 effected by the Holy Spirit through the Word. 
 '*0f His own will begat He us with the word 
 of truth," says James. '* Being born again, 
 not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by 
 the word of God, which liveth and abideth for- 
 ever. ' ' Hence the appropriateness of the charge 
 
310 A GKEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 of the angel to the apostles to speak *'all the 
 words of this life/" The Gospel has life be- 
 getting power. 
 
 Christianity is a life lived as well as a life 
 begotten. Christ died for all, that they which 
 live should not henceforth live unto themselves, 
 but unto Him which died for them and rose 
 again." *^I through the law am dead to the 
 law," says Paul, **that I might live unto God. 
 I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; 
 yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life 
 which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith 
 of the Son of God who loved me and gave Him- 
 self for me. ' ' Christians are * * a chosen genera- 
 tion, " * * a royal priesthood, " * * an holy nation, ' ' 
 ' ' a peculiar people, ' ' that they may show forth 
 the praises of Him who hath called them out 
 of darkness into His marvellous light, that they 
 may by their good works glorify God. This 
 new life is lived by the power of the Holy Ghost 
 working by means of the Word. *^ Sanctify 
 them through the truth; Thy word is truth"; 
 prayed Jesus. *^Ye are clean through the word 
 which I have spoken unto you. " * ^ Christ loved 
 the church, and gave Himself for it; that He 
 might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing 
 of water by the word. ^^God hath from the 
 beginning chosen you to salvation through 
 sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the 
 truth." See, therefore, again the appropriate- 
 
A GREAT COMMISSION. 311 
 
 ness of the cliarge of the angel to speak unto 
 the people the words of this life. 
 
 Christianity is an eternal life bestowed, as 
 well as a life begotten, and lived. **My sheep 
 hear My voice, ' ' said Jesus, * * and I knew them 
 and they follow Me: and I give unto them 
 eternal life, and they shall never perish. " * ^ He 
 that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. ' ' 
 This is the will of the Father, * ^ That every one 
 which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him 
 might have everlasting life,'^ yea He is the 
 '^resurrection and the life,'^ he that believeth 
 in Him, ** though he were dead yet shall he 
 live.'* **The wages of sin is death; but the 
 gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord.'' This eternal life is promised and 
 given to us through the Word of God, and is 
 secured by our belief and reception of that 
 word. See again the appropriateness of the 
 charge of the angel. 
 
 And the apostles were instructed to speak 
 \^all the words of this life." It is prophesied 
 that **the time will come,'' and has it not al- 
 ready come ? when men, ' * will not endure sound 
 doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they 
 heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
 ears : and they shall turn away their ears from 
 the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ' ' It 
 was the comfort of the great apostle to the 
 Gentiles that with a clear conscience he could 
 
312 A GEEAT COMMISSION. 
 
 say, **I have kept back nothing that was profit- 
 able for you, ^ ' and that when he knew that those 
 among whom he had gone preaching the king- 
 dom of God, would see his face no more, he 
 could boldly ^^take them to record,'' that he 
 was pure from the blood of all men, and had 
 **not shunned to declare all the counsel of God." 
 However materialists may oppose amid the 
 thickening troubles of these ungodly days ; how- 
 ever distasteful it may be to the carnal mind; 
 however scorners may jest and sneer; the am- 
 bassador of God must boldly deliver unto the 
 people, all that they have received of the Lord. 
 How responsible, but how glorious then is 
 the ministerial office. The minister stands to 
 plead with men from God. His message is 
 freighted with life! everlasting life! **Who is 
 sufficient for these things ? ' ' His consolation is 
 **that God hath chosen the weak things of the 
 world to confound the things that are mighty. ' ' 
 Oh! let him be faithful, and *^do the work of 
 an evangelist," and **make full proof of his 
 ministry," and his reward will be great. To 
 the apostles it was promised that in the regen- 
 eration **when the Son of Man shall sit in 
 the throne of His glory, they should sit upon 
 twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel. ' ' An older promise declares * ' They that 
 turn many to righteousness shall shine as the 
 stars forever and ever." 
 
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